Padme's Library: Monday's Mysterious Mayhem: The Magician's Angel by Jordan L Hawk

Monday, December 24, 2018

Monday's Mysterious Mayhem: The Magician's Angel by Jordan L Hawk

Summary:
Vaudeville stage magician Christopher Fiend lives for the spotlight. His chance at big time stardom awaits him in Chicago, the next stop on the circuit after the little town of Twelfth Junction.

Edward Smith wants nothing to do with his family's theater. Until Christopher catches his eye on opening night, then treats him to a very special performance during intermission.

When a dead body turns up in the middle of Christopher’s act, suspicion immediately falls on him. If Christopher and Edward can’t work together to clear his name, Christopher won’t make it to Chicago in time. Edward knows he shouldn’t get attached to a man who will be gone in two days, but his heart—and a very special angel—have other ideas.

The Christmas Angel series of holiday romances follow the travels of an angel ornament through the decades as she inspires (and sometimes nudges) lonely men to find their Happily Ever After. The Magician’s Angel is the third in series, which can be read in any order.

The Christmas Angel Series
In 1750, a master woodcarver poured all his unrequited love, passion, and longing into his masterpiece—a gorgeous Christmas angel for his beloved’s tree. When the man he loved tossed the angel away without a second thought, a miracle happened. The angel was found by another who brought the woodcarver True Love.

Since then, the angel has been passed down, sold, lost and found, but its magic remains. Read the romances inspired by (and perhaps nudged along by) the Christmas angel through the years. Whether it’s 1700s England (Eli Easton's Christmas Angel), the 1880’s New York (Kim Fielding’s Summerfield’s Angel), the turn-of-the-century (Jordan L. Hawk’s Magician’s Angel), World War II (L.A. Witt’s Christmas Homecoming), Vietnam-era (N.R. Walker’s Soldier’s Wish), the 1990’s (Anyta Sunday’s Shrewd Angel), or 2018 (RJ Scott’s Christmas Prince), the Christmas angel has a way of landing on the trees of lonely men who need its blessing for a very Merry Christmas and forever HEA.

Christopher Fiend's next stop after Twelfth Junction could be the one that makes or breaks his career, too bad a body turns up that might not let him leave Twelfth Junction in time to make Chicago. Edward Smith grew up around the theater his dad owned and now his brother is trying to make it survive. A green carnation and a cleverly slipped card leads to a backstage bit of fun but shortly thereafter a body turns up in the act of the wearer of the carnation. Will Christopher and Edward have more than the backstage fumble or has the body on stage put an end to it? Will the Christmas Angel bring two more together or has murder put an end to her record of matchmaking?

Another winner in the multi-author The Christmas Angel series. A spot of murder to brighten up one's holiday is always a blessing in my book. There comes a point where you can only take so much sweetness without the sour. Don't get me wrong, Magician's Christmas has loads of holiday sweet within the pages but Jordan L Hawk has sprinkled in just the right amount of mystery and mayhem to give this entry an extra splash of awesomeness.

Once again, I wonder how the Christmas Angel went from one era to the next but that in itself adds a recurring flavor of holiday magic that doesn't need to be answered to be enjoyed. Jordan L Hawk has a history of using real magic to further a story along but this time around its slight-of-hand pure theater magic that is involved but as we see even the vaudeville kind can be a life saver too.

Magician's Christmas is a lovely blend of historical accuracy, murder, heat, and heart to make this romantic mystery novella one of the best I've read this holiday season. I don't imagine we will see Christopher Fiend and Edward Smith again but if the author ever felt the pull to write more of them, I know I for one would be first in line to gobble it up.

I should add that Jordan's entry in this series is third but can be read as a standalone. I myself have read this series out of order, not something I often do but in this series it is doable. However, I do personally recommend reading Eli Easton's Christmas Angel first as you learn the how and why the ornament came to be and as I have said in my other reviews so far of this series, not knowing her origin would probably leave me a bit distracted from completely enjoying each subsequent entry no matter what order I read them. But that is just my personal preference.

RATING:

Author Bio:

Jordan L. Hawk is a non-binary queer author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave them a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When they aren’t writing, they brew their own beer and try to keep the cats from destroying the house. Their best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.