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C Gockel
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Magic After Midnight: I Bring the Fire Part VIII Kindle Edition

by C. Gockel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 267 ratings
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A standalone adventure in the world of I Bring the Fire.


Magic is real, and Marcia's life is a fairy tale. Except, according to her stepdaughter, she's the wicked stepmother. Undermined by a meddling godmother, Marcia is struggling to raise three teenagers in a world of enchantment and monsters. When she's introduced to a Night Elf who appears half her age, love is the last thing on her mind.

Count Darerick Razvano is a Night Elf--please don't call him a vampire! Fighting for the survival of his race, he has no time for matters of the heart. When a charming widow inadvertently threatens the Night Elves' most carefully guarded secret, Darerick must seek Marcia out to save his people.

Marcia's devoted to her children. Dare's determined to save his race. They aren't looking for love, but love might find them.

In a world of monsters, love may save Night Elves and humans alike.

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  1. Book 8 of 8
    I Bring the Fire
  2. Print length
    542 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    April 27, 2018
  6. File size
    1713 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gockel has a brilliant talent for weaving together mythology and fairytales, and giving it a modern twist with stunning characters and fun references ... Magic After Midnight is a delightful read from beginning to end with a pertinent premise that resonates, Norse mythology, vampires, romance,family, and lots of heart." - Readers Favorite ★★★★★

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07CG36L43
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Digital Services (April 27, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 27, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1713 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 542 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1717012329
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 267 ratings

About the author

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C Gockel

C Gockel

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C. Gockel has been writing stories for her friends and family since the dark ages (i.e., before word processors existed.) A few years ago, she started posting those stories to the intertubes. She received emails, messages, and reviews from her fans telling her she should 'do this professionally.' She didn't; she is a coward and life as a digital designer, copywriter and coder is more dependable. But in the end, her husband's nagging wore her down: "You could be the next '50 Shades of Gray' and I could retire!" Unfortunately, the author writes science fiction and fantasy, and isn't particularly good at writing erotica. She is sad about this; she'd love for her husband to be able to retire and just work for her so she could nag him.

At the moment, Ms. Gockel is working on the next installment of the Archangel Project.

Ms. Gockel loves to hear from readers. She can be reached by email at: cgockel.publishing@gmail.com

Her Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/CGockelWrites

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
267 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Vidar
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic series!
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2022
Verified Purchase
I’ve now read all eight books plus all the associated short stories in this series. C. Gockel is among the best writers publishing in both fantasy dosed with science and science fiction dosed with fantasy. I discovered her SF world, then read the first book in this fantasy series and was hooked—had to buy the whole series and read it straight through. Books 7 and 8 feature characters met in passing (some very briefly) in the first six books, which feature the adventures of Amy, a vet student, and Loki. At the risk of spoilers, I’ll just leave it there. Well written, with deeply imagined characters who grow across the story arc, well edited, and just plain addicting. Would make a great video game!
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Diane D. (genre fiction biblioholic)
4.0 out of 5 stars Unconventional take on blood-drinker & Cinderella tropes; too bad it's present-tense
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
On Goodreads, I rounded this slow-burn UF-w/romance story down to 3 stars, but since that does mean "I liked it", it gets 4 stars here on Amazon. It would have deserved a *full* 4 (no rounding up required) if C. Gockel didn't write in slightly-clunky present tense narration. 😕 I really liked some of the unusual choices she made in this book, particularly the 50-ish, dedicated-mother heroine.

The secondary flipped-Cinderella trope is well done, occasionally amusingly lampshaded (look it up on TV Tropes if you don't know what that means). The family is all still reeling from the death of her second husband, and coping with the straitened finances that resulted from how he died. The kids include quiet math whiz Alicia and colorfully flamboyant bully-target Joshua (Marcia's children with the first husband she lost), and pretty Cindy (her second husband's daughter, spoiled by her snobbish and flighty paternal aunt). Immature Cindy has become convinced that Marcia is an evil stepmother, but Marcia's really just trying to do her best for all three of her teenagers.

The Night Elves are a unique new approach to blood-drinkers (Don't say "vampires", and especially don't expect the sexy-alpha-predator sort you find in recent fiction trends!). The hero, a millennia-old troubleshooter, in addition to fitting the classic Clark Kent/Sir Percy Blakeney deliberately-overlookable-and-underestimatable model I happen to love, is another dedicated parent, determined to save his waning race.

It's really cute and clever how in Night Elves' mental imagery and metaphors, "dark" (and "bloody") things are good, and "bright" things are bad. It's also funny to have a handsome, young-looking guy whose tech-savvy and other attitudes are often closer to a stubborn, elderly grandfather's, even if he does consider himself one of the most adaptable of his people. The relationship-dynamics are interesting and problematic: Night Elves generally find humans *SPOILER*(humans potentially of either gender) *END SPOILER* more attractive than their own people, and blood-bonding has a sexual component, but the two races are NOT interfertile.

There's a good balance of realistic emotional complications (just because you're attracted to someone doesn't mean all the other priorities and principles in your life fall aside) and exciting action conflicts. One global revelation causes a true dilemma of conflicting loyalties and doubts, added to Marcia's reasonable misgivings about tying her life to Dare, who has kept some pretty big secrets of his own.

