Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Single White Incubus

SERIES:  Supernatural Selection

AUTHOR:  EJ Russell

NARRATOR:  Greg Boudreaux

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  8 hours and 56 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  February 4, 2022

BLURB:

Does a bear shift in the woods?

Well, partially. That was what got grizzly-shifter Ted Farnsworth into trouble. He wasn’t trying to break the Secrecy Pact. He just wants people to see the real him. So he signs up with the mate-matching service Supernatural Selection – which guarantees marriage to a perfect partner. Not only will Ted never be lonely again, but once his new beaver-shifter husband arrives, they’ll build Ted’s dream wilderness retreat together. Win-win.

Quentin Bertrand-Harrington, scion of an incubus dynasty, has abstained from sex since nearly killing his last lover. When his family declares it’s time for him to marry, Quentin decides the only way not to murder his partner is to pick someone who’s already dead. Supernatural Selection finds him the ideal vampire, and Quentin signs the marriage agreement sight unseen.

But a mix-up at Supernatural Selection contracts Quentin with Ted. What’s Ted supposed to do with an art historian who knows more about salad forks than screwdrivers? And how can Quentin resist Ted’s mouthwatering life force? Yet as they work together to untangle their inconvenient union, they begin to wonder if their unexpected match might be perfect after all.

REVIEW:

Ted Farnsworth is ready to settle down. He’s an outgoing bear-shifter who is tired of being alone.  His best “friend” is a human who sells pictures to tabloid magazines and Ted has “helped” him more than once 🙂  Nevermind that he’s not supposed to be hanging around humans and potentially breaking the secrecy pact!  But he is really lonely.  So he sinks all his money into some property where he plans to complete a lodge that was started by another shifter group.  He knows he’ll be able to do it because he’s used the rest of his money to contract with Supernatural Selection to find him the perfect mate.  And they have in beaver-shifter Rusty!  As soon as Rusty arrives, they will get things moving.

Quentin is an incubus who does not want to marry someone that he can potentially kill by draining their life force.  He came close once and he just can survive another close call.  So he’s contracted with Supernatural Selection to find him a mate.  One who isn’t alive.  Like a vampire 😉  Quentin has been taking suppressing medication for decades and he’s not in the best of shape, but he hasn’t killed anyone, so win-win?  When he arrives at what is supposed to be his new husband, vampire Casimir’s house, he discovers himself at Ted’s half finished lodge and a completely naked Ted in the outdoor shower!

Ted and Quentin have unfortunately made a blood pact on their marriage documents.  This means they are married and can’t get out of it.  Well maybe.  But the ritual to uncouple them is fairly intricate and permanent.  They can’t see each other ever again.  As they begin to work together and get the materials they need to complete the ritual, they get friendlier.  Quentin realizes he shouldn’t have judged Ted so harshly.  He also isn’t happy about others taking advantage of Ted who is really such a nice guy.  Quentin also starts to recover from his abuse of the suppression medication and he’s like a new man!  He’s still really worried about accidentally hurting someone though.

The ritual has to be completed on a certain date, so in the meantime, Quentin helps Ted get going on the completion of the lodge.  Things are going really well and it turns out they really do like each other.  Things even turn a bit heated – and hey – they ARE married so why not?

When they go to Supernatural Selection in Portland to complete the ritual, they both have mixed feelings. They have really built a great friendship and they don’t really want to let that go.  But funny things keep happening and even though the ritual works, where are their intendeds?  And why are they both in trouble with the Council?  Things are not what they seem and there are others who could face consequences as well.  But it’s clear that somehow, against all the odds, Quentin and Ted belong together.

This first book in the series Supernatural Selection centers around a “matchmaking” service for Supernatural beings run by witches.  The spells are binding and Ted and Quentin have a devil of a time trying to get their marriage pact reversed.  And just as they are starting to build a really strong friendship, little things get in their way to get things accomplished.  Like Quentin’s grandmother showing up.  And Ted getting attacked and lied to.  I loved how the “magic” in this worked out with the witches and the council and the Ted’s psychologist also.  Poor Quentin is just soooo clueless. He has no real knowledge of his own species!  Thank goodness he finally gets some good intel!  Ted is so down on himself, but Quentin shows him that he really is a good guy and that he deserves someone who will value him and stand up for him.  Together they were hilariously bumbling along to the right conclusion – that they really did belong together.

The narration of this book was soooo good.  It’s quite long, but it didn’t feel like it at all.  I couldn’t wait to see what Ted and Quentin got up to next.  They were so different, but ended up fitting together so perfectly.  Greg Boudreaux does a fantastic job with all the voices – mail, female, fae, shifter, etc.  The voice choices and accents were all on point.  I enjoyed every second and I really hope the rest of this series is going to come out in audio as well 🙂  Highly recommended!

RATING: 

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