Eden Winters

This is, by far, the most unusual shifter book I've read so far.

I absolutely loved Seth and his thoughts often left me smiling as he tried to deal with the realization that his family was full of possum shapeshifters.

His love interest, Dustin, was great too and I loved all the other colorful characters living in Possum Kingdom. It was such a fun little town.

Underneath all the quirkiness though is a really great story about Seth learning about himself and finding his place in the world. I show more was so invested in Seth that watching him find his HEA was extremely satisfying. show less

Corruption
is the third book in the Diversion series about viewpoint character Lucky and his lover Bo who are law enforcement agents working for the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. Lucky continues to deliver a lively and deep third-person viewpoint as he and Bo struggle to keep their relationship a secret while coping with dangerous assignments that separate them for long periods of time. But a strong sense of humor prevails as Lucky's boss Walter forces him to participate in a training show more program on undercover work with several students.

The story unfolds in Lucky's worried viewpoint as Bo goes undercover in a biker gang dealing in a new street drug known as Corruption. The longer Bo stays in character, the more he struggles to keep his two identities straight - his real self and his undercover persona, which is based on dark elements of his real personality. This is a fascinating dilemma, and the always appealing Bo comes across more strongly as a person in this book than in the first two books. The result is a story that might be the best yet in the series.

Val for AReCafe show less

"'You're not a virgin, are you?'
'What? No!'
'Good. I don't like virginity, personally. It never lasts.'"

Aw, Lucky had me from page one. And his charm kept me wrapped around his finger, especially as I learned more about him and Victor and Lucky's upbringing. I am completely a romantic, so reading the sections about Victor...learning the whole story :'( ...that really got me deep in the gut. I half wish they could have worked it all out. But I also love Bo and Lucky and how they interacted; show more from enemies to uneasy partners to lovers, they fit, and I smiled more as each of their walls came down and they grew into each other.

The story line is not quite the usual, and Lucky works for a lesser-known government agency, which left me with plenty to learn about to keep everything interesting. The work that they did to bring down the bad guys was entertaining to read and taught me some new tricks.

Lucky was also so funny with his smart-ass, cocky attitude, and his banter with Bo was golden. I highly recommend this one, and will be reading the other books in this series soon, soon, soon.

"'The thing to remember about Lucklighter is: if you happen to find a knife sticking from your back with his name on it, it's your fault for giving him a target,' he'd overheard Walter telling a coworker once. 'If I were half as good at my job as Lucky is, I imagine I'd be rather insufferable, too.'" show less

Author & Book of the Month (June)



Possum? *pauses* Possum shifter? Possum shifter romance? *scratches head*

Huh? Que what?

I won't lie. When us unicorns chose this book to be our book of the month, I was a little stunned. Because WTF is interesting about possums, right?

Wrong.

Who wants to read romance between roadkill garbage munchers?

Apparently this girl.

What I expected? Some shifter fluff about an underwhelming species.
What I got? A story with more depth than I expected. It's not show more angst-ridden but it's not sticky diabetic coma inducing either.

Seth McDaniel is a lonely orphan who is half possum shifter and doesn't know anything about his family background or duality. He's been snatched away by an evil grandma and raised in Chicago away from his Georgia possum kin and best friend, Dustin Livingston.

Cut to twenty years, Seth's only living relative passed away and he has to go back to his birthplace, Possum Kingdom, Georgia. He has no prospects in Chicago, he's obsessed with social media- a member of dozens of sites with thousands of friends but has no real life friends. He's a veritable doormat, hell, even his on & off boyfriend, dicks him over. And Seth just takes it.

But his loneliness made me sympathetic to him. He's not a bad guy, he's been cowed down to all his life and with his unknown secret nature, I expected nothing more from him. Seth is a normal man who's insecure who might be a bit of a loser at certain points of his life but a decent man nonetheless.

Enter Possum Kingdom and learn their crazy possum shifter and sympathetic (not everyone is a possum shifter in the town).



There is a secret society of possums (passel) living in plain sight, temporarily headed by Seth's former (ginger)best friend, Dr. Dusty Livingston. The two rekindle their friendship and can't deny their childhood bond is still strong...even more so as adults.

Two guesses what two healthy gay men with an undeniable attraction do together? Have some hot sex, indoors and outdoors is what.

This is a novel not PWP, the detail to the possum's nature was quite nice. There's some funny mixed in. Some sweet. No heavy angst. A cute little epilogue where everyone sort of wins.

My favorite characters were the Johnson triplets - Eddy, Freddy & Teddy (cutesy names I know but if I ever have triplet boys-Huey, Dewey and Louie are major contenders damnit) and Seth.

The triplets for comedic factor. And Seth because he learned to man up on his own time, he became more than he ever thought he could and he did it on his own. No major penis made the decision for him. Yes, he got help but I was proud of him.

Is the story without faults? No. I would have gotten rid of about 10-15% of filler, maybe pad some of the transitions. A points they were rough. But for a quirky romance between the least romantic shifter I could think of, it works.

Oh yes...and Monica. She's a fault too. Monica was annoying in the beginning. A curmudgeon, really. She might prove to have a heart of gold but she was off putting because she blatantly was an asshole. Yes, she cleaned up her act in the long run but she needed to be chin-checked just once. There's no need for posturing, madam. Act like a human being.

Overall, a good story with some heart. Light but not without a plot. 3.75 HEARTS rounded up because I'm still smiling about it

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