From author Thea Harrison comes the latest story in the New York Times bestselling Moonshadow trilogy….Kidnapped while on tour, musician Sidonie Martel is transported to the mystical land of Avalon. A human without magical ability, she is completely vulnerable to the deadly forces surrounding her.When she defies her captors and refuses to share her music, an act of violent cruelty leaves her … her captors and refuses to share her music, an act of violent cruelty leaves her broken, her ability to play silenced, maybe forever. Her only hope is a whisper in the dark, gentle hands that offer healing, and a man who refuses to show her his face yet who offers advice she dare not ignore.
One of the most feared and powerful sorcerers in history, Morgan le Fae serves a Queen he despises, Isabeau of the Light Court. Once a famous bard and an advisor to kings, Morgan has been enslaved to Isabeau for hundreds of years, acting as enforcer and the commander of her deadly Hounds.
Sidonie’s music touches Morgan in places he had abandoned centuries ago, and her fiery spirit resurrects feelings he had believed long dead. For Sidonie, trapped in captivity, passion offers a comfort she cannot resist.
But Isabeau holds Morgan bound in magical chains that only Death can break. And in the court of a cruel, jealous Queen, the only thing that burns hotter than love is revenge…
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SPELLBINDER is the second in the Moonshadow series. The power of music, coupled with the power of love, is an unstoppable combination in this lovely paranormal romance.
I enjoy all her books, some more than others though. I recently finished book no. 3 in the series and found that “Moonshadow” was the best one of the 3. Describing the storyline is difficult, the author creates a world that blends with ours and makes it fascinating and believable. Hopefully, it won’t be the last book concerning these characters.
In book one of the Moonshadow Series (Moonshadow) Morgan la Fae is an extremely powerful Sourcerer and the Light Fae Queen’s loyal servant. He’s responsible for enacting Isabeau’s punishments, ensourcelling the Dark Fae King, and hiding the passages connecting other world lands to Earth. He’s universally hated and feared, and he does a great job antagonizing the good guys.
Book one is interesting, but it was book two that really held my interst, when we find out that not all is not as it seems. Thea Harrison took the villain of book one in the Moonshadow series and turned him into the hero of his own book, Spellbinder. (You don’t need to read book 1 to pick this one up).
In SpellBinder we learn that Morgan has been trapped for centuries by a powerful spell, a Geas* which forces him to do Isabeau’s bidding. After he is critically injured at the end of book one, he returns to the Queen bleeding and bedraggled to report the failure.
Disgusted by his appearance, and frustrated with the turn in the war, Isabeau commands him to get out of her sight until he’s fully healed. Because her commands are literal, Morgan uses the opportunity to escape to Earth for a few weeks rest from Isabeau’s control.
While hiding in Earth, he discovers a wildly popular musician on tour, Sydonie Martel. He enjoys her genre-bending violin music, and attends several of her sold out concerts. He doesn’t realize his casual interest has put her in danger.
When Sydonie is kidnapped and delivered into Isabeau’s hands, she has no idea where she is or how to get home. She’s a ‘dead head’: a human with no magical ability whatsoever. She’s thrown in front of the Queen – filthy and exhausted and loses her temper. Disaster strikes, and Sydonie learns what it means to displease the Queen of the Light Fae. Every finger in Sydonie’s hands is broken and she’s thrown in the dungeon to rot.
Morgan returns too late. He helps her where he can, healing her hands and bringing her food, but he’s limited by his need to hide from Isabeau. And if the Queen discovers someone has been helping Sydonie, or his growing attachment to her, she will surely hurt Sydonie to punish and control Morgan. The intrigues of their situation force Morgan to keep his identity secret from Sydonie, helping her in the shadows of the prison.
This is where I should mention that I listened to this book on Audiobook (narrated by Sophie Eastlake).I think for this particular novel, the audio book is an excellent format. I’m quite picky on narrators. It’s rare for me to listen to a book twice – especially paranormal romance – but this was worth a second listen. The slow burn of the romance, coupled with the accents and whispered conversations in the dark of the dungeon lent itself perfectly to the narrator’s strengths.
