Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Deductions
SERIES: Aberrant Magic #1
AUTHOR: Lyn Gala
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 225 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
BLURB:
Darren is proud of his work on the FBI’s magical Talent unit. However, his own lack of magic means he can never be with Supervisory Special Agent and Shaman Kavon Boucher. The shamanic magic poses a real danger to any mundane who gets too close, so Darren tries to hide his attraction and keep a professional relationship at work. That resolve begins to crumble when a new man sets his sights on Kavon and Darren can’t control his resentment.
Now they have a brutal new case of a suspect targeting magical adepts. Darren tries to keep focused on that crime, but when he starts to show signs of his own magic, he hopes that maybe he can not only be a more effective part of the team but also a real partner to Kavon. He might have a second chance at love if only Kavon can learn to trust his new and unpredictable magic that has changed the rules of the magical game.
REVIEW:
Darren has loved his boss, Kavon Boucher, for years and had thought in the beginning that the attraction, at least, was mutual. After being shunted aside and no longer able to even enjoy a quick drink after work, however, Darren has come to the conclusion that he was seeing only what he wanted to and nothing more. Trying not to love the man is hard though and his jealousy over Kavon’s new partner isn’t helping matters any. Add in a case where Adepts are disappearing without a trace and sky high tensions on the team and Darren thinks things can’t possibly get much worse. He’s wrong. Now with burgeoning magical abilities of his own, a council he couldn’t care less about breathing down his neck, and a much bigger case than originally thought leading to even greater problems, Darren is going to have the biggest learning curve of his life. But maybe, just maybe, if he’s lucky, he’ll get the one thing he never thought he could actually have: Kavon.
This was just so unbelievably good! I was first introduced to Lyn Gala via a book recommendation and I’m thrilled to say that her urban fantasy is just as amazing as her sci-fi. This book had the perfect blending of fantasy elements and modern day investigative practices all wrapped up with great character interactions and an engaging story. I started the book and was hard pressed to put it down, I was just enjoying it so much! I absolutely adored how magic was used in the story, especially with how it was broken up into specialties. I really liked the variety of magic and magic users here as each type was totally unique yet fit so well together when wielded by the various characters.
Darren was by far my favorite character but all of them, even the secondaries, were really well developed. The relationship between Darren and Kavon was complicated but I really enjoyed seeing Darren’s stubborn streak break down the walls that Kavon had put up ‘for his own protection’. The two men make a great team and I loved their dynamic together. The story itself was interesting on so many different levels and nothing ever felt rushed or out of place; the case itself was really well done and I just loved it. 😀 I was just so surprised by how much I loved this story and the world building was amazing; with this as a starter, I have a feeling this entire series is just going to be fantastic! I can’t wait to read more!
RATING: 
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