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The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man
Krista Ritchie -
[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A4r9j4voYflyKBUXOSfiQCf&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to Hexworld: Hexslayer by Jordan L. Hawk
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Totsugimasen Kara! – Sunako
Itsuki a fresh high graduate was ordered by his mother to work as a servant under the Tenmei family. Little does he know, that he was actually one of the candidates into becoming the bride of Tenmei’s young master named Jin. But competition proves to be fierce as the contenders are all male Omega from well known families while he was only from a poor ordinary household.
BL logic working its magic on a tired soap-opera plot.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivEyCJNeII?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]
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Hexworld: Hexmaker – Jordan L. Hawk
A straight-laced policeman. A lighthearted thief. A murdered millionaire.
Fox shifter Malachi steals for one of the biggest crime rings in New York City. But when he witnesses the murder of a millionaire, the only person who can keep him safe is Dr. Owen Yates, forensic hexman for the Metropolitan Witch Police—and Malachi’s witch.
Owen is horrified to discover his familiar is an uneducated thief. Even worse, Malachi threatens to unleash Owen’s deepest desires…desires Owen can’t act upon, as he’s destined for an arranged marriage to secure the Yates family fortune
Their agreement: Malachi will be Owen’s lover as well as his partner, until the day of the wedding. But as their hunt for the murderer carries them from teeming slums to Fifth Avenue mansions, Owens begins to realize Malachi commands his heart as well as his body.
With dark forces drawing ever closer around them, Owen must decide whether to bow to the demands of duty, or to risk everything for the man he loves.
In the Hexworld universe, New York is full of magic, witches and familiars. In book two, Hexmaker, we have Owen Yates whom we met in Hexbreaker, as the forensic hexman of the MWP and his familiar, the thief or should we say the reformed thief and fox Malachi. I took an instant liking to the MCs as they are both beautiful skinny men and that they are both well-developed characters and Mal’s a ginger. The romance happened fast but was believable with some kinky bedroom play involved. The story was a fast-paced, finished-in-one sitting variety. It’s a mix bag of mystery, family drama and class conflict that also picked up threads from the theriarchy plot from the first book. All of these on top of a deftly written, well-conceived world run by hexes. Overall, a solid addition to the series.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Heartsong
Artist: The Paddingtons
Album: No Mundane Options(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31949586-hexmaker)
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Sometimes the choices others make take ours from us.
Mary Calmes -
[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A06GXqAxFwNFGtv7oMUfgUy&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to Hexworld: Hexmaker by Jordan L. Hawk
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Good Day – Woof – for Lunch! – Itsuki Makoto
Tomuro Shigeru is a loner. Because his teeth look like a tiger’s, everyone calls him disgusting like an animal… so he’s learned to keep his mouth shut. One day, he decides to eat lunch outside – since he doesn’t have anyone to hang with anyway – and he meets a weird dog and his cheerful owner.
Cute boys + doggos
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTNIy9GuW5U?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]
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The Firebird’s Tale – Anya Ow
The Firebird’s Tale begins with the end of a familiar story: a Prince who never smiled, and by Imperial decree, has to marry the one who managed to make him do so.
Except that it was all an accident, and the Prince would say he didn’t actually smile at the thief who dared to rob a Tsar, and the thief was not even a woman—or, as it turns out, even human.
I love faery tales and MM so the combination of the two is a delight. This is the second firebird retelling I had come across with. It’s a story about the prince who was forced to marry the first person who made him smile. In addition, there are tales of different Russian magical creatures scattered throughout the story courtesy of the thief which is good but could have been better had it not been all over the place or dropped at inconvenient times. I would like some tweaks to the writing style, chief of which is the author’s tendency to namedrop magical creatures, people and places like the reader is suppose to know them already. Some explanation would have been appreciated. Like, what the hell are leshys suppose to be? What’s a vucari? What does their land look like? What are these dukes? A little depth to the characterization would also be nice.
The highlights for me are the moments between the prince and the thief that were playful and sweet. And then there were the harsh commentary on human nature by the thief in connection with the tales that were a bit jarring sometimes. I liked it though because it was from the perspective of someone not human.
Sadly, tried as I could, I couldn’t finish this story. The good parts were not enough to overcome the needs-improvement parts and reading has become a pain. An edited, more focused version of this would be appreciated.
Rating:
2 Stars – it’s a struggle to finish the damn bookSoundtrack: Bird of Prey
Artist: Editors
Album: The Weight of Your Love(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31923190-the-firebird-s-tale)