The story continues beautifully through Sydonie’s clever escape plan, the growing romance between Morgan and Sydonie, their quest to gain freedom for each of them, and ultimately the final show-down between Morgan and the woman who held him captive against his will for so many lifetimes, and Sydonie and Death.
Thea Harrison took a non-magical human, plopped her into a magical world, and managed to create a strong character who held her own. Sydonie’s wits and passion ultimately get her out of several scrapes, and the building romance with Morgan isn’t a head-over-heels love-at-first-sight trope. She’s not perfect, and he’s not either, but together they really work. The dual perspective book builds both of their feelings at the perfect pace, and the action is spot on. Overall, a fun read (or listen)!
*There seems to be some argument over how the word Geas is pronounced. I always thought it was “gay-us”. The narrator says Geas like “gesh” – rhymes with “fresh”.
I loved, loved, loved this story so freaking much! In the 2nd installment of the Moonshadow series we have the story of the wickedly bad Morgan and the virtuoso OCD having, violinist Sidonie. This was a beautiful tale. Reminiscent of King Arthur and Merlin. Sidonie is kidnapped by Robin, the puck, mentioned in the first book. Robin believes by kidnapping Sidonie and taking her to Avalon, Morgan will have to dissolve his relationship with Queen Isabeau of the Light Fae court. In the last book we get a hint that Morgan is not acting on his own accord. Poor Sidonie is treated as a slave and suffers an agony beyond her imagination. Once Morgan catches wind of what has happened to her he hastens to help her out as much as he can. We do find out that for centuries Morgan has been trapped by a spell so strong he cannot break free of it. The Queen controlled his every move and he did not have any free will. Sidonie is able to strengthen her resolve with Morgan’s help and gain the Queen’s favor, so that she may survive. Filled with suspense, hot scorching sex scenes and action so intense, I was glued to each word. I loved this story more than the first and found Sidonie extremely smart and quick witted. She did what she had to do survive, all the while she was plotting to get out of there. In the end, Sidonie and Morgan fall in love deeply and Morgan with the help of Sidonie and a certain god, is able to find an out of the geas he was under. Great read! Enjoyed every minute of it.
*****ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review*****
Great characters, good world building, a little slow in the beginning but worth the read.
In a story about a wizard, it is Thea Harrison’s writing that is the real magic. It took me a day to read to read Spellbinder, and several more days to finally put it down.
I have a new book boyfriend (and girlfriend) in Spellbinder. I just adore these two characters.
While Thea Harrison only hints in the story that Morgan might be Merlin from the King Arthur legends, she outright says that Merlin’s abduction from Camelot was her inspiration for this story in the author’s notes.
We have met Morgan le Fae in Pia Goes to Hollywood and in Moonshadow. Morgan is a very powerful wizard and the enforcer for the Queen of the Light Fae, Isabeau. Most of the Elder Races fear him since Isabeau is a bit unstable and she sends him out whenever Isabeau feels slighted by those lesser races. She had him destroy or hide all the crossover passages from Earth to the Dark Fae Court, trapping their knights here with no backup for decades. We do see something odd in Morgan’s behavior in Moonshadow when he confronts Sophie in Town. “if my Queen does learn about you, and she orders me to do a thing, you must understand–I will do it. I must.” This seemed a little off that he might suspect something of Sophie, but not act on it to protect his Queen.
In Spellbinder, we learn that centuries ago, Queen Isabeau coveted the powerful wizard belonging to a human king. She stabbed him with the Death’s Knife known as Azreal’s Athame which turned him into a lycanthrope and bound Morgan by a geas (a compulsion) to obey all of Isabeau’s orders to the letter. In taking him from his King’s side, the King and his Kingdom eventually fall in battle. The Queen took away Morgan’s freedom and destroyed everything he loved. He loathes her, but because he must follow her orders to the letter, he also tries to disobey her whenever possible. He knows how to wiggle around them whenever possible, (like not being ordered to hurt Sophie, just question her) and wiggling around Isabeau’s order is exactly what Morgan does to get a bit of freedom from Isabeau.
