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Book Review of Poison or Protect (Delightfully Deadly, #1), by Gail Carriger

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I received an Audible code through AudioBookBoom for a copy of Poison or Protect, by Gail Carriger.

Description from Goodreads:
Can one gentle Highland soldier woo Victorian London’s most scandalous lady assassin, or will they both be destroyed in the attempt? 

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger presents a stand-alone romance novella set in her popular steampunk universe full of manners, spies, and dainty sandwiches. 

Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, has four dead husbands and a nasty reputation. Fortunately, she looks fabulous in black. What society doesn’t know is that all her husbands were marked for death by Preshea’s employer. And Preshea has one final assignment. 

It was supposed to be easy, a house party with minimal bloodshed. Preshea hadn’t anticipated Captain Gavin Ruthven – massive, Scottish, quietly irresistible, and… working for the enemy. In a battle of wits, Preshea may risk her own heart – a terrifying prospect, as she never knew she had one. 

Buy Poison or Protect today to find out whether it’s heartbreak or haggis at this high tea. 

Review:
The dedication to this book is “For everyone one of my fans who reached out and said, “If Gail Carriger writes it, I will read it….”” Well, I’ve not reached out, but I find I have become one of those fans. Poison or Protect is a novella set in the same world as the Finishing School, Parasol Protectorate, and Custard Protocol series. You see one or two familiar faces, but it stands separate from each; perhaps only tentatively alone, as you still need to know some of the world details—what a drone is, why vampires are so geographically limited, werewolf hierarchies—but it isn’t actually part of any of Carriger’s bigger series.

I adored both Preshea and Gavin. Both were characters I wanted to gather to me. Their dynamic is one that just pushes all my buttons. I won’t include a spoiler, but just say I found them very sexy. And the book is more sexually explicit that I’ve seen in the bigger series. Not overly so at all, but this is not a YA book.

The writing is tight and gloriously proper, as always, and Lavington did an amazing job narrating it. All in all, a winner for me.

Review of Permanent Ink (Art & Soul #1), by Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn

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I received a copy of Permanent Ink (Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn) through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
At twenty-three, Poe Montgomery is going nowhere. He still lives in his father’s basement and spends most of his time tagging with his friends. When an arrest lands him in debt, Poe accepts the front desk job at Permanent Ink, the tattoo shop owned by his father’s best friend, Jericho McAslan. Jericho is nearly twice Poe’s age, but with his ink and prematurely graying hair, he quickly takes the starring role in Poe’s hottest fantasies.

Jericho is known for his ability to transform poorly designed tattoos into works of art, but he was once as aimless and misdirected as Poe. Wanting to pay it forward the way someone once did for him, Jericho makes Poe his apprentice and is determined to keep things strictly professional. Easier said than done when Poe makes his interest—and his daddy kink—abundantly clear.

Jericho can’t resist Poe or their intense chemistry for long. But between the age gap, tension with Poe’s father, and Poe’s best friend calling him a sellout, they’ll need to ensure they’re both on the same page before they can rewrite their rocky start into something permanent.

Review:
Good, but it didn’t rock my world. I thought Jericho and Poe were a cute couple. But I also thought it went from sex to a relationship and love too quickly. When Jericho said, “We’re dating,” I thought, “Really, when did that happen?” I liked their little bit of kink, even if it isn’t one I particularly relate to. The sex was hot enough, if a little same-same.

The side characters, Landon and Blue were interesting. I’d be happy to read more about either of them, though I’m fairly sure the next book will be about Blue and Callum. It was a pretty obvious setup.

Also fun for me was that the book is set on my home turf, Saint Louis, and the city was fairly recognizable. Even if the ‘salty’ and ‘extra’ language that seems to be popping up in M/M books lately isn’t anything I’ve ever heard a youth actually say in The Lou.

My main complaint is that I never particularly came to like Poe. I understand that he is supposed to be a ‘brat’ to compliment Jericho, who is the ‘daddy,’ but he just basically annoyed me.

So, good enough that I will read book two, but not making my favorites list.

Book Review of My Fairy Godmother Is a Drag Queen, by David Clawson

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I won a copy of David Clawson‘s My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen through Goodreads.

Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society. Chris sometimes feels more like a maid than part of the family. But when Chris’s stepsister Kimberly begins dating golden boy J. J. Kennerly, heir to a political dynasty, everything changes. Because Chris and J. J. fall in love . . . with each other.

With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.

My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is a Cinderella retelling for the modern reader. The novel expertly balances issues like sexuality, family and financial troubles, and self-discovery with more lighthearted moments like how one rogue shoe can launch a secret, whirlwind romance and a chance meeting with a drag queen can spark magic and light in a once dark reality.

I

This was cute and funny, but there were several moments that made me think, “As not a member of X minority group, is it ok to laugh at this?” A feeling that might not have been so strong if all the characterizations hadn’t been quite so stereotypical. To be fair the title and purposeful riffing of Cinderella do give a clue that it is that sort of book, one that is playing with pre-existing ideas. But I don’t think it was quite deep enough to be considered a deconstruction, exploration or even parody of those same ideas. I also had trouble with some of the language around gender, women, LGBTQI+, Drag and more.

Those who can’t tolerate cheating in a book, especially cheating with a woman in their M/M, this is not the book for you. The whole thing is two gay men and their beard. I appreciate the way Clawson presented a gay man circumstantially unable to come out and that he never let Chris demand that J.J. do just that to prove his love. But as is almost always the case in such stories, I don’t think the emotional damage possible to the woman a gay couple hid behind was considered at all.

Writing is clear and easy to read, though repetitive at times, and it’s well edited. Basically it’s one of those books that I liked but found problematic.