Wild Magic by Alexandra Ivy, narrated by Elizabeth Russell is the first book in her Magic For Hire series. At sixteen, Peri’s wild magic appeared and her mother tried to kill her to take it for herself. She fled to the east coast and eventually ended up at the Witches Brew bookstore-cafe where she lived and worked in a Magic for Hire business with two fellow mages. When she received word that her estranged mother and twelve members of her coven were dead of some unknown magical cause, she returned to the Wyoming ranch where she was born to solve the mystery of their deaths. Valen, the golden eyed vampire head of the New York cabal, was obsessed with Peri, who he believed would be his perfect mate.When he received word of the mysterious deaths and their connection to Peri, he journeyed to the ranch to investigate as well. The two launch an investigation across the country into the cause of the deaths and the path of destruction an incredible power was leaving in its’ wake. What happened during that investigation would determine the future for these two powerful people. This was my first book by this author and I lapped up this paranormal romantic suspense tale. I luxuriated in the spicy sexual tension from the slow burn between this couple. I really loved the characters, the narrator was great, and the story was interesting. I definitely recommend this audiobook. It is even available in Kindle Unlimited, well worth it, and a new author to add to my rotation. I’ll be looking for the second book in this series in July! I am voluntarily submitting this honest review after listening to an advanced complementary copy of this audiobook thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio.

Good witch ,vampire ,magic ,mystery, murder and romance story
Peri and Valen are very good characters.
Narrator is very good easy to listen to.
Voluntarily reviewed.

This is going to be a great series if the rest of the books are as good as this one. Peri and Valen's story is unique but familiar. I enjoy the idea of wild magic & the premise of the book. I think it is an interesting take on an old topic. As per usual, the characters are interesting, the writing amazing and the story enchanting. Now to wait on the next.

Outstanding story and narration. This book was well told and kept my attention from the start. I have love every book that I've read by Alexandra's. Can't wait to read more books by Akexandra.

Wild Magic by Alexandra Ivy
Paranormal vampire mage romance. Slow burn.
At sixteen, Peri Sanguis was forced to flee Wyoming when her mother and her coven tried to kill Peri because of her wild magic. Now the entire coven is dead and Peri must return to the ranch to find answers of who could have killed the twelve women. Cabel Vampire leader Valen won’t let Peri investigate on her own. Anything so evil that could kill a coven that easily should not be faced alone.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook. For some reason, the best option for me was the two together for this story for the first couple of chapters. World building and character cementing.
The audiobook is narrated by Elizabeth Russell who does a great job distinguishing between Peri and Valen. One character (Stella) has an intense accent and it was quite different from the main characters. There was an impressive conversation between Stella and Peri that had to be difficult to perform but came through very cleanly and clearly. This is one of the best things about listening to an audiobook over reading. Accent variations and emotional portrayal.

Vampire Valen hasn’t had a relationship in 2000 years but he can’t resist Peri. And he will do anything for her. Including putting his own life in danger. Swooning. He doesn’t notice or care about all the other women throwing themselves at him. He has eyes only for her now.
Peri is quite independent because she’s had to be. She has made family with Maya and Skye at the bakery where she works. She’s not alone, but she does know there is something different about herself and her magic. She is drawn to Valen but doesn’t want to be like every other female panting after him. There’s more than a spark in her heart when he’s near.
There’s lots more than romance here and in fact that’s probably less than 10% of the story, but it does factor into some important moments.

My biggest impression is that this is just the beginning and that there is a lot more world building to come. That is a bit of an educated guess based on advertising. And I’m intrigued to see where it could go and how the world will expand. And how the wild magic will expand.

🎧📖 reading vs. audiobook: generally I like both equally for different reasons. I’m busy and an audiobook will fit into my schedule easier. In this case, I felt the world building and the inflection of Valen’s personality was better through reading. For me, it’s a visual experience and while I was reading and listening together, I preferred my inflections of his voice, over how some of it was done in the audio. But as I said above, the audiobook for accents was phenomenal and I would have totally missed that had I only had the ebook at the point.
Go with your preferred in this case.
I will definitely continue the series if it should turn into one.
The writing is compelling storytelling and I was hooked into to magic world immediately.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher RB Media.

**Note: Review will be added to Instagram and Amazon upon release day, then I will update with links.

This was a fun, fast-paced mystery, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance all wrapped in to one book. I did not know what to expect going in to this read, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The shortest summary is: Peri, a mage, and Valen, a vampire, work together to solve the murders of a witch coven and develop undeniable chemistry along the way. The romance is a super slow burn, but worth the payoff in the last few chapters. The mystery element of the story was engaging and the magic system compelling.

