From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Salt Magic, Skin Magic

Lee Welch

Start date: February 1, 2019

Finish date: February 28, 2019

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Discussion leader: Jordan Lombard

Why we're reading this: This will be our February 2019 read!
[close] This will be our February 2019 read!

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 4 of 4 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Aug 12, 2018 Jax rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq, historical, 5-star

Loved this! The author managed to create the sense of genuine fondness between the MCs (in addition to physical attraction) and make it believable for feelings to develop in such a short period of time. Happy to have found a new writer to glom on to.

12 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2019 Ami rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mm-romance-or-erotica, mm-fantasy-pnr-futuristic-scifi, mm-historical-medieval-steampunk

Hmmmm... I didn't love this as much as my other Goodreads friends. For one, the "mystery" of why Sorren couldn't leave went a little bit too long for my liking. It was intriguing at first, but then I thought (it was my second reason) John and Sorren had more 'pressing' matters of the sexual kind (a.k.a. they needed the sex ... and did it a lot) rather than trying harder to find the answer.

In addition, the father, seemed to be purely evil, without a nuance in between. And the scene of (view spoil ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2018 Clare rated it it was amazing

Shelves: keeper

I was lucky to have the opportunity of an early read of this book, and loved it. Here were the notes I dashed down as I read, not very lyrical LOL but indicative of my emotional response!
A great blend of historical / paranormal / fantasy. A wonderfully unusual, tense, spooky premise, plenty of suspense, and an explanation/reveal that certainly delivered.
Lovely banter between the leads, and then moments of true anguish (but not strung out for too long).
I gasped aloud in at least two places!! (I l ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2018 Liz (Bugetta) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance, fantasy, m-m-romance, e-book, magic, zzzchal-sh-sept, zzzchal-ptp-2

Wow! This was so good. I need Lee Welch to write more books please! Such creative world building, two really well rounded, well developed characters and a delicious enemies to lovers romance plus a really exciting mystery. Excellent!

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2018 Didi rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, m-m, historical-medieval-time-travel, paranormal-shifter-supernatural, fantasy-fairy-tale-magic, mystery-suspense-thriller, arc-netgalley-edelweiss, lqbtqia

3.75 Stars

Another awesome tale from Lee Welch!! I first read her writings last year when she penned the debut contemporary novella “Mended with Gold.” It was such a treat, so I was excited to learn she wrote a historical fantasy, with such an intriguing blurb too!

Set in mid 19th century Yorkshire, “Salt Magic Skin Magic” centered around Soren, Lord Thornby, heir to the Marquessate of Dalton. Tethered to the Raskelf Hall by some invisible chains, Soren was slowly losing his mind. And reputation. 3.75 Stars

Another awesome tale from Lee Welch!! I first read her writings last year when she penned the debut contemporary novella “Mended with Gold.” It was such a treat, so I was excited to learn she wrote a historical fantasy, with such an intriguing blurb too!

Set in mid 19th century Yorkshire, “Salt Magic Skin Magic” centered around Soren, Lord Thornby, heir to the Marquessate of Dalton. Tethered to the Raskelf Hall by some invisible chains, Soren was slowly losing his mind. And reputation. Magician John Blake was the last person he expected to come to the rescue in light of John’s obvious hostility upon first meeting him. Soon both John and Soren find themselves embroiled in dark curse and ancient magic that surround the estate and racing with time to save their life.

Soren was not my typical favorite character; he was too frivolous to my liking. But heck, I couldn’t help to sympathize with him. If nothing, the forced isolation shifted his outlook while putting forward an eccentric appearance, thus warm me up to him. A materials man - or magician who worked with materials - John didn’t fit the image of a hero with power in his hand. He was more like a paranormal investigator who did some sleuthing on Raskelf and the people in it. What first struck between John and Soren was a symbiotic relation that developed into more. With the tone of the story flitted between gloomy, playful, sinister to stimulating; the deceptively fast paced (I said deceptively as wont of historical country hour, genteel people tended to be slow-moving and spend longer hours lounging about, but at the same time our MCs were racing with time to solve the mystery surrounding the ancient curse and dark magic at Raskelf) brought John and Soren together, plotting to get the best over the power that trapped Soren.

