Spell Cat by Tara Lain
The Aloysius Tales, Book 1
Loose Id
LGBT Paranormal
ISBN: 978-1-61118-734-2
Reviewed by Jo




Killian Barth loves being a history professor and working with his students.  He knows very well about the rumors surrounding him and while some are correct – he is in fact gay, the fact that he is the strongest master sorcerer in years and a very powerful is never hinted at.  Killlian’s life has been semi-predictable, but now things are getting turned on end.  He is being forced into a marriage neither he nor his bride-to-be want. He has met the man of his dreams, Blaine Genneau, and he has a very powerful student who has no idea about magic. Just what is going on?

Blaine Genneau is a new quantum physicist on campus.  While he is openly gay, Blaine knows that many guys stay in the closet.  When he meets Killian, it’s an instant attraction and the best news is that Killian is more than attracted to him too.  However, something is making Killian fight that very same attraction. Heck, even Killian’s cat seems more welcoming at times to Blaine. With the help from a mutual student, Jimmy Jax, Blaine wins and then has to fight for Killian’s love.

Killian knows he loves Blaine but has always been told that having sex with a normal human will deplete his magic.   When circumstances lead Killian to know that the Council has been telling the magic community lies, he is determined to find out the truth even if it means he must sacrifice his love.  That is until the wrong person threatens Blaine – then that very same Council discovers just what Killian is capable of.  The answers come and the centuries of lies are dissolved with the light of truth, but will it be in time for Blaine and Killian and for another couple to maybe just maybe find that their forbidden love can finally see the light of day?

When your soulmate crosses your path, can true love topple powerful lies and responsibility to community?  Killian and Blaine search of these answers in Spell Cat.  You have to love any book that combines magic, passion and suspense and has not one but two happy endings – at least I do.  Killian had me from the first instant I met him and when I saw the meeting between him and Blaine I knew they had discovered their soulmates.  I could not believe that their love would be destroyed by force and an arranged marriage in this day and age.  I was cheering as Killian struggled with and then fought for Blaine’s love.  When I saw the other love story that was so closely intertwined with that of Killian and Blaine’s, I had to start hoping that it would be a double header.  The final fight was as thrillingly suspenseful as the weddings were heartfelt sweet.  And through it all was Aloysius, a mysterious cat who knows just how the magical community should be and who needs to be with whom.   I can’t wait to see what happens not only with these characters but just where Aloysius ends up next and whom he brings together.

Spell Cat is filled with magic and passion with just that right touch of humor and suspense to keep you surging ahead in the story.  I loved some characters and hated some characters, got angry and then cheered as the events unfolded before me.  When you finish a book and then immediately want to start from page one again, that tells me it is a book that has to be Joyfully Recommended.