Can a gentle werewolf heal the heart of a smart-mouthed mage?NYT bestseller Gail Carriger, writing as G. L. Carriger, presents an offbeat gay romance in which a sexy werewolf with a white knight complex meets a bad boy mage with an attitude problem. Sparks (and other things) fly.
Max fails everything - magic, relationships, life. So he works for DURPS (the DMV for supernatural creatures) as a sumage, cleaning up other mages’ messes. The job sucks and he’s in no mood to cope with redneck biker werewolves. Unfortunately, there’s something oddly appealing about the huge, muscled Beta visiting his office for processing.
Bryan AKA Biff (yeah, he knows) is gay but he’s not out. There’s a good chance Max might be reason enough to leave the closet, if he can only get the man to go on a date. Everyone knows werewolves hate mages, but Bryan is determined to prove everyone wrong, even the mage in question.
Delicate Sensibilities?
This story contains M/M sexitimes and horrible puns. If you get offended easily, then you probably will. The San Andreas Shifter stories contain blue language, dirty deeds, and outright admiration for the San Francisco Bay Area. Not for the faint of heart (mouth/tongue/etc.).
This book stands alone, but there is a prequel short story featuring Bryan’s brother, Alec, the Alpha. Want to know why the pack moved? Read Marine Biology ~ Goodreads
Source: e-arc provided in exchange for an honest review
Review:
My favorite thing about The Sumage Solution was Carriger’s take on wolf packs and the alpha/beta roles.
Bryan is the beta wolf to his brother Alec’s alpha – but what’s interesting is Bryan is the big, brooding older brother while Alec is the younger, smaller one – yet they fill their roles perfectly. I just loved that twist on the usual pack dynamic.
When Bryan (aka: Biff) and his pack move to San Francisco, they have to register as supernaturals with DURPS and Bryan meets the smart-aleck sumage, Max.
I adored the little verbal dance that Max and Bryan do as their attraction blooms. Max is out and proud but is lacking in self confidence due to his epic failure as a mage while Bryan is still in the closet but feels this overwhelming need to protect Max and make him feel whole again. These two will become tied together in unexpected in ways that will heal them both if they just give in.
The Sumage Solution was a lot of fun! Great, complex characters with touches of the paranormal, magic and mystery and a bit of an unconventional romance with Gail Carriger’s (writing under a pen name) trademark quirky wit. And I LOOOOVE a beta hero! Bryan was so freaking sweet and just what Max needed.
This is promoted as a stand alone, and I (mostly) agree. I do wish I read the prequel short – Marine Biology – that introduced the wolf pack because I was overwhelmed when all the guys were thrown at me in the beginning. It felt like I was supposed to know them already but I didn’t. It really doesn’t matter to the overall story but I wish I knew that at the time. ( You can get Marine Biology on Kindle)
I was also a touch confused about all the magic – but that’s not something I read about very often so I think that’s a case of – it’s me, not the book - and I was so happy with how it all turned out in the end that those were just minor quibbles to an otherwise delightful start to the series.
Oh? I had totally missed this one!
ReplyDeleteIt just came out this week so you might have not known about it.
DeleteI do enjoy her books. She's an interesting one :)
ReplyDeleteI like her books. They're fun and inventive with great characters.
DeleteWhen I read the San Andreas part the game came up to my mind lol. I haven't read of shifter story in a very long time and this one sounds like a really good read even if you were a little confused about the magic part. I love magic so I think it will work out for me. (hopefully) Great review Karen :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is the game??? I hadn't read one in a long time either. It was an interesting take on alphas/betas.
DeleteThe magic thing is totally me - I don't read a lot so a lot of the terminology mostly goes over my head lol
I haven't read this author but I love shifter books and this sounds like one I'd probably like.
ReplyDeleteIt's from the same world as her other series. She has such a fun/quirky writing style that I enjoy.
DeleteThis sounds adorable. I don't usually read m/m but I love Gail Carriger's Soulless series, so I might have to give this a try. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteIt's fromt he same world and has a lot of humor so definitely give it a shot Jen!
Delete"I was overwhelmed when all the guys were thrown at me in the beginning" That stuff throws me too, so thank you for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteIt was jsut that they already knew each other so I felt left out of the convo lol I caught up to speed without too much trouble though and bought Marine Biology because I loved the pack.
DeleteThis is another new author for me! Sounds like a good read. ❤️
ReplyDeleteOoh you should give her a try. She has several series to try - PNR/steampunk, YA, PNR LGBQT - all from the same world.
DeleteThey're all a lot of fun.
That's funny, I love the idea of them having to register at a DMV- type agency for supernaturals. :) I've never read carriger but this sounds quirky and fun.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of neat little details like that in it. She put just enough of a quirky twist on things that it seemed new.
DeleteShe has several series - all with a touch of PNR/Steampunk and different levels of romance/heat.
I always like seeing the way that authors take on pack dynamics and seeing that this author does it so well...means I need to pick this one up.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see new takes on it. She writes really fun books in general so I knew I would enjoy this.
DeleteOh my goodness, I had no idea that Carriger was writing an M/M paranormal! This sounds like a ton of fun. I'm especially pleased to hear that the banter Carriger is so well known for is in full force here. I've got to check this one out, thanks for putting it on my radar Karen!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the prequel to this one which is also M/M - Marine Biology.
DeleteShe also wrote a F/F under Gail Carriger that I enjoyed a lot! I can't think of the name of it at the moment...It came out last year - something about an inventor.