Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Books, Bulls, And Bacchanals 
SERIES: Brandywine Investigations #4
AUTHOR: Angel Martinez
PUBLISHER: Amber Allure
LENGTH: 67,000 words
BLURB:
(Part of the Brandywine Investigations series)
Everyone assumes life’s one big party for Dionysus, but even the god of wine and orgies has problems. His anger management issues are out of control, and his siblings suggest a visit to the Eternal Library to find a cure. The library of the gods is a strange and confounding place, though, one that Dionysus has avoided for centuries, and his certainty that the library hates him is confirmed when a killer strikes during his visit.
Life as the only librarian is blissfully peaceful for Leander, giving him the security and quiet he so desperately needs. Considered a monster as a child, Leander’s memories of his imprisonment in the Labyrinth left deeply carved emotional scars. But when a young woman is murdered in his library, he needs to emerge from his self-imposed seclusion to help find the killer who might still stalk the hallways.
Forced to keep company with Dionysus, Leander swings between whether the unpredictable and charming little god will keep him safe or drive him to distraction before the killer is found.
REVIEW:
Yes! Another awesome Angel Martinez book…. Just what I needed on a grey day.
This book is part of her Brandywine Investigations series, that follows characters based on Greek mythology, but set in a modern world. More urban fantasy that paranormal I guess you would say. The gods and goddesses have been around forever living their Greek godly lives, and now most seem to split their time between our world and their own. Going back and forth at will.
In this book we get Dionysus, the god of wine and drinking as far as I knew. But he’s so much more than that. Ritual madness, ecstasy, orgies, sex, and plants! Our Dio seems young and flighty, playing in a rock band with a handful of other deities, drinking and causing trance orgies, avoiding confrontations with his siblings, basically being a god. He has some anger control issues, and occasionally blows up when pushed too far. (cough*Ares*cough) It is suggested that he visit the Eternal Library and see if there is anything about controlling his white-outs. Dio is not big on books, research or libraries but decides to give it a shot. He takes a handful of friends with him, and heads off to the library via a doorway from his Uncle Hades place…
Unfortunately Dio’s day of research goes to shit when a body is discovered in the library. This gives us the main storyline of this book, the hunt for the murderer. It also gives us our other main character, who I absolutely adored. Leander, the minotaur.
Now Leander has some issues. He has bull legs, a human body and head, and big bull horns. He was locked away as a child in a labyrinth, left there for some years, until he was rescued and cared for. Now he has a job as the head librarian at the Eternal Library, which seems to exist in some kind of little universe all on it’s own. With sunlight, water, electricity and access to the internet! Leander is shy, prone to panic attacks, self conscious of his appearance and size, agoraphobic, and somewhat OCD. And he’s a virgin. The perfect mate for our crazy-ass, sex-crazed Dio! Not.
So Leander gets drawn in to the mess when a body is found dead in the library. Dio scares the crap out of Leander, then needs to go apologize. This gets our romance story going. Very carefully and tentatively. And oh so sweet. Dio and Leander turn out to be a very good match, each calming the other down at times, and Dio was so careful and gently with Leander. Uh! I just loved it.
There is a mystery here and a romance, both are perfect. But what is really amazing to me is the originality and creativity of this story. I can read books with romances, and mysteries all the time. But only Angel Martinez gives me ones like this. A story of Greek mythological characters in a modern setting. Red panda library assistants, and rock bands. Little mushroom dudes and tablets full of classical stories. Fauns and sports cars. Taxi cabs and moving library shelves. You get the picture, right? Amazing. I do not know how she comes up with this stuff and why it all works, but it does. Every damn time I read one of her books, I am amazed. Urban fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, even a bit of contemporary, they are all so good.
This book is part of a series but I think you could read it on its own and be just fine. The story is completed in the book, there are walk on’s by characters from the previous books, but I don’t think not knowing their story would ruin this one. But I can tell you the other books are totally worth reading. I reviewed them here: Brandywine Investigations 1-3. The first two were good, but the third and fourth have been fantastic. I highly recommend them to anyone that likes urban fantasy or paranormal romance novels. I’d recommend them to people who don’t like those types of books as well, honestly, they may suck you right in!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Amazon