Osiris BrackhausRecensioni

A fun story with a very predictable ending. The slow burn love between Dave and Sharu was a fun ride on this roller coaster ride of a story. It was great to see Stanley get trounced.

A serial killer is targeting male prostitutes on the streets of Paris. And the grisly nature of the crimes earned the perp the moniker "Jacqueline the Ripper". At a complete loss for leads, the police are set to send Michel in undercover. The hope is he will make connections easily, since he used to work the streets before he joined the force. And as much as he never wants to fall back into that life, he knows that they need to do everything they can to catch a killer.
Connor seems to have what he considers a dream life. He lives on a house boat and spends his time in the gay district surrounded by art, culture, and beautiful boys. He teaches youth about art by day and plays piano in a bar by night. And he takes the time to look out for the young men who are working the street--even offering them a place to stay when they need it. But his dream life is shattered by the fact that so many of his friends are dying--and the rest aren't safe.

When Michel walks in the door, Connor's dream feels like it might have repaired a bit. Although he doesn't really want a relationship--especially with someone in Michel's line of work--he finds him hard to resist. And when Michel takes up Connor on his offer for a place to stay, proximity brings temptation and desire. Connor doesn't know Michel has ulterior motives: Connor is one of the chief suspects in the police investigation.

But Michel doesn't know Connor's secret: he seems connected to the murders because he is hunting the killer. Of course, Connor also has a much bigger secret. He's a werecat--and that's just the tip of the supernatural iceberg that might stand in the way of the two of them having an actual relationship. Of course, first they have to track down a killer who is much more difficult to kill than anyone could have imagined...

--

I very much enjoyed the juxtapositions that are present within this story. Michel worked to get away from his past but now he's fallen right back into his old haunts. Connor is trying to catch the killer, but his connection makes him the prime suspect. Michel isn't being completely honest with Connor; and, well, vice versa. The number of opposing issues and forces could make this an unwieldy story to tell. But in the hands of these storytellers, they're used to effortlessly build a web that is engaging, interesting, and thrilling.

This is the first book in a series. And I'm absolutely looking forward to the next installment.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.]

Werecat Roan has found that he can manage to live among humans on his own as long as he doesn't stick around too long. It's not that they'll figure him out; it's that he can only put up with certain people for so long. And he's well past the time he should be moving on from his current living situation. But when he discovers a traveling circus has captured a werewolf and is subjecting him to torture to entertain the masses, he decides he has one last thing to do before he leaves town. Not that he's a fan of werewolves or anything. It's just that no one deserves to be treated like that. But Roan isn't the only one who wants to set the wolf free, and after the rescue attempt goes wrong he finds himself on the run with none other than the sheriff's daughter. And as a lone cat, Roan has to quickly adjust to being part of a crowd--and figure out what to do about the circus ringmaster who is hot on their trail (and is some sort of supernatural creature himself). Will they manage to keep themselves and the werewolf safe? And will Roan be able to set his loner nature aside while they continue to run together?

There are more than a few unexpected turns in this book, which is something I am always a fan of. Roan is a character that you simultaneously love and grumble at a bit while reading. He's gruff and a bit jaded while kind and caring at the same time. And it's not so much that he tries to reject the caring part of his nature, just that he doesn't want all of the trouble and fuss that seems to go along with it. His arch is indeed an interesting one, and it's as much of a journey itself as is the cross-country road trip that the group undertakes as part of their getaway. This is a fun and entertaining read that I can't help but recommend.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

David should have known better than to trust criminals. His own dabbling in dishonest dealings should be enough indication of what can happen. And that's how he winds up being left for dead in a crumbling tomb.

But David finds something special in the tomb that just might be his ticket out: an old lamp with, believe it or not, a djinni inside. David's not much of a believer, but it's hard to deny Sharu's existence when he whisks them safely back to David's apartment. And it's even harder for David to deny his attraction to the djinni.

While many people would be excited at the prospect of three wishes, it's a complication David isn't sure he needs in his life. He's still nursing a breakup from the guy he thought was the love of his life. And it just so happens he's a guy that David can't avoid in his social circle. Not to mention, there's the brewing attraction David feels for Sharu. There's also the fact that David can't help feeling dismayed at the fact that Sharu is cursed and enslaved. It just doesn't seem right.

As David begins to find his confidence and earn Sharu's trust, can he find a way to save the djinni from his fate and return the favor? Or is some magic so powerful that nothing can make it undone?

