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The Valens Legacy #2

Perfect Strangers

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During his junior year in college, Sean finds himself suddenly dropped into the middle of a world that he didn't even know existed. A secret world of magic and magic users, lycanthropes, goblins, and all the other things that go bump in the night. To make matters even more difficult, the very same magic users who had Sean's father killed now believe that Sean will somehow inherit his father's work when he turns twenty-one, which is just a few days away.

Needless to say most of the magic users' councils seem to be in two camps: The first camp wants him dead. The second camp wants him captured and then will probably kill him after they've learned all of his secrets. The only solution Sean sees to any of this is to finish his father's work, the very thing that got his father killed. But in order to do that, Sean must first find out just what his father was working on! He's also going to need to learn magic himself, find a safe place to stay, raise some money, and gain a lot of allies.

Fortunately for Sean he's got two good women at his side: Roxy, a cheetah lycanthrope with a lot of experience in fighting; and Jolene, a tantric witch with more than a few connections in the supernatural black market.

WARNING: “Perfect Strangers” contains explicit sexuality, nudity, violence, bad language, attempted murder, actual murder, self-defense, pro-active self-defense, destruction of private property, vandalism, breaking and entering, tantric magic, polyamory, mayhem, gratuitous sex and violence, littering, breaking speed limits, a used car dealer, one Plymouth hemi, and some poor guy who just wants to earn a paycheck as a cashier.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2017

778 people are currently reading
193 people want to read

About the author

Jan Stryvant

57 books554 followers
I'm new to the Harem / LitRPG thing (If I'd known more about LitRPG when I wrote Shadow, I might have incorporated more elements of that into it).
I have a FT job, so I work on this when I can. Hopefully the next one will be even better.
https://stryvant.blogspot.com/

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5 stars
1,657 (50%)
4 stars
1,093 (33%)
3 stars
416 (12%)
2 stars
63 (1%)
1 star
21 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
Profile Image for Gilbert Stack.
Author 99 books79 followers
October 31, 2017
The second book in the Valens Legacy series is more of the same. Sean Valens and his girlfriends are trying to stay alive while they maneuver to discover his father’s legacy. There’s quite a bit of action and the tone is fast and lighthearted. If you liked the first book you’ll enjoy this one also.

My biggest complaint of the second book is the way Sean learns magic. It’s a cop out. Obviously Stryvant’s plot would have hit a few speed bumps if his hero had had to take off a few years to learn the ways of wizards, but to have him go from no knowledge to making never before seen breakthroughs in days is a bit much. It seems to me it would have required much less suspension of disbelief for Sean’s father to have put all of these pieces together but been killed before he could use them to liberate the lycanthropes. But it’s a small complaint. The book is still a lot of fun.
Profile Image for Iori.
593 reviews4 followers
September 29, 2017
Excellent sequel

The book begin were we left it, and the story evolve into something of the founding of a resistance like movement to free the lycans and pay back in the middle. The characters are still awesome to see interact between themselves, the magic is still a bit like a Litrpg one but without table showed. So it's not Litrpg book, but more of a urban fantasy one. I can't wait for the next one which is due in October, it's on my to read list.
Profile Image for Steve Naylor.
2,529 reviews125 followers
August 8, 2018
Rating 4.0 stars

I listened to this as an audiobook and it came with book 1 and 2 together, so read my review from book 1, which pretty much explains everything. The only addition is that Sean gets his Third wife, a tall female dwarf (again please refer to my review for book 1).
Profile Image for Chris Evans.
903 reviews42 followers
June 17, 2020
This is a combination review of the entire 17+ book series as I binged the entire The Valens Legacy over the about a month.

The Positives:
- The writing is really good. Often when I binge an author things like their crutch words become constant irritants that didn't happen here.
- Stryvant doesn't mess around. The plot never really stops or meanders, each story having important events that carry the narrative forward.
- There's two maybe three arcs in this series but each flow one into another smoothly so it all seams like a natural progression.
- All the arcs are entertaining and engaging I always wanted to know what would happen next or figure out the mystery.
- The Main character rides the line of being a Gary Stu never really crosses that line.
- Functional magic system and cohesive world.

The Negatives:
- The pervasive fetish portions. Even during serious portions Stryvant will often break my immersion with sexual talk or fetishes.
- Repetitive sex and romance. It does get better later in the series, but since Stryvant's fetishes don't change over the course of the book neither do these scenes. I started skipping them, but he'd often stick important plot points in the middle of them.
- The women characters tend to be on the bland side and over sexualized.

