4 out of 5 stars
E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 164 pages. Published March 1st 2017 by Troll River Publications
Blurb:
Sold at the age of twelve to support his mother’s drug habit and rescued from a life on the streets by a cop, thirty-two-year old Tony Locke had had a brutal start in life.
He’d risen to the position of homicide detective in the Everlight Police Department—a testament to his intelligence and driving ambition to help other victims of Everlight’s prolific industry in sex and drugs. With his promotion to the hush-hush Interdimensional Task Force, he could broaden his reach—if he could just get along with his a-hole of a partner.
Leo Fortan labored under a soul-crushing burden of sacrifice, trapped in a lonely and rigid existence. Hand-picked from that existence and assigned to the Interdimensional Task Force, he thought his life had taken a turn for the better—until he met his partner, Tony Locke. Leo thought it probable they would kill each other.
For a man who thought love didn’t exist and a man who’d sacrificed everything for it, finding common ground may require more than an incident of magic.
Likes:
- The men’s relationship and how it evolved.
- Character development.
- A good second book.
- Hot smut.
- Good ending.
- Hooked me and kept me interested.
- Lots of UST – unresolved sexual tension.
- The thing stopping them from acting on their desire was unique.
- Got to see more of Sable and Hiro.
- Plot carried over from the first book.
Dislikes:
- It took me a bit to warm up to Tony.
- Not the romance/mystery/fantasy blend of the first book.
- I wanted more smut.
- I wish more of Silk had been shown.
- It’s been three years since this book came out and no sign of the third book.
- Feels like some important things were given little page time.
- Shorter than the last book.
Fresh off the high that came from the previous book, I eagerly downloaded this one, despite the misgivings generated from the blurb. I mean, “Sold at the age of twelve to support his mother’s drug habit” is a heavy way to start a blurb, and I was worried this book would be darker than I was in the mood for. Happily, this book hooked me and kept me interested.
Tony rubbed me the wrong way at the beginning. I thought he was a fucking idiot. That changed when he made the conscious effort to get to know Silk better so they could actually function as a team. After that, Tony quickly grew on me.
Silk was my favorite character, and I wish more of his uniqueness had been explored. He has an interesting past, unique abilities, and a lack of worldly experience. I thought all those things could have been played up more.
It was obvious just from reading that this book was shorter than the first. Even though the romantic plot was wrapped up and the non-romantic plot was moved forward, there were a number of things I felt were shortchanged. The physical relationship between Silk and Tony was one of them. I wanted more smut. Compared to the first book, there was only a bit of smut this time. A lot more was hinted at, but not given time to develop. Tony’s submissiveness wasn’t discussed at all, and the idea of Tony topping Silk was never mentioned. This is especially disappointing because part of what made Sable and Hiro such a great couple was how they navigated their physical relationship. It forced them to open up and talk, and that didn’t happen with Tony and Silk.
Still, I liked how the men’s relationship evolved. They hated each other at the beginning. I definitely liked how their relationship wasn’t the same soul-mates as Sable and Hiro, but something that meant a lot to Silk. Of course, the relationship couldn’t have happened without some serious character growth.
The UST – unresolved sexual tension – was off the charts in this book. The reason they didn’t act on it was really unique. Unfortunately, when that reason disappeared, the men never talked about it again.
The overarching plot from the first one translated well into this book. Sadly, the romance/ mystery/fantasy mix that felt so perfect with the first book wasn’t in this one. The plot is heavily geared towards the romance, especially at the beginning. Silk and Tony did move the task force closer to stopping the drug/sex slave trade, but not as much as I would have liked.
I would love to see a short story or two about Silk and Tony. They deserve more page time, and I think the material is there. Tony could show Silk more things about Everlight and then they could explore the kink that was hinted at.
I would say that this is a satisfying second book. It was nice to see Sable and Hiro again, to see the task force officially set up, and to see the non-romantic plot move forward. However, there is one big problem. This book was published in 2017. It’s now halfway through 2020 and no sign of book 3. Both authors have other ongoing series, and it definitely feels like Everlight got put on the back burner.
Find the review for the first book in the series, An Evidence of Magic, here.
Love is Love Reviews 