“This main character has echoes of Rylee Adamson, yet still holds her own flare, the world building is unique and the book has some beautiful snarky humor that left me gobbling it up! The author has a deft hand at bringing bad ass women to life, I can’t wait for book two!”~~ReviewerThe Witch’s Reign…a land of unnatural hellish cold ruled over by the Ice Witch herself, who is in turn guarded by … guarded by three creatures—Wolf, Bear, and Raven. Those lovely beasts derive their power directly from their mistress and just happen to kill any who cross their paths. To get THERE, you first must pass through the Dragon’s Ground. Full of, you guessed it, dragons who for the record, also do not like trespassers.
Sounds like a fun place to go, doesn’t it?
Yeah, not so much.
You see the thing is my best friend, Darcy was sent with a team into the Witch’s Reign to recover a powerful jewel that belongs to our mentor, and they are long overdue to come back.
That leaves me, Zamira “Reckless” Wilson to go after my friend because no one else will.
Somehow, I get saddled with a human—a male no less!—tagging along for the ride. A human that is as weak and useless as my shifting abilities.
Throw in a weapon that might be trying to kill me, and a small dragon that has a penchant for Shakespearean insults, and you’ve got my life in a nutshell.
May the sands of the desert swallow me whole because this is going to be a friggin bumpy ride.
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Witch’s Reign is the fist book in the Desert Cursed series by Shannon Mayer. We are introduced to a verity of characters and an interesting world. There’s humor, adventure, and loads of action.
Zamira Reckless Wilson is a shifter who everyone thinks can’t shift, she’s cursed not with one, but two cures, her family is dead except one brother, and she doesn’t trust nor does she feel she fits in. First off, can I just say what a name for this character. It made me laugh and it fit her perfectly. Now as for her as a character. I liked her. She’s the under dog. No one wants her, no one sees how strong and capable she can be, they don’t believe in her, and her trust issues are valid. Ya, she does things that are reckless, but in the end they work out.
The side characters let me just say some I like and other’s not so much. We meet a verity of people and all have their own agendas.
The world is unique. We have a variety of shifters, creatures, Greek gods, magical people from Arthurian legend, and so much more… It’s a bit confusing at the beginning, but as we move along we get to learn more about this world and what is going on.
Witch’s Reign hooked me and I can’t wait to continue and find out what happens next with Zamira and the gang of misfits she acquires along the way. If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, a verity of myth’s, legends and creatures; then you should give this series a go.
Rated: 4 Stars
What can I say!! This book kicks off from the get go.. Zam is straight in the thick of things again getting into trouble while battling for the grater good. She has new allies but new enemy’s to match them. I love how all the charters just fit together in Zak’s series (even if we hate some of them).. completely jam packed with action.. humour and Shakespeare lol… Zam and Lila are an amazing pair that neeeeds!!! to be read by everyone. I can’t recommend enough.
Zam is the “weakest” in the eyes of her pride. She turns into a housecat instead of a lion like the rest of her pride or what is left of it. I love how Shannon Mayer takes the weakest character and has them overcome some big odds. I love how Zam manages to survive no matter how many times Steve tries to throw her to the wolves. He can’t stand that she is smaller but braver and stronger than he is. I love how Zam fights for those she loves and makes sure that they can count on her even if she can’t count on them.
am loving this series!
Set in a world where supernatural beings are kept contained behind a wall, separate from humanity, Zamira is a shapeshifter in the Bright Lion pride.
Except, she turns into a little black housecat, with a collar and everything.
Her small size makes her a perfect thief, and her black fur lets her hide in the shadows. Skills that are valuable, but not exactly honorable for someone who’s descended from great protectors of the desert.
When her best friend goes missing on a quest, Zamira defies the orders of the goddess of the desert, Ish, and sets out to find her. Along the way, she finds allies in a weak (but surprisingly attractive, and useful) human tagalong and a fiesty, tiny dragon who likes to quote Shakespeare.
Filled with action and humor, wit and betrayal, I highly recommend this one!
Totally hooked. Also, I want a dragon.
I am somewhat new to Shannon Mayer’s writing (finished her 40 proof series which was fantastic – can’t wait until the next one – and her YA series Shadowspell Academy which is fab too) and this was the first book in this series I read. It was very fast paced, exciting, unpredictable. Off to read the next one! I’m not stopping now!
Shannon Mayer starts Witch’s Reign off with an edge of your seat action scene and doesn’t stop until the end of the book. This book was very fast paced with periods of reflection by the main characters in order to elaborate on their history or character development. She does a very good job of planting Easter eggs of information for you to figure out. I am an avid reader and get annoyed with most author’s attempts at such coy tidbits; but I will say that Mayer piqued my spidy-sense and had me second-guessing myself for several chapters before any revelations. I do agree with other reviews that this series is very reminiscent of the Rylee Adamson series, so if you enjoyed those, you will likely enjoy these although I believe I read that they are different worlds. I see some of her other books tie into this world, and I have not yet read those, so maybe those other ones will help me understand and enjoy this world better. By the end of this book, Mayer has developed the main characters beautifully into complex characters. Another plus for me at least is that the name of the book does not give away the entire story. It does tie into the story, but just not in the obvious way.
