Shadows, Maps and Other Ancient Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge-Review, Guest Post & Giveway

Shadows, Maps and Other Ancient Magic
Dowser Series #4
by Meghan Ciana Doidge
Genre: adult, paranormal,
Release Date:February 26, 2015

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I had new cupcakes to bake, a new treasure to hunt, and a new dragon in town — literally. Who wouldn’t be ecstatic filling their days with chocolate, trinket collecting, and martial arts training?

Yeah … me.

Because no matter how much chocolate I ate, I couldn’t fill the dark pit in my soul. A darkness born from blood alchemy. A darkness that reeked of the black magic I now knew I was capable of creating.

Maybe it was time to walk away.

But what if there were important things left to do? What if I was the only one who could do what needed to be done?

I wasn’t sure I could handle the responsibility, but as long as I had my chocolate stash and a good friend to back me up, I was willing to give it a try.

•••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: And they’re off……I’m talking about Jade Godfrey and her magical friends! They are off on another adventure in SHADOWS, MAPS, and OTHER ANCIENT MAGIC by Meghan Ciana Doidge. Jade is still recovering and training with the dragons after her run in with evil sister Sierra. Jade has had a rough time figuring out her powers and Dragon side! Now, she is feeling a tad restless……. “Hell, I was so bloody boring that I couldn’t manage to be in the same room with myself for more than a few minutes without wishing someone else was around. Someone interesting. Someone with a life beyond the bakery, and plucking trinkets out of the hands of witches and sorcerers”. Jade is bored!?!?! I think she has a very exciting life, but let the new adventures begin!

Pulou, one of the nine Dragon Guardians, has a new mission for Jade and Kandy, her green-haired Shifter bodyguard. He has a map that will lead them to a relic that he desperately needs: the bad part? The map is a tattoo cut from a deceased Dragon Guardian. Yes, it’s a map on Dragonskin! Besides the ick factor, the map is hard to figure out. Good thing Jade has Kandy and another mysterious Dragon that shows up to help in the Quest. Warner is a Dragon that has been frozen for the past five hundred years. He awakens when he is needed to hunt or guard the relics. He is a Sentinel and he is a powerful Dragon to have around, he knows how to fight the shadow demons. Too bad, he has been in stasis for so long and doesn’t totally understand the world today. Jade and Kandy have a fun time teasing Warner at times! He is a Sentinel though and will have the girls back during this adventure. *waggling eyebrows*. He’s not bad to look at either, it must be a dragon thing!!

They head to Seattle first to have Wisteria Fairchild, the “CSI” witch examine the skin for any clues. Kett, the ancient vampire, is there as well and he seems to be trailing the witch?? That must be a tale for another time! They get some answers and head off to an island near Bermuda. Too bad they exit the portal in the ocean, near the island. Who knew that wolves don’t swim? It’s an action packed adventure that leads them to a temple where Sorcerers have died trying to enter. Is Jade up to the task? Kandy and Warner are essential in getting the relic, but what does this thing really do? I can’t give that part away!! Kandy needs her Pack’s assistance in the end, and Jade comes face to face with Desmond, the uber-hot Alpha. Things did not end well with them last go around and he is in fighting mode when three Dragons, Jade and Kandy show up in his front room.

Oh Jade, you are the friend that everyone wants! She is so positive, warm, resourceful and fun to be around. Her fashion sense rocks and her love of chocolate and cupcakes are endearing. Her new powers have not changed her, except she knows that she has some darkness inside of her now from the alchemy, she isn’t all sunshine and fluff. Instead of taking the blame for all the mishaps that happen now, she knows who she really is: “I was simply Jade Godfrey, half-witch, half-dragon, baker of cupcakes, treasure hunter, and warrior’s daughter. That was more than enough mantels for one person”.

You will love this latest installment of The Dowser series! The book ended on a very warm and fuzzy moment, I cannot wait to read what happens next!

