M. A. Grant

3.5 Stars!

My first read by MA Grant, and I’m confident it won’t be my last.

This starts out with ex-marine Atlas, who’s been traumatized by a mysterious attack that left him the sole survivor of his combat unit, struggling daily with PTSD. However, his sister owns and operates a successful private security agency, and there just so happens to be a lucrative contract that other employees have not meshed well with. This serendipitously adapts for Atlas’s personal/physical struggles that traditional protection jobs can’t typically accommodate.

What I appreciated was the slow burn between Atlas and his charge Christian. They barely tolerate each other, sometimes they oppose one another but ultimately, they learn that there’s more than meets the eye on both their parts, resulting in grudging respect and inevitably more. Secrets abound, politics and takeover machinations are constantly brewing, lives are in danger, and these two must learn to trust each other before it’s too late.

This had a good foundation to the paranormal world building, more I suspect will be further explored in the next book. This also brings a slight twist to standard lore which I enjoyed and want to know more of. Despite my absolute disbelief that Atlas never had a weapon on him (once he utilized a knife), I also suspect that will change in the sequel. Apparently, I need more dead bodies and gore than previously thought. Lol.

Again, a good start to what I hope will be an even better series. And that ending?? I loved it!… (altro)

Weirdly felt a lot slower than the first two books, with an enjoyable climax that nicely wrapped up the overall trilogy story. I'm happy with how the story finished in that sense. There were a number of enjoyable side characters (Aage, Breoca, and even Mab, near the end, in particular), though, and I found Lugh's powers interesting, even if I didn't care for him, much. It sounds bad, too, but honestly I didn't care for Roarke all that much, either, in book 1, so it's nothing bad about Lugh, really. He's not the worst of the three brothers. Which is odd, because I didn't like Slaine in this at all, despite enjoying his story in book 2 far more. Each brother gets a solid book to explore themselves and their boyfriend. (I just still like book 2 best)

I love Wild Hunt stories, and that premise helped buoy me through the beginning. Perhaps I'd have enjoyed this more if not for the pandemic, which made reading very difficult this this past year. And I imagine my expectations were a bit high after loving book 2 as much as I did. As is, the plot slowness, uninteresting will-they-won't-they, awkward dialogue, and my lack of interest in the leads made me drop it three times before finally finishing. It's odd, because one of my principal criticisms of books 1 and 2 was that they felt weirdly fast, and now I'm all "too slow!" But I think the issue was that the speed was in the relationships for books 1 and 2, rather than the story. Here, a relationship between two old friends who almost never leave each other's company, and that's kind of already in place but also isn't for some reason, feels overly dragged out across a backdrop plot that also feels overly dragged out. It doesn't help that much of the story is the characters settling in some place warm to tell other people about cool stuff they did... outside the story, and the way that backdrop was presented was never interesting. Contrast this with Pia Foxhall's wonderful "The Gentle Wolf", which I felt was perfectly paced for characters who knew each other for a long time prior to our "meeting" them in the story, but the plot moved right in step with their budding relationship.

I'm also not quite clear on the plot details that happened between books 2 and 3, which made an otherwise largely enjoyable ending a bit confusing. The confusing flashbacks were back in force from book 1, which didn't help, either. The antagonist's ultimate demise also didn't quite... sit right with me, but well. I understand it, I guess. My favorite bit is a major spoiler, but if you can get to the climax, you'll see it. And it was cool. No pun intended.

If you'd like more dark but hopeful queer stories that feature the Wild Hunt (albeit a bit more mildly) and lots of fae, give Pia Foxhall's "Fae Tales" books a try. Their "Perth Shifters" series is also great if you want queer leads who shapeshift. If you want more magic war stories, Tamora Pierce's "Battle Magic" is wonderful (as are all the "Circle of Magic" books).… (altro)

I made the mistake of starting this on the train ride to work this morning and it's quite frankly astonishing that I actually got any work done today, since I kept stealing time to read this. It's an excellent follow-up to "Prince of Air and Darkness", and sets a really great stage for "The Iron Crown", and overall it's quite enjoyable on its own.