--

I think there's something about David that many readers will find relatable. While he finds success in some areas of life, there are others that just don't come together. This is especially true with relationships. And even when what seems like an easy solution presents itself, things are never as simple as they seem.

And sometimes, truly, we don't know what we need until it's right in front of us...

This is an entertaining and engaging read. I recommend it to anyone who likes their romance with a bit of magic--ancient or otherwise--on the side.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.]

I am not sure how to rate this book. While I enjoyed the adventures, I couldn't connect with the main characters. And some of the secondary characters seemed nothing but a prop, like Jehan's grandmother. All she did was some nagging in the beginning, being sick and silent in the middle and being dead and happy in the very end. There is no adequate impact on the story for the pages spent on her, unfortunately.

There was so much thrown in together: the non-stop adventure and the pending doom of a curse, powerful creatures bent on destroying our MC's, Jehan's and Giraud's sudden coming out of a wizards' closet ....my head spun. I would have loved to see more slow, tender moments between the two men, other than preparation of one meal or another. BTW, they constantly eat in this book - what's up with that? O.o Anyway, I would have loved to know what was going in MC's heads, both of them. Alas, I was mostly denied that pleasure.

Another thing - why France? Could have easily been anywhere. A few French sounding names do not France make.

For the adventure and the world of magic - 4.5 stars. For the romance and deh feels - 2 stars. Final score - 3.25

Extended Edition includes a new epilogue.

A lot of telling makes it too rough to bother getting through.

4.5 I enjoyed this on a lot. It has all my favorite plot points: it's a mystery; cops; shifters; romance and good storytelling. Recommended

What a lovely story! ‘Loving Djinni” enchanted and delighted me in equal measure, starting with the laugh-out-loud humor of the first half of the novel all the way to the deeply emotional part of the second half, which is when David and Sharu realize they are falling in love.

David may want everyone to believe that he is a serious art dealer, but underneath the civilized veneer he is a bit of a scoundrel. He trades in antiquities, but not all of them as real as the paperwork he forges makes them out to be. David is a nerd who loves art and respects history, but he wants to make money too - lots of money if at all possible. His ex has dumped him for being boring, and David decides to accept a contact’s invitation for a trip to Egypt – just to prove he is adventurous after all. What he gets as a result is the adventure of a lifetime, a djinni who grants him three wishes, and a moral dilemma about what to do with them.

Sharu is an ancient djinni, immortal and immensely powerful, and a bit of a prankster. As a result, he was bound by someone who turns out to be a historical celebrity and has been a prisoner of the lamp he resides in for millennia. The curse has curtailed his powers so he can only use them to fulfill three wishes for each master who finds the lamp, and he hates it. Sharu’s purpose in life has become to do as much damage to each master as possible by goading them into making stupid wishes, or by misinterpreting what they say as much as possible.

David and Sharu’s relationship is not an easy one. David, as a modern man, has difficulty dealing with the magic aspect, but hates whoever did this to Sharu for locking up a sentient being. Sharu is more than mistrustful, believing all humans are stupid and cruel. He only slowly begins to see that David is different, and that is when their relationship changes from hostile to carefully trusting and eventually loving. There are a few bumps along the way, misunderstandings to deal with, and the matter of Sharu vanishing as soon as David uses his third wish becomes a real problem.

The tone of the story changes as the relationship develops, and I found that fascinating. Initially, the humor is snarky and sarcastic, and while both characters’ sense of humor still comes through even when they are battling the threat of never being able to share their lives, it is a softer sort of humor. The depth of their despair was very touching, and the relief I felt when the solution came along was immense. I felt close to both of them, and really wanted them to be happy despite the odds.

If you like fantasy stories with lots of magic and a touch of humor, if two men who are separated by a curse sound exciting, and if you’re looking for a read that is funny, sweet, romantic, and has an energy all its own, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. It’s adorable and goes straight to the “read when cheering up is required” stack.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

To find a US Army captain defending an alleged Nazi German war criminal at the Nuremberg trials in 1946 is pretty extraordinary. But Frank Hawthorne has good reason to speak up as a witness for the defense, even though he can’t give any details since they are all classified. Of course a lot of the events in this book are fictional, as are the main characters, but when I checked I found enough basis in fact for this story to be possible. With three of the twenty-four defendants of the Trial of Major War Criminals in 1946 found not guilty, I had reason to hope that Johann von Biehn, the second main character in ‘Lovers in Arms’, might be one of them. It certainly didn’t look like it for the longest time, and the author made me bite my nails and sweat proverbial bullets as the story progressed, but I was hopeful.

