Reviewed by Larissa

 

TITLE:  Gardens & Ghosts

SERIES: Relic Book 5

AUTHOR:  Maz Maddox

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  344 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 22, 2023

BLURB:

For the past few years, I’ve been living with a ghost.

My husband – my mate – was lost because of choices I made. As one of only a few tyrannosaur shifters on this planet, I have resigned myself to an immortality alone, married to my work.

I am more than happy to keep my walls up, heart guarded, and my focus set on my missions.

That was until a compassionate, plant obsessed man stomped into my life.

Henry is everything I don’t have time for: young, reckless, eager to prove himself, and desperate to push all of my buttons.

Some of those buttons he hits with expert precision.

When we learn about a rare, and life changing shifter fossil being traded on the black market, Henry and I set out into the concrete jungle of Chicago to steal it back.

The treasure is heavily guarded, worth a fortune, and sought after by all manner of deadly adversaries.

If we can keep our heads down and maintain a professional relationship, we might make it through this alive.

Henry has other plans.

****

Gardens & Ghosts can be read as a standalone, but it is highly recommended you read King & Queen (RELIC #3) so you get all the story!

REVIEW: 

“Dalton snort-laughed.  ‘I love you, Henry … you’re my favorite person!’”  

Same Dalton.  Same.

Maz Maddox wraps up her hugely creative, wildly entertaining RELIC series with Gardens & Ghosts, the long-awaited HEA for Montana, the grief-stricken, beleaguered father figure of the RELIC team. This dino romance had me crying as often as laughing. And the swoon! So.Much.Swoon.  Be still my heart.

I am not ashamed to admit that I have fallen in love with a Tyrannosaurus.  Henry is the most endearing, adorable, squishable, innocent, guileless, sweet guy and I just wanted to hug him.  The irony of him being a big bad Albertosaurus is unmissable. The juxtaposition highlights how special and unique Henry is.  His gentle, protective nature prioritizes his family – the RELIC team – whom he would give anything for. His love runs deep and he has an endless supply to share. He’s nurturing, bringing plants that hover between life and death back to life (get the subtext there?). 

Henry is so dreamy. I was hook, line and sinker for his every wide-eyed observation, quizzical expression, and naive inquiry. His internal monologuing, especially when trying to woo Montana in his Albertosaurus form, is irresistible – equal parts humorous and heartwarming.  I found myself doing the heart-clutching “awww” thing so often, alternating with the tissue-inducing heartbreak of Henry attempting to crack the hardened shell of Montana, “literally the most complicated man alive” (to quote Blaise).

The action/adventure storyline here is probably the best of the series (or at least on par with Dalton and Simon’s escapades in Sink or Swim), and Maddox’s prose is crisp and on-point.  The sharp and witty quips and turns of phrase that are interspersed throughout really make the story shine.

An important part of the plot of Gardens & Ghosts hearkens back to Dalton and Simon, and is echoed with Royal and Blaise in King & Queen. It’s the immortal falls in love with the mortal human conundrum that we don’t like to think too much about. Maddox gets her hands dirty and digs right into that issue – get your tissues. I wanted to go running for the hills with my hands covering my ears – lalala I can’t hear you.  It’s profoundly sad to be so deeply in love, knowing you’ll lose your mate and will be around eternally to remember and mourn the loss. It’s akin to what’s driven Montana to the emotionally detached man we’ve seen throughout the series – but for him, it’s compounded by the fact that his late husband/mate Reaper was a T-rex. They should have been together forever, and yet Montana barely made it out of his grief alive.  Henry is just what Montana didn’t know he needed – what the RELIC team didn’t know they needed.  He’s the salve to heal all wounds.  The sunshine to break through the darkness.

Gardens & Ghosts is worth a read even as a standalone, although admittedly, you will miss important context if you haven’t read at least book three, King & Queen, when Henry is first introduced. I got a serious book hangover from Gardens & Ghosts, prompting me to immediately go back to page one and start the book all over again.  

I conclude my review with a plea: Maz – this simply cannot be the last book.  I refuse to believe it.  We need more of Henry and Montana.  More of the RELIC team and their lives. More.Dino.Shifters. Just MORE. *stomps foot*  So just give us another RELIC book, M’kay?  

Gardens and Ghosts is a winner.  One of my favorites of the year.  Highly recommended.

🦖  🦖  🦖

 

RATING:   

BUY LINK: 

Amazon