Review: The Villain Who Wasn’t (Carnival of Mysteries 2) by Liv Rancourt

Rating: 3🌈

The Villain Who Wasn’t by Liv Rancourt was such a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed much of the story and characters, including how Rancourt wove the Carnival of Mysteries into this tale, making it an important part of Micah Jenkins journey to redemption.

Micah, how his relationship with Anders Montgomery developed amid his journey to redemption and finding home, that entire storyline , is the best part about this book. It starts with the characters.

Corbin Blande aka Micah Jenkins is terrific, a wounded being with a great back story. He’s a polymorphic being, a therianthrope, someone who could shift into any form, human or animal. A almost mythic creature who fell into the wrong hands and did terrible things to protect people he loves.

Then there’s Anders Montgomery, a beta werewolf, one of 5 children.The pack is renting the Hidden Glen Resort for a younger sister’s first shift. But it’s never that simple. Again, a great story and character set within a pack and family that cries out for further development.

Part of the main narrative includes Micah’s daughter, who because of the danger involved, doesn’t know him, and a demon that has him trapped by promises and threats. All fascinating stuff and all underdeveloped here.

The decision why is because the author decides to mash up The Carnival of Mysteries series story , and make it a sequel to her book, The Accidental Necromancer from the Subpar Heroes superhero series from a completely different universe and multi-author collection. So now SPAM and superheroes has entered the story and things go completely off the rails, narratively speaking.

Once Livcourt makes the decision to smash (not integrate) one storyline universe into another, it drastically changes tone and direction. An entirely new crew of characters, new locations and the superhero governing agency, SPAM, is the dominant force, leaving the pack and other elements pushed aside.

In fact, instead of exploring Micah’s unique natural history and having him make restitution for his actions in other ways, Livcourt brings in SPAM, takes over the story, hobbling the previous narrative, and making the Subpar Heroes the universe that’s dominating this book.

If a reader isn’t familiar with these series, especially the Subpar Heroes, or a reader of this author’s books, they will find themselves lost in the muddled world that this story has become at the end. Yes, there’s a HFN and a note from Livcourt she intends to continue on with additional stories in this universe. Which one? The subpar heroes is my guess but I’m not sure.

I liked The Villain Who Wasn’t (Carnival of Mysteries 2) by Liv Rancourt because of Micah, Anders, their relationship, and the manner in which the story began. Plus the Carnival of Mysteries was an important part of their journey. But the rest of the book was a mashup that felt forced and confusing. That was mostly the second part of this book.

Read it if you’re a fan of the author.

Again, terrific covers.

Carnival of Mysteries 2 -2024

🔹Rook’s Time by Kim Fielding (sequel to Crow’s Fate-2023)

🔹The Wrong Familiar by Megan Derr✅

🔹The Villain Who Wasn’t by Liv Rancourt ** notes (sequel to other stories/series)

🔹Blue Lightning by BL Maxwell

🔹Magic Escaping by Kaje Harper (sequel to Magic Burning 2023)

🔹Lighting the Darkness by Eden Winters – Aug 14,2024

🔹You Can Save Me by R L Merrill-Aug 21,2024

🔹Airs Above the Ground by Rachel Langella-Sept 10,2024

🔹Go for the Climate by Ander C. Lark

🔹 Flames of the Arcane by Nicole Dennis

🔹Midnight on the Midway by Morgan Brice

🔹Dust Bowl Magic by Zam Maxfield 🔹Dragonspark by Elizabeth Silver

Buy link

The Villain Who Wasn’t: Carnival of Mysteries

Blurb;

Micah is not a nice guy. He can shift into anything with a pulse, a rare talent that caught a demon’s eye. Threatening Micah’s weak spot – his baby daughter – that demon gave Micah seven tasks, each one shittier than the last. It’s taken him almost five years, but now that he’s done, Micah can become a better man.

And he will, as soon as he figures out how.

Anders is a werewolf with a plan. When the time is right, he’ll take over his uncle’s contracting company and later become Alpha of the pack. He never intended to take a mate, even one as hot as Micah.

Who’s not a werewolf and might not be quite trustworthy.

A visit to a mysterious carnival shows Micah what it will take to be the kind of mate Anders deserves. Things get complicated, though, because while Micah thinks he’s done with the demon, the demon’s not done with him.

As Anders comes to terms with the Universe changing his plans, Micah struggles to be a worthy mate. Despite the growing strength of their bond, they need to send a certain demon back to hell, or they’ll never be able to build their future together.

