The Devil You Know
by Morgan Brice
Publisher: Darkwind Press
Narrator: Kale Williams
Release Date: October 25, 2022
Genre: MM paranormal romance
Tropes: Established relationship, learning to trust, friends and lovers, monster hunting
Themes: dealing with the past, grief and vengeance, coping vs forgetting
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 6 hours and 6 minutes
This is the sixth book in the Witchbane series but can be read as a standalone.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - audio and ebook
The Devil You Know is a thrill-packed urban fantasy MM paranormal romance with plenty of supernatural suspense, hurt/comfort, hot sex, found family, and dark magic and features an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.
Blurb
Seth and Evan met “on the job” when Evan was the intended sacrifice of a dark coven, and Seth came to the rescue. Now, they’ve teamed up to stop a century of ritual murders and get justice for Seth’s brother Jesse and the other victims.
Seth and Evan have a plan to stop the next witch disciple, plus new allies and magic. But this time, the warlock knows they're coming, and he has plans of his own. When Seth disappears and is trapped in a spell that gives him his heart’s desire, can he free himself in time to help Evan?
And when Evan’s younger brother shows up unexpectedly, can Evan trust Parker to have his back? It all comes down to trusting the devil you know!
The Devil You Know is a thrill-packed urban fantasy MM paranormal romance with plenty of supernatural suspense, hurt/comfort, hot sex, found family, and dark magic and features an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.
Excerpt from The Devil You Know
We just might die tonight, and it won’t even be monsters that kill us.
Seth Tanner hunched low over the handlebars of his black Hayabusa motorcycle and urged the roaring engine to eke out a bit more speed.
Behind him, his partner Evan Malone wrapped his arms tight around Seth’s midsection and tucked his helmet against Seth’s shoulder blades.
The rev of a truck close behind them told Seth their pursuers weren’t ready to give up. Then a shot fired, changing the whole game.
“F*ck,” Seth muttered and wove from one side of the lane to the other, desperate to keep the goons from getting a clear shot.
The gunman fired a second time and a third. Seth’s luck wasn’t going to last forever, and then one of the bullets would hit Evan, the bike, or him. Seth had a good idea who had hired the hitmen, and he doubted they showed up on a dark Ohio road just to send a warning.
A light ahead drew Seth’s attention, and he skidded into the gravel lot of a cinder block roadhouse. Neon beer signs cast a crimson glow that attracted a row of pickups and Harleys. Red paint on white walls proclaimed it to be Charley’s Place.
I’ll take my chances on a bar fight over being shot in the back.
The charcoal Ford truck chasing them never slowed, rumbling past the bar too fast for Seth to get a good look, and then it was gone, swallowed by the night.
He faced the motorcycle toward the road, sheltered between a beat-up green F-150 and a red Silverado with a gun rack in the back window. Seth felt sure that he and Evan would be no more welcome inside than they’d been with the guys who chased them, so when their attackers didn’t return, Seth hit the gas and headed back the way they came.
His heart didn’t stop pounding until he slowed at the entrance to the campground where they had parked their RV. While it wasn’t late, Seth was hyper-aware of the rumble of the motorcycle’s engine, not wanting to draw attention. When they pulled up in front of their site, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here,” he said to Evan as he climbed off the bike and secured it. His body still hummed with adrenaline, and Seth scanned the area for danger as Evan followed him to the RV’s door.
Locks and security alarm aside, the fifth-wheeler and black pickup that towed it were also protected by magical wardings, courtesy of friends with supernatural abilities. The protections recognized Seth and Evan but were designed to keep out intruders.
Seth turned on the lights and gasped when he saw the blood on Evan’s jacket and realized his boyfriend was leaning heavily against the wall.
“You’re hit.” Seth helped Evan to sit at the table and went to fetch their medic kit.
I love Seth and Evan together, so this time around it was definitely a change from the usual as they were apart for the majority of the story. But one thing this did allow for was a chance to shine a spotlight on those other members of the supernatural and paranormal-adjacent community who help support their fight against the witch disciples. It also showed how the guys can work independently from each other just as well as they can together—though obviously they’re better together ;-)
Seth and Evan get separated pretty early on in the book, and from there we know it’s a race against time to reunite them before something terrible happens. I was unsure how I’d feel about them not working together for the whole story like they usually do since I love the interaction between them, but it didn’t really bother me. I liked the introduction of Evan’s brother, and the part he played; I’m hoping we’ll see him pop up in future stories in the series (or any of the author’s other connected series).
I was on edge for most of the story with Seth being missing, and the author did a good job of keeping that tension level high. I felt myself getting just as impatient as Evan to find Seth, and just plain frustrated with the situation in which Seth was trapped in his own mind.
It was nice to have Kale Williams narrating again, and his even tone and pacing along with consistent character voices made this an enjoyable listen. The story itself was a 4.5-star read for me, and the narration gets 5 stars.
About the Author
Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.
On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.
Series include Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!
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