The story is heartbreaking. It's cute. It’s sweet. It’s surprising. I can't remember it really being funny, but it did make me grin pretty wildly a lot. I love me some good fae stories, and this one sits in the halls of the greats with how it plays with the usual cast of fae. I love all the characters, particularly Aislinn. Wish we'd seen more of Titania, but Oberon was all right.

It also reminded me a lot of Sarah Monette's "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series. There are a lot of similar elements in the relationship between the protagonists of both stories, and even a few very similar story events and plot points, down to the magic used (and what the magic does), conversations the characters have, and political intrigue. Which was great, cause I love "Doctrine of Labyrinths" and this was basically more of that, but with the fae this time.

I guess I get sort of spoilery after this but it's really only with something anyone who's read a basic monogamous romance novel, or average monogamous m/m romance novel with two protagonists, should be able to figure out. But fair warning anyway.

My primary criticism is that, like book 1, it seems to kind of rush along a bit too quickly. I can't quite explain how it does that (and it's not because I read it too fast), and in book 1 it felt more obvious because Finn and Roarke kept switching between 'enemies but also crushing on each other' to 'hopelessly in love' and then like TRULY MADLY DEEPLY IN LOVE with no apparent explanation, and that's... well it doesn't quite happen like that here, but it gets close. I think it's easier to digest this book because Sebastian and Slaine weren't purportedly 'enemies' at some point, like Roarke and Finn. The build-up to book 1 makes it sound like that was the primary focus of the story, and it sort of is, but they get into 'basically soulmates' territory really fast. In book 2, Sebastian and Slaine are allies for a good chunk of time, and hesitant allies into lovers is a bit more believable, at least to me, than 'basically blood enemies to lovers'. So that helps with some of the 'we're soulmates now' timeline fudging in book 2. Even though even that doesn't explain it because I love and write plenty of enemies to lovers stories... so I guess maybe the problem with book 1 was they seem to jump past the "we're going to ignore this aspect and just be in love" or something. Book 2's falling love timeline is also better. Possibly because the timeline isn't so crammed full of flashbacks like book 1. Not that flashbacks are bad, but they made the story timeline a bit confusing, so that didn't help things.

Another problem with the sense of 'rush' might be in the use of the limited first person perspective, and how there's almost no dialogue, comparatively, between flashbacks, inner-monologue plotting over politics, thinking about injuries... It's not necessarily a terrible thing, but the relatively simplified world structure with emphasis on random complex points (e.g., how fiefdoms work) makes it a bit of a 'huh'. Action is relatively infrequent in comparison to, say... inner monologuing, which makes things happen really fast.

There's a few headscratchers. Maybe plot threads that got dropped and never fully cut out, like how Slaine keeps Sebastian quiet after their first battle, when I'm not sure why, and they never follow up on it, even though the story seems to indicate they should, and basic logic indicates they should. But overall, good story. Great cast. Great universe. Look forward to book 3.

If you like this series, and particularly this book, I'd suggest reading Sarah Monette's "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series. If you like the fae and m/m, I'd really suggest reading Pia Foxhall's "Fae Tales" universe stories. And of course the "Gargoyles" animated TV show does some great stuff with some of the same fae.… (altro)

I got to read the NetGalley ARC, this is my honest review.

I can't believe anyone got me to enjoy a vampire book. Not just that, but I will definitely be reading the series, as well.

Choosing to stay with Atlas as POV character while he figures out what he's walked into is brilliant. The tension is terrifically handled as Atlas (former Marine, now bodyguard) confronts inner and outer demons, and while the arc is common when we have to face our wrong assumptions, the way the author shows us his path is entirely satisfying. This one ends in peril without a HFN, but I found it satisfying and would like to have the next book now, please.

Quote:
Alone together, Cristian’s silence reminded Atlas of the stillness that came after removing body armor , when the skin and muscles remember to move differently, when common sense warns to approach the surrounding world with a bit more caution.… (altro)