Review: How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #2 (Princes of Mayhem) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life is a marvelously humorous, sometimes romantic, often horrifying serialized 4 piece story. Last one ending on a cliffhanger!

Which is where Pet Problems picks up. Pets, as in vampire human pets whether they want to be or not. There’s a trigger warning that comes with the story and it’s at the beginning of the book. It concerns a vampire’s actions that are non-con, can be defined as assault. The author mentions where they will occur so a reader can choose to read those pages or not.

It’s totally appropriate.

The book deals with secrets and a huge danger that Nolan has fallen into trying to free his scrounge of a brother from his debts. We get to see more of Nolan trying to deal with a shattering revelation about the paranormal world that has always coexisted with his.

But the real story is Sky. Sky who on the surface is sweet, small, adorable Sky the Necromancer. Here we get to see what’s been bubbling darkly underneath, just emerging in hints with demons who like sandwiches, or shrubbery gone cannibalistic. And it’s wonderful!

Finally! A dark raging necromancer and it’s fabulous! I so wanted more of this Sky! And the blood witch that showed up too. Ok all that is towards the end but what a climax!

The middle of the story is pretty good too. Oh, yes, Nolan does something predictably dumb but you knew that was coming. And since it sets up that amazingly awesome battle? I say let’s do it again.

This series is so much horrifying fun! But a reader needs to remember that it’s dark fiction as well so heed any trigger warnings the author includes.

It’s a definite recommendation. But you need to read them in the order that they are written.

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life:

Disaster #1: Fun With Family

Disaster #2: Pet Problems

Disaster #3: Date Night -Aug 11

Disaster #4: Who Woke the Dead?-Aug 28

Buy Link:

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #2 (Princes of Mayhem)

Description:

Disaster #2: Pet Problems

Nolan has been keeping a secret.

In his defense, he wasn’t sure if he could trust Sky at first.

And then, well…his life got pretty crazy for a while. He might have just forgotten.

But that secret has come calling and it’s about to take a big bite out of Nolan.

Of course, there’s no way Sky’s going to let anyone hurt his neighbor, friend, and possibly one-day baby daddy. He’s hitting back hard to keep Nolan safe.

Even the roses are angry in this one. (Just trust me on this one. Beware of the roses.)

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life is a serial comprising four novellas that follow the insane adventures of necromancer Skylar Wallace and his next-door neighbor Nolan Banks. This is book two of four and contains vampires, werewolves, witches, underworld minions, danger, a meddling ghost grammy, aggressive roses, and one very angry necromancer. Seriously, nobody better touch his man.

Trigger Warnings:

“Just a warning to sensitive readers: some of Christoph’s actions can be viewed as aggressive, verging on assault. You might want to proceed with caution in chapter one and the last half of chapter seven. Thanks,”

— How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #2 (Princes of Mayhem) by Jocelynn Drake

Review : How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #1 (Princes of Mayhem) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

This fun little story is the start of a spin-off from Drake’s Lords of Discords vampire series. Luckily, since I’m unfamiliar with that series, Drake has made this , Princes of Mayhem, filled in with all the necessary details that’s it’s basically standalone .

Serialized at four books, you quickly fall into the universe of necromancer Skylar Wallace and his goth next-door neighbor Nolan Banks. It’s Nolan who’s in trouble and Sky, the Necromancer with the positive attitude and yellow sunshine house, who’s happy to step in to save the day.

Drake adds in just the rights amount of humor, horror, quirkiness, and terrific characters that carry the reader right through a plot that’s sort of murky.

What I was surprised at was the twist at the end which came with a cliffhanger. It took the story and this element in an unexpected direction. Really enjoyed this.

A cliffhanger isn’t uncommon in a serialized story. Instead, it’s almost a given.

I’ve listed the four books below. They will be released fairly quickly. I’m absolutely recommending this story! Highly entertaining! Can’t wait for the rest to roll out.

Great cover.

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life:

Disaster #1: Fun With Family

Disaster #2: Pet Problems-July 28

Disaster #3: Date Night -Aug 11

Disaster #4: Who Woke the Dead?-Aug 28

Buy Link:

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #1 (Princes of Mayhem)

Description:

Disaster #1: Fun With Family

Nolan is the hot but grumpy goth boy who lives across the street from perpetually sunny necromancer Sky.

