Review: What A Good Read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2013
I loved this book, which is quite surprising because I'm not a big fan of the paranormal or even serial-killer mysteries.But this book was so well-written, I just couldn't wait to find out what came next. The characters were fully-realized and grew in depth over the course of the story. The plot was excellent, as were the dialog and pacing.Xander was orphaned by 9-11 and raised by his Great Aunt, Eula, a New Orleans original of the first order. Rich as Croesus, eccentric as hell, and over 90 (though she looks no more than 60), she is also a bit of a witch who came from a long line of witches. As it turns out, so is Xander - though he's an amateur by comparison, having rebelled against learning his craft when he was younger.The good thing is that their powers play only a small part of the book, with most of it dedicated to the renewal of the relationship between Xander and Taylor. They were raised in the same house since Xander was 9 and Taylor 15. Taylor ran away, and joined the military because he knew he could not keep away from Xander if he stayed. Now both are grown, and Taylor has kept his distance until one night when he sees Xander being accosted by three toughs. He intervenes and ends up, finally, in bed with him. The rocky story of what comes next, all mixed in with a serial-killer mystery (Taylor is a detective) and the occasional use of powers to make things happen, is what makes the story such fun to read. I had no idea where it was going to go, so it piqued my sense of adventure, not to mention the pure thrill I experienced reading a gay romance novel that was not based on the same trite conventions as so many others.Go ahead, read this one. It will not deliver any new insights into world peace or a cure for hunger, but it will deliver a few hours of pure reading pleasure.