Reading Order and previous reviews:
Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic
Trinkets, Treasures and other Bloody Magic
Treasures, Demons and Other Black Magic
Shadows, Maps and Other Ancient Magic

Copy supplied by author

Reviewed by Jules C

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic
Dowser Series #1
by Meghan Ciana Doidge
Release Date:June 18, 2013
Genre: adult, urban fantasy, witches, vampires

Click HERE for Jules’s review of CUPCAKES, TRINKETS AND OTHER DEALY MAGIC

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 18, 2013

If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have told you that the best cupcakes were dark chocolate with chocolate cream cheese icing, that dancing in a crowd of magic wielders — the Adept — was better than sex, and that my life was peaceful and uneventful. Just the way I liked it.

That’s what twenty-three years in the magical backwater of Vancouver will get you — a completely skewed sense of reality. Because when the dead werewolves started showing up, it all unraveled … except for the cupcake part. That’s a universal truth.

_____________________

Trinkets, Treasures and Other Bloody Magic
The Dowser Series #2
by Meghan Ciana Doidge
Release Date: December 27, 2013

Click HERE for Jules’s review of TRINKETS, TREASURES AND OTHER BLOODY MAGIC.

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date: December 27, 2013

Three months ago, I lost my foster sister, Sienna, to the darkness. As in blood magic and chaos and general mayhem. No one saw it until it was too late, but I should have. Now, I have a wounded heart and soul that I can’t even reveal to anyone around me, because I’m supposed to hate Sienna with the fiery passion of the justified. And I do. I just wish I didn’t feel so lost without her, so unsure of the path I thought I had carved for myself, and so outclassed by the powerful Adepts constantly by my side these days. I’m not even sure if they’re with me for my own protection or because my shiny new powers are rare and valuable. Assuming I ever figure out who or what I am, and how my magic actually works.

Even chocolate can’t save the day every time … just most of the time. At least I’ve got that going for me.

_________

Treasures, Demons, And Other Black Magic
Dowser Series #3
by Meghan Ciana Doidge
Release Date: June 11, 2014
Genre: adult, urban fantasy, vampires, witches

 

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Click HERE for Jules’s review of TREASURES, DEMONS and other BLACK MAGIC

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 11, 2014

I hadn’t set foot in the human world for more than a few hours in over three and a half months. Sure, I was stronger and faster than I’d ever been before, and I had a shiny new sword, but I was seriously chocolate deprived. I don’t recommend quitting cold turkey. And the new sword was a problem — to my mind, anyway. It represented all the expectations of a powerful father and a new otherworldly life. A life that wasn’t the one I’d worked so hard to build. It also represented the responsibility I had to bring my foster sister Sienna to … what? Justice? I didn’t know if that was even possible. What I did know was that Sienna wouldn’t stop, and that I couldn’t just leave everything up to fate and destiny … or maybe I was. Maybe I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. If you believed in that sort of thing.

I just hoped that before the chaos and mayhem renewed, I’d manage to get my hands on some chocolate. It didn’t even have to be single-origin Madagascar. I was utterly prepared to lower my standards.

Meghan Ciana Doidge is an award-winning writer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has a penchant for bloody love stories, superheroes, and the supernatural. She also has a thing for chocolate, potatoes, and sock yarn.

Novels – After The Virus, Spirit Binder, Time Walker, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic – Dowser #1, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic – Dowser #2, Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic – Dowser #3

Novellas/Shorts – Love Lies Bleeding and The Graveyard Kiss

WARNING: author has been known to manipulate characters with chocolate, sex, and fantastical plotting. Readers beware http://author.to/meghancianadoidge

Follow Meghan: Goodreads / Website / Facebook / Twitter

Meghan is graciously offering any ONE ebook (reader’s choice) from her DOWSER SERIES to ONE (1) commenter at The Reading Cafe

NOTE: ebook of  CUPCAKES, TRINKETS, and other DEADLY MAGIC is FREE

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. The giveaway runs from March 14 to 18, 2015