Spell of Love

The Dark Orchid #3

by Auryn Hadley

There's nothing stronger than love, except maybe desperation.

All Jade wanted was her own happily ever after. Unfortunately, it's never that easy. Being a woman and a mage complicates things. Falling for three men at the same time? At least that's working out.

Everything else is a mess.

And it's all the Spider's fault. That man just can't help himself. He wants power, and Xel is the best source he's ever found. To fuel his own addiction, the Spider will destroy everything in his path - including the quiet little village of pirates and whores that Jade has claimed as her own.

But everyone has a price. For Jade and her men, it's the people they care about. For the first time, they've found a family, and the Spider wants to destroy that too. After all, his goal is pain. He doesn't even care whose.

The only way to stop this is to go for the source. If the Sultan is this desperate to have his mage wars, then she'll play. After all, Jade has mastered the one weapon these men won't even consider.


Love - it cuts both ways.


Spell of Love is a complete novel with a reverse harem, polyamorous storyline. It is intended for a mature audience due to the presence of consensual sex, group sex, M/M scenes, and plenty of vulgar language - as well as some potentially triggering situations since the bad guys don't always play nice. While this is a love story, it may not be right for all readers.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Paranormal, Erotica, M M Romance, Fantasy Romance

492 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2019

Reviews

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overwritten

I'll start by saying that this series has very clean writing. I don't really remember any errors throughout the whole series so they either weren't there or they weren't enough to pull me out of the story.

That said, this is the second time I've read a series by this author and been really underwhelmed.

I felt like everything from the characters to the plot was overwritten. Character have the same conversations over and over again. The plot drawn out to the point that it became tedious. Really touching scenes fell flat time after time. I got so frustrated with reading basically the same conversations again and again.

I feel like I should have loved this series, but I was so disappointed in it. I never connected with any of the characters and I honestly feel like this entire series could have fit into one book if they weren't so repetative. I personally can't recommend this series but I've seen tons of rave reviews for this author so it may just be me.

[Tanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot better than the first two books.
Finally some powerful magic, wars, alliances, and training.
It would have been 3 stars rating if it wasn't for the over-the-top, sappy, gooey, ultimate happy ending. I don't mind the happy endings in general, this one was just rushed and tacky as hell.

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead





Ok the magic has worn off unfortunately. I skimmed most of this one as I was really bored. When they finally decided to act against the remaining mages it was ok. I think the safety started strangling me lol, while they finally don't have sex with others Xel STILL seems unsure and at the end Jade sleeps with someone else for their plan to work. Now the reasoning is that sex isn't love and maybe that's true but for this safety conscious reader I couldn't take anymore. The straw that broke the camel's back though was the secondary characters who maybe sound like they'll get a book? The H is older than the h and has been sleeping around, he's apparently waiting for her to age up so they agree to be friends until she's at least 20 though he's drawn to her and yadda yadda yadda.

I even snuck a peak at another of this author's series and that h heard the H having sex, it seems this series was a fluke for me because I can't do it again. Of course this is MY opinion based on personal preference.

[Puna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! Personally, one of the best series Auryn Hadley has ever written. I think this is my personal favorite. I will be reading this series for years to come. I enjoyed this tremendously and I love this world so much. I will not object to getting more POVs and possible the Briar's spinoff series? I don't know if it will happen but I loved this book. I'm obsessed with this series. I loved the smut, the themes, the humor, the characters were stellar. I love how big these books are, like seriously.....I love being caught up in this book for a couple of hours.

Overall: 5/5!!!!

[Jaquilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I'm gonna be honest, the Three stars is for ALL the books 1-3. And I haven't actually finished the third one because the writing was so on the nose and on the wall, that I just..didn't bother. (I was, in fact probably two to three chapters to the end but I just..couldn't)

So, before I go any further, this is a spoiler Heavy review. If you haven't finished all three, well, good luck.



Book one- I don't have any major complaints about. It starts off good and it ends somewhat well enough.
Book Two- It Lags a bit but limps along to finish well.
Book three- Honestly, I feel like it just should've ended at the other mages getting free and the defeat of Spider and Co because the rest of that? With the Stag and stuff? Wasn't set up well at ALL.