Nolan wants nothing to do with Sky.

That is until his older brother is on the run from a local vampire clan after he failed to deliver on a promise.

Nolan is about to learn that vampires, shifters, witches, and magic are very real. He needs an expert to guide him through this dangerous world.

It’s Sky’s time to shine!

And just maybe he can win the heart of a grumpy introvert. (Assuming he doesn’t scare the man to death first.)

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life is a serial comprising four novellas that follow the insane adventures of necromancer Skylar Wallace and his next-door neighbor Nolan Banks. This book contains vampires, werewolves, witches, underworld minions, danger, surprises, sassy corpses, and some pretty amazing sandwiches.

Review: Westin’s Prince (Shadow Elite #4) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Westin’s Prince is the finale for Jocelynn Drake’s marvelous Shadow Elite series . It’s fitting it goes out on the story for Westin St James , the former marine, former CIA, now member of the mercenary Shadow Elite Unit. West’s been the one quietly in the background, the deadly sniper who can be counted on to have the team’s backs every dangerous moment of their outings. He’s a damaged man, and he’s been a mystery until now.

Who knew West could turn into such a favorite for me? A weird assassin contract that’s rejected by Justin and Gabriel is turned over to West by their joint handler because the target and terms are just too “off”. Something’s obviously wrong and the situation needs to be at least researched.

Drake creates a island kingdom that’s a supposedly combination of Chinese culture with Japanese influences. Honestly other than a mention that the language was a combination of Mandarin and Japanese languages there was little indication of anything Japanese to reference.

The other major characters are , and quite frankly, very engaging ones too:

🔷Jin Long Wei, Dianxia or Your Royal Highness , the target of the heart of the contract

🔷Prince Jin Ming Tao, younger brother to the heir.

🔷Qin, all around PA, to Long Wei

West lands into a kingdom who’s in love with its royal family, The Jins. Drake lays a good foundation for this, allowing the reader to see the people’s reactions to their Prince and interact with him as West and Long Wei themselves meet, discuss, and discover a deeper connection between them.

The island, it’s peace, and it’s Prince represents a powerful hope for West , if only that pesky contract is eliminated first.

The conflict is convincingly escalated, all the great team members and their new partners/husbands appear to help save the Kingdom, the Emperor, and the newly formed couple. Even the retired killer uncles are there, to back up West.

As it’s the last, there is betrayals, bloodshed, high suspense, and lots of action to take place along side the romance and relationship drama of acceptance and anxiety over the question of time.

The author’s able to work some of the readers own doubts about their relationship into the discussion process this way and it smoothly turns us into supporters of their romance and this book’s main theme.

The oddity for me remained that “forced melding” Asian influences when actually there were none. It was a mention and then used later in the story as a reference for the lack of aggressive behaviors in the island because as a nation long overrun by wars, only by cooperation can they succeed. So that’s all they do.

Nice thought for the faux Gaoxing, placed between China ,Japan, and Russia. But as I said I found little cultural aspects here other than Chinese seem to be represented.

The Chinese elements are:

🔷Chinese names for the characters, including grandfather, dad, etc.

🔷mah-jongg playing aunties

🔷The historically accurate headwear and manner in which the royal family should have their hair worn:

◦ Xiaoguan-(small guan) headwear worn around the topknot, typically held in place with a hairpin to help stabilize the topknot”

◦ Touji-topknot

🔷The mythology included, which is definitely Chinese (kitsune is Japanese):

“The huli jing is just a fox spirit, but after a thousand years of cultivation, it can become a juiwei hu. A nine-tailed fox, which is what the statue is in the old square.”

The Chinese elements gave Gaoxing a realistic impression and firm vision for its people. The idea of a mixture was immediately lost.

So I throughly enjoyed the romance, the plot, seeing the entire team form up against a common enemy to save one of its own, and finally a rewarding ending for them all.

There’s a free second epilogue that shouldn’t be missed showing the happy family six years down the road. It’s a heartwarming read and makes this even better.

So really, loved everything but had questions about the world building of Gaoxing.

Definitely recommending it, especially if you’re a fan of the series and author.

Don’t come at this cold. Read the series first in the order that they were written.

