“‘I don’t like mages,’ Adrian said. But then, he seemed to catch himself. He glanced back at Ollie. ‘Well, most mages, anyway.’ Ollie couldn’t help but grin. ‘I’ll take that,’ he said.” – Seb L. Carter, The Ritual of the Broken
SEB L. Carter’s The Ritual of the Broken, part of the Own-Voices gay paranormal romance series “Haunted Hearts,” immerses the reader in a fascinating urban fantasy landscape. His novel is populated by magical wonders such as curses and mystical family mysteries, along with supernatural figures like mages, werewolves, and monsters that would consume your soul as soon as look at you. Oh, and don’t worry, there are hot dudes, too.
The world-building here is impressive and draws you in—almost immediately. And this is a good thing. I sense the author’s intentions to start with a modicum of a slow burn so the reader is eased into the complexity of the fantastical world, avoiding overwhelming them with too much information too soon. When an author slams their reader with too many details and florid scenery right from the get-go, it can feel forced, if not plodding. That’s not the case here. You begin as a visitor to Carter’s imagined world, but soon enough, you feel like an active spectator. It’s quite thrilling.
The characters of Ollie and Adrian are not only charming but also often frustrating in their interactions, which adds a delightful spark—and spice to the story. Their lively and clever exchanges make the inventive narrative a joy to follow. Due to the generational repercussions of his ancestor’s dabbling in the dark arts, Ollie lives an impeded life, running a shop selling crystals and candles to mortals. He sells the potent magical items to other mages who aren’t looked down on, like he is, and have their magical abilities under control, unlike him.
Ollie, our mage, is the character I quickly gravitated toward. His fellow magic users shun him due to his ancestor’s actions. This constant judgment and the vilification of his magic make him an outcast. I’ve always enjoyed the trope of generational “blame and consequence,” that incessant punishment of the bloodline down through the ages due to an ancestor’s actions, whether warranted or not. A curse can be fun, confounding, and fundamental to a character’s personal growth in the pursuit of its removal; Carter employs it well here.
Seb L. Carter’s The Ritual of the Broken, a Haunted Hearts novel, is more than an opposites-attract love story between a grumpy yet hunky mage-hating werewolf detective and a cheerful magic user plagued by a troubled familial history and haunted by a ghost. It’s a sound murder mystery and crime thriller set against a backdrop of a modern urban landscape of sorcery, homoeroticism, and secrets.
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