RELIC – Maz Maddox

Smash & Grab: My standard issued lab badge reads ‘Simon’ but it really should say ‘unexciting nerd with no social life’
Don’t get me wrong — I love what I do with a passion, but it doesn’t leave a lot of time for much else.
Especially romance.
While chipping away at my work, I’m suddenly the person between hired cartel muscle and the fossil that will define my career.
Which isn’t the most insane part of the story.
My savior is a chaotic, bat-wielding punk with a bubble gum pink mohawk and a killer smile.
In a mad dash to escape the thieves, my knight in studded armor sweeps me across the country while hitting every tourist trap along the way.
While smuggling a fossil, might I add.
Oh, and did I mention this pink punk can shift into a dinosaur?

Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

Soundtrack: Tonight, Tonight
Artist: The Smashing Pumpkins
Album: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Sink Or Swim: Trapped on a cruise ship with a man I absolutely hate is not how I wanted to spend this fake honeymoon. Especially when my “fiancé” has a deadly ex on the same boat.
Jackson is everything I’m not: brash, careless and a former fossil thief. But he’s my ticket to getting what I want — the original Spinosaurus fossils that have been lost for decades. Now I have to play the part, win the fossils and try not to kill him in the process.
The danger of being caught, tortured or killed isn’t what scares me.
Navigating the waters of this fake relationship is threatening to pull me under.
And I’m terrified of sinking.

Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

Soundtrack: You Were Right
Artist: Rufus du Sol
Album: Bloom

King & Queen: Running into your one night stand is always awkward.
It’s especially awkward when said hunky hookup pulls you into a secret war over fossils and a kidnapped, newly awakened Albertosaurus shifter.
As if my life wasn’t already a mess (understatement), now I’m cruising through Canada hunting down an ancient monster who tried to kill us, attempting to get my social media career off the ground, and ignoring my feelings for my one time fling.
Royal is hot as fire, funny, brilliant and has a thing for dinosaurs almost as much as I do.
Probably because he is one.
Bonus.

Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

Soundtrack: Found Me
Artist: Men I Trust
Album: Oncle Jazz

Lost In Amber: Being alive for millions of years means I’m rarely surprised.
In the long expanse of my existence, I’ve been rescuing fossils for only a breath. During that time, my path has crossed with many different people — shifter and human alike.
Some friendly, some nefarious.
A hundred years ago, one such man graced me with his presence.
He was one of the few to have almost killed me.
Imagine my surprise when I see him again, buying the rarest amber fossil to have ever been discovered.
Precious. Beautiful. Unique.
A true treasure millions of years in the making.
I won’t let him get away again.

Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

Soundtrack: Loon
Artist: Bears and Lions
Album: Wild and Free

Gardens & Ghosts: For the past few years, I’ve been living with a ghost. My husband – my mate – was lost because of choices I made. As one of only a few tyrannosaur shifters on this planet, I have resigned myself to an immortality alone, married to my work. I am more than happy to keep my walls up, heart guarded, and my focus set on my missions. That was until a compassionate, plant obsessed man stomped into my life. Henry is everything I don’t have time young, reckless, eager to prove himself, and desperate to push all of my buttons. Some of those buttons he hits with expert precision. When we learn about a rare, and life changing shifter fossil being traded on the black market, Henry and I set out into the concrete jungle of Chicago to steal it back. The treasure is heavily guarded, worth a fortune, and sought after by all manner of deadly adversaries. If we can keep our heads down and maintain a professional relationship, we might make it through this alive. Henry has other plans.
****

Gardens & Ghosts can be read as a standalone, but it is highly recommended you read King & Queen (RELIC #3) so you get all the story!

Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

Soundtrack: Bloom
Artist: The Paper Kites
Album: Woodland

I don’t even like Jurassic Park. Nothing against dinos; I just hate movies in which animals are the bad guys only because humans foolishly disturb them in their territory.

Maz Maddox came this close to making me rewatch the damn movie for the sheer joy of watching the mighty beasts in all their fearsome glory.

RELIC is a sci-fi/paranormal romance series featuring dinosaur shifters on their mission to retrieve stolen artifacts and find their mates along the way. As far as I know, this is the only MM dino-shifter romance series (if there’s another one, please let me know), and an outstanding specimen at that! I consider this a classic (if there’s a better word for this, let me know too), much like how Necessary Evils is a classic in the queer billionaire psycho-vigilantes niche.

RELIC stands for Reclaiming Extinct Lineage from Illegal Collectors and currently has 5 members. The lore is that there are creatures since the beginning of time who can shift into many forms. For many, the form that spoke to them the most is their dinosaur form. These creatures slept for millions of years, only to wake as humans, and can now only shift to the one that resonated with them the most.

The author created some of the most unforgettable, lovable characters in MM romance, and my only regret is not reading the series sooner. Every time the characters shifted, I was in awe. You can practically see the magnificent beasts wreaking havoc.

The topic is well-researched, and the writing made it easy to digest the science and imagine the dinosaurs coming alive. The books are in dual, 1st person POVs. Although there are some violent scenes, the overall vibe is humorous

Dalton “Utah” – chaotic knight in spikey jacket and doc martens with bubblegum pink mohawk, how could you resist this irreverent, child-like punk charming who rescued Simon and took him on a road trip (while dodging bad guys) to various dino park tourist attractions. He’s a utahraptor and that pink mohawk gets me all the time!

Simon – a renowned paleontologist living a humdrum life who was suddenly caught up in the exciting if dangerous world of stolen artificts and dino shifters. He tends to be socially awkward and reserve but nonetheless a sweet guy. And with the patience of a saint to deal with Dalton’s ADHD. His secret weapon is his dimples that shot arrows straight to Dalton’s heart.

