gargoyles – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Rating: 4.5🌈

Jennifer Cody’s new book, Where Fools Have Tread, is featured in the new multi author series, Tales From The Tarot.

Situated in the author’s Murder Sprees and Mute Degrees universe with crossover characters, this is an absolutely engaging story that promises to bring the reader additional books about this world and gargoyle guardians.

Cody weaves magic, science fiction, romance and the mystical powers of the Tarot cards into a narrative where a lonely young man of indecision finds his path, his origins, a fated mate, and a family. All with a little magical charm and assistance.

I’m a longtime fan of Cody’s, especially her ability to create beautifully realized characters and then deliver a highly imaginative, engaging storyline for them to explore and journey to their own endpoint, whatever that means.

Here Dec Scion, an aimless young man, still mourning the loss of his uncle who raised him, ends up a butler working for the unusual wealthy Staiano family. Who happen to be guardian gargoyles.

Dec, a great character who continues to reveal depths of personality and strengths of his own, meets Thoren, and the attraction sets off an highly snarky, fun relationship that allows each to learn about each other as it turns into a fated mates relationship.

There’s other gargoyle brothers and uncle, Maxime, who clearly need further exploration and stories. And great housekeeping staff equally well developed and crying for more details.

I was thoroughly entertained and delighted with this couple and new beginnings. I look forward to more novels, both in this series and from Cody.

Love love this cover!

Cover art: Fae Quin

Cover design: Amanda Meuwissen

Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees (4 book series)

Buy Link:

Where Fools Have Tread

Blurb

Dec:

I’ve never really had much in the way of direction in my life, until I walk into an eerie shop where a strange man charges me more than I should pay for a tarot reading of one card. Next thing I know, I’m graduating school to be a domestic servant and find myself employed by someone else’s weird uncle in the strangest mansion. Everyone is great even if they’re all a little… off. Except Thoren. He’s a thorn in my side, and I’m not sure how I feel about him dropping his cards all the time just to make me pick them up for him. (My ass is not what he’s looking at because… what?)

Thoren:

I’ve known since I was a child the path I would take in life. I’m a guardian, one of the Trustworthy, and I am excellent at my job. I take my pleasure wherever I can find it, because I’ve earned every second of my leisure with the hours, days, and weeks of work I put in on every mission. Finding pleasure in teasing the new butler is new, but Dec seems to like it just as much as I do, no matter how often he tries to hide in the cleaning closet. (I’m definitely looking at dat ass because… yum.)

Where Fools Have Tread is an MM paranormal romance set in the Murder Sprees and Mute Decrees universe with a human butler who finds his calling serving a household full of paranormal protectors and a gargoyle with resting bitch face who takes delight in teasing him.

Where Fools Have Tread is a standalone MM romance novel as part of the multi-author collaboration Tales from the Tarot. This book is based on the major arcana card The Fool.

Publication date: August 19, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 179 pages

Tales from the Tarot is a massive multi-author paranormal & fantasy MM romance collaboration. These 22 books, each by a different author, highlight the Major Arcana cards in a traditional Tarot deck – with some liberties taken, such as The Empress card being The Consort, for an all MM or gay romance focus.

Tales from the Tarot- 22 books

🔷 Where Fools Have Tread by Jennifer Cody

🔷The Magician’s Heart by J.P. Jackson

🔷Cleric of Desire by Amanda Meuwissen

🔷The Nephilim’s Touch by Morgan Lysand

🔷King of Hollywood by Fae Quin

🔷My Minotaur Daddy: An MM Romantasy by Laura Lascarso

🔷Across Space and Time by Kit Barrie

🔷Chariot of Souls by Morgan Mason

🔷By Rude Strength by K.L. Hiers

🔷Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose

🔷Twisted Fates by Adam J. Ridley

🔷No Justice for the Damned by Hellie Heat

🔷The Angel’s Kiss by Nicholas Bella

🔷Death Song by B. Ripley

🔷Arcanum by Ashlyn Drewek

🔷The Devil’s Dilemma by Alex J. Adams

🔷Camelot’s Tower by Brooke Matthews

🔷A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

by Chloe Archer

🔷Trust in the Moon by Delaney Rain

🔷Raising the Sun by Eryn Hawk

🔷Zero Judgment by Kota Quinn

🔷The End of the World by Drake LaMarque

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Chevalier Fireman Mason James thought finding out he is a Romanus—a rare class of gargoyle—would be the surprise of a lifetime, but he’s proven wrong when he discovers he is the son of a comte and goji nobility. But his newly discovered family doesn’t think his gargoyle lover, Luc, is good enough for a goji of Mason’s stature—how could a warrior ever be? But despite the Moreaus’ uncertainty and elitism, they are Mason’s only chance to unravel the mystery behind his mother’s death, find a solution for the class divide that might separate him from Luc, and discover what it truly means to be a Romanus.

Chevalier is an interesting addition to this series. It answers most of the questions left lingering at the end of Romanus. It can be read as a stand-alone if you like stories with established couples. There’s enough information and world-build involved to get right into the story. Perhaps, they should have been combined into one book instead of two separate stories.

Luc still my favorite character. He’s always there for Mason. Their connection deepened during this story, and I loved the easy banter between them and Luc’s playfulness. He also provides physical comfort to Mason with his presence and soft caresses. And there’s a new development about Luc’s position in the chasse.

Mason still has to deal with the repercussions from learning he’s a Romanus and where did he come from. We get to find out more about the meaning and the powers behind his new designation. Plus, he learns the reasons behind his family past; which takes them to France.

In this story with see more of romance, a relationship, between the MCs. Yes, they still have time for some smexy bits during the changes in their lives, but it’s more part of who they are as a couple, instead of an instinct.

There are a lot more characters in this book, but they’re easier to remember. Not all of them are relevant to the story, at the moment, but are worth mentioning even if in passing. I’d like to learn more about Gabriel’s story and Finn’s & Raoul’s.

As always, the author delivers a fantasy story with a world to be explored and characters interesting enough to want to read more about them. On the flip side, the info dump can be overwhelming and the world too much at times for such a simple story.

Another beautiful cover by Reese Dante showing one of the settings in the story. The font, the only thing bringing the two books in the series together.

I think the paperback edition combines the two covers perfectly.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 118 pages
Published: May 27, 2016, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781634772457
Edition Language: English

Series: Romanus
Book #1: Romanus
Book #2: Chevalier

Tag: gargoyles

Review: Where Fools Have Tread (Tales From The Tarot novel) by Jennifer Cody

A Lila Review: Chevalier (Romanus #2) by Mary Calmes

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