Lissa Kasey

Ok. Confession time. This was my first ever romance novel! And I really enjoyed it…

Did I just say that?! Yes; yes, I did.

My mother was a really big fan of romances, although not of the m/m variety, at least not that I'm aware of. Nonetheless, the family teased her a bit for it, always referring to her "smut" books as if they were somehow lower-class literature compared to our other reading interests. You know, because murder mystery, sci fi and fantasy novels are way up there on the show more quality literature scale…

Anywho, I for one have to eat my words. I really enjoyed this novel. The relationships between the characters seem real and they cover a wide range. I also enjoyed the world that Kasey created for the book (and hopefully series…). While we only get a few details in this book, I look forward to what the world could become given development over several books.

I'm an avid fan of fantasy novels, so I think that the paranormal aspects of this romance novel really helped draw me in and keep me interested. I think that I'll have to find some other works that have these same aspects moving forward. Although, I should probably also try out some other sub-genres within m/m romance to see if there are other threads I'd be interested in following.

I also have to admit that I was a bit skeptical going into this novel, as the m/m romance genre seems to be dominated by heterosexual female authors and audience members. As a gay man, I wasn't sure that novels in this genre would really appeal to me and be able to hold my interest; I was afraid that they would be too much like stereotypical heterosexual relationships that just happen to involve two male characters. While Inheritance had some of this vibe in the physical and emotional stereotypically-feminine traits of Sei, the characterization made sense in the context of the story. I still have fears that the genre may be wrought with girly-boys that end up simply being stand-ins for what would otherwise be female characters, but I'll have to do more reading before I can pass final judgement on this point. If there are more stories out there like Inheritance, though, I have nothing to fear. show less

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this so much, but indeed I think this is one of the nicest paranormal romances I have read lately. It’s actually more a mix of urban fantasy and paranormal romances, the main characters are living in a modern day Minneapolis, but the power is ministered by witches. Vampires and lycans are living among humans, and more or less people is behaving like nothing supernatural was happening around them.

Witches are usually women, and so when Seiran, a boy, is born show more with the level of power of the strongest witches, that is not acceptable; his own mother treats Seiran like an oddity, and the now college kid has long ago learned to hide his true power. He is also trying to be independent, going to college by day and working as a waiter by night; that the grill&bar where he works is owned by his boyfriend is only a bonus. Actually Seiran doesn’t want to consider Gabe his boyfriend, but more a friend with benefits sort of partner. While that doesn’t happen in the span of this novel, it’s implied that both of them had other affairs since they met, even if I have my doubts on Gabe, he strikes me like the monogamous type.

I really liked how the author managed to make Seiran cute and pretty but not too feminine; he is probably a brat, for sure he is a little crazy, but he is not a woman at all. He is cute, though, especially when he changes into a lynx (who behaves more like a cat, actually), and “loses” his human self. Gabe is able to manage him even in that form, like he is apparently the only one able to deal with a human Seiran as well.

Gabe is for sure the mainstay, the one giving stability to Seiran; Seiran is like a loose cannon, quite strange if you consider he is an earth witch, but I think Gabe is the one linking him to earth.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MZHUEW/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

What I loved:
- The first few chapters. Dragged me into the story and made me want to know more about the characters and where the plot is going.
- The physical setting. New Orleans is one of the only cities in the USA I honestly have a desire to visit.

What I liked:
- The kind of off-beat dialogue. I was happy to go with it even if it left me confused more than once.
- The shop! I wonder if there are really shops like Simply Crafty there.

What irritated me:
- After I was more chapters in, show more the dialogue. It started feeling more and more disjointed - like the characters couldn't decide what they think so they'll say contradicting things in one sentence, making an illogical mess of the story. Tbh, I'm not even sure anymore if that was weird (to me) writing or simply bad characterization, like the writer herself couldn't decide what her characters actually think.

- It's awesome that Micah's into crafts, but ffs there must be more to his personality than that. We have pages upon pages of descriptions of his crafting challenges, and descriptions of how much Alex loves watching him work and how it clears up Micah's mind to sew/knit/crochet.

- Not being a morning person or being a coffee addict are not personality traits, mentioning it every time they wake up will not make it so.

What colossally pissed me off:
- The ending. It ends in a major cliffhanger, and none of the mysteries were solved. I feel cheated because the last 5% of the book felt like they went on forever and I was persistent despite my wish to just skip to the end and we didn't get any conclusions, just a "to be continued".

Overall I mostly enjoyed the potential the story had. But, because of the major letdown at the end combined with how simultaneously irritated & bored I became with the writing, I don't think I will be continuing with the series - it seems like too much effort for a questionable payoff. And I don't think this writer is for me, but I might give her another chance later on (with a book not in this series). show less

This was a great paranormal read made all the more real because there was no explanation given for the shadows.
Both the MCs are broken but engaging and they have great chemistry. It was well written and flowed well.
So why didn't it get 5 stars? Honestly it was 5 stars until the last two pages, when the cliffhanger took place. So any good feelings were wiped out with concern that won't be answered until the next book. Why do that? There was literally no need. Bah!