Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Left to die in a sealed tomb, David, an educated and good-natured New York arts dealer and part-time forger, stumbles over an old oil lamp. But instead of producing a little light for David’s last hours, it conjures forth a veritable djinni.
An ancient, tempting, puckish djinni, who in David’s company prefers to show himself as an irresistibly handsome, fit and barely legal teenager. Quite literally an incarnation of trouble waiting to happen.
So what’s a modern man to do with his three wishes, when he can literally wish for anything except the one thing the truly desires – to mend his broken heart?

 

Loving Djinni brings a refreshing breath of air to the traditional MM fantasy genre. It starts as a mix between Indiana Jones and Lara Croft but rapidly finds its own place. I think (please don’t quote me) that this is my first MM djinni story. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least, and I really enjoyed this authors’ style.

 

David seems a little distant and overdramatic at the beginning of the story, but the reader warms up to him as soon as they learned more about his story. The more time he spent with Sharu, the more we wanted for them to get their HEA. David is the traditional boy next door in everything but his job as a questionable art dealer. That hint of spice he has in him comes through the story creating an interesting character.

 

I have to say that Sharu was my favorite of the two main characters. I like the idea of having the djinni learning about the new world after his long confinement on his own and with minimal help from David. How many times he had been hurt by his masters has obviously shaped the person he’s now. David was the right master for him, caring, loving, but at the same time, intelligent and somehow outgoing.

 

This story has a great amount of sarcasm and humor. Their banter is fun and develops as they get to know each other better. Their daily lives give us an inside of what they both wanted, and there was a nice compromise during their relationship. They worked great as a team and as a couple. Their chemistry is sizzling, and the UST only enhanced it.

 

There aren’t many secondary characters, but Stanley and Mrs. Weintraub worked well, bringing trouble and comedic relief into the story. Yes, Stanley was perhaps too much of a stereotypical antagonist, but it felt real in this fantasy world. My less favorite parts were their history and art related conversations. For some reason, they didn’t read as smooth as the rest of the story.

 

I’m really impressed by this, new to me authors, and I’m definitely looking forward to more books from them.

 

The cover by Natalya Nesterona is perfect for this story. It shows both characters, the lamp, and David’s apartment. A great combination of style and fantasy.

 

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Book Details:

 

ebook, 190 pages
Published: April 14, 2016, Self-Published
ISBN: 9781310559877
Edition Language: English