Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Moody as a Minotaur
SERIES: Willow Lake Pack (Book 1)
AUTHOR: Lori Ames
PUBLISHER: November Snow
LENGTH: 396 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2025
BLURB:
Magic isn’t real, is it?
Parker’s intuition has been itching for months—no, it’s probably closer to years—telling him something isn’t quite right in Willow Lake. But sometimes it’s safer to ignore the feeling than expose truths you don’t want to face. Especially when Levi, the handsome and beefy owner of the local motel, is right in the middle of all the weirdness.
Okay, okay.
Parker might have an itty-bitty crush on the big guy, but who can blame him? Levi is delicious… and as the owner of a café, Parker knows a thing or two about tasty treats.
And now Parker’s Nana is in town and she hasn’t come alone. She’s dragged his cousin and his paranormal investigative team along with her. But her arrival couldn’t have come at a worse time, because Parker was finally making progress with Levi.
Now what is he supposed to do? Because, for the record, it is incredibly difficult to flirt when your grandmother is eyeing everyone, including Levi, like she’s in the FBI and they are in the Mafia… or like she’s Van Helsing hunting down a bunch of powerful supernatural beings.
Because that’s ridiculous. Really.
Right?
Tags: MM Paranormal Romance, a wary minotaur, a curious human, a meddling grandmother, fish make great friends (mostly because they can’t talk back), no one likes a paranormal hunter, and secrets no one expected.
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Note: This is a fun paranormal romance spin-off from the Willow Lake Supernaturals series. In it, you’ll find a lot of familiar characters but you do not need to read that series before you dive into this one. If you are curious about what happens in Willow Lake Supernaturals, you can start with Hellhounds Never Lie (Book 1).
REVIEW:
A brand-new to me author with a new paranormal series…yippee🎉
Parker inadvertently was tricked by his sly Nana during the late night phone call. Nana knows he’s up early to open his coffee shop/café/pizza restaurant. And she knows he’s an easy mark while barely awake. “Summer camps” with Nana drilled into him to be prepared but he was just so damn tired. Tired, as in sleep, but also tired, as in waiting for the handsome hunky crush Levi to make a move! How many years does a man have to wait??? Levi knows that he needs to stay away from the beautiful human but it’s so damn hard! Between Parker having absolutely no clue about supes and their magic, he knows he has to keep his distance. But it’s getting more and more difficult to resist Parker’s constant flirting and charms. When danger threatens their tiny and safe hometown all bets are off. The supes need to be prepared to take on the Hunters that have come to their town…Supernatural Hunters like those ones centuries ago! They have to be stopped! Levi can’t bear another loss like that again…ever!
I will admit, when I chose to take this book, that I thought it was a brand-new series. What I didn’t realize is that it’s a spin-off of the first series. I am discovering that most of the supporting character’s stories in this book have been already told in that original series. I felt a bit like Parker and his family when they sat down at Willow Lake Pub. I knew there was something up but didn’t realize basically the entire pub was filled with magical creatures and I was clueless!
I get where a Minotaur that has suffered a loss as catastrophic as Levi had, in his past, couldn’t bear to lose like that again. A fated mate that Eternal Magic had blessed him with being taken from him in such a horrific manner would have left him feeling vulnerable and not willing to put his heart out there again. Especially with a human that has a very short life cycle compared to his eternal life expectancy. But the heart wants what the heart wants and Eternal Magic is always going to get her way in these matters eventually. No matter how hard that you try to resist. I especially loved that Teague used his magic in such a special way. It touched my heart (and obviously Eternal Magic’s) that both Levi and Parker worried about the other during that very special bonding moment. That True Love was seen by all the supes and Eternal Magic.
I will say that this book had so many surprising twists and turns that I never saw coming. And I can’t wait for more of this wonderful series. I understand that a Unicorn maybe in our future very soon. Great start to a new series and author for me.
RATING: 
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