Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Notorious

SERIES:  Shifter Scoundrels, Book 1

AUTHOR:  Charlie Cochet and Macy Blake

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  317 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2022

BLURB:

New Paranormal Romance from Bestselling MM Authors Charlie Cochet and Macy Blake. Modern-day Bridgerton with shifter royalty, a snarky fox, and the tiger who refuses to fall for his charms.

Caspian Drake knows what it takes to get ahead in modern-day shifter society. He is an Earl, after all, and known for his wit, style, and ability to charm the pants off of anyone he chooses. Getting his best friend Brandr, the Prince of the Dragons, in and out of trouble is only one of his many talents. When a horrible attack shakes Cas’s world, he’s forced to pair up with Saphir Vepkhia, the esteemed tiger shifter and former Captain of the Royal Guard.

Upon retirement, Saphir is granted the title of Baron Archer and, much to his dismay, becomes part of royal society. Years later, when he’s summoned to the palace, the last thing Saphir expects is for the king to request a favor that ties him to the scoundrel, Caspian Drake. Despite his misgivings, Saphir accepts the assignment, knowing it will give him the access he needs to infiltrate the wealthy and powerful while trying not to get outfoxed by the exasperating Earl.

Forced into a fake relationship by an outdated matchmaking ritual, Cas and Saphir each face the upcoming season with their own agenda. The secrets pile up as the two mates navigate the complexities of a modern world that plays by historic rules. But the closer they get to the truth, the greater the danger–and their attraction to each other–grows.

With their lives on the line and the very foundations of their society at risk, Cas and Saphir must unravel the mystery, even if it means creating a scandal more notorious than their newfound love.

REVIEW:

Charlie Cochet and Macy Blake, each an excellent author of paranormal, fantasy, action/adventure romance in their own right, seamlessly blend their styles to create a new Bridgerton-esque, Regency-era, shifter mystery romance series, Shifter Scoundrels. The first book, Notorious, lays the groundwork for what proves to be a multi-book story arc, although the romances in each book come to their own satisfying conclusion even while loose ends concerning the overarching mystery and treachery remain.  

In Notorious, we get the rakish scoundrel Caspian Drake, top of high society, son of a Duke, the original shifters. He is favored by the Royal Dragon family as Cas grew up with his BFF Brandr, the Prince of the Dragons. Cas, by design, projects an outward facade of frivolity, foppishness, joviality, and charm. But beneath the surface, he is a man in pain who’s put his obligation to his friend, the royal family, and the Order of the Blue Dahlias, a legendary, secret group of elite spies, above his own needs.

Through some society machinations, ex-Captain of the Royal Guard, tiger shifter Saphir Vepkhia, Baron Archer, is called out of retirement by the King to help investigate the recent tragedy that has befallen the shifter society.  The King also asks him for a favor – to protect Cas, who has his own mission to uncover the perpetrator.  Saphir “retired” to raise his younger sister Suri and run his family farm after his parents were killed.  But now it’s time to present lovely Suri for her society debut, and the preeminent society ladies take Suri under their wing. They apparently have their own agenda for Saphir as well, because Saphir finds himself unwittingly “matched” with Cas and consigned to spend the society Season pursuing their match.  

In what is a surprise to absolutely no one, Saphir and Cas have explosive chemistry. They can’t keep their hands off or their hearts away from each other, notwithstanding their initial mutual misimpressions. Saphir has no tolerance for the aristocracy, and Cas represents everything he hates about it.  Cas views Saphir as a cranky, judgmental stick in the mud.  Those presumptions fall away quickly, though, and they cannot resist the pull between them, even as Cas tries to guard his secret:  that he is one of the elite Dahlias.

In Notorious, Cochet and Blake tell a captivating, delightful romance in a magical world. They also work some magic on the story itself, because it proves to be fascinating, sexy, fun, and highly enjoyable despite having some apparent flaws. World-building is typically one of Cochet and Blake’s strengths, but here, it feels muddled. Their choice of setting – a modern-day world with cell phones, SUVs, and advanced technology that follows archaic Regency-era traditions – leaves the reader straddled between two time periods without enough cohesion between them. I often found myself confused about where the Dragon world existed – outside the human realm? within the human realm? – and whether they coexisted with humans or not.  When the ending rolls around, I found myself even more confused on this point due to a new plot point and character that will bridge us into book two, Dangerous.  

The anachronistic structure with Duke, Earls, Barons, and other royalty, is not made sufficiently clear either. The shifting back and forth between proper names and titles adds to that confusion. It’s not a hopeless endeavor to figure it out; it just takes a bit of concentration and referencing of previous text to clarify who certain people are and their relationship to others in the story.  Hopefully, the next book will help solidify worldbuilding in more detail in a way we can better visualize.

The other issue is the overarching mystery.  Although it sets the plot in motion and is the primary driver of the story’s events and the conflict between Cas and Saphir, it sits in the background, never adopting the immediacy required.  Even in the more action-filled scenes, some disjointed timing and tone allow for joking and kissing between Cas and Saphir while bad guys are in pursuit. The timeline felt implausible, and the premise didn’t make much sense either. I suspect the next book will fill in the blanks – or I hope it will.

That said, I really like Notorious, and the credit for that is Cochet and Blake’s development of the relationship between Saphir and Cas. Cochet and Blake do an excellent job creating complex, multidimensional, endearing characters in Saphir and Cas, and I loved both of them. Saphir and Cas together are fire. Their banter, humor, sensuality, and evident love for each other are what fuels this story and what had me continually turning the pages. Saphir’s younger sister Suri plays a prominent role in the story, and the found family aspect of Cas forming a connection with her, like brother and sister, is lovely.  

Shifter Scoundrels is a series I am eager to follow, even though this first book is less than perfect. But that’s ok because it doesn’t have to be perfect to be fun and fulfilling, and in that regard, Notorious undoubtedly succeeds.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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