Morgan was shot with a silver arrow during the fight in Moonshadow and Isabeau orders him to get away from her until he is completely healed. So before she can realize her error, Morgan takes the passageway to Earth and keeps his injury fresh so he does not feel compelled to return to her side. This is the first measure of freedom Morgan has had since he was bound to Isabeau. While here, Morgan stumbles upon a concert being performed by master violinist, Sidonie Martel. Her music combined with his brief freedom, reawakens Morgan’s love of music and life, and he follows her tour through Europe attending all her concerts. But his fixation with Sidonie doesn’t go unnoticed.
Robin (the puck) from Moonshadow loves Sophie and he will do anything to protect her from Isabeau’s wrath and Morgan’s power, even if that means tossing an innocent into hell. Robin kidnaps Sidonie and presents her as a gift to Isabeau knowing the temperamental Queen will eventually have a tantrum and hurt Sidonie, possibly forcing Morgan to do it. Robin hopes that Sidonie will become a wedge between Isabeau and Morgan, and that Morgan would choose Sidonie over his Queen. Morgan was commanded not to speak of it, so no one knows about the geas. Robin is unaware that his plan is doomed from the start, and so is Sidonie because of him. Morgan has no choice but to give up his new found freedom and return to Avalon to try and protect Sidonie as well as he can, but he must try to keep away from the Queen so she can’t countermand her last order.
As expected, an angry Sidonie sets off Isabeau’s temper and she orders all of Sidonie’s fingers to be broken and then tosses her in the prison to rot. Morgan comes to Sid in the dark of her cell, healing her and bringing her food and water, but Morgan was ordered long ago not to release prisoners so he cannot help her escape. All he can do is provide comfort. Morgan always stays in the shadows so Sid cannot identify him to Isabeau or else she would simply order him not to help Sidonie at all.
And it is not just Isabeau’s orders that he fears. He doesn’t want Sidonie to learn who he is simply because every creature knows who Morgan le Fae is and the atrocities he has performed on behalf of the Queen. Right now, Sidonie treats him as a friend and he doesn’t want to lose her trust or affection. He knows that the beast he has become doesn’t deserve either.
Morgan and Sidonie grow close as he cares for her in the prison while he uses his freedom to research a way out of the geas. If he can break the bond they can both be free of Isabeau.
Morgan and Sidonie are wonderful characters and have a great dynamic. Their affection grows naturally as they spend time together and work together to both get free from Avalon and Isabeau. Sidonie is smart and generous, and until he meet Sid, Morgan had all but given up on life after centuries on Isabeau’s leash. He would have committed suicide long ago if Isabeau hadn’t commanded him not to hurt himself. You know I love my wounded heroes and it is wonderful to see Sidonie bring Morgan back to life.
Thea gave us dynamic new characters in a story set in the well loved world of the Elder Races series so we can easily jump into this spinoff and take the time to get to know the characters.
Let’s you see the other side of Morgan. Great read
Morgan. Ah…Morgan. I love villains having their stories told. Give me an immensely powerful tortured dark mage any day! Apparently Morgan makes an appearance in the Elder Races novels too, but I’m only on book 4, so still looking forward to that. He was a very evil villain in Book 1 of this series, but once we learn the how and why of it, it’s very easy to start rooting for him. Ms. Harrison also did a great job dealing with his inner conflict over the evil he has done.
Sidonie was a really lovable heroine. She’s a gifted and famous violinist (even the Djinn come to see her perform) with OCD and social anxiety. Still she manages to grit through even the horrible parts of her journey with respectable gumption, and she never makes any stupid mistakes, which is refreshing. She and Morgan bond over music as well, which was beautifully done and also fitting with the Arthurian mythos, since Morgan is not just a wizard but also a bard.
