Hello everyone! Welcome to our first Black History Month (B.H.M.) Spotlight Event! This is a new blog event on Win’s Books that happens after Amour Books ends. Today we have another book spotlight of the event. Now without further ado, let’s get to the Book Spotlight!
Book Title:
To Ilaris, In Desperation
Book Blurb:
Mercury’s journey continues in this action-packed sequel to To Astera, With Love.
Astera is over. Mercury has his life and his powers but that doesn’t mean he’s safe.
Violence against witches continues. Anyone with magic must wear a dog tag identifying themself as a witch. Practicing magic in public is now illegal.
Then there’s Kinheld, a plot of land that the Witches’ Council plans to develop in its own image. While some witches feel Kinheld could be a safe haven, Mercury knows that this separate but equal treatment won’t benefit anyone.
So he takes his concerns to the streets, leading a handful of protests across L.A. But just as this movement gains national recognition, Mercury’s world is turned upside down after receiving a powerful threat.
As he struggles to do the right thing, Mercury learns a shocking truth that could change everything. Can he rise up and fight, or will the political machinations of witches and vampires alike stop the movement for good?
[TW: Police violence, drug use, anxiety, depression, feelings of self-loathing]
Book Genre:
NA (New Adult) and urban fantasy
Book Price:
$8.99 paperback and $3.99 ebook
Book Series:
Book two in the Witchkind series
Book Buyer Link:
Snippet from book:
The Identity Act
By Valeria LeFebre
Senior Editor, Jonquill
A chain by any other name would doubtfully feel as oppressive as those recently foisted upon witchkind. The Identity Act passed by Congress has taken effect, in what has to be the shortest legal turnaround time in modern history. Now, those who have demonstrable magical abilities must wear a dog tag with the word “Hexe” emblazoned beneath a pentagram. This co-opting of ancient symbols is nothing new – haven’t we been taught that God’s son requires devotion in the form of a pine tree and eggs? Haven’t Christians decided to re-enforce the “hallow” in “Halloween” with tired, milquetoast trunk-or-treats?
We are used to our sacred symbols being used against us — but this time it feels different. More sinister. Perhaps it’s the fact that the cultural zeitgeist has lauded witches for years. Shows like Bewitched, Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (both iterations), and movies like The Craft, Practical Magic, and the beloved Hocus Pocus had made witchcraft cool. We were Halloween costumes, we were slang for ballsy women, hell, we were even portrayed by American sweetheart Sandra fucking Bullock.
But truth is stranger than fiction, and our truth is that people like the idea of witches but not the reality of witches. We’re only fun if we’re casting spells to get a man or to fight the ultimate villain, but the second you see us teaching your children or cooking your food or sitting next to you in the boardroom you balk.
You decided we are not worthy of protection, and so you passed a law that will strip away our livelihood, our dignity, our worth. Dhampir pundits insist that the Identity Act is necessary. They parrot vague statistics about witches being involved in nearly every major violent crime in 2022 so far, but they don’t bother to mention that their involvement could be and most likely is on the other side of that violence.
Like DJ AMA Deus, who still languishes in a backwoods Southern jail for standing up for himself. Like Rita Nash, the school teacher who was murdered by one of her students’ fathers in the name of heresy. And like Freddie Karr, one of Jonquil’s very own, whose murder investigation has yet to begin four months later.
They say the Identity Act is to protect each citizen, witches included. In reality, it’s just the target on our back for regular citizens to exact their one pound of magical flesh with which to blame us for our own demise.
About the Author:
Thank you all for reading and remember:
Live. Love. Laugh.