Shadow Elite series:

✓ Stephen’s Translator #0.5

✓ Charlie’s Doctor #1

✓ Kairo’s Billionaire #2

✓ Edison’s Professor #3

✓ Westin’s Prince #4 – finale

Buy Link:

Westin’s Prince (Shadow Elite Book 4)

Description:

The contract on the prince’s head was only the beginning…

This was supposed to be a quick job.

Pop in. Check out the prince. Alert his security that someone wanted him dead.

Easy.

But a chance meeting in a tea shop left West unable to walk away.

Crown Prince Jin was far too sweet and trusting to be left unattended.

(Not to mention devastatingly handsome and mind-blowingly sexy.)

However, Prince Jin has a dark secret that leads to even bigger problems. West is going to need the entire team for this one…and maybe even those crazy assassins.

Oh God, and a makeover as he goes undercover in the elite world of royalty.

Westin’s Prince is the fourth and final full-length novel in the Shadow Elite series and features mercenaries, assassins, royalty, a sassy assistant, conspiracies, danger, insta-swoon, yet another cinnamon roll, a fish out of water who will do anything for his prince, a “fake” boyfriend but nobody believes them, and love on the run in Asia.

Review: Edison’s Professor (Shadow Elite #3) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4🌈

Edison’s Professor is the penultimate book in this series as the members of the Shadow Elite fall in love and find their HEA.

As the group was departing Greece after the events in Kairo’s Billionaire, where Kairo was kidnapped, and found love with billionaire Isidore, we end with what will be the beginning pages from this story. It’s a great teaser and sets the scene and introduces the main characters for book 3, Edison’s Professor.

Not that we have any idea who that person is at the time.

Each novel flows seamlessly into the next, as that ending repeats itself perfectly as this story begins.

It has the feel of a romantic Indiana Jones tale (right down to the last name). There’s adventure, multiple villains, all the Shadow Elite team members and their partners are here. It’s great to see them all involved, especially Izzie and Alexei. They play a big part in Max Sutton’s integration into the found family that’s their group.

I liked the characters chemistry and relationship dynamics between Max and Ed. As usual for this series, with the exception of Will and Charlie, this relationship develops quickly into one of love in a short amount of time.

I liked the relationship, I feel it had the same similarities to Kairo and Izzie’s fast-love romance that had a natural grounding in the severity of pain, damage and danger of their shared situation. It felt believable and understandable.

There’s Egyptology, tombs, fast action, races through the streets, so much crazy entertainment to enjoy.

And a feel good ending.

Next and last is one of the toughest members of the squad and the most quiet. That’s the sniper West.

I can’t wait to see how he finishes up the series.

Until then, I’m recommending this and all the teams romantic journeys to HEA.

Shadow Elite series:

✓ Stephen’s Translator #0.5

✓ Charlie’s Doctor #1

✓ Kairo’s Billionaire #2

✓ Edison’s Professor #3

◦ Westin’s Prince – April 7, 2023 finale

Buy Link:

Edison’s Professor (Shadow Elite Book 3)

Description:

The stranger chose him.

Edison Walker had never seen the man with the wide green eyes before. He only knew that he was in trouble.

And that he took one look at Ed and decided he was his haven. His protector.

Ed would not let him down.

With the jeweled scarab the stranger pressed into his hand and the strange note written in ancient Egyptian, the Shadow Elite mercenaries are off to Cairo to find the stolen professor.

Edison’s Professor is the third full-length novel in the Shadow Elite series and features mercenaries, ancient treasure, danger, explosions, a short grumpy Egyptologist who can be very overprotective of his mercenary, cuddly couples, and love on the run in Egypt.

Review: Forbidden Lover (Exit Strategy #4) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 3.5🌈

Forbidden Lover has its beginnings in Final Lover, Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott’s “put a ring on it”storyline. That’s the book that solidified their romance into a HEA by slipping them into a mission that sees them protecting a man and his young son from a mistaken hit contract.

The assassin who took the bad contract was Kai , an old acquaintance of Gabriel’s, and someone Gabe knew would never kill a child. It stopped Kai once he knew the information was bad and then he helped them protect the man and son. Yes, there was definitely chemistry involved but it was just a wisp and gone.

Here all the dropped parts from that book that pertained to the father ,Devlin Relic and son , get picked up and woven into a new adventure and romance.

This time between Devlin and Kai.

As much as I liked the character of Kai, what makes the series work is the development of the relationship between the two characters of Justin and Gabriel over a period of time, especially with the differences in personalities. Here Kai is lacking all that history and groundwork, even with his introduction in the last book, to give him a larger dimension to his character.

