Review: Hysterical & Recommended
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 18, 2014
Everyone knows, or should by now, that I love shifter stories. So when the opportunity arose, pun intended, to read about avian shifters, I jumped at the chance. The author is new to me, but anyone who writes a blurb that talks about Undercover Peckers with such tongue in cheek, deserves to be read. Of course, once I met Simon and Jay, I was hooked.Jay Azure is an avian shifter, a blue jay, to be exact. He's also an undercover detective in the Organized Crime unit who's just been pulled from his assignment because Jay has had a little trouble controlling his temper recently and some scumbags have gotten what they deserve. Unfortunately his captain and the higher-ups don't agree and Jay has been placed undercover to stop the jaywalking that has caused so many traffic accidents recently. The first person he catches jaywalking turns out to be Simon Spoonwell, an adorably geeky guy who makes Jay react in ways he's completely confused by. Simon isn't even his type, so why can't he look away from his gorgeous gray eyes?Simon owns a bird shop and has been fascinated and entranced by birds since he was a little boy. After traveling the world and not staying long in any one place, when Simon received his trust fund two years ago, he moved to Toronto and opened his shop. Simon has always wondered whether avian shifters could be real, particularly when reflecting upon Egyptian tales of bird gods. However, now he's just irritated and really, really annoyed at the smug cop who gave him a 250 dollar jaywalking ticket. The man must be nuts and Simon is going to fight it. Not the charge, because he'll admit to the infraction, but that's a ridiculously high price to pay for something as simple as jaywalking. Hmpf.Jay and Simon are wonderful characters. Jay is an orphan who was left on church steps when he was just a few days old. He grew up in foster care and when he shifted for the first time at fourteen, luckily he was alone, Jay has stayed away from any type of permanent relationships, too afraid for anyone to discover his secret. Simon lost his parents right after high school graduation, and because he loved them so much, he's stayed away from opening himself up to that kind of pain ever again. Simon hides his emotions under a faade of coolness, never letting anyone see that he can be hurt very easily. The clash of these two personalities was definitely interesting.This is probably one of the cutest stories I've read in a very long time. Jay and Simon are freakishly adorable together, the bird puns are hysterical, and then the fact that they set up a website, social media, and email accounts to reach out to other avian shifters who might be alone is fantastic. That they named it Undercover Peckers is amusing. That it comes across as UC Peckers was hysterical. I really enjoyed this and can easily recommend it.NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews