I wasn’t sure what I was getting into this book. The cover is typical romance fare, but I went in with a burning curiosity to identify the nicknames and a willingness to embrace a dark comedy. What I got was a delightful paranormal romance featuring a narrator who swept me along with his strong personality. Romily is pretty swept up in events too, but his unique perspective on life allows him to go with the flow (especially if said flow keeps him closer to Fox). Does his attraction to Fox make sense? Not necessarily, but I adored how Cody pokes fun at romance tropes in a way that normalizes it just enough for the reader. This light touch is also how Cody treats the paranormal aspect of this world, giving us enough information a bit at a time and leaning on Romily’s acceptance of events to gently force our acceptance of the unknown.
Romily’s personality drips through the page, and I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this story. The humor will be up to personal preference, as there were a few moments I felt that the jokes dragged a bit too far, but obviously, your mileage may vary. However, all of the unique characters intrigued me, and I look forward to learning more about them and seeing them develop throughout later books. The external conflict is also resolved with no cliffhanger, but I can already anticipate how it might affect the greater plot that binds the series outside of the romance arc.
Overall, this book is a fun adventure with an epic blend of violence and sheer personality. I’m definitely Team Romily, and I can’t wait to spend more time with him.
Rating: 4.5 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
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