The story is told by Frank, an American Army captain who has returned to Germany as a witness in the trial – against orders and risking punishment himself if things get out of hand. His hands are pretty much tied as to what he can say, but he has to try to save the life of the man he fell in love with. And while the story takes place at the trial in 1946, there are flashbacks to 1943 as Frank remembers meeting Johann for the first time and falling in love. The gradual reveal of what happened between the two men and the truth about Johann was masterfully done and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Frank is under enormous pressure – he can’t tell the truth about why he abandoned his original mission of assassinating Johann and any other Nazi officials he could find at the time. All I knew for the longest time was that it must have been one heck of a reason for his superiors to have approved his actions. And when the truth did emerge, I was impressed with the genius of the author’s explanation. Things don’t look good for Johann, and given the prosecutor’s evidence, Frank is getting ready to attempt freeing Johann from jail and going on the run. Yes, he is that determined and that desperate. Talk about true love!

The final unraveling of events, Frank’s plan, and other parts of the trial made for an excellent thriller. Fictional or not – it sounded real, was very plausible, and turned out to be a great love story on top of everything else. It wasn’t just the political and judicial part that left me happy, the emotional ending was about as good as can be expected in a time where the love between two men was considered sodomy and illegal. In fact, the ending was even better than I expected, and I loved that.

If you like historical novels, if you believe that love can overcome any obstacle, and if you’re looking for a read that is suspenseful, full of mystery and revelations, has great characters, and very romantic, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. It’s an impressive combination of fiction and fact and such a great story!


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

Roen is a loner, a weresmilodon who doesn’t like to spend too long in the same place. He wanders as the mood takes him, alone and working as little as he has to

He certainly doesn’t rescue imprisoned and abused werewolves or go on the run with said werewolf and a local woman from a small town in New Mexico

And so began the weirdest road trip he never asked for - with a dangerous unknown supernatural chasing them and some very angry cops looking for her

This book is so much fun

What I love above all else is Betsy. Amazing, awesome, human Betsy. Throughout this book Roan makes assumption after assumption about Betsy. He assumes she’ll be weak, vapid, shallow, selfish, self-absorbed, whiny - and every single time she awesomely challenges him.

But at the same time she doesn’t subvert and shatter (because she does way more than challenge his assumptions) his assumptions by being an action girl underneath the dye and make up (and it is a sad trope that is so common in Urban Fantasy that for a woman to be kickarse and awesome she most run screaming from anything reminiscent of traditional femininity) - she is just awesome complete with the dye and make up. She’s kind and compassionate, she’s smart and she’s tough. She isn’t a dangerous fighter or lethal nor is she filled with rage or jaded or cynical (other so very common tropes for the Appropriate Urban Fantasy Female). She’s hopeful and positive and pro-active, she wants to change her life and she will.

She makes some pretty silly and sheltered assumptions largely because her connection to the supernatural has been entirely through fiction (and there’s some really subtle but quite snarky poking of tropes there, and I do love a good trope poking), but she doesn’t cling onto these ideas past them being proven wrong or disputed. She thinks in stories, some of them very twee indeed, but she deals with reality - whether that’s a brutal firefight with drug dealers or stealing a car or handling the reality of wereanimals around her. Above all she tries - completely out of her element, having to learn really quickly, she keeps moving, she isn’t stunned, or incapable - she learns, she tries, she keeps on plugging and not with even the slightest sense of martyrdom. She doesn’t persevere and learn and try while being suffering and noble - she does it because she’s got this and she can do this. She’s the gem of this book.

This book does a good job of challenging a lot of Roan’s assumptions which I really quite like since he has a - justly - bitter and cynical world view in many ways and he is shown several times, not just through Betsy, that there are good people out there. But at the same time it’s not done in a way that invalidates the racism that makes him assume the worst, it’s acknowledged that many of these acts of kindness are the exception. There are excellent calls outs of both subtle racism and the more overt hostility he both faces and expects

Roan is mixed race, part Native American and part Brazilian (not clear racially, but he is described as “darker” than most Native americans). He grew up on a reservation, but it’s clear his woo-woo - his ability to turn into a werecat, isn’t actually anything to do with his father’s Native American heritage (and nor did his mother chose his father because of woo-woo but because of the fact he lived more off the grid). However, while his experiences are shaped by racism, I don’t think he carries much of his Native American upbringing: more than anything, Roan is a feline by nature and culture (same as his mother) than a human being which does rather erase cultural markers. The description of his preferred type of women also feels fetishistic of Black women (he isn’t into Betsy because “ebony skin” turns him on - which feels reductive)

Seeing the cat challenge the werewolf is fun, because he is so very cat like. There’s this constant sense of superiority, arrogance and “I’m-just-doing-this-because-I-want-to” sense that any cat owner will know.