The book showed me that Welch has a way with words be it writing short or longer piece. “Salt Magic Skin Magic” was pretty character-centric and - despite a couple of clues thrown in - I found the revelation was still a bit of surprise. The dual POVs highlighted the conflicting insight from our MCs and portrayed the polar characters rather well. I enjoyed John and Soren gallivanting all over meeting all kinds of creature. Their association might sound instant given the time frame, but it worked well with the creeping doubt each men bore.

Having waited for some kind of epic battle between good and bad, I was a bit miffed by the climactic showdown. Things that happened felt rather like due to happenstance. I wish the revelation to another realm might take part in it. Alas... Also, For closure point of view, I wish there’s a bit more to that ending. Some sort of assurance that no setback would lie in wait for them, considering... In fact, taking into account the Marquessate (financial) condition at the time the story taken, Soren’s future looked a bit bleak, lol.

But all in all, “Salt Magic Skin Magic” stole my attention. The way I see it, Lee Welch definitely becomes one of my favorite authors. Please publish more books (more) quicker, Lee!! ;-)

Advanced copy of this book is kindly given by the author in exchange for an honest review. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 25, 2019 Kirsten rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 11, 2018 Antonella rated it really liked it

I loved this historical fantasy book. I read the beginning and I was hooked. The writing is good. I appreciated the fact that the relationship between John and Soren is not rushed; the magic system is well thought. I found the last part of the book slightly weaker though, mainly because of the fantasy aspect going a bit overboard.

The references to the Great Exhibiton of 1851 and to the Crystal Palace, which was indeed designed by Joseph Paxton, are real historical facts.

...more

Like · see review

Apr 22, 2019 Chris, the Dalek King rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: abuse-assault-torture, historical, love-bytes, mc-pairing-mm, missing-senses-broken-things, arts-and-letters, nobility, owned-ebook-or-audio, magic-and-supernatural, foreign-uk

Lord Thornby was never one to believe in magic. Granted, a couple years ago, he had no reason to care one way or the other about it (and many other things). But after nearly two years of being trapped on his father’s estate, physically unable to step outside the boundary lines, he is beginning to rethink a good many things. It isn’t until John Blake finds his way to the estate for a visit with Thornby’s young stepmother, that Thornby has any proof that it is nothing more than him going insane, t Lord Thornby was never one to believe in magic. Granted, a couple years ago, he had no reason to care one way or the other about it (and many other things). But after nearly two years of being trapped on his father’s estate, physically unable to step outside the boundary lines, he is beginning to rethink a good many things. It isn’t until John Blake finds his way to the estate for a visit with Thornby’s young stepmother, that Thornby has any proof that it is nothing more than him going insane, though. But even with all the magic at their fingertips, it might not be enough to break the enchantment locking Thornby far away from London, life, and most importantly, freedom.

I’ve been promising myself I’d get around to this story for a while now. So when the author kindly offered up a copy of the audio for review, I snatched it up. I wasn’t exactly sure if I was going to like this story, but it sounded interesting enough to risk a shot. And I was more than happy with the results.

This was, if you’ll excuse the pun, enchanting. Historical drama and fantastical creatures blended wonderfully in this story. I love a book that is good at keeping me on my toes. Maybe it is because I wasn’t reading it myself this first time, but I could never quite pin down where the plot would go next. It was a very nice feeling.

I’m not going to go too deep into the plot, other than to say it was very well crafted. The characters were where it really shined for me, though. I usually have a harder time connecting to characters when I’ve only listened to the audio version, but that was not a problem here. The writing, working in concert with the excellent narration, really brought these characters to life. I cared about them from their first appearances on page–be those feeling good or bad–and I never once stopped caring what happened to them.

On the audio side, I think Joel Leslie did a great job with this. There were a few times where the pauses in sentences seemed like an odd choice, but that’s my only real complaint. He was really good at distinguishing between characters. Sometimes I’d even forget that there was only one person narrating, it was so good. And while I’m not one to listen to many audio books, I can easily see myself returning to this one.

This was, on the whole, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. One that I can see both new comers to the story, and returning readers being able to enjoy as well. The writing was superb, the characters instantly sympathetic, and the mystery worth every second of waiting.

4.5 stars

This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.