PsyCop 1: Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price

Genre: Fantasy; M/M Romance; Mystery; Paranormal; Romance; Urban Fantasy

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: I purchased it.

Goodreads Blurb: Victor Bayne, the psychic half a PsyCop team, is a gay medium who’s more concerned with flying under the radar than in making waves.

He hooks up with handsome Jacob Marks, a non-psychic (or “Stiff”) from an adjacent precinct at his ex-partner’s retirement party and it seems like his dubious luck has taken a turn for the better. But then a serial killer surfaces who can change his appearance to match any witness’ idea of the world’s hottest guy.

Solving murders is a snap when you can ask the victims whodunit, but this killer’s not leaving any spirits behind.

My Review: When psycop Vic Bayne isn't popping pills to keep the dead from haunting him, he's using his abilities as a medium to solve homicides, or trying to figure out what the hell he did to attract a guy like Jacob Marks. It's not Vic's sense of style--plaid shirts--or his sterling conversation. After all, he spends the first chapter of this book trying not to sound like a creep. But it may be his unusual talents: Jacob has a thing for psychics, no question. But Jacob also appreciates Vic's wry sense of humor and, better yet, seems uniquely equipped to handle Vic's insecurities.

The romance between Vic and Jacob is only half the story. The rest is about Vic, Jake and their respective  partners in the psycop division tracking down a killer who leaves no ghosts for Vic to talk to. I almost wish the murder mystery of this first book had been a bit more mundane--but it's tough to complain when we're given an excellent cast of supporting characters and solid world building. If you haven't read this book, grab your Kindle and download it now! Just be prepared to buy each additional installment as soon as you finish the last one. This whole series is as addictive as those pills Vic keeps popping . . .

Available on Kindle: Yes. You can find it on Amazon here.

Fun Extra: Check out the Psycop website.

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

Genre: Fantasy; Horror; Young Adult

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: I purchased it.

Goodreads Blurb: In a kingdom of merciless tyrants, Jebel Rum's family is honored as royalty because his father is the executioner. But Rashed Rum is near retirement. And when he goes, there will be a contest to determine his successor. It is a contest that thin, puny Jebel has no chance of winning.

Humiliated and ashamed, Jebel sets out on a quest to the faraway home of a legendary fire god to beg for inhuman powers so that he can become the most lethal of men. He must take with him a slave, named Tel Hesani, to be sacrificed to the god. It will be a dark and brutal journey filled with lynch mobs, suicide cults, terrible monsters, and worse, monstrous men. But to Jebel, the risk is worth it. To retrieve his honor . . . To wield unimaginable power . . . To become . . . The Thin Executioner.

Inspired by The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, international bestselling master of horror Darren Shan takes readers on a thrilling, fast-paced journey into a nightmarish world where compassion and kindness are the greatest crimes of all.

My Review: I'm not a horror fan, but the premise of this book drew me in: Jebel setting out on a brutal quest with the slave he must sacrifice at the end of it. Why would the slave go along? We find out early on that Tel Hesani goes willingly; he accompanies Jebel because his death will mean his family's freedom. It's an intriguing set up.

Given that premise, I don't think it's too spoilery to say that I figured the two men would somehow reach the end of the quest, and that Jebel would have to decide whether to go through with the sacrifice or not. I was right--but there's a twist I didn't see coming!

I have a few quibbles with this book: Shan can get preachy, and the names of two of the supporting characters, Bush and Blair, suggest that he felt compelled to throw his political opinions in. But the setting here suggests a Middle-Eastern, dark fantasy world--those Anglo names are ridiculously out of place! Another problem was the gruesome violence of the story. It was so over-the-top that I just found myself growing numb. (But, again, I'm no horror fan.) Lastly, while I loved the scenes that Jebel and Tel Hesani shared, whenever the two men were apart I found the story dragging.

Overall, though, this is an excellent read. For me the heart of the book is the growing and sometimes frustrating relationship between Jebel and Tel Hesani. There's a glimmer of friendship between them as Tel Hesani becomes something of a father figure for the bratty would-be executioner, but that doesn't mean Jebel is ready to reconsider his entrenched prejudices. This uneven relationship more than makes up for the times when Shan veers between being too gruesome and too preachy.

Available on Kindle: Yes. You can find it on Amazon here.

The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon

Genre: Fantasy; LGBT; M/M Romance; Romance; Urban Fantasy

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: I purchased it.

Goodreads Blurb: Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword’s Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches’ grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries’ old murder.It should be nothing more than an academic exercise, so why is dour -- and unreasonably sexy -- Magister Septimus Marx doing his best to keep Colin from accepting this mission -- even going so far as to seduce Colin on the train journey north?

Septimus is not the only problem. Who is the strange faery woman that keeps appearing at inconvenient times? And who is working behind the scenes with the sinister adventuress Irania Briggs? And why do Colin’s employers at the Museum of the Literary Occult keep accusing Colin of betraying them?As Colin digs deeper and deeper into the book’s mysterious past, he begins to understand why Septimus is willing to stop him at any price -- but by then, it’s too late to turn back.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.