So the Good about all three of these books?
* The Sex positive was refreshing to see. The readily acceptance of having a polyamory that works with all involved made me deliriously happy because I couldn't find any other story for a while that had an MMF thing going on. That were so candid about their wants and desires for both their male and female partners and the desire for love to be a good condition/thing that happens for them all.

* Sex-Worker positive- Awesome. But I have a nitpick which will come later. I do like that part of the over arching thing in all three books was that prostitutes were valued members of society and should be respected and they are great at what they do and they absolutely should have a voice in their communities and not be condemned for what they do for a living. So that's a really good thing.

*Jaeda- I have both a love/dislike of her (I'll get into it later). But what I do love is it is utterly RARE to have a black female character like Jaeda in fiction like this with an actual MMMF thing going on. It's damn near impossible to find such a story, so I DO very much appreciate her existence and her honesty about her work and what she likes and don't. I liked how she accepted the others and helped talk it out sometimes. I do like she's quick on her feet and quite able to read the room...sometimes.

*The Men- Truth be told, after the second book I kind of just globbed them together somewhere in the third book. They became just..Eh, for me. (I know their names but also it..just doesn't feel well, I'll get into that later) BUT, I do like how they each have their own struggles and they talk and they cry and don't mind crying or being held. Those are all very good things and I love that it's in the book! It's great! I enjoy the banter between them when they're playful and the serious talks I live for as well as the comfort they give each other and to Jaeda and others. It's so nice. I wish there were more like that.

*The World- I find the world intriguing enough that I just enjoyed puzzling it together and seeing how it works in bits and pieces was great too. the whole thing with the Mages was nice and it all feels like a prelude in a way. It has a good base to make even a series of books out of it or just be as it is now and let fans ponder it. That's cool.

Now the Neutral bit about it all:
The sex was...eh. I could take it or leave it. Maybe this is me having grown up reading fanfiction and romance novels from the time I could access the ol' dial up demon and all at 13 or something, but the sex was something I just skimmed over after the first book unless there was a point to reading it. Some times, I just read it to see if I understand the configuration but most of the time, it just felt pretty bland and vanilla to me. Like, the one time my interest was piqued was when the Jackal got pinned by the pretty-boy soldier. That had my eye for a moment because, omg, there was an actual kink there! Then it kind just fizzed out and I was back at standby mode.
I did like the acknowledgement of lesbians and gay characters and how they're not always good (that dude from the first book that was bad with Jaeda) but also they kinda feel a bit one-dimensional.

Either way, I didn't mind them, but I didn't particularly enjoy it that much.

Aisha- I'm neutral about her. One hand, I kinda like her for her spunk and being able to understand that maybe she's *not* ready for things and taking to learning or teasing the others. That was cute. But at the same time, I'm not a fan of her pushing herself towards the guy that wanted to wait until she was of age and had more experience in her life. Not to mention, he has someone else too, so it does feel a bit... weird. She should be able to take 'no' and let it be.

The Bad:
Not bad, per say but like.... There were some things I had issues with that were only issues because it just left me going "What?" even after THREE BOOKS.

The Villains were just terrible. By terrible, I mean they were absolutely one-dimensional terrible and were introduced too late in the game to have any real impact on me. The Spider turns out to just be a henchman, in the grand scheme of things but we waste TWO Books on just him for the most part and not on the Real Problem which was the Stag and Sultan (Mostly the Stag). We're given some meager villainy and it sucks.

It sucks because it had the potential to be more. There could've been better ways to integrate the Stag plot earlier in the second book. Like a lot earlier. Having Spider last so long was a drag because we also don't get to see him do anything villainous other than to the Heroes and Heroine and even then a lot of this is being told with the exception of Jaeda's torture in the first book- which is graphic, of course, but it's a one-time occurrence. The only other time we get to see him in action is he's just too busy glowering or looking all "ooh, I'm just going to do terrible things~".
Like, yes, there is evidence he's done terrible things but the readers don't actually get to see them happening.

