Review: Wonderful m/m paranormal mystery romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2013
4-4.5 stars - Wonderful m/m paranormal romance about Johnnie, a human raised in a vampire family, who has a habit of mystery-solving, and thankfully also has a stubborn bodyguard watching his back since cases seem to grow more dangerous than he thought.This book is #2 in Derr's Dance with the Devil series, but it's not necessary to read the first book since this one focuses on different MCs. (I recommend it though since #1 is also a good read, and some of those characters pop up here, so it's fun to see them again.)Like in #1, the structure of this book is made of different "cases" to solve. Johnnie is 26 and beautiful and quite grumpy that he is human and "normal" and will never fit in to the elite abnormal world around him. In love with his adopted brother (who cares less for normal human bothersome Johnnie), he moves out of his protected family estate (against his adopted vampire father's wishes) and moves in above a sketchy dive bar. There he finds that his reputation of puzzle solving has become quite famous, and various clients stumble into the bar seeking his help.Unlike in book #1, this story is told in chronological order (whereas the cases in the first book were from different time periods, past, present, future, past again, etc.) I really enjoyed the first book, but I also liked the change here, and I felt that this story resembled more of a novel rather than a combination of shorter related stories that contributed to a whole. I also like that this book focuses solely on Johnnie whereas the first book focused on PI Chris, but also had some side trips with his colleagues.I loved Johnnie, haughty, very entitled, but kind-hearted, who tried so hard to remain cool and composed, but was also startlingly vulnerable due to his fear of not fitting in or not being good enough. And I totally loved Bergin, Johnnie's bodyguard and eventual partner-in-crime who is like a rough-and-tumble fire to Johnnie's cool, controlled facade.I also loved that, behind all the mystery-solving, this was a growing love story, but Derr added a nice mystery to that as Johnnie found himself pulled in two different directions--one towards his shadowy lover Eros, and one towards his daytime savior that forever gets on his nerves. The building tension is very delicious. I figured things out before Johnnie did, but I totally dug the journey to his enlightenment.But not only was there this great romance, but also this side tender story about Johnnie and his father, and how family can be built, and not just born. It was sweet and meaningful.I think it needs one more round of copy edits since there were a few typos/missing words, but overall, I thought it was a great, addicting read, and I think Derr did an excellent job of balancing the story, the mystery, the characters, and the love.Out of the two books, I think this one is my favorite so far, but I did really enjoy book 1, so if you like paranormal elements mixed in with mysteries with your m/m romance, I highly recommend these two books. (And I'm very much looking forward to book 3, Midnight.)