I also quite like the idea of a werewolf who doesn’t really know how to be a werewolf. And a werewolf that’s a big lazy dog that keeps pancaking whenever he can and would much rather take the car.

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Connor loves Paris and revels in his beautiful life in the museums of the city and the streets of Le Marais – and he’s always ready to take in waifs and strays who need shelter, good advice and a warm meal

But when these gay sex workers are targeted by a serial killer, Connor’s not going to stand aside and if he catches the serial killer they’ll find there’s another dangerous predator prowling the rooftops of Paris.

While Michel is an undercover cop, ideally placed to infiltrate the killers victims – being a former sex worker himself. But can he lure in the killer without falling into old, destructive habits?

Like many paranormal romances, I find myself a little frustrated by the fact actually hunting down the serial killer takes a very big back step to the romance. I don’t know how much Michel actually spends investigating the murder at all… I mean other than walking the streets looking sexy I can’t really point to anything Michel does to actually hunt down the serial killer. Michel does little more than move in with Connor and then repeatedly fall asleep instead of doing his job and then destroying evidence. Connor does more, but even he gets heavily distracted.

I do actually like the romance, I think it has a lot of positive elements, is nicely based, has reasonable conflicts and is generally something I appreciate – but it’s hard to be that invested in it when there are men being murdered and that’s pushed into the background.

I am somewhat bemused with the idea that the police are under so much pressure from the powers that be to solve this case right now! The dead are sex workers, homeless street walkers, gay men and, at least some of them, immigrants, possibly undocumented. The powers that be being passionately outraged about this does not match up with actual official reaction to the deaths of any of these groups, let alone men who straddle all of them. I think it would have been much better to focus on Judge d’Angers, a clearly deeply involved woman (in what we don’t know yet) who could be driven by her own moral code (or other motives we’re not yet privy to).

I really like Connor and Michel here – they’re fun characters, they have hobbies, histories and depths. I like how they grow together, I like how they come to realise more depth. I like how Michel relates back to his previous life but is happy about how far he has come and is very confident as to risk everything to prove himself. I like Connor, his life his dedication to art, his existence, community and friends.

I like the unique wereanimal, some very original takes on werecreatures in general and a really interesting take on the supernatural depiction of the Council of Paris. I really really wish we could see more of the supernatural here. The hints of the supernatural are too brief, Connor’s history is too brief, his family too brief and what it means to be a weresmilodon was all pretty abruptly passed over. Which is a shame because not only did I want to see more of these unique elements, but I felt the supernatural wasn’t as big a part of this book as I like

But I really did like to see Connor stalking the houses of Paris. And how that isn’t quite as easy for a big cat as we often see depicted

And we have a book with two gay characters who I actually like and whose relationship doesn’t annoy me! This is wonderful and so beyond rare. I can’t stress enough how very very very few books with gay male protagonists I’ve read for Fangs and how many of them (or books submitted to us we didn’t read) had Problems.

The problem is the focus. I mean, this book takes part in the very gay-friendly neighbourhood of Marais (I’ve been, it’s AWESOME). And most of the characters are gay. Which is great, definitely approving. The characters are also not terrible, generally not troped in MOST ways. There’s a lot of good here. It’s certainly a lot lot lot better than nearly every book with a gay male protagonist we’ve reviewed on this site.

And they’re all sex workers. Oh, one of them runs a club that caters to sex-workers and offers them freebies so long as the elderly owner can get him some under-aged groping and the other, our co-protagonist is guy-with-heart-of-gold who likes to save sex-workers (and the reason you don’t have many romantic relationships Connor is because you don’t seem to have any gay men in your life you don’t view paternalistically as some poor wounded flower for you to save!)