And that's a problem.

Stag, the Sultan- even Lion, The Viper (and wasp?)- they're supposed to be manipulative scary dudes, but I didn't really get any sense of that in the second and third book. It feels like Stag and the Sultan were tacked on, and that...shouldn't be, especially if they're the grand endgame.

*Jaeda- I had a little problem with Jaeda later on but these are mostly nitpicks and can be dismissed as a personal taste thing or whatever. After the first book and leading into the second and third, it gets really annoying how dismissive she is about children in a way. She doesn't want kids, fine, cool, I can relate- but just being like how much she doesn't want kids, repeatedly being a talking point just kinda feels like she thinks less of women having children (or rather them choosing to do so). Maybe that's not it, but her attitude about it feels off to me.
Another thing- which is mostly nitpicky really- but why is her skintone getting described like 'fertile soil'. I get it. I get what you're going for- it's valuable- but on the other hand it sounds like they're calling her skin dirt or dirty/unhygienic so it comes off a bit... 'Iehh' for me, who is also a black woman. There can be other ways to describe her skintone that doesn't relate to dirt or food, isn't there?

*The Repetitiveness:
I'm sure someone else said this, but oh my gods, how many times do we have to have the same conversations like three different times? I know that the aim is to make it realistic-ish and in the real world this would happen but we're reading it and as a reader it gets dull very quickly and becomes extremely annoying.
Especially when the conversations are ones that were already covered in another book or in another part of the same book and we thought this bit was solved/talked about. It's..really tedious and it slows down the story for me, personally.

*The Chapters are incredibly short:
It isn't bad as much as, I feel like a lot of these chapters could've been merged together instead of being a separate chapter. Especially if no time has really lapsed much. (I'm curious to know, are they all four to five pages long? I only used one chapter to see how long it was and was kinda surprised by how short it is. )
But like I said, this isn't a bad thing as Chapters can be as long as they need to be, but I think some of it could've been combined. (really you could've made it a two-book thing tbh. But I digress)

* More One-dimensional Minor problem Characters:
Particularly Fawn and Tila rub me wrong. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind character obstacles and Moving the Plot along but it feels really messed up how it went down for them. Like, for whores, which they all Constantly, Say. All. The. Time. It Gets. TEDIOUS. - None of the trio of the four understand Tila's actual problem. They lash out at Fawn, who, quite frankly, is right to feel the way she did because they WERE using her like that. it's callous with Fawn and with Tila, for all their insight, it feels like they could've nipped this in the bud easily by realizing immediately she's an insecure wreck and she should've been told that at the beginning. That way her failures would've definitely been wholly her own problem if she chose to ignore it.

But again, I recognize the need for Tila mostly. Fawn was just..unpleasant. I dunno, I have very mixed feelings about them.


Other Things that don't particularly fall into any of the above:

By the time I had enough of Jade and everyone, I just kinda didn't want to know how they get rid of the Stag. Jade and her crew were super effin powerful and there's no actual stakes here at this point because, what's Stag gonna do? Really? She and her lovers have access to unending magic. There's no struggle I can imagine or problem that she can't magic her way out of here. And that's why I DNF'd 3 chapters from the end or so.

I don't regret reading it, but I am a bit underwhelmed by the last book and in that regard, the last two books. I think the First one is good in what it does, it's just the rest didn't live up to that.

tl;dr:
I have issues with this trilogy and the third book is a bit of a let down in all. I don't regret reading it, though and I'm glad it exists. That's why it's a 3star for me. I liked it, enough.

[Dominique · Rating 3 out of 5]

The inconsistency

Look the premise is really good but the back and forth of emotions is just my god annoying. They literally talk about the same issues in their relationship over and over and over and over and over and over again!!! They reassure and resolve and talk about the same issues over and over and over and over again. It like didn’t y’all just resolve that but new situation let rehash and over explain it all over again! This has the promise to be really good mages hot mmmf combo magic potential for world building, it’s just raw potential in this book but the author really made me want to throw my reading device several times. I just ugh I stopped reading at 60%the redundancy is noticeable right at about 30%

[Crystal B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ****

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series conclusion with enough left there for return or spinoff.

