Wesley: “That’s galling … You just sit there, doing absolutely nothing,
and people flock to you like lecherous moths to a flame.”
Sebastian: “What’s galling about that, besides the questionable metaphor?”
Wesley: “It’s a simile.”
This was a fun and frothy MM paranormal regency. It took me almost two hours to warm up to the narrator. His plugged nose, snobbish Brit narration, particularly for Wesley felt exaggerated; it was at once both pompous and dull. Combine that with Wesley being unaware of the magical world, and the magical crime fighting crew determined to keep him unaware, and it made for a slow-on-the-uptake Wesley, and therefore slow to get rolling, story.
Once the game is afoot, however, the characters and magical world come to life. The story charmed me, even if things stayed in the shallow end. The bad guys are one note, the climactic fight scenes are blink and you’ll miss them, and the entire mystery procedural was mostly window dressing to the romance. And, for a book unafraid to drop F bombs I found it odd how the sex scenes were so tamely written.
But, I enjoyed the banter and found Sebastian’s magic-cancelling power quite engaging. There were also enough recaps and explanations that I didn’t feel lacking for having started here instead of with the original series.
It was enjoyable enough for me to move on in this author’s world.
For similar MM romance/mystery procedural’s, I recommend KJ Charles’s Lily White Boys.
Or, if magic in Victorian London is a must, and you crave the deets between the sheets
and can handle some broody dom/SleepyHollow vibes, go with The Magpie Lord.