Over all I enjoyed the series.
575 reviews7 followers
January 27, 2018
Headed steeply downhill....

Still cardboard characters, still the completely unimaginative magic system. And is it plagiarism if you don’t bother to make a system of your own but just treat magic as if it acts exactly the same as computer programming? Maybe not quite, but I’d say it’s much too close. The point of writing is to build your own world, especially the important aspects of it, and this author decided to borrow a system for his magic instead. My other issue with this second book is that the sex has gotten totally into young male teen fantasyland. The women are being characterized now as possessions not people, Sean has somehow shifted from male virgin a week ago to sex god and has three mates, not two, because he can make any woman he wants fall in love with him in 12 hours or less. . . talk about using your text to masturbate!

This one is so bad that I won’t bother sticking around for the next book.
Profile Image for Yemic.
639 reviews
May 14, 2019
And now they became 4. They are still bunnies anyway, all the more so that the 3rd female joined the group.
83 reviews
September 30, 2017
The overall plot isn't too bad but the harem part fails or just follows most other crap harem scenarios. The hot loli dwarf isn't new but really just hitting the man really hard then what? they are practically mates after 5 hours? I get it's not a female romance novel where shit takes thirteen books but really it's should take more than a car ride to say let's be together forever. The first two i understand they were neighbors and he's been fantasizing about them for 3 years the last girl was just wtf. If his dad was friends with the dwarf family i could see it if she remembers him when he was a kid and played together or some plot line like that but lust at first sight is a bit weak to say where mated for life and there other girls say yeah no problem without any input. I wouldn't care about but this is trying to be more than just book porn so some more thought into characters would be necessary if it going to be worth continuing to read this series.
12 reviews
April 28, 2018
Introductions over, the fun begins

The story picks up, and the players become clearer. Sides are forming, dissolving, and sometimes destroyed. Nobody knows the whole picture yet, including the reader. We’re lucky as readers, we get to peek over Sean’s shoulder for the best view.

One interesting concept is Sean treating magic like a physical science. He learns how to cook up quicker and simpler spells to do the work of older, unchanging ones. He can apply magic down to the atomic level, as he shuffles around electrons in the electron cloud, the outermost ring of electrons in a metallic atom.

I found it interesting that he even managed to work in fission to safely handle highly-radioactive elements by making them decay into safer, more stable atoms, rather than run the risk of transmuting into still-dangerous radioactive isotopes they might otherwise still transmute into.

All a very elegant concept in magic, even if the author confuses elastic with INeleastic collisions.
Profile Image for Mkittysamom.
1,467 reviews53 followers
June 10, 2018
Wow I’m thinking this is turning into an epic..

Fantasy.. but with a twist, the Lion Were has a harem but he doesn’t abuse them and loves them equal and with respect. I don’t like Romance Novels, or erotic..or whatever trendy stuff is out there especially because of how women are treated. And they are boring lol to me. Anyways with that said I see that now there is a Quest, a war or Revolution happening and am invested in all the characters.. a dwarf, a lion, a cheetah and a witch It also sounds like every nerds dream come true lol.. Because Sean was basically poor and a virgin who plays D&D =stereotype of nerd and then gets big turns were and finds out his Kind is rare and on top of that he is a Mage! With 3 wives.. I mean.. it doesn’t get any better than that besides having the weight of people under suppression on your shoulders.. but hopefully now that the Mage councils have been revealed..we will find out what happens next.. Oh the missing arm guy shows up in this book ::wink wink:: in case you were still wondering about the Arm in police lockup.
Profile Image for Pablo García.
858 reviews22 followers
May 23, 2022
Author continues to be straightforward with the plot of the story, the dialogue between the characters and the "hiding out, consolidating allies and striking back at the enemies strategy that Sean Valens, the main character, and his all female harem retinue team, now plus one dwarf-girl, have developed and are achieving.
Sex scenes are plenty but discreet. So now Sean has a Cheetah (mutant-changeling-lycan) Roxy, a tantric witch, Jolene, and the new dwarf-girl, Daelyn Goldsmith.
Because the stories are short, there is not much to tell, at 150+ pages, this is the first western fantasy novel series, that imitates asian light novel series in their short size. All this novel series needs now, are lots of illustrations and a manga adaptation...
200 reviews
January 18, 2018
Fairly okay story

The world building is a bit rushed in the story. As are the solutions to what the characters should do next. Again most characters remain non-dynamic. That said, this story is not as humorous as the first but still provides good escapism. Though I also think all the D&D players who read this will appreciate the ego stroking the author gives them by claiming that a D&D game master is equal to a 4 Star general strategist. But hey, viva la resistance! And let’s see what other fantasy female will be added to the harem in the next book. I’m betting an elf or maybe a fairy.
Profile Image for Frank Bertino.
1,771 reviews20 followers
October 2, 2017
Can a Lion Right the Wrongs?