[Claire Letnic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the ending of this series. I’ll need a minute to figure out a proper review, but a 5⭐️ review for this last book is my initial reaction.

[BleuBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I'm really glad I found this series. It's one of my favorites. Loved reading it and I'm very happy about the happy ending. It was a great story, with greater characters. I'm in book-heaven.

[Tiffiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually DNF this book...I barely got started into it when I noticed the same conversations were happening....yet again. Others have mentioned the repetitiveness as well but what I also don't like is changing of details from book to book. In book two, Briar (can't remember the young girls name) wasn't really interested in sex too much (just wanted to not be bullied anymore) but in book three they make her out to be sex-crazed? There were several instances of details being changed and it didn't make sense to me, they weren't logical progressions of 'growth of a character. I struggled through book two because honestly almost the entire book was re-hashing feelings and conversations and here we are again.

I absolutely loved having an FMC who wasn't white (finally!) and I loved the open sexuality and sexual expressions. The book was very well written grammatically and the world-building was great. The premise for the series was also a fantastic idea. However, repeats of conversation and detail changes just really ruined it.

A personal opinion (that I'm not using to lower star rating) was how I felt this was more of a gay harem with a token female. I felt like there was just way too much devotion to the male sex and male relationships that the female was just...there.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant end to an amazing trilogy!

Wow! I basically put my whole life on hold to read this book and I'm.so glad I did. Auryn Hadley never disappoints. The emotions in this book were so well written and I felt them right along with the characters.
*contains slight spoilers*
Xel is a beautiful character and the relationship between him and Ci were definitely the highlight of this book for me. I did feel like Treb took a bit of a back seat in this but that didn't take anything away from the story or him.as a character. The sex scenes were well written as always too. I didn't guess the way the final battle was going to go down and that was really refreshing having read so much that plot lines often become easily predictable. That certainly wasn't the case here. Auryn Hadley I applaud you and now I eagerly await ROTI and Gamer Girls sequels

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous end to a cracking series

I’m guessing if you’ve read the first two books in this series the only question you want answering about this third book is “is it as good as the other two books?”. The answer is that yes, it is as good. It keeps the same level of excellent story telling, that weaves the personal relationships of the characters with their dealings with magic and magic users.

The series is nicely rounded off and I felt satisfied with the ending, but I can’t help hoping that maybe there would be a new series that dealt with the next generation of magic users, in particular The Briar and her catalyst. A reader can dream - right?

[Ashley Aleshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

I really enjoyed reading this trilogy. The hardships, sacrifices, struggles and the love. Jade is a fantastic heroine and I love all 4 of them. I personally would love a spin off with the mage of trust. Set in the future... perhaps 7 years * wink wink*. A bad mage trying to take over the world and the keepers rescuing and punishing with trust guiding them or something of the sort, haha. Thanks for a unique and fabulous story.

[Jazmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect ending

This has to be one of my favorite series and as this is the final book I was not disappointed. The ending perfectly summed up everything and even left room for there to be a spinoff with The Briar. This is a series that I could read over and over again

[Kerensa Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark orchid final book

What a great ending to an intriguing series, as always Auryn delivers. I’ll miss reading about Jade and the guys but hopefully we will get to see more of The Briar in the future

[Dominique Smith-bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great end to a great series

I love a good, happy ending. Hopefully there is a spin off with Aisha, Kevik and Ravi with some Jade encounters sprinkled in (hint hint lol).

[Luciene Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

It was a perfect 3rd book to finish off the Dark Orchid trilogy.I am almost sad it ended but still enjoyed it.

[Lauren Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!

I read this whole series and it was amazing. I loved the ending, and it was better than I hoped for. What will Briar's story be????

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome read

Loved this trilogy, Auryn Hadley will definitely be on my list of go to authors! Will there be a book about the mage of trust???

[Devona White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending

Wonderful ending to the series. I was hoping we would get a new series with an older Briar. I would love to read a story about a pirate mage.

