Jacey Bedford's Journal

Audiobook read by Steven Crossley

There are Four Londons: Grey, our own, where George III rules over a land almost devoid of magic; Red where magic is commonplace; White where danger lurks and rulers claw their way to the top with cruel magic; Black, of which the least said, the better. Kell's home city is Red London, but he is one of the rare magicians who can travel between realities. Officially he's the king's envoy, unofficially he's a smuggler of dangerously illicit goods. His smuggling catches up with him when he's set up to smuggle a magical stone across the border between Londons. It immediately puts him in danger and in Grey London he meets Delilah Bard, pickpocket and small-time criminal with a thirst for adventure. First she robs him, then she saves him, and he saves her. They end up working together to get the dangerous stone safely back to Black London where it can do no harm to the other realms, but there are others chasing the stone, and their magics might be stronger than Kell's. This is tightly written and engrossing. I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and Steven Crossley's excellent narration.

It's three hundred years ago in a small French village, Addie is doomed to marry a widower with children – a replacement for his recently deceased wife. Desperate to avoid her fate she calls upon the gods for help, but you should never call upon a god when it's dark. Instead of a benevolent daylight god, Addie gets the Dark himself, and does a deal. He can have her soul when she's finished with it in return for life… a long life… even immortality… until she decides it's time to surrender. It's a blessing, but it's also a curse. Throughout her long life Addie will not be able to make any mark upon the world, and everyone will forget her the instant she's out of their sight. It's a strange life. She can't make friends, have her own home, hold down a job, or take a lover for more than one night without starting afresh every morning. She learns to navigate the world invisibly, her three hundred years punctuated by visits from Dark to see if she's ready to surrender. And then, in modern New York, she meets Henry, the only one who doesn't forget her.

We see Addie's history as well as her trials in the present day. She flits from situation to situation, the only one she can relate to is Dark – or Luc as she comes to call him – until suddenly she meets Henry.