Black Magic GlitterbombRating: 2.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Short Story


Benji was introduced to dark magic by an ex years ago and has grown his abilities over time. He’s not the best guy out there, but he’s also not the worst and he proves this when he rescues Kit from being attacked. Kit is young and innocent, but has been living on the streets. Benji does not want to be responsible for Kit, but with no other option, Benji brings Kit home.

The attraction is there immediately, but Benji has no idea what to do with Kit exactly. He doesn’t want to expose Kit to the darker elements, but that can’t be helped when a trap is set for Benji and his magic is at great risk. Benji reluctantly accepts Kit’s help to try and figure out what is going on as he finds himself drawn to Kit. But there is darker magic out there and someone won’t rest until Benji is theirs.

I like a good short story. But, there’s an art form to it and each component has to be balanced just right for it to come together. Here, the characters seemed alright, but we are never given the opportunity to really get to know them.

The story sort of starts in the middle, but then never catches up. We learn that Benji is an atrumancer or someone that deals with dark magic, but that’s about all we learn about him. He had an ex that got him into magic, but where magic fits into the rest of the world remains a mystery and there is no world building. It’s not even made clear what else Benji does or how or even if he makes a living from his magic.

Benji rescues Kit and then Kit stays with Benji so Kit is present when Benji walks into a magical trap. The story then became all muddled for me as Benji tries to find out who is attacking him and his magic. Mixed in with this is the new attraction between the men and it was way too much to try and accomplish within the shorter number of pages. Everything was rushed and a lot was just basically touched upon, which made the execution of the larger plot, as well as the relationship, both suffer. The story hinged on Benji’s magic and by the end of the story it wasn’t made clear where exactly he stood as the details were murky and there wasn’t that much to grab onto. I still had a lot of questions at the end and based on my experience, it would be difficult to recommend this one.

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