A.J. Lancaster - A Rake of His Own

Marius Valstar doesn’t know which is worse: the dead body in his greenhouse or the naked fae prince on his desk.
The only rakes of interest to Marius are garden tools. Not fae princes. Certainly not the arrogant, selfish fae prince he has the misfortune to have a history with.
But when Prince Rakken turns up naked and bleeding in Marius’s college the same day a body appears in his greenhouse, scruples must take second place to solving a murder that could unravel the delicate balance between humans and fae.
Marius’s own developing magical powers are more hindrance than help – as is Rakken’s bloodied past. Forced to work together, they must forge an uneasy alliance if they are to track down the killer. But how can Marius trust the man who represents everything he’s trying to avoid?

Comment: In February I had read the first book in the Stariel series by author A.J. Lancaster and while it had good elements, it didn't fascinate me as much as I hoped for. Still, I made the decision then to read the fifth installment, an m/m story which could also be read as a standalone, and here we are.

Marius Valstar is a botanist who feels very passionate about his work, even though his efforts haven't always been recognized. He is also the oldest brother of Hetta, who is now married to a fae prince and is about to become a mother. While things seem to be going steady, there is still his complicated relationship with Rakken, one of his sister's brothers-in-law who also happens to be someone Marius is attracted to and who rejected him some months ago.

Things finally change because a fellow investigator is found dead in the college's greenhouse, as well as a dryad. Thus, Marius and Rake join forces to find out what happened and who killed the two victims... of course, this means spending a considerable time together, could it be they can solve the pending issues between them too?

When I read the other book, the first in this Stariel series, I wasn't too impressed because the writing felt like it dragged and the characters didn't captivate me much, Marius included. However, I thought that a story focused on him, with all the usual m/m details that certainly would be hinted at, would prove to be way more engaging and, thankfully, I can say it was rightly so.

Marius seemed a much more intriguing character here, perhaps because we hot to see how devoted he is to his plants, how much he cherishes his family and how lonely he feels because he is gay and that isn't considered as positive. I liked following him around and seeing his thought process. I especially liked how he wanted to ignore his attraction to Rake but the more time they spend together, the more obvious their connection. Although there are many things that should separate them, the slow but steady understanding of how strong their connection is makes for all those less positive details.

The romance isn't simple nor instantaneous. I liked it that the author found ways to link them step by step before anything physical really happened, and when it does it's extra special. Perhaps not as romantic as it could, this is true, since Rake is a fae and they have different types of rules in behavior and in how they acknowledge feelings, but to me this worked. I really liked to see the small things which bring them closer but that without a real bond could be simply good manners.

Rake is a little more complex, after all it's more difficult to pinpoint the whole spectrum of what it means to be a fae, and most authors give them all this aura of mystery, but I was happy with the ways things developed and how we got to know Rake for what he was feeling. To me, the real interest of this story lied there, in how an apparently aloof character started to feel why Marius was so important.

While the relationship develops, they face some challenges and go on a few adventures, which helped to strengthen the fact they were falling in love. At the same time, they were investigation what happened to cause the death of the human and the dryad and I must say this part of the story was also interesting enough. I mean, it's not one of those complex plots or a really intriguing mystery in any way, but it allowed them to interact in certain ways which, of course, added to their becoming even closer. The resolution of the case wasn't much of a big deal to me, but it was clever on its own way.

Throughout the novel, we also get to see the protagonists interacting with secondary characters who were certainly key players in the previous novels, some of which I remember from that first book. I think the standalone status is well done, I don't feel I've lost much by not reading those other three novels I've skipped. In fact, had I known, I'd probably not have read that first book either, this one is very well worth it on its own. I'd read more m/m by this author if more stories were to be available.
Grade: 8/10

A.J. Lancaster - The Lord of Stariel

The Lord of Stariel is dead. Long live the Lord of Stariel. Whoever that is.Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they?Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised?His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense?His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion?Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then she can leave.But whoever Stariel chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives to deal with. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe.

Comment: I've decided to read this book after becoming aware of the fifth in the series, which features a m/m couple. That book had been recommended to me somewhere, and while checking it out, I've realized it was part of a series. Since this first book also caught my attention, I've thought I might as well read in order. Well, this book wasn't bad but now I think I should have stuck to my initial intention.

In this fantasy series, we meet heroine Hetta as she is traveling back to her home estate after the death of her father. Since he is now gone, the magic in the Stariel land requires the choosing of a new lord and all members bust be present for the ceremony as it involves every member touching a stone so that one is chosen. Everyone feels there are only two possible choices, Marius who is Hetta's older brother, or Jack their oldest male cousin, simply because traditionally that's how things have been done. Everyone is surprised, Hetta included, when she is the one the stone chooses. However, while dealing with the following chaos is quite a task, so is the fact fae exist for real and apparently they are coming to take over Stariel land...

I was quite taken by this story from the start, even though having Hetta as narrator is, as always, a little limited in the amount of knowledge we can infer. Of course Hetta didn't share every single right away for obvious reasons, but as the pages kept being turned, I started to wonder about the author's writing style because I had the feeling perhaps things were going a bit too much in the opposite direction, which is to say, instead of oversharing, Hetta was not sharing enough and it felt as if the reader should already be aware of established information.

I've kept reading because this could be just an impression, added with the hints regarding secondary characters who, through Hetta's POV, seemed to be made to look mysterious or hiding something sometimes. I was also a bit confused with one thing, which is the notion that her family disliked Hetta, well most of them, for her magical ability to create illusions but if the land itself has this magical aura or whatever it's meant to be... why were the others against her for something that seemed to exist naturally in this world?

As things moved on, it started to become obvious there was some kind of secret agenda going on, because Hetta and those closer to her discover the stone had been a fake, and perhaps Hetta isn't really the chosen. The plot then diverged into two main issues, the investigation of what might have been done with the stone and the secrecy involving Wyn, their butler, and the sudden appearance of lady Gwen, a mysterious young woman who was found by a family member at the land's border without much about her. I mean... of course these two things had to be related and there were times where the author definitely wrote things in such a way that it was obvious what was being hidden... so, when the truth is revealed, I wasn't surprised.

There is some suggestion of romance between Hetta and Wyn, and some of the reveals made this seem more likely than not, but the plot also included red herrings about another character, and the story never went into intimate scenes, I can't tell if only because they had not gotten there emotionally or because the choice is to keep the intimate situations in closed doors. The thing is, there was a time where the story started to kind of drag to me, and the situations started to feel less intense, less special... it started to be a bit of a task to keep reading and finding will to know what would happen next. I'll say this is due to writing choices, what felt necessary at first, set up things, turned out to be a bit boring as time went on.

Hetta is a likable heroine for the most part but because we cannot have access to all pertinent information before she shares it, and with writing choices giving us hints about possible secrets, there are times she reads as being a little too ignorant and unobservant. In general, all characters seem to be interesting but not special, none had that larger than life feel to them to make me interested. I felt that all were a little superficially presented.... but I know there are three more books focusing on Hetta and the follow-up of what happens in this book, so perhaps that will become solved.

This said, I must cobnfess I don't feel interested enough in Hetta, or in her love interest, to keep reading. If the magical aspects had been richer, more developed, more intense, I might read just for the world building, but I think I'd probably have similar impressions. I will stick to my original idea: I'll read the m/m story later on, which seems to have been written to be a stand alone while still part of the world. I've been reading reviews where it's alluded that m/m story will have some setting up scenes in books #2, #3 and #4, but I think I'll skip them anyway.

Grade: 6/10