• Publisher: Rancourt Publishing (July 24, 2024)

• Publication date: July 24, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 234 pages

Carnival of Mysteries series. 2023 and 2024:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

✓ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr

✓ Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️

✓ Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️

✓ Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️

✓ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis ❤️

✓ The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky

✓ Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver

✓ You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill

✓ Sting in the Tail by TA Moore

✓ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella

✓ The Black Robes of Flanders by Sara Ellis

Carnival of Mysteries 2 -2024

🔹Rook’s Time by Kim Fielding (sequel to Crow’s Fate-2023)

🔹The Wrong Familiar by Megan Derr

🔹The Villain Who Wasn’t by Liv Rancourt

🔹Blue Lightning by BL Maxwell

🔹Magic Escaping by Kaje Harper (sequel to Magic Burning 2023)

🔹Lighting the Darkness by Eden Winters – Aug 14,2024

🔹You Can Save Me by R L Merrill-Aug 21,2024

🔹Airs Above the Ground by Rachel Langella-Sept 10,2024

🔹Go for the Climate by Ander C.Lark

🔹Flames of the Arcane by Nicole Dennis

🔹Midnight on the Midway by Morgan Brice

🔹Dust Bowl Magic by Zam Maxfield 🔹Dragonspark by Elizabeth Silver

Reviews: The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt and Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp (Subpar Heroes Stories)

Rating: DNF for both

The Subpar Heroes series has been a real hit or miss for me, with having liked 2 books and finding I absolutely couldn’t finish 2 others.

I’m combining the reviews for the DNF because neither requires a full on review as you will see.

The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt is a DNF simply because I was appalled by its application of the theme and overall plot. If you are a cat lover, pet owner or just love animals, this is not the story for you. The main character accidentally raises road kills, they follow him home. Opening scene of a roadkill cat now pitifully mewing, detailed missing parts showing exactly what happened to it, following him home. He sighs because yeah, again. Adds it to a room with other dead roadkill animals . Then follows episodes with the hot one dimensional SPAM vet. Poor dialogue.

But mainly pathetic really horribly dead animals.

Why would author think that this is a good idea? Especially considering readers who might have lost beloved pets? Just no. DNF

Next up an author I’m a fan of except for this nonsensical piece where there’s no clear idea of the characters or even who’s speaking most of the time .

2. Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

This is from Harlan’s pov and his voice included as well to further muddle the conversation. So three different people speaking and basically the reader will have no idea who they are from this passage. And that’s not unusual.

“Dash and DT exchanged glances. “Stop looking at each other that way. It’s making me insane.”

I took a long drink of coffee and lost track of what I was saying.

“Fuck me, this is good coffee.”

I know, right?” DT agreed.

“Where’d you get it?”

“That’s classified, soldier.” The corners of his mouth tilted up.”

“I forced the memory of how that mouth had tasted back into the lockbox in my brain. “Asshole.” Banter was good. It gave us some familiarity and some distance at the same time.”

— Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story by A. E. Wasp

It should be a good story but the framework and how Wasp lays out the characters and storylines will just give the reader a headache. I’m sure the author is going for a certain narrative style but it’s hard to tell because it lacks substance and flow.

DNF

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp 5/30/2024

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple 6/6/2024

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke 6/13/2024

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 7/25/2024

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms 7/30/2024

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan 8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 8/6/2024

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy links:

The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

The Accidental Necromancer

Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story by A. E. Wasp

Behind the 8-Ball: A Subpar Heroes Story

Love Historical Romance? Check Out the Release Blitz for Lost and Found by Liv Rancourt (excerpt and giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 75,000 words approx.

Price: 2.99 (4.99 from October 20)

Blurb

A dancer who cannot dance and a doctor who cannot heal find in each other the strength to love.

History books will call it The Great War, but for Benjamin Holm, that is a misnomer. The war is a disaster, a calamity, and it leaves Benjamin profoundly wounded, his mind and memory shattered. A year after Armistice, still struggling to regain his mental faculties, he returns to Paris in search of his closest friend, Elias.

Benjamin meets Louis Donadieu, a striking and mysterious dance master. Though Louis is a difficult man to know, he offers to help Benjamin. Together they search the cabarets, salons, and art exhibits in the newly revitalized city on the brink of les années folles (the Crazy Years). Almost despite himself, Benjamin breaches Louis’s defenses, and the two men discover an unexpected passion.

As his memory slowly returns, Benjamin will need every ounce of courage he possesses to recover Elias’s story. He and Louis will need even more than that to lay claim to the love – and the future – they deserve.

Excerpt

The table on the other side of me was empty, at least until I’d poured myself a second glass of wine. Then, crossing the room in a familiar halting rhythm, my neighbor, the man from the café on the Place du Tertre, took a seat.