As for negatives, there were a few which is why I cannot give this a glowing 5 star review. It took me about half of the book to really get into the book, and if I didn’t already like Mayer’s other works, I might have put the book down. After a sort of turning point in the journey, I realized she had after all sucked me in, and I am looking forward to future books. I am also just NOT a fan of alternate universes within the same planet. Such as some parts of the story is where some modern day countries are. I just wish she would have set the series in a completely different world instead of trying to tie it into current countries on our same planet. Thankfully, it’s not constantly talked about, and after it’s mentioned for reference, the story proceeds so you can easily push it to the back of your mind and enjoy the journey.
In conclusion, if you’re a big fan of action, sass, and sarcasm from a killer female heroine, this story is for you. I thoroughly look forward to the next installment in the Desert Cursed Series.
I love a good adventure with Great Characters.
Zamira is definitely going to be a Favorite character of mine . Cannot wait to read more of this Series.
I listened to the audible version. Fortgang brings the story to life. The characters are imperfectly perfect, with flaws and weaknesses. I absolutely adore Zamira. I can’t wait to see how this series unfolds!
I thoroughly enjoyed this series, it was great!
I absolutely love Zam and Lila. They are perfect together as friends. The Shakespeare insults were hilarious and the ride was crazy.
“That didn’t go as planned”
That’s the main phrase of this book. Not that it was said a lot, but that’s what was on my mind. Which is good. Once a book or series starts going as the reader plans, it becomes predictable, therefore all the fun is taken out of it. This was not predictable at all. “Didn’t see that coming”, was another phrase in my head.
When Zam and company go on a quest, anything can happen, and usually does. This time she’s headed out to the Wyvern’s Lair because the Oracle said that’s where she’d find what she needed to bring her brother, Bryce, back from the dead and bring her beloved Maks back into her arms. The Oracle threw in a bunch of other riddles for Zam to figure out too. Of course, as I said, nothing goes as planned, which leads them on a different trail. A literal twist in the road, you might say. Twisty is right!!! This time there were so many twists and turns it was….WOW!!! And I loved every minute of it.
My favorite line in the book: Lila-
“She dropped to the sand next to Marsum and jammed two claws up his nose, pulling on the nostrils. I batted her away and she pulled her claws out, and wiped them in his hair.”
Talk about a fish hook!!! I actually laughed out loud with that one!!!
Love this story!
I absolutely loved this story. What a great start to what is sure to be an amazing series. The story is full of action, suspense and intrigue. Absolutely fantastic!
Superior writing as always. Love this author.
Highly recommend this book.
This first book of the Desert Cursed series was easy to read. There are new characters by Shannon Mayer that are sassy and have fun personalities. There is a bit of a simplistic feel to the story. For example the characters are not deep. Her ex husband is a selfish butt head and that is it. He almost acts like a teen with his behaviors and responses. If you can deal with that then this is a fun read and I have already grabbed the next book just to see how the story plays out.
Indiana Jones battles the White Witch of Narnia
Not exactly, but it has the same classic feel good to it.
Shannon Mayer, what a fantastic writer you are! Hilariously fun book! There were some quotes in there that gave me a good belly ache laugh. Where does she come up with this stuff?
I love hating Steve and Kiara. I adored the trio bond between Zamira, Lila and Maks and I can’t wait to read more about them.
A very colorful, creative story full of mistakes and bonding. I think there’s just about every paranormal you can think of, except sea creatures. With the story geographically located around the Caspian Sea, I bet we’ll get some mythical sea creatures eventually.
Opened this book not knowing a thing about this author other than reading recommendations, and from the first night I started reading, I cursed her. You see, she captures you with her story and you can’t just end a chapter. Instead you say “one more chapter”……..
In all seriousness though, this author is GREAT. She knows how to tell a tale and keep you on the edge, wanting to know whats going to happen next. And her characters…. WOW!!!
This particular series of hers is a 4 book series with book #4 scheduled to be published before the end of 2018. I can currently finishing up Book #3 and sadly look forward to the last book of this series.
This is one those stories that I like but somehow is just OK. I’ve read a lot of Mayer books and some I’ve loved, but lately not so much. I will call it predictable. The saving grace is the characters.
This is incredible amazing spin-off series! I loved original ones and I love this new too! Shannon has done it again though I never doubt her abilities to create a brilliant supernatural story and great strong badass heroines! I’ve learned that you are never too small for great things and never underestimate the smaller’s absolute great abilities and strength! Loved Zam and Lila! Thanks Shannon Mayer for this fantastic book! Highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story of supernatural world!
Different types of supernaturals than standard. Author has several really good series also.
I loved this series. She has humor scattered through the tense times but the action is almost non ending. Great main character. A word of caution if you read her Nix series-sadness in the ending of the series.