It makes the drama with the villain just a bit confusing, even coming off as a forced storyline because we have nothing to frame it around.

I liked Devlin and his son, the father/son dynamics feeling more realistic than the fact that Devlin might be any sort of brilliant scientist. No one is that naive anymore, especially about other members of their scientific community. Nice character, not realistic enough for the field.

So I was entertained. It’s not my favorite in the series. Feels like more of a filler story than a actual part. Maybe people were asking for it because of Kai from Final Lover.

Read it to finish the series, or because you’re curious about that character. It’s a fun book but not necessarily a great one.

The series should be read in the order that they were written to understand the character development and events that happened.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Buy Link :

Forbidden Lover (Exit Strategy Book 4)

Description:

Devlin Relic was off limits.

The sweet man had already lost a husband and nearly lost his life when someone put a contract on his head last year.

He needed to focus on raising his adopted son and finding a nice, normal man.

Kai was anything but nice and normal.

He was an assassin, and that did not fit into Dev’s neat and tidy life.

But when a dead body mysteriously appears in Dev’s bathtub, it looks like an assassin is exactly what he needs.

Maybe this time Kai will be brave enough to fight for Devlin and finally put his exit strategy to use.

Review: Final Lover (Exit Strategy #3) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

Final Lover while only being the third book in the series really puts the finishing touches on the romance of Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott. Now semi-retired and living in the high security house of their dreams in Colorado with their two cats and two German Shepherds, things should be easy.

But with the damaged pasts, high adrenaline needs for excitement or just something to keep a unusually intense mind occupied, both men are wondering what’s next for them. How do they get a HEA? Is it even possible?

A slide into a case involving a targeted man and young son on the run, an old acquaintance of Gabriel’s, and a mystery that will form the basis of the next book and relationship, Forbidden Lover #4. That’s an entirely new couple and dynamic.

Drake does such an excellent job creating a believable portrait of an established relationship that’s still got issues to solve, factors that each person must consider and communicate to their partner. Even among the assassins/mercenaries, whatever the job title they have at the moment. It’s still a fully developed adult relationship, with the requisite trust and commitment issues. And Drake brings that to their table every time.

The mystery, the new assassin Kai, the vulnerable father and son, even the GSDs and Norwegian Forest cats, are fantastic characters and support elements.

This is wonderful entertainment and a fast paced story to dive into and devour.

As is the series.

The next two books find Justin and Gabriel acting in secondary roles so enjoy them in their Final Lover fashion!

I’m highly recommending it.

The series should be read in the order that they were written to understand the character development and events that happened.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Buy Link:

Final Lover (Exit Strategy Book 3)

Description:

Two assassins meet, don’t kill each other, and fall in love.

It’s happily ever after, right?

Not so fast.

Reformed mercenaries Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott have taken the big leap of living together. They’re even working together.

But “one last job” has them taking a falsely accused man and his young son into their home for safe keeping.

While dodging bullets and fellow hitmen out for the $27 million bounty, Justin and his G Love realize that falling in love was the easy part. Building a life together might be more than they bargained for.

Join Justin and Gabriel for their final adventure as they protect an innocent man and uncover the missing piece to their forever.

Review: Vengeful Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy #2) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

Picking up after the events of Deadly Lover, Vengeful Lover has assassin Justin Mallory chasing after his new lover, fellow assassin, Gabriel Prescott. Gabriel left at the end of Deadly Lover, promising to return to start their new life after finishing up his own personal loose ends.

The story dives immediately into a all out fight for their new relationship, a journey into Gabriel’s traumatic history and his dangerous family dynamics.

With all the suspense and high action, Drake’s story builds upon the homophobia inherent in certain Russian cultures and it’s tragic impact upon the community. In this case, the children.

It’s a theme revisited in a future book and continued thread within Gabriel’s character.

I throughly enjoyed the book and the deepening relationship between Gabriel and Justin. It’s not a finished story here and they still have much more work left to do on their own relationship as they continue to grow into their new home and partnership.

Btw, this story introduces two important characters, neither of which I’ll giveaway. But their entrance is dramatic and emotional.

The next book, Final Lover , is a grand slam.

