Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Jay Walking
SERIES: Peckers #1
AUTHOR: Jacques N. Hoff
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 100 Pages
BLURB:
Welcome to the avian shifter world of Undercover Peckers. Where love is instant the moment you find your mate. Where there’s only one true pecker for every man. Where the sex is so hot it will singe your tail feathers. Where bird-watching is both a recreation and a preoccupation—that usually leads to feathers flying.
Simon Spoonwell—intrepid bird store owner and history geek—knows avian shifters exist. With so much myth and lore, there must be a touch of reality. But he doesn’t expect his proof to come in the form of hottie cop and blue jay shifter Jay Azure. It’s an innocuous ticket for jaywalking that brings them together, but an inescapable attraction, a love of awful puns, and a shared need to protect the vulnerable will make them true mates.
REVIEW:
Jay Azure is a detective with some major anger management issues. When his superior decides he’s had enough of dealing with claims of police brutality, Jay finds himself propping up a wall along a busy street handing out fines to jaywalkers. Which is where he first spots Simon Spoonwell.
Simon is the cute yet nerdy owner of Bird In The Hand, a store that specializes in all things bird related. Simon’s first impression of Jay is definitely not a positive one considering it involves a two hundred and fifty dollar fine for jaywalking and some rather heated words. In fact he decides that Jay is an absolute asshole and I can’t say I disagree with him.
But Jay has a secret that he’s never shared with anyone. He’s a bird shifter, a blue jay in fact, and Simon just happens to be his mate. So despite Simon’s obvious dislike, Jay sets out to seduce Simon and land himself his man.
This book was humorous but for me, it wasn’t enough to carry the whole story. It felt like the humour was the focus to the detriment of the romance between the two main characters. Their relationship seemed to rely entirely on the mate bond keeping them together and I struggled to feel invested in their romance.
There were some parts of this story that I loved reading, in particular the battle of the bird puns that Jay and Simon initiate between themselves. The one-liners fly thick and fast, some brilliant, some cheesy, but all of them amusing. I think it was my favourite scene in the story because it was the first time I could actually feel the connection between the two men.
This story’s blurb instantly caught my attention. I’ve been lucky enough to find some really well written, humorous stories lately and I was hoping that I could add Jay Walking to the list. However, while I thought the book was good, it didn’t blow me away. Despite that, I definitely intend to check out the next book in this new series. Towards the end of the story, when Simon and Jay talk through their idea for discovering more bird shifters I was instantly hooked on needing to find out where this series would go next. And if the ending is anything to go by we’ll be delving into the world of cockatoos. I’m already anticipating what these authors will manage to do with a bird species that has “cock” in its name.
Oh, one more thing. Anyone else just sit there saying Jacques N. Hoff out loud over and over while having a chuckle? Or am I the only juvenile here?
RATING: 
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