This was fun! ( )

4.5 stars - what a fun fantasy! Magic and familiars and ghosts, oh my. And murders, and mysteries, and a love story, too. I enjoyed everything about this novel except for the repetition of how our MC had been alone and now he wasn't. At least three instances should have been cut, and weren't. (Editing is hard.) If you too enjoy paranormal romances, you'll probably enjoy this one. It ends with a dun-dun-dunnnn, but not a cliffhanger. Just ??? ( )

The Fantastic Fluke by Sam Burns
Fantastic Fluke series #1. Paranormal M-M romance. Not a cliffhanger really as much as part of a series where not everything is known or revealed yet.
Sage runs a bookstore and one day rescues a fox that everyone tells him is his familiar. Sage isn’t so sure since his magic has always been a disappointment. Meanwhile A killer threatens Sage and his way of life while a gunslinger and a ghost add complications.

The fox was entertaining as well as Sage taking care of him. The ghost of Sage’s father, not so much. Who needs someone complaining about their so called failures? Time to banish that ghost. I do have to wonder how Sage’s magic will intensify and change in the next book. ( )

This is a relatively quick read in a world where mages are the norm and they are separated into classes (by element) with specific powers for each class. Sage is a low-level "social mage" meaning he's supposed to be able to use powers to manipulate emotions on various levels but also has the more uncommon ability to see ghosts. His recently passed away father is now one and haunting the book store he owned and had Sage work at, and their relationship was never good but is even worse now that one's dead. One day, however, after a weird event where he now has a fox as a familiar (though he'll deny it because of his low power) a ghost stranger from the 1800s dressed in cowboy gear turns up and tells Sage that Sage is actually a lot more than he's been told all his life and that the cowboy was sent to guide him.
It sounds a little ridiculous because it is but it's fun to read, if a little slow in parts. I thought the world built here was interesting but, besides some of the rules surrounding mages and a paranormal-run government bureau, it's basically the same exact book as [b:Silence of Winter|43225966|Silence of Winter (Cromwell Chronicles, #1)|Avery Blake|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544729158l/43225966._SX50_.jpg|66772501] - including the quirky girl best friend, using lay lines for power, and a ghost boyfriend from 100s of years ago. I liked that this book has them all as adults but have a feeling it was just for the sex component. The fox familiar was also a fun addition. The two books are just too similar and since Silence was written two years earlier and I'd read it before this, this is just going to feel like the cheap knockoff even if I liked them just about the same. ( )

Great start to a new series. Poor Sam. His world was just turned upside down so many times he didn't know which way was up.
An interesting premise that sounds like the start of a bad joke: A low level mage, a fox familiar, and a gunslinger ghost walk into a bookshop...
Great worldbuilding, a lovely familiar and a gorgeous ghost, with quite a poignant relationship. Why not 5 stars? I'd have liked a smidgen more UST and a little less of Gideon stomping off and maybe a heightened sense of danger running through all the book and not just at the end.
Will definitely get the next book. ( )