Title: Mind Magic
Author: Poppy Dennison
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: Novel
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance

Rating: 4.5

Simon Osbourne knows he should ignore the cries for help he hears coming from the remote cabin.  As an apprentice mage, he is forbidden from getting involved with other magical beings, and he can tell that the cries are coming from young wolf shifters.  But when no one from the pack comes for the children, Simon can not leave them to be harmed, and he steps in and saves the cubs during a heroic rescue that puts him and his magic at risk.

Gray Townsend is the Alpha of the High Moon pack.  He and the other pack members have been searching frantically for the missing children, including is own son Garon, but he is unable to hear them through his mental connection and their searches are finding nothing.  Gray is incredibly relieved when Simon returns the children home, and is surprised to learn the kids have formed a close attachment to him.  Gray finds himself attracted to Simon and wants to protect him on pack land, but despite sharing the feeling, Simon needs to continue his mage training and can’t get further involved with the pack. As it is, he is likely to face punishment from the mages for getting involved in wolf business.

Yet when Garon is once again in danger, Simon is back at the compound to help.  He finds himself drawn to the wolves, loving their sense of community and family he has missed in his own life.  Simon shared his mage skills with his grandfather, with whom he had a close bond. But now that his grandfather has passed away, Simon has no real family and mages are quite solitary.  As he gets to know Gray and the rest of the wolves, Simon begins to feel part of their family.  And as his bond with Gray grows, the two men consider whether there can ever be more between two such different magical creatures.  At the same time, danger continues to threaten both Simon and the pack from the dark magic and they must both fight to protect those they love.

I realized it had been quite a while since I have read a shifter book so I was really excited to pick up Mind Magic and I was not disappointed.  Dennison creates a really interesting world filled with three different types of magical beings.  Simon, the mage, has mind magic.  Also part of the world are the shifters with their body magic, and the demons and vampires with soul magic.  I thought it was such an interesting idea to view each of these beings as different sides of the same world of magic, rather than being so distinct and separate as in most paranormal stories.  Even though they are connected magically, however, each of these three groups is supposed to remain independent and only associate with their own kind, but that quickly falls apart as evil lurks and love prevails.

I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Gray and Simon.  Gray is the typical wolf alpha, the leader among his group, strong, protective, and caring.  I loved the close bond with his son and the way he looks after the pack, while never being obnoxious and overbearing.  And Simon is such an interesting character, lonely and still trying to find his place in the magical world.  Yet he is incredibly brave, jumping in to save the cubs knowing he is risking not only trouble from the mages, but his very life.  I really like that although Simon hasn’t fully come into his power, he has strength in his own right and can be an equal partner to Gray, rather than always needing protecting.  They make a good pair and are very sweet and sexy together.

Although we get an HEA for Gray and Simon, it is clear that there is more to be done uncovering the evil that is out there threatening them and I am excited to see where Dennison takes the series.  Mind Magic is a great debut book and I am really looking forward to reading more from this author.  If you enjoy a great paranormal with all kinds of magic, I would definitely recommend picking up Mind Magic.

P.S. The giveaway is over, but if you want to know more about the book, check out Poppy’s guest post Mind Magic and the Power of Three.