[Nikki Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome MC

Love this series it has everything I look for in a TH it has a bad*** MC with 3 hot men,magic and a lot of M\M

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good trilogy

I enjoyed this series. The books were well written and the characters were interesting. I’m sad to see it end. Hopefully we get more of Kev and Aisha soon!

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every book in this series and it absolutely made it on my list of favourites. I would even consider it for a re-read at some point. I loved the story, the characters and the setting as well. Five stars for sure.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great ending to the Dark Orchid series.
Auryn Hadley is a damn good author! This series has made me think more than most I've read purely because of the transformations the 4 main characters go through. They don't just fall in love and it's happily ever after. They still struggle with the relationship further down the line. However everything is expressed so clearly through the characters that you can't help falling in love with them completely as they struggle along just trying to find happiness.

[LauraGrizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read!!!

I’ve read this entire series and it’s FANTASTIC!!! Auryn writes some amazing characters. Every book I’ve read that’s written by her has been just as good. I highly recommended reading this series along with any others she has out there.

[Nicole Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a whore is so much more.

This is a LEGENDARY series with exciting magic and overlying themes of self love, acceptance, and sexual exploration. I’ve never experienced another book like this before and it. Is. Inferno hot. A can’t-stop-won’t-stop read.

[Owen Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy ending

It was good as always, lots of sex...sometimes too much that it distracts the reader, but good. Enjoyed the trilogy. Happy Jade got her happy ever after because she deserved it. They all did.

[OneDayI'll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly (dare I say it?) magical series

Jade has risen from lowest of the low, a disowned whore, to one of the leaders of a town and one of the strongest mages ever. Lust gave her power, gave her the men in her life. Compassion brought them all together and made them stronger. Love unlocked their future and made them whole. But the Spider lurks, just like his namesake, and waits to make his strike. First, though, he baits his trap. If they won't leave the protection of their mountain willingly, he'll make them do so on his terms. An old mage with nothing to lose is a terrifying thing. And after that they still have to stop the Sultan's mage. Because, if magic is going to bring balance to the world, that means someone has to enforce it. Too long has it been a weapon, wielded by a mundane at that! A new rule will be put into place, and woe be to any who break it.

Spoilers ahead!
That was the most beautifully written anticlimactic finale ever. And I mean that in the absolutely best way possible. I'm still not sure how Auryn managed to fit so much into just 3 books, and it not take days to read each one. Jade, with her humble start, her low status, but her pride in herself undeterred. Xel, with his power, his beauty, but so fragile. Then, with his powerful body but gentle heart. Civan, a soldier, a protector, his compassion. Their rise to power and their bonds to each other are stunning to read. Far from a traditional romance or even fantasy read, but with all the elements of each. Just arranged so very differently. I have to admit, I tend to pass by any blurb that mentions the heroine as a stripper/hooker/whore. They tend to be portrayed as brittle, hard, combative or broken. Jade is anything but. Tossed from her home for loving the wrong man, forced to sell her body to survive, she remains strong even as everyone takes and uses her. Sacrificing herself to save a woman who was still a child, and coming to the attention of the Jackal, was the best thing that happened to her. Embracing her role as Sacrifice took her from the shadows and put her center stage. Ironic when her magic shows such a dark color, like shadows made real. Whore to Sacrifice to Mage to near goddess power level, her journey has taken her through so many stages. But even as she is the center she isn't the complete focus. Xel, Treb and Civan each have their own stories to tell, growth to go through and loves to embrace. Loving a woman is accepted. Loving a man is accepted by some. Three men and a woman, all in love with each other? That one raises some eyebrows and begets some criticism. Well, anywhere else except their perfect town of whores and pirates who could care less as long as they protect them from the other mages. The crystals found are leveling the playing field for the mundanes, though. It could be a way to keep those who abuse magic in check. Oh, there really was just so much packed into this trilogy. I will probably be finding new things with every reread. 😍

[Jennifer Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This book has amazing characters and let's you know it's okay to be different. Lots of sex but does keep you intrigued