I raised my glass in a toast of alcohol-fueled enthusiasm. “It’s nice to see you.”

He blinked as if surprised by my words. “I’m not sure I know you.”

His gaze suggested otherwise. “A while ago, you were at L’Oiseau Bleu.” I swirled the wine in my cup. “Are you following me?”

“I had a taste for fish.” Hooking his cane over the edge of his table, he shrugged again. “And I have better things to do than observe the habits of a drunk American.”

We were interrupted by the arrival of my dinner. There might have been humor in his tone, but still, the sting of his words quashed the impulse to invite him to join me.

Turning to the waiter, slick black hair gleaming, he placed his own order. When the waiter brought his wine, I took the opportunity to raise my glass a second time. “Cheers.” I deliberately did not smile. “Comment allez-vous?” How are you, using the formal “vous,” not the more intimate “tu.”

Tu. In all my time in France, I’d never regularly used the personal form of address. To be honest, if English had an equivalent construction, I could have said the same about my friends and family at home.

“Bien. I am well.”

His tone, and the slight tremor of his fingers on his glass of wine, hinted otherwise. He turned as if to shield himself from my appraisal. I couldn’t help myself. It was my nature to observe. Assess. Diagnose. “I’m Benjamin Holm.” The distance between us was too great to bridge with a handshake.

He raised his glass. “Louis Donadieu.”

I forced my fork through the crisp crust of fish. Juices ran free, and my mouth watered. I ate, hunger keeping my attention fixed on the food on my plate. Though it had been almost two years since I’d last sat at an army canteen, I still attacked each meal as if someone might steal it away.

At my last bite, I glanced at Louis. He watched me, a pool of stillness amidst the confusion around us. “Did you even taste it?”

“Yes.” Swirling my fork through the drippings on my plate, I fought the urge to smile, unsure of the rules for the game he played.

He sniffed. “Bien.” Shifting in his seat, he poured himself more wine. As long as he wasn’t looking, I continued my assessment. He held his right leg extended, as if he was unable to bend it at the knee, but was otherwise quite vigorous, virile even.

I finished my peas and potatoes, bemused by my strange dinner companion. After a week in Paris, I’d had no luck with my main goal, and this conversation, though tentative, intrigued me.

“Were you injured?” I gestured at his feet with my wine.

“What?”

“In the war. Your leg.” His narrowed gaze suggested I’d transgressed. So, no questions about his health. “Pardon. I did not mean to—”

“No, I was unable to participate in the grand conflict.”

He turned his attention away, leaving me confused. This was less a game than a jousting contest. Rather than bring another helping of rudeness on my head, I swallowed the rest of my wine and prepared to leave.

“What are you doing?”

I paused in the act of reaching for my wallet. “I’m finished. I need to be going.” Though I had no real destination beyond the poor comfort of my solitary rooms. Instead of my wallet, I fished out the photograph. “Here.” I stood, leaning over his table and offering him the picture of Elias. “I’m looking for my friend Elias. Have you seen him?”

Always the same words, bringing the same blank response.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.” He tapped the white edge of the photograph, and I snatched it away.

“He’s my friend.”

“So?”

His acid tone burned through my good humor. Who is this man to follow and then abuse me? “Have a good evening.”

“Good evening, though if you give up so easily, you must not really want to find him.”

Surprise kept me planted by his table. “Do you know where he is?”

He tipped his glass in my direction, the corner of his lips curling in what could not truly be called a smile. Though it wasn’t a scowl either. “No, but if I do see him, I will send him to the heavy-footed American man who lives on the floor above me.”

Tired of being the target of his sport, I straightened, falling into the habitual pose of a military officer. “Again, good evening.” Annoyed beyond what the situation called for, I departed.

About Liv Rancourt

Liv Rancourt writes romance of all kinds. Because love is love, even with fangs.

Liv is a huge fan of paranormal romance and urban fantasy and loves history just as much, so her stories often feature vampires or magic or they’re set in the past…or all of the above. When Liv isn’t writing she takes care of tiny premature babies or teenagers, depending on whether she’s at work or at home. Her husband is a soul of patience, her kids are her pride and joy, and her dogs – Trash Panda and The Boy Genius – are endlessly entertaining.Liv can be found on-line at all hours of the day and night at her website (www.livrancourt.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/liv.rancourt), or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LivRancourt). She also blogs monthly over at Spellbound Scribes (https://spellboundscribes.wordpress.com/). For sneak peeks and previews and other assorted freebies, go HERE to sign up for her mailing list or join the Facebook page she shares with her writing partner Irene Preston, After Hours with Liv & Irene. Fun stuff!

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