Reviewed by Cheryl

TITLE: Pied Piper

SERIES: Grim and Sinister Delights # 6

AUTHOR: Emma Jaye

PUBLISHER: Purrindoors Publications

LENGTH: 284 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 18, 2020

BLURB:

The best thing the only male siren can do is die, without ever saying another word. One more night of life proves one too many. His mother’s family want Domino alive until he’s fulfilled the prophecy of fathering the most powerful siren ever to exist. Then his bones will become commodities on a mage’s shelf.
Goading his captors into ending his miserable, guilt-ridden existence fails thanks to a new, irritating, and cheerful abductor who claims to be saving his life but lies through his teeth.

Silent sarcastic sirens with a death wish aren’t Jude’s typical bounty. But the job to return a runaway to his mage father sounds like easy money for the leopard shifter. Money that will help fund Jude’s only goal in life, ending the rats who murdered his family.
Not getting involved with his bounties is a life rule Jude never breaks, but there is something about this kid, besides having a voice that could wipe out every rat in existence with a word.

Bone amulets, prophecies, and shifters bind this dark web of secrets that could cost not only their lives but the world.

Pied Piper is a dark paranormal romance set in the same DeMMonica world as Emma Jaye’s Incubus series.

Grim and Sinister Delights is a dark romance series based on classic fairy tales and stories. You will find standalone tales of gay romance that range in darkness and kinks. If you dare to take the challenge, read them all to find yourself lost in a classic that you think you know. These stories are for adult readers and may contain morally ambiguous themes.

REVIEW:

First, can I say that the cover is astonishing. I fell in love with it as absolutely as I fell in love with Domino. He’s one of the most endearing and original characters I’ve read in a very long time.

To say the story is based on the tale of The Pied Piper is not entirely correct as the story doesn’t follow the original piper’s at all. What the book truly excels at, it taking elements of the original tale and weaving them into a story that is entirely the author’s own. There’s a piper, who is certainly pied as can be seen from the amazing cover. There are rats. There are missing people, or rather souls, all following along in a rather disgruntled line. There are other nods to the legend but the story itself doesn’t follow it at all from there.

Domino is such a tragic hero, he doesn’t so much tug at the heartstrings as plays them like a harp in accompaniment to his pipe. He’s a beautiful character and the perfect foil to Jude’s cheerful ruthlessness. The characterisation in general is superb. The water elemental’s screen time is barely the blink of an eye and yet they very much have their own quirky character. Rory the pup, Ace the gardener, and Melody the siren, all leap of the page even though they aren’t on it for very long.

I absolutely adore this book and I will certainly be reading it more than once. I have the feeling there are nuances that will only emerge on the second or third readings. Also, reading it again, knowing how it ends will give a whole different spin on what happened before.

Speaking of the ending, it can only be termed, breathless. A lot happens in a short space of time but it doesn’t feel rushed and we are not left trying to figure out twists and turns we didn’t see coming, even though there are certainly some surprises. At the last minute, our understanding of the dynamics of vengeance are turned on their heads and our sympathies, in part, switch.

Whilst the story is brought to a satisfying conclusion, with all loose ends tied, I hate it, in the best way possible…except for the revenge Domino had on his family. I loved that. I’m still chuckling over it, so I won’t send a revenge demon after the author…but it was close. Read this book.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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