This is the first in a series. The book follows a sculptor named Alex whose friend is murdered. The death and following investigation reveal hidden truths about Alex and her friends the book has good pacing and entertaining world building. As Alex learns about her past and her hidden skills she learns the value of friendship.

A Great book about Faeries and other creatures. The plot was interesting and I want to read the other books in the series.

I love anything that has to do with supernatural, fantasy, and magic. This book, what can I say about it. I LOVED IT. When I first saw it, I didn't read the synapses, I looked at the title and was like oooohhhh magic, I want to read this. I loved the characters, Alex, Kai and Cat. What is there not to love about the fae, I enjoyed reading a different take on Braden's fae. They seem to be so different then Hamilton's fae. I can't wait to grab the rest of the series, and binge read them.
I have received this Advance Readers Copy From Netgalley for a fair and just review.

I really like this book. It kept me entertained all the way to the last page. Good start to new series. A supernatural who done it. Best kind of combination.

Alex is a metalsmith, making art pieces in her rural studio. A pair of Fey show up demanding a trinket box that they are sure she possesses. When she defends herself, injuring one of the fey, she is drawn into fey based intrigue and murder. While I did enjoy the overall ideas of the plot, several aspects were quite contrived and clunky. The book definitely had the feel of "first novel" at times. The fight scenes in particular were not well done - I'm guessing the author has never been severely injured nor spoken to someone who has been- and pulled my attention out of the story. While not a bad book, I wanted to like this book more than I did.

I found this to be a great start to an urban fantasy series. Alwx Blackwood is a likeable character who is a metalsmith. I enjoyed the setting, the world the author created and the plot. I definitely will be reading this series! Thanks #netgalley and #BelleBooksInc for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I will start by stating that this book had me emersed so much that I finished it in a day. This is a story with so many different aspects that you become drenched in this whole other magical world. The way it was written was nearly flawless. The character development was thorough and allowed for me to truly fall in love with the entire story line. This magical world that Alex discovers is right up my alley but this book is by far one of my favorite I've ever read! I cannot wait to continue this series. The author is so talented and I couldn't be more happy to have discovered her work.

Urban fantasy that is an interesting murder mystery. Felt incomplete world-building wise but that could have been purposefully constructed as this is the first in the series. I know many stories where you do not find out everything about the fantasy world, situation or people until you're further into the series... so there is still interest in the world building as you move along with the series.

This story takes place after a human-fae war. The fae have to register and get visas to visit and stay in the human world.

Alex Blackwood who is a metalworker has a friend that turned out to be half-fae who has fae artifacts that causes his murder. While Alex is trying to understand why she didn't know about Aiden she has to confront the fact that someone is trying to kill her because they think she has info on a particular fae artifact.

I really enjoyed this world which is different from others that include Fae or Fairy people. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Just an OK UF read. I didn't find Alex or the world the author built very compelling or interesting. I have started the third book (don't have the second) to see if it kicks in high gear or if I find the characters more interesting.

I received my copy of A Drop of Magic from Netgalley in echange for my honest review.

I was given an eARC book of this series by Bell Bridge Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for this review

This book is about Aly Blackwood who is an aspiring metal worker who's work was recently commissioned. She is mostly a loner who has only 2 friends. David and Aiden. Aiden is murdered and Alex becomes an amateur detective in order to discover who is responsible and bring them to justice.

This book has numerous twists and turns that keeps you guessing the entire time you are reading. The author has done a great job with world building and all the magical beings that she included in the story. I loved Alex! She has had a tough life but holds her friends near to her heart. She is afraid to trust and i loved how she began to do that within the story. There are numerous characters in the plot that are introduced and I look forward to seeing where their stories go.

This is book one in the Magicsmith Series and there are 3 additional books that have been published.

3.5

I like to say that my favourite genre is Urban Fantasy, and when I look deep into my heart that is where my love lies. I love the interesting twists and overlays that authors put on a contemporary world. Then I love to see the stories and characters that the authors plonk down into the world they crafted. However, when I look at my reading history, you could be fooled into thinking that I barely have a passing interest in the UF genre. This is why I decided to pick up A Drop of Magic by L.R. Braden, I need to start trying new UF authors rather than just sticking with the ones I know and have an unhealthy level of love for.

Part of what attracted me to this book is that our heroine Alex was a metalsmith and an artist. I loved the concept of a heroine in a UF not being a warrior, but having a more creative bent. Like most UF’s this book is told in first person. Which means that it is essential that you like the protagonist. However, although I didn’t dislike Alex, I also didn’t particularly feel a strong attachment to her either. I found her very…tepid and reactive. This did mean it took me while to really get invested into this book and it definitely suffered through a very slow start.

It’s depiction of the fae was very similar to that of Patricia Briggs with them as ruthlessly sly and extremely clever. The fae are key aspect of the world that Braden has created and I can’t wait to see how she uses them in this series. In fact, one of the things I liked about this book was the world that Braden created, there are a lot of possibilities and I look forward to seeing these come into fruition in future books.

