Made with love
© Victoria Gryson 2025
As a guild bartender, I can handle pretty much anything—mages, sorcerers, witches, the occasional demon. But show me anything family-related and I’d rather run for the hills. It doesn’t even have to be my family.
So I have no idea why I thought spending the holidays with Aaron’s mom and pop was a good idea.
Meeting his famous parents is already terrifying enough, but I’ve got a bigger problem. Students of his family’s renowned mage academy are being attacked on the grounds–and somehow no one has seen a single assailant? Unexplained tracks litter the nearby woods, rumors of forbidden alchemy are circulating the campus…and Ezra has been acting strangely since we arrived.
Something deadly is brewing in the shadow of Sinclair Academy, and the longer we take to uncover it, the more dangerous it becomes. But no matter the risk, we’ll protect the students.
And Aaron’s parents too, I suppose. If we have to.
Woohoo, I was so happy that I got to read another instance in what is pretty much one of my top five favourite series!! And IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
Christmas at the Sinclair Academy (which turned out to be a freaking castle!!!), what’s not to love… except for pushy parents, snobby alumni and students getting attacked.
As always, and something I really think marks a great author is that there is just the right amount of details present to give your mind the space to fill in the blanks without either getting lost (you don’t know where the characters are or were doing) or having everything spelled out for you.
I like how the bond between Tori and her mages keeps getting tighter and tighter, but be warned: this book really gets you in the feels people. That ending… *sigh*
Though it feels like Aaron (who’s turning into a snobby bastard) and Ezra (whose insomnia is getting worse) got a big chunk of the limelight in this instalment, you know Kai is never far away and ready to shock the hell out of you, literally (har har… yeah I know, I’m sorry).
I liked that we saw a lot more of Sin in this instalment, I really like her 😀 I didn’t think Tori and Sin would ever be such good friends after book 1, but it’s nice to have some more female company when all the men are throwing punches left, right and centre.
I pretty much read the book in one go (yes yes, I really had to sleep some hours at least). The story kept getting better and better which each new clue and element thrown in! And then the Christmas party and I really couldn’t put it down after that!!
As always, great balance between all the action and the necessary conversations to bring the story to life.
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described (if that is important to you).
The book is 296 pages long, spread over 25 chapters and told from Tori’s point of view.
Can I just give a big shoutout to the pixy at the Christmas party? You rock!!! And no, I’m not going to spoil that for you (but yaaaaaay!).
I just loooooooooove this series so much!! I can’t wait to get on to the next part, but first… some time for Robin and Zylas! (weeeeeeeeeee)
© Victoria Gryson 2025