Reviewed by Cindy
TITLE: Black Dog Blues
SERIES: Kai Gracen Series
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 246 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019
BLURB:
Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears.
It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him of his past. And killing monsters is easy. Especially since he’s one himself.
But when a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego, Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It’s supposed to be a simple run up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary. Easy, quick, and best of all, profitable. But Kai ends up in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.
No one ever got rich being a Stalker. But then few of them got old, either, and it doesn’t look like Kai will be the exception.
REVIEW:
In this book we meet Kai Gracen. He’s a man at odds with himself right from the very beginning. He lives in a place where the world he was born to and the world that adopted him came together in a violent, messy meshing so it’s no wonder he’s right home smack dab in the middle of the city San Diego has become.
I loved Kai right from the start. How can you not admire a man who lives life by his own rules and manages to find some happiness after a life filled with pain?
At least he was relatively happy until sidhe lord Ryder shows up and starts causing all kinds of trouble that Kai can’t seem to find a loophole out of. Ryder is a man who’s used to getting things his own way. Kai Gracen should drive him crazy with his declarations of independence and he does, but he also fascinates Ryder beyond all reason.
I’ve loved fantasy stories all my life and Rhys Ford has gone above and beyond in her world building for this series. I had no problem seeing the picture she paints of San Diego and sidhe court and all the creatures that cross into Kai and Ryder’s lives.
This is not a romance…not in the traditional sense, but the back and forth between the two men leaves no doubt as to how much they are attracted to each other, even as they are at one another’s throat.
When I first read this story, I thought it was going to be a one-off and that made me very sad. Everything about this story had me wanting to beg the author for more, because I wasn’t ready to let go of Kai and Ryder. They fascinated me as much as they did each other.
If you like the fantasy genre, I can’t recommend this story enough.
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TITLE: Mad Lizard Mambo
SERIES: Kai Gracen Series
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 368 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019
BLURB:
Kai Gracen has no intention of being anyone’s pawn. A pity Fate and SoCalGov have a different opinion on the matter.
Licensed Stalkers make their living hunting down monsters and dangerous criminals… and their lives are usually brief, brutal, and thankless. Despite being elfin and cursed with a nearly immortal lifespan, Kai didn’t expect to be any different. Then Ryder, the High Lord of the Southern Rise Court, arrived in San Diego, and Kai’s not-so-mundane life went from mild mayhem to full-throttle chaos.
Now an official liaison between the growing Sidhe court and the human populace, Kai is at Ryder’s beck and call for anything a High Lord might need a Stalker to do. Unfortunately for Kai, this means chasing down a flimsy rumor about an ancient lost court somewhere in the Nevada desert—a court with powerful magics that might save Ryder’s—and Kai’s—people from becoming a bloody memory in their merged world’s violent history.
The race for the elfin people’s salvation opens unwelcome windows into Kai’s murky past, and it could also slam the door on any future he might have with his own kind and Ryder.
REVIEW:
Life isn’t getting any easier for Kai Gracen. It seems like everyone is out to get him in one way or another. It’s bad enough that he faces down monsters for a living, but dealing with a sidhe lord and his needy court gets him into more trouble than he’s usually in. Ryder is an ever-growing concern in his life, and not just because he keeps putting Kai into danger.
This second book in the Kai Gracen series lets us get to know Kai a little better. Rhys Ford explores his background and that of Ryder as well, helping us understand where both men are coming from. It’s definitely a middle book in this series, with few questions being answered and a whole lot more being asked and I’m perfectly okay with that. It means that there is more to come and I will be hanging on every word.
Once again, the world the characters live in take centre stage. It rich in details and if the characters themselves didn’t keep you hooked (but they will) exploring their world will. It’s full of magic and lore, danger and excitement and I just can’t get enough of it. I have a tendency to get lost in a story at the best of times, but in this story I feel like I’m along for the ride and let me tell you, it’s absolutely heart pounding.
Alexa, Ryder’s cousin is just one of the very strong women in this series. I love how the author writes all the women strong in these stories, whether they are good or bad, none of them take any guff from anyone. It’s nice to see in a book in this genre, where too often, women are one-dimensional at best. And there are some very bad women in this book…
I’m really enjoying watching the relationship between Kai and Ryder grow and change. It would be so easy to let this story drift into romance territory, but the author resists the temptation (sometimes to my chagrin.) Instead, they are getting to know each other, somewhat reluctantly on Kai’s part, and while I don’t think a romantic relationship is ruled out, it’s definitely not the driving force here.
I aboslutely cannot wait to see what’s going to happen to Kai Gracen next.
RATING:
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