I’m highly recommending this series and book. Please read them in order for the characters, relationships and events chronologically to occur.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Vengeful Lover (Exit Strategy Book 2)

Description:

Every assassin has an exit strategy – their ultimate plan for leaving that dangerous life and disappearing.

They just never expect to live long enough to enact it.

Gabriel Prescott was no different.

But everything changed when he met fellow mercenary Justin Mallory.

Now he’s racing across Europe with Justin to put to rest old threats before they can end both their lives.

Of course, it will also mean coming clean to Justin about exactly who he is and who wants him dead.

Gabriel can only hope that Justin will still want him when the truth comes out.

Review: Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy #1) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Deadly Lover is my second book that I “backtracked” to when I discovered the couple in the course of reading a sequel series, Shadow Elite.

This couple, now “semi-retired”, are deadly assassins who are uncles to Alexei, an assassin as well and lover of Soren. They’re both infamous and family due to their roles and now new connections so they certainly pop up during missions or gatherings.

It didn’t take long for them to become a couple I seriously wanted a history for.

Deadly Lover begins their journey. It’s where they meet, begin a tenuous understanding of each other and start a relationship that teeters between a frightening friendship and something more fragile.

All while chasing a mystery and in turn finding themselves prey in a game where it’s billions of dollars and lives at stake.

Drake takes a chance with the dynamics here and tilts the revelations being delivered all on the side of assassin Gabriel Prescott. A deeply haunted, damaged man, the trauma of his past makes itself known by his scars, his arrays of tattoos, and his PTSD. All of which will be addressed as part of his character’s thread as the series progresses.

The character of Justin Mallory is more of an enigma. As the relationship between the men develops and the trust of their true selves becomes a final test, it’s Justin who’s that last one with the barriers raised. He’s fluid and yet he’s got a strong core. So you get him and can connect with him without having any history or knowledge about him.

This dichotomy between the main characters surprisingly works because our focus is on Gabriel, his emotional damage and trauma, while maneuvering the reader away from the narrative void that is Justin Mallory’s history and foundation.

It makes you wonder what’s coming.

The path they are on is halting, uncertain, and dangerous. The author never lets us or them forget that either.

The book ends not even on a HFN which is realistic. But on a we are going to try to make it work.

The next novel picks up several months later. It’s quite the transition.

Review coming soon.

I’m most definitely recommending this series. And Deadly Love. It’s well written. Great plotting, with a fascinating framework for the characters and relationship growth going forward. Full of exciting action and dialogue to pull you into the conversation, it’s a win all around.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy Book 1)

Description:

New Expanded Content for Deadly Lover!

Justin Mallory is an assassin. But he’s really a good guy.

He has years of bad decisions to make up for, starting with agreeing to join the CIA after being recruited out of the Marines. No reason to add more black marks to his soul.

Now he chooses the jobs and he works always alone. It’s safer that way, and he can make sure the good guy always wins.

But this job…he can’t do alone.

Two scientists are dead and a dangerous drug is on the cusp of winning FDA approval if he doesn’t track down the culprit behind the lies and murders.

Gabriel Prescott is a well-trained, efficient, and cold-blooded killer. After a brutal betrayal left his lover dead, Gabriel is out only for himself.

But when this lucrative contract lands in his lap, he can’t pass it up. Even if it means working with the unpredictable and insane Justin Mallory.

Dodging bullets and secret meetings force them to depend on each other.

And one hot, frantic night together leads to a hidden sweetness and questions of whether they could possibly have something more.

Author’s Note: As a gift to readers, I have expanded the original Deadly Lover by nearly 20,000 words, giving readers a deeper understanding of Justin and Gabriel. Furthermore, I have added the short story Lover Calling to the special edition so you can enjoy even more of these fun assassins.

Review: Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy #5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Alexei Prescott , assassin and nephew of assassins extraordinaire, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

Soren Jessen, cat burglar, ex CIA, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

One will kill him, the other will steal from him. At the same time. The mission puts both men on a collision course to unravel labyrinthine mysteries that center around a stolen hard drive while keeping each other alive and able to fall into mad passionate love.

This is one of those stories I backtracked into. Soren and his assassin lover, Alexei, are important characters in Drake’s Shadow Elite series. They’re a fascinating and eclectic couple. So naturally when I learned that they had their own story, I needed to read it. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The last of a series (which had me backtracking even further), Accidental Lover not only gives us the complete window in Soren, the man who just happens to be a cat burglar now, but the complicated personality that makes that career so understandable.