Another intriguing aspect of this story that did make me a little nervous was the whole Arthurian legend retelling. That mythology is one of my absolute favorites, so I can be touchy about people messing with it. Morgan is the Merlin figure in this version, which is a little different. But I was so pleased with it! It was subtle and twisted into Thea’s own world and mythology so well. And proper homage was paid to The Lady of the Lake and Excalibur to tie things together nicely. I’m excited to read Book 3 – Lionheart!
The best part of this book was the slow burning romance done right. For the first half of the book, Morgan and Sid don’t even see each other. I know that sounds weird, but it works; you’ll just have to read and see. When things finally do start to steam up, it is so emotionally gripping, and sweet, and hot all at once. In a lot of romances it seems like the characters jump into bed together first and fall in love later; but by the time these two hit the sheets, you are SO READY for it. Ahhh, love these two together. Also, you’ll be happy to know that their HEA does NOT come easy, and I was genuinely worried (and rooting) for Morgan and Sid until the very last page. I also really love that Ms. Harrison’s romances never feel quite over because of her skill at weaving an overarching series plot.
I’m excited for the final book in the trilogy, but will be sorry to see this series conclude.
1/2
another great book by thea harrison…
Thea Harrison has done it again with Spellbinder. It sucked me in during Chapter 1 and didn’t let me go until well after I finished the last sentence. For those who have not read Moonshadow (the first book in this series) nor other Elder Races stories by Ms. Harrison, you don’t have to do so, but I HIGHLY recommend it. The depth of world building in those previous books deepened my emotional responses to this story.
Spellbinder picks up right after Moonshadow ends, and grants a glimpse into Morgan le Fae’s unwilling service to the Queen of the Light Fae. He manages to take a break from her manipulations, and in doing so intersects with Sidonie Martel, a musician whose skill, talent and musical genius reawakens something inside Morgan. This intersection is the cause of significant change in Sidonie’s life, and not in a good way. However, the events which happen, though emotionally wrenching, pulled me into the story and kept me reading through the night – which doesn’t happen often. The ending was as emotionally satisfying as any book I have read, and the tag at the end amusing. And thought-provoking.
The bottom line is I loved this book. I want to continue to read about these characters, and see what the future brings them. In addition, the story setting was interesting, a unique perspective of traditional legend and lore; and the world building was thorough. Supporting characters in the novel were well-rounded, and the glimpses of the other races had me wishing for more.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book from the author in order to have the opportunity to provide a review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
I absolutely love Thea Harrison’s books. She is a great author with the ability to make her world come to life.
Spellbinding! Emotional! Magical!
I don’t know where to start, but to say WOW. I was sucked in from the first to the last page and couldn’t put this novel down.
The Moonshadow series is a spin-off of the Elder Races. This series is primarily based in the UK, the other side of the world, and has brought in the races over their, mainly the Fae into the spotlight.
Finally we get Morgan Le Fae story. We learn so much about him. Why he does what he does, who he truly is, and the horrors he has been a part of and seen. If you have read the Elder Races then you know and have seen Morgan pop up every now and then. He’s the bad guy or is he??? I want to tell you so much about Morgan and his plight, but if I do I give so much away. Morgan’s journey is an emotional one in finding love, living life, and enjoying the world again.
Sid is a human with no magic at all. She’s strong, courageous, quick minded, and a musician who creates breathtaking music. Her life changes forever when she is kidnapped and turned over to the Winter Palace of the Light Fae.
Sid and Morgan are fantastic together. She shouldn’t trust him, but she can’t help it. In the end she trusts and opens up a world with possibilities for them both. Their romance was sweet and endearing.
Besides the romance Ms. Harrison whips up some seriously strong feelings and doesn’t pull any punches when she vividly describes her scenes. It’s an intensely emotional read. I was crying, I was loving, and I was hating right along side these characters. One scene at the beginning with Sid, I cried all the way through. It was just so heartbreaking to read.
Spellbinder is Captivating, Enchanting, and Entertaining. Their are so many great moments and charming characters. It’s action-packed, fast-paced, and romantic. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Rated: 5 Stars
*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy provided by Thea Harrison with the sole purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.