Spiretown

Free today (4th Feb 2013) on Lia Black creates a world where Mages live in regulated ghettoes. Collin is a Templar Commander charged with keeping control of the Mages of Spiretown. Logan is a powerful Dreamer and brothel owner who styles himself mayor of Spiretown. The story brings them together in an improbable pairing."How old were you when you realized you were different?" Logan opened his mouth, then smiled slyly, "What sort of different? Gay different, magic different or just plain fucked-i [...]

YES! YES! YES! Read this one! How I love it when I find a book that I enjoyed enough to rant about. . . this is one of those. Its a sort of dark urban fantasy set in a grim future after the mage wars between plainblood humans and those humans who are tainted with magic (mages). Wonderful world building. I truly hope for more to come in this world, as I would welcome the chance to re-visit.There are so many things to love about this book! Magic and demons and angst and hot sex to name a few. Its [...]

Interesting story with a dark urban fantasy-type setting. Collin is a Commander with the Templars, a group who police Mages, dangerous magic users who become psychotic killers when taken over by a demon. During one raid on Spiretown, the ghetto where mages are imprisoned, Collin is rescued from certain death by the enigmatic and very powerful mage, Logan Grey. The two men come to understand each other and an attraction forms when Collin is subsequently forced to take Logan under his protection.A [...]

3.5 stars rounded up for being free. This was a cool little alternative-earth book about an America where magic exists and mages are considered too dangerous to roam around freely, so they get rounded up and chucked in ghettoes. Enforcing all of this are the Templars, an elite brand of police who deal with magic-users. The romance is of the enemies-to-lovers/gay-for-you variety, when Collin; a heterosexual Templar commander is forced into close-quaters with Logan; a powerful/sexy mage. Things I [...]

It probably says a lot that it took me four days to read thisd I still skimmed the lonnng action sequence at the end. Although the story moved on at a fast pace and the plot kept me engaged, the characters never lived up to their potential. I've read some amazing character-driven romances lately, and these two MCs seemed like flat caricatures in comparison. If you're looking for a light, action adventure fantasy with a dash of romance thrown in this might be the book for you.

Free on right now (4/28/13). Not sure for how long though

3 1/2 - 4 HeartsReview written for MM Good Book Reviewsmmgoodbookreviews.wordpress/Spiretown, a place where people born with the taint (magic) are shipped to when their magic becomes apparent. Logan is a mage, who has his own little part of the world in Spiretown, but he needs help when he discovers the Red Seal (a group of rogue mages) are targeting him, so he approaches an unlikely source for assistance. Collin is a Templar Commander, his group are there to keep the mages in place and to destr [...]

Done! And it only took me a little over 5 years

In this urban fantasy humanity is divided between plainblood, normal human beings, and tainted, a minority who possesses powers that appear magical. The tainted are powerful but vulnerable to the influence of demons who may possess them to enter the human reality.Past wars have brought humanity to a situation where the tainted no longer have rights and are enclosed in areas similar to ghettos, policed by templars, plainblood specially trained to contain them.Of course plainblood are not lambs: w [...]

I REALLY liked this. I struggle finding paranormal/uf books I like in the m/m genre but this one really worked for me. It's about Collin, a paranormal cop who monitors the mages in their world. Collin believes they're all bad and has helped in the persecution of their race. He's assigned to protect the leader of the mages, Logan, and finds out all his preconceived ideas are wrong. Logan challenges his belief system and the two men end up finding friendship and then love. Lot's of magic, demons, [...]

Spiretown is not a happy place. It's where mages are relocated against their will; a place where they can be forgotten. It's a grim corner of the world, and a romance set here isn't going to be all butterflies and sunlit fields. The characters are real, imperfect people who are forced together. They're smart and they're sexy and they make the most of the situation they're in. They find each other and they start to build something together.'Spiretown' isn't fluffy. It's challenging and rewarding. [...]

Dark but delicious! My daughter reads manga and watches anime and the most tragic MCs always seem to have white hair and something wrong/different with their eyes - I found it interesting that Logan fit this mold and often had flashes to those mediums reading this novel :)I like both characters and all their flaws. There is lots of violence but also tender moments. I loved the world building and vivid descriptions.There is a head hopping/POV switiching problem that threw me from time to time, bu [...]