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have sex-workers or gay sex-workers in a book – by all means do, this men exist and are rarely depicted (outside of porn) – but when your gay romance book with nearly all gay characters (with occasional female gossip hangers on and straight colleagues) taking place in one of the gay capitals of France and the only gay culture and gay men we see are sex-worker related? There’s no counter narrative or even parallel narrative. This continues when we look at Michel – an undercover police officer who can’t even attend a professional meeting with his boss without wearing trousers so tight you can tell whether he’s circumcised. I nearly put the book down when he finds evidence and promptly ruins it by masturbating over it. Yes, evidence is inadmissible because the cop finding it couldn’t resist ejaculating all over a blood stained shirt in a serial killer enquiry. I honesly have no idea how to even respond to this?! Yes there’s an attempt to present Michel struggling with his past and demons… but really? Really? We need to make the gay men THIS sexualised and THIS sex obsessed? Throw in Connor’s slut shaming and paternalism and the positive array of vulnerable, exploited damaged gay prostitutes and this… focus is a pretty unpleasant lens

Which is a shame because I like these characters. I like how they grow. I like their romance. I like how Michel battles with some of his old demons and grows to appreciate himself, his life and Connor more. Similarly I like how Connor deals with his issues relating to Michel, his own relationship issues as well as the revelations around Michel and how this affects their relationship. In so many books this would lead to some really ridiculous conflict forced however they can but instead there was a decent level of maturity in handling it.

Connor is a mixed race Man of Colour, with Latino and Native American ancestry. One of the major characters who is Michel’s chief contact in the police is Said, a man of Asian descent. All do reference their culture and ancestry though I suspect Connor’s is going to be used as a way of referencing his woo-woo. There's also a bit of a weird moment where we have an elderly racist woman making an exception for Connor as one of the good ones and... why is this here? He doesn't even call her out or think bad things about it? We didn’t have much real presence of women – we had women there and their brief appearances were all interesting but also really brief. I already mentioned Judge d’Angers who is clearly dedicated and involved – but also brief. Connor has a couple of female friends who may be interesting – but again it’s a really brief appearance

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I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this book. Interstellar furries, perhaps? A sort of Guardians of the Galaxy type thing? But, no. It was quite a surprise, and a pleasant one, too. A naive girl with powers she doesn't understand, collecting genetically engineered beast-folk she can bind to her with her mind, and trying to uncover the secrets of their past. Not nearly as light-hearted and pretty as you might think, either - violence, psychological distress, and oppressive politics. As the characters themselves conclude at some point, there don't really seem to be any good guys in this tale.
But I really do want to read more.

Before talking of why I loved this story, I should tell you a little one myself: when my mother was only a child (she was born in 1942 in full wartime), she lived in an occupied city, Padua, by the Nazi Army. Most of the people was living in barns right outside the city, and near where they were there was a garrison of German officers; my grandfather, after years and years of wartime (he was enlisted in the Africa campaign and then Greece, and he had already lost a 3 years old child to pneumonia) had deserted the Italian army, and to be able to help his family, he was tending the German officers’ animals, mostly mules; one of these officers took sympathy on my mother, she was red-head and curly, and he said she remembered him of his own daughter, back in Germany; he brought chocolate to her and what food he could to my grandfather and grandmother; when the Army started to recede to Germany thought the Alpes, they took my grandfather with them, to tend the animals; but it was clear that he wasn’t to come back, as soon as they were at home, my father, an Italian deserter was probably to be sent to prison if not worse; the German officer told him to stay at the back of the group, and to wait for his signal; as soon as it was possible, he signaled my grandfather to run away. We don’t know what it was of the officer, we don’t even know his name, but we know he saved my grandfather’s life.

So this story of a high-ranked German officer who fell in love with the American assassin who was sent to kill him rang true to my ears. Not only that, I’m always a little weary of war stories cause they are usually tragic, with little hope for an happily ever after, and instead this one was very romantic, as light as it could be due to the matter, and yes, full of hope and with an uplifting feeling that lulled and comforted the reader during all the course of the story.

The plot develops in parallel, the story of Frank and Johann when the met, and that of 3 years later, when the war is over and Johann is under process at Nuremberg for crime against humanity. There is little Frank can do, he for sure cannot admit he was Johann’s lover and he cannot disclose his former mission; to the world’s eyes, Johann was an high-ranked German officer who was primarily involved in the Germany’s war strategies.

The love story between Frank and Johann was sudden and immediate, I did wonder if a trained assassin could really fall like that, I was always expecting for him to turn and betray Johann; on the other hand, Johann was like a romantic hero, talking of love and being the perfect lover, trusting Frank totally only for the reason he was in love; again, I thought he was maybe a little naïve, but I really liked his romantic streak, and for once, it was a joy to read a war story, and not a “tragic” experience.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1622341104/?tag=elimyrevandra-20