A note specifically about the audiobook: the narrator did a great job. I enjoyed her portrayal of Peri and most characters, but subjectively did not love the way she voiced Valen.

This was book one in the Magic for Hire series. The story is mostly resolved at the end, but there is just enough of a cliffhanger to make me excited to continue the series!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🌶️ 🌶️

Thank you to Alexandra Ivy, RB Media, NetGalley, and Kensington Books for providing me with digital and audio copies of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the creatures and magic in this book! In someways it reminded me a little of True Blood and I loved the mix of intrigue, romance, and adventure. This was a great beginning to a series and I really enjoyed all the characters. I am really excited for the next book.

This book reminded me of many of the urban fantasy series that I have loved. Peri is a likable main character. She is strong and independent, and Valen, the vampire, complimented her well. In the audiobook, the reader made him sound like Keanu Reeves, which is A-OK with me. I did find it hard to believe that in his 2000 years of life, he had not had a paramour or 12. Other than that, I liked it a lot! While this story had adequate closure, it still left the window open for sequels, and I will read them!

Wild Magic by Alexandra Ivy- publication 1-4-24
Run Time: 10:42

Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

The narrator is Elizabeth Russell who reads all the characters. I believe the voices fit the characters especially Valen. He speaks to Peri slow, low, and very seductive. Peri is a little high-strung and talks fast but I could easily tell the difference between all characters. The reading style did bring the story to life especially with the action scenes. The narration and the author were in sync, and they fit together perfectly.

The audiobook's flow was pretty good. It was a fast moving, quick read . The narrator paused and announced every time a new chapter came. The book had a table of contents which helped me follow along with the e-book and audio.

This is the story of Peri Sanguis who was raised by her mother and her witch coven. At sixteen, Peri manifests wild magic. Her mother Brenda Sanguis is envious of her daughter's magic and wants it for herself. Sensing the threat she would become, her mother stabs her in the heart. She escapes to the Witch's Brew bookstore/cafe, and meet Skye and Maya who help and train her. Valen is a two thousand year old vampire and one of The Vampire Cabal-the most powerful who rule the Gyre(source of magic). He wants to claim Peri as his mate, but she can't stand him. He is protective and shows up for Peri when she's in danger. When Brenda and twelve witches in her coven are murdered, Peri wants to know what happened and who did it. Together she and Valen investigate and fight their attraction to each other.

Overall I loved Valen and Peri's power struggle relationship. Working together on the murder case helped them get to know each other. It's slow burn with a bit of action, mystery, and fantasy that PNR readers will like.

My recommendation is to read the audiobook because the speed, matches the fast paced quick read.
Rating : 4/5 ✨

The story had interesting fresh lore aspects, but the reader’s voice choice for Valen, and her reading pace for some scenes, are very distracting and breaks the immersion into the story.

This was such a fun read. By the time I got to the second chapter, I was hooked! From Alexandra Ivy's descriptive writing style to the world building, I was absolutely on board with this story. The pacing was spectacular, taking the time to explain everything I needed to know so I never felt lost, without dragging on and leaving me feeling bored. The plot was so much fun; taking some spookier elements and blending them seamlessly with the magical and romantic elements this story thrives on. Overall, fantastic read!

Thank you to RB Media & Tantor Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

At first I was not a fan of this because all "males" are called "males" and not men, which felt dehumanizing. I hate when men called women "females".
But then I was like "Fuck yes" because they aren't men (demons, vampires, fairies) and also calling all men "males" is rad and we should do that.

I absolutely love this. And the narration. Holy smokes! That is the best narration I have heard this year!

This was an OK beginning to a new Urban Fantasy series. I liked the main character well enough. She was fleshed out fairly well. I thought the overall plot was good. There were a few things I didn't really like about the book. First, the relationship between Peri and Valen isn't really developed very well, if at all. There's no initial encounter, no gradual enemies to lovers development. Peri seems to get horny at random times and other times dislikes him. Valen keeps acting like some stereotypical villain that thinks he's irresistible to women ("I will have you." and "You will be mine."). I don't know if there was some previous history that we weren't privy to. Second, the ending seemed real chaotic to me. I think the author brought in too many characters and I couldn't picture who was doing what. The last thing specifically applies to the audiobook. The narrator seemed to have several tones of voice for Peri. I had trouble realizing who was talking.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was magically badass!!

I absolutely loved Wild Magic! I was instantly drawn in by the cover & the blurb - and it 100% lived up to the hype!

🔮 Magic
🧛‍♂️ Vampires
💥 Big Bad
❤️‍🩹 Emotional Damage
🎬 Action Packed
♥️ Romance
🔐 Secrets

Thank you so much Tantor Audio for the advanced copy!