At the academy, it’s time to drop the mop.
I never thought I’d miss being a janitor, but at least I knew what I was doing in that job. Now I’m a great and mighty war mage trying to help a team of college wizards win a magic competition, and I’m desperately afraid of screwing up.
To make matters worse, my four gorgeous, powerful teammates totally believe in me, none more so than dangerously … dangerously sexy, unnervingly intense Marcus Winter. Marcus knows he can make me stronger…but only if I’m willing to let him unlock my deepest desires.
Um…k.
Marcus has his own reasons for wanting to win the Mage Trials. Three years ago, he lost his cousins to the game. Now there’s the faintest hint they might be alive—but to find them, we’ll have to pull out all the stops. Marcus is willing to do whatever it takes to level me up…
And I might just let him.
Gulp.
Note: This is a medium burn, New Adult Why Choose paranormal academy romance, and book 3 of 4 in the Twyst Academy series.
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This is definitely my favorite book in the series. Marcus is like no one else on this team. He’s not what you’d expect. He’s nothing like the others. He’s privileged, a member of the silver spoon society, and one of the most capable of knowing what’s in your heart.
Maddie is a little apprehensive about spending time with Marcus. He’s an enigma to her. Getting to know him has been quite an experience for her, though. He seems to understand her in ways the others just don’t. And, if that’s not enough, he knows he can help build her strength if she’ll just let him in. And Maddie needs to feel her own strength. She needs to acknowledge that she actually is an asset to the team. However, Maddie, being the least likely to be voted Open Book of the Year, is more than just a little nervous about letting anyone in, let alone someone as potent as Marcus. Her lack of self-confidence in regards to magic is paralyzing her, which is where Marcus can help. If she’ll just let him.
But for the team, the trials, she knows she needs to give it her all. Which, like it or not, means opening up to Marcus. But, really, how hard can that be, seeing as he’s gorgeous, mysterious, and oh, man, is he built! Not like Connor, their sunshine with a lanky build, or even Luke, the sensitive powerhouse, but built instead with enough wiry muscle to make him drool-worthy. It’s his intensity that holds her back.
This book brings us closer to the end of the trials, with Maddie finding out more and more about what she can do and how deep her power runs. Learning more about herself, and subsequently learning more about Marcus, brings her to a new level in her magic, and her ability to back her teammates. It’s a riveting tale of what it’s like to open up to someone completely, and not have it backfire in your face. What an exhilarating experience that can be.
DD Chance, I am in awe of the way these just keep getting better and better with each volume. This was so exceptionally done I want to scream it from the rooftops! Excellently done, DD Chance, Excellently done indeed! And then some!
The Mage Trials continue with the Mage Runner Team fighting and loving every step of the way. Maddigan, the War Mage, has intimate relationships with two powerful magicians of the four on the Team, Connor and Luke. Two more members remain for the bond to be complete.
This challenge centers on Marcus. The heat is up on this relationship and his ways are darker than the others. The landscape in reality and the game become darker and more tangled too. Smoke people are popping up everywhere.
Maddigan meets the challenge and Rafe remains. I can’t wait for the game to go on.
This is another great addition to this series and I greatly enjoy seeing how she keeps getting closer to all of the guys. The time with Marcus was sooo hot and exciting and cannot wait to read Rafe’s story
The third in the series, we are starting to see that development of the characters and the challenges that keep changing while relationships get deeper. Quick read and enjoyable!
Maddigan and Marcus WOW! That is all I am going to say about those two. This series is turning to to be a great page turner mystery along with the magic! Author keeps turning up the heat with each book they write! Can not wait to see how they finish this off!!
Book three of this series has proven to be just as fantastic as the first two as the characters become more developed and the story deepens even more. It is truly an intriguing read that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.
I’m really loving this series! This part of Maddigan’s story takes an interesting personal turn (spoiler alert: so very, very steamy), and the rest of everything I could say would be an actual spoiler alert so I will sum up: if you’re loving this series, you are going to want this book! Just be aware that it has moments that are volcano-hot.
Marcus has been the most mysterious one. You know there is a lot more than he is revealing. In this third book in the series, she gets a chance to uncover who he truly is and finds some surprises.
I do highly recommend this series. Each book gets better and better as I really enjoy seeing the relationships grow and strengthen. At this point, she has bonded on another level with Connor and Luke and her growing feelings for Marcus confuse her.
I liked what I got to know about him. He really knows how to support and protect her when she needs it. She hasn’t felt safe her entire life.
The ending has a prologue featuring what is to come for them in the fourth book and it is not going to be easy for any of them. I can’t wait.
I am voluntarily reviewing a copy I received.
The third installment continues to Twyst and turn through many permutations. Still edgy and coming to terms with her central role Maddigan must learn to accept she is the heart of the Mage Runners and that there are games within games in the world of magic.
The pace does not slacken and the development of a complex love triangle, no not a triangle, a love pentagram continues to unfold. Once a loner Maddigan is now beginning to accept she is more with a team and the team means more to her.