Now, let’s talk about romance. My favourite type of UF is UF where romance does play a role. In this book it looks like we may have the set up of a love triangle…maybe even a love square judging by how the book ended… I have mixed feelings about this. One half of me is really happy that there is a prospect of romance in the future, the other half is dreading having to put up with a love triangle. I don’t like them. They never reflect well on any of the characters involved and I find myself getting very frustrated with the whole thing. However, maybe I am seeing things that aren’t there, but I do plan on reading the next book in the series so I can find out.

The premise for the book was excellent, but I didn't enjoy the book as much. Most of it was because of Alex. She was contrary, inconsistent, unlikeable, incompetent and not relatable. Her background and choices were not at all believable.

Also, the plot and the world building felt incomplete. There were just too many characters introduced without any context. For a woman who was supposedly alone, she had too many friends.

Overall, I didn't have the best experience with this book and I am not going to continue with the series.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review*
It was a great first installment (so much that I can't believe it was the debut novel of the author). I'm excited to read the next one.

Very well written and engaging. I had a great time reading this and look forward to more in the series. I would recommend this to patrons.

"A Drop of Magic" is my first book by LR Braden and I am super happy I got to read it.
In the beginning I was a bit hesistant of whether I am going to like the story or not. But after some pager, the first chapters, I was hooked!
The story is amazing and there is happening so so much, then I could not stop reading and put the book down. I had to get going.
I love the mixture between fantasy, crime, mistery, and characters where I have no idea what to make of them. And then also the mixture of fae, wolves, cats ;)
Amazing.
I just can't wait for book 2, where I hope Alex' journey will take on an adventurours road again. Also I do hope there will be a bit more romance, and if yes, with whom :) Can't wait...

****
"A Drop of Magic" ist mein erste Buch der Autorin und ich bin super happy, dass ich es gelesen habe.
Anfangs war ich mir nicht sicher, ob ich das Buch bzw. die Geschichte toll finde, aber je weiter ich gelesen habe, umso mehr war ich gefangen in der Geschichte von Alex und ihren Freunden.
Die Mischung aus Krimi, Fantasy, Mystery ist einfach super - und dann auch noch Fae, Wölfe und eine besondere Katze.
Einfach toll - aber auch der Verlauf der Geschichte hat mich überzeugt und macht nun richtig Lust auf mehr, denn es ist so viel passiert und ich hab noch so viel Fragen, dass ich mit Buch 2 anfangen muss.
Ich freu mich auf ein weiteres Abenteuer von Alex und hoffentlich eine Spur mehr Romantik :)

Entertaining read and engaging strong protagonist. I would recommend for a quick unputdownable read.

Set in a our world but with magic, fae and shifters. The leading lady Alex is a metalsmith who gets roped into helping a Fae solve a series of seemingly unconnected murders, which include the murder of her good friend. As a character, Alex feels so normal, but steps up to help solve the murders even in when confronted by the extraordinary, and along the way she learns many secrets about her friends and herself. I enjoyed this series starter and was happy to discover that books 2, 3 and 4 are already out.



ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

A Drop of Magic by L.R. Braden was vividly descriptive and highly entertaining. Once I stepped into the world of Alex Blackwood and the Fae I simply could not put this novel down. The characters were bold and endearing with just the right amount of raw emotion and sass to keep me engaged.

After a sudden tragedy rocks Alex's life, a Pandora's box explodes and she is thrust into a new and dangerous world. Alex is bombarded by startling revelations of her past and those nearest and dearest to her. All her life she has survived by following one simple rule- Do not care! Alex swiftly learns life really doesn't care much about "rules" and kinda does its own thing.

As her quiet life is turned upside down by people who wanted to hurt, help, love, and kill her, she learns that maybe the good guys aren't always that good, and the bad guys aren't always that bad.

I was impressed by the layers of intricacy developed by L.R. Braden and her ability to present a cadre of unique and entertaining characters without overwhelming the reader. Her characters were larger than life and lept off the pages straight into my heart. A drop of magic is a truly amazing novel that had me emotionally invested from the first chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley, BelleBooks Inc., and Bell ridge Books for providing me with an arc.

I love Alex! Every thing about this story makes me excited that it is just the beginning of a series. After her best friend is murdered, Alex is attacked and her whole world is upended. First, I just love that she is an artist and later what she finds out about her art and how it moves people is a very cool touch, one of many little details that add to how much there is love and connect things in this world.

What she finds out about her friend is mild in comparison to what she finds out about herself as she works with Kai, who I am intrigued by, but still on the fence about. (And that's a good thing, I want to see more of him). I loved the cat as well ... more please. There are a lot of characters with room for exploration that I'm looking forward to.

I appreciate immensely that the plot of this story wraps up and yet still sets up for more, that's a rare treat not to be left hanging, only craving. I also love that a romance thread didn't dominate the story, I enjoy the subtle natural feel of the relationships. I'm also eager to see if more about the wolves will come into other parts. I loved their wild brutal nature. There is so much to explore with artifacts magic and the Fae. I can't wait to dive into part two.

A great start to a series that I throughly enjoyed from start to finish.