The story also gives us an astonishing assassin in the person of Alexei Prescott. A diminutive gorgeous killer who has been raised by two of the world’s most notorious assassins, Alexei is as fascinating a character as the man he’s coming to love.

A thriller of a suspenseful romance, equally intriguing with snarky humor and lusty chemistry, Accidental Lover was a book I couldn’t put down.

Plus it ket me know that those scary assassins, Justin and Gabriel, Alexei’s uncles, were actually the main focus of the Exit Strategy series so I could happily backtrack once more for their origin story and romance.

I’m highly recommending this story and onto the first one in the series.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Related/sequel series: Shadow Elite books

Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy Book 5)

Description:

Rule No. 1 of being an assassin: Don’t sleep with your mark.

Eh. Alexei has never been big on rules.

It’s not his fault Soren is too sexy for words.

And it’s not like he knew Soren was the cat burglar he’d been hired to kill.

But as they dodge other assassins, the CIA, and even the Russians to keep Soren alive and a stolen hard drive out of their hands, Alexei might be in even greater danger of breaking

Rule No. 2.

Never fall for your mark.

Review: Stephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4🌈

Stephen’s Translator, (Shadow Elite #0.5), is the story I wish I’d had been able to read before Charlie’s Doctor, the first in the series. This novella is the one that essentially sets off all the events that occur in the following books. Stephen’s Translator is the foundation story for the series because it gives us the basics for the mystery that launches everything else.

So yes, wish I’d had it earlier. Pout sorta over.

Stephen is the younger brother to Charlie Sands (the ex CIA, special forces commander of the Shadow Elite). We’ve seen/met him through phone calls when the team’s been on missions and needed the advice of a psychiatrist, albeit a pediatric one.

It great to flip the perspective and have Stephen as a fleshed out person. He does run perilously close to perfection as a character but a screw up here and there nicely balanced that out. Especially when he’s a hero in an adorable Meet Cute scenario at the beginning of the story.

That’s where we meet independent editor/translator and very cute Ehren Galanis is stood up by a ex at dinner and saved by a galant Stephen Sands.

From the cute, sweet, and normal, things quickly descend into chaos, danger, and mystery, enough that Stephen calls in for help in the form of members of the Shadow Elite.

Drake has a great sense of intrigue that meshes well with the characters and growing romance. It’s a definite instant or intuitive sense of belonging that I bought into. From the chemistry to the types of personalities, I could see the attraction.

I liked the group dynamics, we are the beginning here, as well as the complicated brother sibling history with hints towards Charlie’s pained past romance.

What was not as well developed was the disposal of the “big bad”, whose identity and reputation wasn’t clear to begin with. More a cardboard villain needed to fill a role than a actual person or threat. Disappointing.

Soren and his love, the assassin Alexei, make very brief appearances through a phone call. For their story, see Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy Book 5).

It ends with the team heading off to start book 1, Charlie’s Doctor, which now makes me want to start reading it all over again because I have a better understanding of what happened to bring them to that country.

Foundation is key!

So I’m highly recommending Stephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5), especially if you haven’t started the series yet to give it the foundation it deserves or if you have, for exactly the same reason. Never miss out on a chance to add more details to the series and characters you love.

Shadow Elite series:

✓ Stephen’s Translator #0.5

✓ Charlie’s Doctor #1

✓ Kairo’s Billionaire #2

◦ Edison’s Professor #3 – Feb 10, 2023

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showStephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5) by Jocelynn Drake

Description:

When Meet Cute leads to Meet Trouble.

Ehren is the most adorable man Stephen has ever laid eyes on. A chance encounter leads to an amazing first date and the promise of even more fun.

But all those hopes crash down when someone breaks into Ehren’s apartment.

With dangerous stalkers and rumors of a secret treasure hounding Ehren, Stephen will do anything to keep him safe. Even call his crazy half-brother Charlie and his mercenary friends for help.

Oh God, please don’t let his strange, extended family destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to him…

Stephen’s Translator is a Shadow Elite series prequel and features embarrassing first meetings, a shrink who can’t follow his own advice, hot elevator kisses, secret treasure, meddling brothers, and a scorching romance. This novella was originally part of the YBBB and the content has not changed.

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