My Review: Josh Lanyon has infused our world--or our world as it was some decades ago--with alternate history, fey creatures, old magick, paranormal abilities and dangerous legends. It's an enticing world that's easy to fall into, especially as revealed to us by Colin Bliss, the irrepressible narrator. I love Colin: he's engaging, proactive, intelligent and childish all at once. I was rooting for him and cringing for him at the same time.

Septimus Marx is a more problematic character. His attraction to Colin is obvious to the reader long before Colin is aware of it; his condescension and high-handedness mask genuine concern. Those are points in his favor, and part of what makes him impossible to dislike. But his ultimate mission raises some moral issues (to put it mildly.) Colin's reaction to that mission, I think, proves that these two are well suited--if it's not a deal-breaker for them, nothing else will be!

Available on Kindle: Yes. You can find it on Amazon here.

Duck! by Kim Dare

Genre: BDSM; Fairy Tale Retelling; Fantasy; M/M Romance; Romance

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: I purchased it.

Goodreads Blurb: Raised among humans, Ori Jones only discovered he was an avian shifter six months ago. Unable to complete a full shift until he reaches his avian maturity, he still can’t be sure of his exact species.

But with species comes rank, and rank is everything to the avians. When a partial shift allows the elders to announce that they believe Ori to be a rather ugly little duckling, he drops straight to the bottom rung of their hierarchy.

Life isn’t easy for Ori until he comes to the attention of a high ranking hawk shifter. Then the only question is, is Ori really a duck—and what will his new master think when the truth eventually comes out?

My Review: I love the premise of this book: retelling The Ugly Duckling as an avian shape-shifting, bdsm tale. Plus I have a thing for wings--and though this isn't quite wingfic, it's close enough to suit me. So I was all set to adore this book.

But while I enjoyed this story, I didn't fall in love with it. The characters are likable, but rather one dimensional; Raynard and Ori don't have much personality beyond the fact that one's all dom and one's all sub. Worse, there are some disturbing, institution-sanctioned abuse scenes early on. Not between Raynard and Ori, thankfully, but--well, suffice to say that Ori had a rough time of it before Raynard decided to rescue him.

One last complaint: I would have loved more details about this avian world! It's intriguing, but it could stand some fleshing out.

Still, my kvetching aside, this is an imaginative take on the original fairy tale. Apart from those early abuse scenes, it makes for a pleasant read.

Available on Kindle: Yes. Find it on Amazon here.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Genre: Fantasy; Young Adult

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: I purchased it.

Book Blurb: "Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut," wrote Kirkus in a starred review of Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise. The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses. Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen's stories and Gen's story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.

My Review: What a fun adventure! Gen is a sly protagonist, and I loved watching him cross wits with the Magus as the two men learned to work together. I enjoyed their world as well--with a quibble or two. For example, if there are inaccurate guns in this world that are effective only in mass-fire situations, they should be smooth-barrel musket type guns, not rifles. (Rifles have always been scary accurate because they have barrels with, you know, rifling.) But I'm trying to ignore stuff like that. This book is so damn enticing that I know I should set my quibbles aside.

Have you read Thief or any other books in the series? What did you think? (No spoilers for the rest of the books, please!)

On Kindle: Yes. find it on Amazon here.

Wings by J.C. Owens

Genre: Fantasy; Romance; M/M Romance; LGBT

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

How I acquired this book: Kindle-loan from a friend.

Book Blurb: Anyar, a black-winged young guard, could only be accused of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He captures the attention of a commanding, beautiful white-winged prince of the enemy, Vanyae, and is swept away into the conflict between their peoples.

Vanyae takes the incredible, black-winged beauty from his home and all he knows to a place of submission, of slavery. And though Anyar vows never to give in and despairs of his freedom, Vanyae finds pleasure in his body and his spirit.


Even while the battle rages, Vanyae starts to realize that his black-winged bird is much more than a slave to him…


Publisher's Note: This book contains anal play/intercourse, dubious consent, male/male sexual practices, menage (m/m/m).

My Review: Ok, I'll admit it. I love wingfic.

There--that confession wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be! Now you know that my review might be a bit prejudiced.

As far as feathers go, this book hit all the right buttons for me. J.C. Owen's descriptions of the winged characters are beautiful, as is the intriguing world these two races inhabit. (I wish Owens had fleshed out that world a bit more, but that's tough to do in a novella.)

One of the winged races practices slavery, and most of the book revolves around the master-slave relationship between Vanyae and Anyar. Fortunately, Owens treats the subject seriously and the sense that slavery is wrong is never distant from the narrative.

Anyar, meanwhile, is a likable character, but I had trouble appreciating his relationship with Vanyae. Consent issues aside, I rarely saw these two interacting. The author skipped two months of their lives after Anyar's capture. Worse, the author summed up important scenes. I'm told the two men enjoyed a particular conversation and found that they had many views in common. But why did they enjoy the conversation? Did they laugh and joke during it? Did the they speak almost as equals, or did Anyar force himself to remain deferential? What views did they share? I have no way of knowing.

But problems like that aside, this is an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It's perfect for the beach or a rainy afternoon. And if wings are your thing, you won't want to miss this!

On Kindle: Yes. Find it on Amazon here.