The intermingling of mundane and magic is masterfully handled you keep the reader enmeshed in the tale. Three quarters of the trial down and one to go. I can hardly wait!
this is the 3rd book of the series so the same characters we’ve seen in the previous books, with a few side characters getting more page time which is cool to see.. honestly so far my favorite guy has been luke (book 2) but this one was good as well.. the only thing i did not like is the “control” lines, but it wasn’t a major thing.. the author does a great job making describing not 1 but 2 completely different worlds and each book has more details, it’s amazing.. i cannot wait for rafe’s book, his is the one i’ve been looking forward to since the first book and the preview of book 4 sounds like it’ll be awesome =)
Heart of the Mage is the third book in the Twyst Academy series and it centers on Maddigan and Marcus. Our quintet is still trying to win the Mage Trials and strengthen their magical skills. Marcus gets a lead on his cousins’ deaths in the Mage Trials a few years prior and Maddigan is right by his side to help him figure it out. Maddigan is also trying to understand the prophesy that Cynthia foretold and to figure out how to prevent it from happening. Our main characters also get to spend a lot of time in the Mage Trials and learn some really interesting info about the powers that be. It will be interesting to see what they do with that info in the next book
I really enjoyed this series so far and am looking forward to the next story. Both worlds are complex and very well written, with characters I care about. I recommend this series.
May I properly introduce you to….. Marcus Winter
We have been observed Marcus from afar since the beginning of the Series three books ago, but now finally we get a first-row experience on Marcus Winter. At first glance Maddigan and Marcus only connection seems to be absolute lack of common interest outside from some kind of weird superficial attraction that surely is not enough…. or it is?
As the story evolves a deeper connection between Maddigan and Marcus consolidates, which is only fortunate as Marcus’s seem to be in desperate need of a “Maddigan-Special” boost. It is more to Marcus character that what meets the eye, even if it does not meet the high standard Luke’s book achieved (Twyst Academy Book 2). Marcus Winter definitely needs our attention, but … fair warning, Marcus is not your average girl’s white knight hero, thus affairs between Marcus and Maddigan are kind of “mature”.
The story arc on the Magic Trials keeps developing with new elements, unexpecting twist and some hard curve balls that keep us wonder if Maddigan and the boys even stand a snowball chance not only of winning the Trials but of surviving at all, while the infamous Red Team keeps wreaking havoc on the odds.
The ability of this author to weave a multitude of themes into a coherent both deep and funny full enjoyable story is unmatched and the writing stile as always excellent. A thoroughly satisfactory reading that can only be toped with the release of the fourth and final book in the Series. I can hardly wait to enjoy what twisted plot the bonding with Rafe Twyst will reveal…. And yes! pun very much intended …
Heart of the Mage is the third installment in author D.D. Chance’s Twyst Academy which is a paranormal academy romance series. For protagonist Maddigan Pierce, Twyst Academy has become more than a place where she’s spent the past 6 years as a janitor. It’s become a matter of life or death for her to succeed. As a war mage who isn’t supposed to exist in the real world, she’s now fully immersed as part of team Mage Runners in a competition called the Mage Trials where the winners will get a huge boost to their powers. That is if they can survive the trials and tribulations and challenges that they must face.
As with each of the first two installments, Chance has centered her story around two characters in particular. Touch of the Mage was Maddie and Connor Waring, while Blood of the Mage was Maddie and Luke Broadham. This time it is Marcus Winter. Marcus is the healer on the team as well as a mind mage. 4 years ago, he lost his cousins Steve and Chris to the Trials. Ever since then, Marcus has been trying to find answers as to what happened to them. Road blocks and non-answers haven’t helped Marcus ease his mind and move on. It made him all the more determined to participate in this years race. Then a surprise happens. 2 people who should know what happened to Chris and Steve, ask to speak with Marcus and Maddie. Will Marcus find his answers?
Previously, I said that I really loved Maddie and Luke’s story because there is so much they have in common in regards to their upbringing. Although, Maddie’s was much, much harder and stressful and she had only her parole officer who seemed to care what happened to her. Marcus’s only common ground with Maddie is that he is attracted to her like a moth to a flame. And, as with Connor and Luke, it is apparent that Marcus could use a boast to his abilities if the team is to survive. What better way to get that boast than to do the horizontal mamba.
Meanwhile, a new element to the Trials is revealed, and this time I am going to keep them secret. I’ve talked about the infamous Red Team and the fact that they never came out of the game and since then, nobody has won the Trials. I’ve said that Maddie and her team have been given the task of not only surviving the dastardly challenges of the Trials, but also finding a way to defeat the Red Team. Readers will finally get a peek at the Red Team as well as I said another aspect to the Mage Trials which seems to be spiraling out of control.
It is only fair to say that I liked the Trials aspects of this story better than I did the S&M parts between Marcus and Maddie. Sorry, guess I’m getting to be a prude when it comes to the amount of sex I can deal with. The fourth book in this series is called Soul of the Mage and will feature the last member of Mage Runners, Rafe Twyst. The author hints at some interesting things ahead with Rafe and Maddie. One can hope that the author pushes the limits and pushes the envelope as she’s never done before in wrapping up this series.
Thank you, as always, to the author for always willing to take questions and concerns. You are the best. As with everything else, this review is based on my thoughts and opinions and I was not compensated in any way for reviewing the authors books.
Am enjoying this series and will be sorry to see it end. In this book, Maddigan joins forces with another member of her team, Marcus, an Air Mage, as the team enters level 3 of the Mage Trials where the stakes are higher and things and people are not quite as they seem both in and out of the trials. Things are a little steamier in Maddigan’s bonding with this team member as well. Now to see what happens with Rafe in the final chapter.
The Mage Trials continue, with adventures filled with discovery. Our young mages have achieved growth beyond expectation. They are also on their way to uncovering secrets that will reveal layers of deception and possibly truths best unknown. Where will their path lead? What are the Mage Trials in reality? Will the bonding of our mages transition beyond the Mage Trial experience; will Maddigan’s true love be unveiled? This installment takes us closer to these answers…. I can’t wait for the next release. More please.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this Series so far! I can’t wait for the next book, however I don’t want to see the story end!
I love all things Jenn Stark and these have been no exception. You will not be disappointed, grab them all!