As a disclaimer, I know the author.
This review is for a novella in the Silver Moon Saga which takes place between book two, The Soul Healer, and book three, The Shadow Stealer.
It was great to read this one while waiting on the release of The Shadow Stealer! A Promise of Magic is a collection comprised of one novella and two shorter stories. The novella centers around one of the main supporting characters in The Silver Moon Saga, Evan Underwood, and is followed by two stories taking place after the events of The Soul Healer.
"A Promise of Magic" takes up the majority of the collection, and spans eight years of Evan's life. It chronicles his magical education in Silver Moon and his relationship with Alex. I LOVED this. I loved getting to learn more about Evan's past and loved being able to see the beginning of his relationship with Alex. She's a character that we've heard a lot about at this point in the series, so it was great to actually meet her. I also liked being able to see some major events in great detail that we've heard a lot throughout the series.
The pacing of the novella is a bit up-and-down, though that makes sense, since a lot of it takes place during Evan's childhood. We get to read about the beginnings of his friendship with Rafe, which was nice to see, especially after the events that took place during The Soul Healer. Several other characters also make appearances, and in a way, it was nice to see them through another character's eyes. Gabi can be a bit quick to judge (to say the least!), so it was nice to meet some characters, such as Charles, from the POV of someone who didn't flat-out hate them right out of the gate.
As Evan ages over the course of the story, we get re-introduced to the jokes and whatnot that we're used to seeing in the other installments in the series. I love the humor in these books and I kind of can't get enough of it, haha.
"The Favor" is a short story told from the POV of Philip, one of the characters introduced during The Soul Healer. It was nice to get to see more of Kain, one of my favorites of the new characters, and I thought the story itself was really sweet. Looking forward to seeing more of both of them in the next book!
"An Unbeatable Team" is told from Gabi's POV. I LOVED this story, and didn't realize how much I was missing Gabi's narration until I started it. Her voice is definitely unique, and she's sassy from beginning to end. I loved it. The story takes place during Valentine's Day weekend, and readers can definitely expect some cute moments. Some of them made me a bit nostalgic thinking of the earlier parts of my own relationship. This story was absolutely adorable and left me wanting more. I flew through the last installment in this collection for sure. It almost felt too short!
I can't wait for the next book to come out! Very excited to see where the series is going next. :)