Reviewed by Cheryl K
TITLE: Roustabout: Carnival of Mysteries
SERIES: Carnival of Mysteries
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
PUBLISHER: Darkwind Press
LENGTH: 231 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 23, 2023
BLURB:
A con man and a government agent walk into a carnival…
Bartlett Gibson is a necromancer and an agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. He’s hot on the trail of RJ Tucker, a psychic con man who has eluded him at every turn and led him on a merry chase. Pursuit leads to grudging respect in their game of cat and mouse, which becomes a high-stakes game of seduction. Bart chases RJ to the Carnival of Mysteries and realizes that nothing is as it seems. A dark witch’s curse ups the ante, creating a deadline for revenge and redemption, and the clock is ticking.
Falling in love breaks all the rules. Can Bart and RJ stop the witch, break the curse, and find a way around RJ’s spot on the “most wanted” list before time runs out?
Roustabout is a fast-paced MM paranormal romance filled with supernatural suspense, snarky humor, crafty carnival workers, sarcastic ghosts, midway magic, hurt/comfort angst, adversaries-to-lovers tension, and a very happy ending!
Part of the multi-author, shared-world Carnival of Mysteries series. Can be read as a stand-alone.
REVIEW:
If you are a fan of Morgan’s King of the Mountain series, you may recognize Bart and RJ the main characters in this story. But this book is a standalone and can be read on its own. This book is part of the Carnival of Mysteries multi author series. The premise of this series is to incorporate the Carnival of Mystery into the plot of the storyline. In this one, it becomes a character unto itself. Appearing when needed by both main characters. I love the premise of series like this and how each author runs with the basic premise and makes it their own. I really enjoyed this book, and I am now intrigued to go back and read the first 6 books in the series. Morgan’s story is the 7th book in the series. We meet RJ (Jon) and Bart in this story, and this is definite opposites attract book. Outlaw and lawman are always fun opposites attract trope. Bart is hot on the trail of RJ, but what happens when their attraction to each other sparks like a lightening bolt. It’s explosive. The world building is always well developed in Morgan’s universes. This story is no different and the details are extraordinary.
I love when an outlaw “goes bad” for a good reason. Eugène Sue’s novel “Memoirs of Matilda,” quote “Revenge is a dish best served cold” is very apropos and boy does this book deliver on that premise. As always, Morgan’s characters are well and deeply developed. The groundwork is laid for RJ’s revenge and Bart to figure out the ins and outs of Jons (RJ) story. The best part of the characters in this story is the carnival itself and the carnies that come to the aid of RJ and Bart – just when they need it.
The prose is always great in a Morgan Brice story. But I was unusually a bit lost at the beginning of the book, but quickly it became clear where the story was going. Everything cleared up quickly and I couldn’t put the eBook reader down.
How does Bart save RJ? What is the purpose of Carnival of Mysteries? Is revenge a dish best served cold? All these answers and more will be answered, all you need to do is run out and get a copy of this book. I really recommend this story and you all need to read this one to see RJ and Bart’s origin story. Can’t wait for the next Morgan Brice book, I really love all her series.
RATING: 
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