Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

I was totally surprised by this wonderful short story and the remarkable amount of world building Ms. Griffis could pack into thirty pages. Set during the reign of Queen Victoria but in a reality ripe with magic and gay marriages, Gerald Smithson is a master leather worker. He lives with his wily old grandfather that loves Gerald but wants in the worst way to marry him off. The problem is that Gerald doesn't want to get married so immerses himself in his work. Leo is a mage of the highest ranking and a protector of the royal family. Leo enters Gerald's shop one day and is immediately told to leave as Gerald does not work for mages. Leo is in need of Gerald's craftsmanship and a battle of wills begins between the two men. I found the characters of Gerald, Leo and the elder Mr. Smithson to be well developed and extremely charming. The story line itself was fun and I was sucked in from page one by Ms Griffis' writing style. The actual courtship between Leo and Gerald was left up to me to imagine for the most part as the story's length did not permit much. The HEA ending was icing on the cake of this short masterpiece. This story is too good to pass up and I would definitely buy a further story about Gerald and Leo. ( )

The courtship in this short story isn't the only thing that is 'most unusual', since the author has developed an alternate reality/world here with some interesting differences to reality as we know it. Some are rather obvious (there is magic in this world), some more subtle, like the fact that same-sex couples and marriage are considered normal (which is nicely explained). The setting is the London of Queen Victoria and her surviving children (after Prince Albert's death).

Gerald is a very talented leather worker, if somewhat quirky. He refuses to work with mages, which leads to all kinds of interesting twists as the story develops. His reactions to suddenly being pursued by one are funny, but he is willing to learn and adapt and was less 'blinded' by his prejudice than I first feared.

Leo is a mage of the very highest caliber and desperately needs Gerald to work with him on a project of 'royal importance'. Once they meet, he is also desperate for more than a temporary working relationship, hence, the courtship that follows.

If you like stories that are funny with humor coming from unexpected angles, if you enjoy reading about two men working through their differences, and if a bit of magic is the spice of life for you, then you may like this short book.



NOTE: This book was provided by Torquere Press for the purpose of a review. ( )

The courtship in this short story isn't the only thing that is "most unusual", since the author has developed an alternate reality/world with some interesting differences to reality as we know it. Some are rather obvious - there is magic in this world, some more subtle - like the fact that same-sex couples and marriage are considered normal (which is nicely explained). The setting is the London of Queen Victoria and her surviving children (after Prince Albert's death).

Gerald is a very talented leather worker, if somewhat quirky. He refuses to work with mages, which leads to all kinds of interesting twists as the story develops. His reactions to suddenly being pursued by a mage are funny, but he is willing to learn and adapt and ends up less "blinded" by his prejudice than I first feared.

Leo is a mage of the very highest caliber and desperately needs Gerald to work with him on a project of "royal importance". Once they meet, he is also desperate for more than a temporary working relationship, hence, the courtship that follows. I loved Leo's tenacity and the creativity in what he comes up with to convince Gerald.

If you like stories that are funny with humor coming from unexpected angles, if you enjoy reading about two men working through their differences, and if a bit of magic is the spice of life for you, then you may like this short book. I enjoyed it as much the second time around as I did when I first read it!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review. ( )