4.5 Stars!!

I don’t know what that was, but I sure as hell liked it!

First you have Lord Crane. He’s an arrogant scoundrel but a reluctantly honorable one at that. Upon his father and brother’s death, he grudgingly returns home from exile to settle their affairs - affairs that were often mired in depravity and cruelty. Because of their horrific past discretions, he finds himself a target by familial association as multiple magical attempts are made on his life.

Enter Stephen Day. Don’t be fooled by his small size. He may be short in stature but not short in power and hard truths. Though his family was horribly devastated by the late Cranes, he too, is honorable and just, and is determined to uncover who has placed such a powerful hex on the youngest Crane.

So these two resignedly pair up. As threats continue to knock on Crane’s door, Day must work faster to unravel the twisted, complicated web, where it seems more than one person wants a piece of his lordship. Soon they both realize the other is more than what’s seen on the surface, and they fight and then embrace their attraction while danger presses upon them at every turn.

Richly imagined world building, this was the perfect historical paranormal made that much better by the commandingly, uber sexy Crane and the scrappy, underestimated, practitioner Day. Add in superb writing that tells of taut plotting, intense action, sharp banter, and excellent UST, and you get a near unputdownable fast paced read. Crane and Day ultimately discover a deeper, more binding connection, making for a literal combustible joining as they realize that together of course, they’re more than apart. I am obviously caught by these two, and I hope to be equally impressed with the rest of this series. Wish me luck! ( )

A raunchy M/M romantasy in 19th England when the dispossessed wastrel son of an earl returns from exile to take over a property not so much encumbered by debt as by malign magic and finds himself dependent on the son of a family his father and brother ruined. And likes it. Mostly. Except for the death magic parts. This pair spend a bit of time circling each other, then read signals and blast ahead. ( )

Cute, fun, surprisingly high body count! Will definitely keep reading these. ( )

An absolutely lovely read, and an excellent start to a series! I loved both the leads and the side cast of characters, particularly Merrick, the main dynamic was lovely, and the plot was a lot of fun, and it was funny, too! It's also quite short, and currently legally free to read on Kobo, Books (iOS), and Kindle, so that's awesome!

The magic system is also pretty neat, and I'm really curious about it!

My one criticism isn't that large and I can see why it's used, but the fact that it popped up so much made it more uncomfortably obvious. There are moments where a character says, "Tell me a story", and another character does, but rather than really listening to it, we get a vague summary of what the second character is saying. It's possibly a time-saving technique or just so the writer doesn't have to come up with something that would produce the first character's reaction of awe or humor, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks for themselves. This also means that if the real story isn't as funny/interesting as it's supposed to be, the reader isn't disappointed or wondering why the reacting character finds it funnier/more interesting than it is. I do it a lot, I get it. Eliding is a useful technique. But it happens... a lot. And it's kind of like... For someone who wants us to know these characters had interesting lives and are funny, we aren't actually seeing that on-page, just other characters reacting to what we're told is funny and/or smart.

It also feels a little fast in places? But that might just be because she was pressed for time with the length.

Overall, though, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, and already started book 2! ( )

4,5 stars ( )