A brutal but very good beginning to what I hope is a worthwhile series. I enjoyed Cobalt and Will thoroughly and even got wrapped up in their angst as both men are damaged. I was surprised by Uriskel toward the end. Well plotted, with a good flow and enough surprises to keep this quick read interesting. ( )

Julia ♥Duncan♥ wrote a review that I completely agree with.

The story is full of plot-chasms.

I'll add one or two more things to the list...

First off, I cannot believe that nobody would have believed Will had he gone to the police. I get that the police department is a close-knit group, but had he shown just an inch of his back skin and said one of the cops did it, no one would be able to ignore that with a clear conscience.

Second, Lyle was clearly unstable. Don't they do psych checkups regularly?

The third thing... and this really really pissed me off...
A cop from another precinct comes specifically for you to pick you up, drives off with you cuffed in the back of his car, carrying a gun registered to your best friend (for which you were arrested in the first place). Then he tortures you for at least an hour or two. And then he ends up with his neck broken. And you leave the gun, and your DNA, and your prints all over the car.

And nobody from the PD reacted?! Yeah, right...

But even if they did, and he tried to claim self-defense (since he can't exactly tell them a Fae diquised as Cobalt did it), he wouldn't be able to prove anything because Cobalt healed him completely within an hour of it happening!


All that, plus the things Julia pointed out, but I still kinda liked this book. I got more pissed while writing this review than I was while actually reading it.
So I'll probably read the next installment in the series (Uriskel gets a story!)
( )

The ending of is rather vague where police is concerned. But otherwise I loved the book! ( )

3.5

As I said before, I was actually really looking forward to reading this book. I love Urban Fantasy, and especially enjoy stories with fairies in them. Combine that with M/M and we have a winner.

Vaughn's take on the Fae is the quite traditional one with the Seelie and Unseelie, the good and the bad. The Fae have the usual trait of using glamor to hide their true form, and in Cobalt's case he can use his magic to heal. He's also a well-known tattoo artist, and it's this that leads Will, the radio talk show host, to first meet him.

Will is relatively famous and his show is popular. His on-air persona is witty and strong. In his private life he seems to be everything but: there's a long string of abusive ex's in his past, the most recent of whom beats him to near death more than once. I liked Will, a lot, but I'd liked to see more of his assertive side. Most of the time he came off as a bit of a weakling. I get the why of it, but it felt like there were two Wills: on-air will and private life Will. They didn't seem to blend together.

Cobalt and Will's romance was very sweet. The way Cobalt cared for Will from the moment they met came off the pages very clearly. The chemistry between the two of them was the strongest on an emotional level. Apart from their first sexual encounter the sex scenes were a bit dull and monotone. True, the sex wasn't a huge factor in the story, and it was a hell of a lot better than just fade-out, but I would have like a bit more steam.

In the end I was left wanting to know more about Cobalt's history and the whole Faekyn. Hopefully the world building continues in subsequent books. ( )

Ok. Thing number 1: make sure you have a strong stomach. There is a lot of abuse here, not sure if it was needed or not.

I really enjoyed this book, but I admit that I skipped some of the abuse scenes. ( )