Dalton and Simon starred in Smash & Grab, a road trip/on-the-run romance. This book introduces us to the secret world of shifters and fossil black market. Simon was ridiculously adorkable! The OTT antics, the thrilling adventure, and the swoony if chaotic way Dalton wooed his adored paleontologist made this one of the best books in the series.

Baha “Egypt” – big, badass, grumpy and hella intelligent if a bit lonely, Baha is an Egyptian spinosaurus tasked to retrieve a precious spinosaurus fossil aboard a cruise ship. He was partnered with a Texan fossil thief (reformed) Jackson. Baha might be slow to unclench but when he’s in, he’ll give you the world. He’s also very devoted to his shifter family and tutored their newest member Henry in everything from self-defense to algebra.

Jackson – the sunshine in Baha’s world, super laidback, snarky, unflappable with an extra inch in height that made his boyfriend’s eye twitch the first few times they met. Jackson is also a shifter but not a dinosaur. His other form is imposing enough to stand toe to toe with a spinosaurus. The courting scene where Jackson in shifted form was squee-ing at Baha’s shark offering was so adorbs!!

Baha and Jackson starred in Sink or Swim, where they posed as fake fiances on a cruise ship hosting a black market auction. The USTs are chef’s kiss, and I loved that the author paired two mighty beasts. One is the ruler of the air, and the other is the ruler of the sea. Grumpy Baha won me over because who knew the man was a closet romantic, and Jackson was such a charmer!

Royal “Calgari” – superhacker and mentor to Dalton, Royal is the calmer version of our favorite punk but just as bad a troublemaker if not more. He loves anime, movies, games and pop culture in general. This triceratops shifter considers YOI’s Victor his husbando. Normally working behind a computer, Royal was tasked to visit a new fossil site in case another of their kind would appear there. Along the way, he stopped at a club and had an anonymous encounter. To his surprise, he met the same individual, Blaise, in the fossil site live streaming his dino fight with two other dinosaurs.

Blaise – a fabulous, sassy, science geek and sometimes drag queen hoping to make it big as a science communicator. Lucky to be at the right place at the right time, his (hopefully) big break came with his video of men shifting to dinosaurs then having a dino royal rumble. He and Royal went on a merry chase looking for the new shifter and dodging bad guys.

Royal and Blaise starred in King & Queen, another road trip romance, but this time, in search of the missing artifact and a runaway shifter. The snark and sass were a riot! I loved how Royal’s colorful geeky wardrobe complemented Blaise’s creative clothes. The drag scene was so hilarious I wished there were more moments of the MCs in drag. This book introduced a new MC, Henry, who promptly latched on to Blaise.

Yu – a free spirit and most mysterious member of RELIC, this yutyrannus is almost as old as Montana and had roamed the fields of Mongolia and China. His first meeting with Lance was 100 years prior as a bandit whom the smaller man shot for invading their fossil site. The kind-hearted Lance then nursed him back to health and gave him hard candy, a treat that Yu still enjoyed to the present day. Yu had many loves throughout his long lifetime, but he never forgot the first one who shot him.

Lance – a shy, awkward man of multiple doctorates working as the geneticist for the rival group, Origin. His shifter form is a troodon and brace yourself for the cutest protect-my-boyfriend-against-the-bad-guys scene! He and Yu were on a mission to retrieve the most important fossil from the black market.

Yu and Lance starred in Lost in Amber, a second-chance romance set primarily in China where Yu was to retrieve a rare artifact. I loved the idea of two nearly immortal creatures finding each other again after a century of pining. Lance is also adorkable, and his 1920s bowtie fashion gave me joy. Yu has such a wuxia prince-turned-fashion model vibe! Their candy connection is sweet in many ways. This book also revealed unlikely alliances and key elements that would shake the RELIC boys to their core.

Montana – big daddy T. Rex a.k.a. Captain America, perpetually grieving his dead husband while running a tight ship in RELIC and being big bro to everyone. Montana has such a cowboy vibes that strangers assume he’s one. He’s the oldest shifter and has the biggest form, being a T. Rex. He’s intimidating and well-respected, even by his nemesis from Origin. His latest mission is to retrieve the very important stolen artifact connected to Yu’s mission and he reluctantly takes Henry with him.

Henry “Horseshoe” – the newest member and an albertosaurus shifter still learning the ways of the human world under Baha’s strict tutelege. Henry is a plant daddy and has a child-like POV, a bit naive but also surprisingly knowledgeable too, and fervently in love with Montana. His problem is that Montana is spectacularly oblivious, seeing Henry only as their youngest brother. His initial attempts to woo the T. Rex were hilarious disasters and so he resolved to go with Montana on his mission.

Montana and Henry starred in Gardens & Ghosts, the longest book in the series and has everything we love about RELIC. From the forced proximity trope and second chance romance, the heist and the car chases, the thrilling shifts and dinosaur rampages, and, of course, the determined and heart-melting way our albertosaurus won over his T. Rex, this is one heck of a series finale!

A bit spoilerish, but I know some readers care about such things. The biggest elephant in the room is that while our shifters are practically immortal, their human mates will age. This part hit Dalton hard, and my heart went out to our favorite punk dinosaur. One of my favorite aspects of the story is that a question I had since the beginning was finally answered!

RELIC is one of the funniest and most entertaining series I’ve ever read. I binged the entire series because I didn’t want the boys’ adventures to end. The author crafted a fascinating world, and I’m excited to learn that she has other shifter books.

Overall, it’s a modern gem and a prehistoric delight!

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