Lost In A Book

4.5+ stars rounded up. I love a good paranormal/sci-fi story. Add in two quirky, very different, flawed but likeable men, smoldering sexual tension, a hurt-comfort theme, and a believable (to me anyway) romance, I'm happy. There is not a lot of smut in this book and that is more than ok with me. The best books I have read in this genre use sex scenes very judiciously and to great effect. I liked the interesting take on genetic mutants with special abilities (called "variants" here).  I have to think about the science some more to see if I truly "buy it" (a nucleotide analog Fredamine inserted into DNA that has cured genetic diseases and rarely bestows special abilities) but honestly, it didn't bother me as I was reading. And yes, there are parallels to some themes seen in the Marvel universe, such as (rogue) government exploitation and experimentation on "variants", the mutant vs non-mutant politics, etc but the nice pacing and the character driven story keep it fresh and interesting. I came to really like Blaze, the badass alpha male who blusters and pisses everyone off to hide his wounded heart, and Damien, who has had to isolate himself and turn to repetitive behaviors to barely cope with the psychological damage stemming from child abuse.  I'm eagerly awaiting more in this series from Ms. Martinez.

The "hype" around this recent m/m romance release was pretty intense and positive and for once this book absolutely deserved it. The witty sardonic dialogue between the main characters, Crane, Day (and Merrick) was very entertaining. I wonder what a random person would think if they saw me grinning like a fool while reading this ebook? The Victorian era English setting, the well executed development of the main characters and their romance, and the fantasy element with magic practitioners were all high points for me. As a fantasy buff, I've seen all sorts of magic systems and there is rarely something totally unique these days. The magical system used here is also not new but it is realistically presented and fits the time and setting well. I appreciated that the magic wasn't glossed over- there is enough detail to keep it interesting but also won't bog down those readers who aren't major fantasy geeks. And the romance aspect of the book was well done- slow and believable, sexy but without an unnecessary amount of sex. I may edit this review as I give some more time to reflect on the book but as my initial reaction was so positive, I wanted to share.