Review: Starcrossed by Allie Therin

Title: Starcrossed

Series: Magic in Manhattan: Book Two

Author: Allie Therin

Length: 282 Pages

Category: Historical Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

At a Glance: If Spellbound was a homerun, Starcrossed is a slam dunk—to badly mix sports metaphors. Once again, Therin offers up a knock-out of a storyline to further the intrigue and danger and, of course, to advance the romance between her pair of polar opposites, Rory Brodigan and Arthur “Ace” Kenzie.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: When everything they’ve built is threatened, only their bond remains…

1925 New York

Psychometric Rory Brodigan’s life hasn’t been the same since the day he met Arthur Kenzie. Arthur’s continued quest to contain supernatural relics that pose a threat to the world has captured Rory’s imagination—and his heart. But Arthur’s upper-class upbringing still leaves Rory worried that he’ll never measure up, especially when Arthur’s aristocratic ex arrives in New York.

For Arthur, there’s only Rory. But keeping the man he’s fallen for safe is another matter altogether. When a group of ruthless paranormals throw the city into chaos, the two men’s strained relationship leaves Rory vulnerable to a monster from Arthur’s past.

With dark forces determined to tear them apart, Rory and Arthur will have to draw on every last bit of magic up their sleeves. And in the end, it’s the connection they’ve formed without magic that will be tested like never before.

Review: Magic and mayhem continue to breed chaos in Prohibition era New York City in Allie Therin’s sophomore novel, Starcrossed, book two in the outstanding Magic in Manhattan series. Once again, Therin offers up a knock-out of a storyline to further the intrigue and danger and, of course, to advance the romance between her pair of polar opposites, Rory Brodigan and Arthur “Ace” Kenzie.

The challenges of a romantic partnership between Rory and Arthur are brought to the fore in this installment, serving as the impetus for some of the drama as well as a significant bit of action. The obvious issue of two men in a relationship in the 1920s plays a role, but exacerbating that is Rory and Arthur being as socially disparate as it’s possible for two people to be. It’s not a question of if Rory and Arthur belong together, it’s a question of how they accomplish that when there’s no feasible excuse for them to spend excessive amounts of time in each other’s company—a situation that Rory faces with some practicality while Arthur contemplates it with no small amount of distress in everything from Rory not being able to associate with the Kenzie family as a peer to the rat-infested flat Rory sleeps in as well. Pride and pragmatism are not subtextual themes in this story and when push comes to shove, it seems the most difficult answer to the question will be how they will find some form of equal footing.

Arthur’s service in World War I, and the time following his valorous actions, come back to haunt him in the most literal sense with enemies and adversaries and another relic of a supremely dangerous nature. A double murder ramps up the already high stakes in a plot to seize this relic, which is made more complicated by absences of time and details in Rory’s investigation. As Rory is working to adjust to and cope with the fact that he’s one super-powerful supernatural, his gift for psychometry becomes a dangerous bargaining chip and is used against him when he makes a sacrifice of himself to save those he loves and cares for. Even if it means losing Arthur forever—to another man—in the outcome.

The presence of a former lover tries to complicate things between Rory and Ace, again bringing into focus their social and financial imbalance. Rather than this creating drama for drama’s sake, however, Therin allows the character to serve a purpose outside of gratuitous angst, giving this man the opportunity to show his rather decent side instead. Opportunity created itself in Rory’s surrender, and it was a means of defining his and Arthur’s love and commitment to each other instead of the more familiar instances where the big misunderstanding could have been seized upon and used to instigate unnecessary conflict. The clearest aspect through it all is that love will find a way to keep Rory and Arthur together.

If Spellbound was a homerun, Starcrossed is a slam dunk—to badly mix sports metaphors. As the stage is set for Wonderstruck, the final book in the trilogy, there is no reason not to believe that love will prevail. That is, as long as everyone survives the encounter with the enemy that’s yet to come.

You can buy Starcrossed here:
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