The rating is entirely me. There are plenty of people awarding this book with 5 stars, so it must be me.My major pet peeves: I do not like horror and I do not like books that rotate solely around one or two characters, unless those characters are marooned or isolated from the rest of the world and society against their will (nods to Robinson Crusoe and The Broker).This is a character driven book, and though MCs are pretty entertaining by themselves, they live in a bubble. There are some people m [...]

This was FANTASTIC! Totally not what I was expecting. I could not stop turning the pages because I wanted to know what would happen next. My god, this was good. A different kind of tale, indeed. I do hope that there is thought on a sequel for this story. Wow! This one goes on My Favorites list. Loved the story.

I really enjoyed this book. The only thing that threw it off was the POV flip flopping in the middle of a scene. If there is going to be different POVs in a book I prefer them to be separated by scenes and/or chapters so that there is no confusion whose head you are in.

Lovely, gritty alternative Earth setting, with magic-users oppressed, segregated and heavily policed. Great characters (loved Logan), well paced action and a very satisfying read. Hope there are some sequels in the works, or other books in this same world.

Kindle freebie right now. Thanks to ttg for the heads up. amazon/Spiretown-ebook

Lia Black paints a unique world and characters with bold strokes of her pen. Overall a really good story. This is an enemies-to-lovers story. A dark urban fantasy of mages/demons prisoners in Spiretown vs humankind’s jailers the Templars. Logan and Collin. It’s a story about corruptions, prejudice, and survival. But I really did not like where the story ended. For me it was just too disturbing, and not enough resolution.

The best book ever!!! This was one of the most amazing books I have ever read! Its hero’s are flawed and beautiful, the story is an adventure a horror and a romance all at once. I wish it could go on!!!

** 4.5 Stars **Deliciously dark!

At 36%:This book does a good job of showing segregation, discrimination against anyone different.I expected the relationship between Templar Collin and Mage Dreamer Logan to be one of equal. But at this point, Logan is weepy and talks about being a 'sub'- D/s is something I didn't expect in a book themed 'Urban fantasy.'At 100%:I still cannot understand how a child who has undergone so much pain and been sexually mollested can be open to D/s.But other than that, the last 50% of the book was fast [...]

I loved the world-building. It was enough and at the same time not too much. I loved how Collin slowly grew up to accept not everything is black or white. I loved Logan and how he was both vulnerable and strong. The way he talked about the abuse made me want to hug him.So why not 5 stars?The head-hopping. It wasn't so bad that I wanted to DNF the book, but it's a pet-peeve of mine. I also would have liked to see how things went after the end. What happened with Collin's job? What about Tomas? I [...]

For some reason, this one fell a bit flat for me but heck if I can explain why. The D/s aspect threw me off as I didn't realize this story had that when I bought it. (I have to renember to use the full website when looking for new books to read instead of the app). That might be why it fell flat because I don't care for that much so I skimmed through those parts. I gave it extra stars for creativity, though.

Logan and Collin. Loved some partsemistry, urban fantasy feel, interesting world, didn't want to put this down. Not so fond of the rapid, unexpected POV changes and the extended length of the action scene late in the story. The plot felt superficial in places, and more depth in these areas would have been ideal. Rounding up to 4 stars because the foundation is well done, and I enjoyed the story immensely. Looking forward to more books from this author.B-, 3

More like 3.5 stars, but I rounded up. Enjoyable even if the plot could seem a little all over the place. The characters were really interesting, as was the world-building. It read as rather open-ended, so I do wonder if there is the possibility of a sequel in the future. As I feel some opportunities were missed, I believe there is room for expansion, but it still made for a good story as a standalone work.

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did! The plot line is fantastic and the characters are realistic and interesting. The only problem I found was that correct punctuation was almost never used and there were a few minor spelling mistakes (eg, 'thorough' instead of 'through' close to the end), but honestly, the story was so awesome that it didn't bring my 5 star rating down one bit!

Set in a dystopian world filled with hatred and bigotry, the characterization of demon possessed mages and the process they go through as well as their use of magic is fascinating. Well worth the read.

Entertaining urban fantasy romance. Engaging characters, interesting story, neat world, nice romance. I expected more from this book, for some forgotten reason, but it was still very likeable and held my attention.

dnf @ 16%. Got tired of the casual misogyny of women only portrayed as sluts, whores, dog-killers and cheaters. This book has a really judgmental religious tone that is really putting me off as well, not to mention the POV switching in the middle of a scene.

I enjoyed the start of this taleDon't know why but it's time signature was unexpected and funThe mm element was too intrusive for me, but worked.The story does require a suspension of belief slightly more than I am comfortable with