N.b., said revelation may have already been known to readers who started with CG's earlier "I BRING THE FIRE" books, unlike me. I decided to dive into this story because it's described as a stand-alone, i.e., less commitment than a long series before getting resolution, and sounded interesting.

I did enjoy it (even if the tenses used kept making me mentally stumble), and the ending is satisfying and hopeful. It'd be interesting to see more of how things unfold, but it's not required. However, I definitely was at a bit of a handicap getting a handle on this world's twists on Norse and fey mythology, and learning all the secondary characters w/o knowing any more of their circumstances than the leads do. Though Dare can perceive more about the magical forces involved, even he, as a newly-arrived ambassador, doesn't have the backstories or know these people yet.

As for the editing, I didn't catch any places where tenses were *misused* rather than merely awkward (IMHO), but there *were* more than a handful of other things I noted, though most of them didn't much impair my enjoyment of the characters, plot, and moments of humor. I wish there were an easy way to share Kindle annotations directly with authors, since indy e-published books can often be corrected. I won't list all the minor goofs here, though, because I don't like what I've heard from other authors re. the draconian and too-hasty way Amazon handles such reports. There's only one error that's at the content level, not line editing: the same observation (re. why Marcia, Alicia, and Joshua were invited to a party) was made on two consecutive pages. See the Goodreads version of my review, if such things as typos and grammar-nitpicking matter to you.

One not-really-an-error that gave me a bit of a problem was that the author named the more-than-he-seems Chicago mayor "Steve Rogers", when he's far from the white-bread Captain America. It kept making me do a double-take, and there's zero in-text mention of the coincidence. In other words, the ... what would you call it, genre blindness? is inconsistent: Harry Potter books and/or movies apparently exist, since there's a (misspelled) reference to Voldemort, but not *decades* of Captain America comics and movies? Again, maybe it was already addressed in IBtF, but it felt odd here. Or maybe Ms. Gockel just didn't know or remember Cap's real name when she first created this character??

Okay, enough of that. My last comment is that the story ends at 94%, followed by not only an excerpt of the other AFTER THE FIRE stand-alone story (which I want to read!) but also, *past* the excerpt, a brief GUIDE TO NAMES AND PLACES! I'm glad I didn't exit the book without going all the way and discovering it, but I wish I'd noticed it in the Table of Contents, since it probably would have come in handy as I was reading!
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Julie Blaskie
5.0 out of 5 stars a widow with three teenagers discovers that magic is indeed real...
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2019
Verified Purchase
I love this story! This is another magical story from the Loki series I Bring the Fire. We are introduced to yet another group of magical beings... the Night Elves...

While this is a stand alone story, I strongly believe that you will enjoy and understand this story better if you read the rest of the series first. Why do I mention this? Some of the main characters from the I Bring the Fire series are now relegated to more minor roles. You will better understand their motivations and behaviors in the context of this story.

I love that one of the main characters is Marcia, an older widow, who has many of the same insecurities woman of this age faces when they are alone... and the tendency to disbelieve what is standing in front of her. She is a great character in that she is not perfect - she just tries to do the best that she can with what life throws at her! The other characters are wonderfully fleshed out in both her and Dare's families. No one is perfect... and you have quite an array of people making this story even richer. Why, even the Night Elf royalty stubbornly clinging to their "superiority" while facing possible extinction is just... delicious! Watching Marcia deal with them is such a treat!

The author has these rich characters facing unimaginable situations. They show us their feelings as they face the mundane to the dangerous... and they even learn a little about themselves in the process.

Besides Norse mythology, we see references to fairly tales... the classics... and even modern stories we all have read and loved! While the mixture seems impossible, Ms Gockel has them seamlessly blended together in a wonderful way that you have to read to believe! It is indeed a truly magical tale!

What more can I tell you? Well, I refuse to tell you anything to spoil the story for you - it wouldn't be fair to your reading and enjoyment. However, I can assure you that the story starts to race towards quite the climax! It will leave you breathless!

This is a great story in a wonderful series! I will b rereading this again, but I will take a more leisurely stroll this time. If you want to be swept away - this is where you need to go!
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Top reviews from other countries

Paul Mcgaffey
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Angst !
Reviewed in Canada on May 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
Hot yearning coupled with experienced doubt - C Gockel nails the truth about the magic of mature sex. If you enjoy being tantalized, this book is for you. But if you demand clear answers, stay away!
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Joviswoman
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2020
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Another part of this series comes to life, and I didn't know I needed it 😁

Marcia and Dare what a love story.

Marcia, wicked step mom, loving mother, in the end, a God killer.

Dare, unassuming Night Elf, little magic NOT! I

Great read 💖
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Debbie Marchant
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great installment in this world
Reviewed in Australia on January 4, 2019
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I love this series and all the associated stories!
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Debra Ann Rempel
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2018
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, just like all the rest from this series.
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dawn
5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth a read, you shouldn't be disappointed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
Lovely to read and funny. Very much enjoyed reading this, and was upset to have the story end. Hoping their story carries on in another book as good characters. I love the humour and authors style of writing. Very easy to read and I didn't want to put the book down.
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