Sean the recent were lion, seems to be listening to his inner lion, and adds another beautiful kickass woman to his pride. He and his mates work to understand his father's legacy and to keep from getting killed by the magic users. I like the well defined characters and how real they feel in interacting with each other. I also like the tie in of computer programming with developing spells. Also I appreciate the humor and action. I anxiously await the next book
2 reviews
October 5, 2017
Engrossing

I read the first two books in one day. The story premise appeals to me. Here's a young guy who can morph into a lion, is developing serious magical abilities, has three hot and talented females who enjoy bedroom romps.

The story moves along at a well modulated pace. The action is believable; I'm impressed on how the magic casting is being adapted/compared to structured programming concepts without going into the weeds on useless detail.

So overall it's been an enjoyable experience.

Profile Image for Paul.
115 reviews
October 27, 2017
Very nice storytelling

A well conceived novel, although the protagonist is quite the male Mary Sue, about love, polyamoury, revenge, and justice.
A typical college student, into gaming, computer science,and other nerdy pursuits, finds himself part of a world that he never knew existed and within the first week, finds himself the target of several groups of ne'er do wells.
Well written,although there are some typography errors, most folks (albeit, mostly men) into the modern fantasy genre should enjoy the series.
12 reviews1 follower
November 27, 2017
Man I love a good read.

I find myself with yet another very good book at my fingertips. This one feels like a nice smooth read that nicely takes you down the path this author has mapped out. How ever, don't go thinking that it will be easy to see what is coming. I promise that you will have plenty of surprises in store. I will recommend this series to any one as there was little in the way of cussing, save where appropriate and fits within the context of the story. I generally gauge a story how many times I reread a tale that I pickup. I will reread it again.
92 reviews
February 13, 2018
If you liked the first book, you will like this as well. A great follow-up to the first book. Unfortunately, if you didnt like the first book, I don't think this book will convert anyone.

The book delivers exactly what was promised and the characters are panning out nicely, but I'm still a little apprehensive as the harem gets bigger. Roxy and Jolene are showing early signs of deterioration as characters in the last few chapters. Maybe it's just the skeptic in me, though.

Anyway, great book, great fun, nice action, beautiful and sexy girls. Looking forward to the next book.
66 reviews3 followers
February 29, 2020
Good shifter adventures

I enjoyed this book greatly! I liked the different animals and magical creatures in this story. Sean's work ethic and honest living is always a favorite of mine in fantasy books. He's a true hero and rare in this age of fast cars, gangsta ideology, and drugs. The book is full of action. Sean knowing advanced chemistry, full computer language, and how to create spells and become an advanced mage in days is a bit unrealistic but it is FANTASY! I love the three strong women in this story!!
276 reviews6 followers
October 3, 2017
Good, but short

Again, a very good read. Thinking I may simply wait until the next couple are out to read back to back. This story has an amazing assortment of threads being woven, and I look forward to reading through them all.

This same author put out Shadow, which seems a little more rough cut, but was still an excellent story and had the added benefit of being one that could take a day rather than a couple hours.
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,192 reviews86 followers
October 22, 2017
Another short story

That is overpriced. The first two books of this series should be combined into one decent length book. Or the price should be dropped to a penny a page.
The story itself is fun, and I only found two mistakes.
I can only recommend reading this on KU like I did until the price drops of you can buy all these short stories in one book for a reasonable price.
I can only give three stars due to price and length of the book.
138 reviews3 followers
November 8, 2017
I put in 4 stars and Amazon keeps changing my rating

I enjoyed both of the books that I read in this series and felt that this one is the better of the two. Amazon keeps changing my rating so I hope someone can fix the issue. I couldn't rate the first book at all. I'm not a gamer so much of the gaming comparisons to magic don't actually make sense to me but I enjoyed them anyway. Worth the read
206 reviews11 followers
April 22, 2019
Perfect Strangers is another fun read from Jan Stryvant. The characters and the story just keep getting better!


Book 2 was worth the wait. New characters and great new adventures! Love the developing relationship between computer programming and spell casting. The addition of new types of magical creatures also keeps things interesting. Already looking forward to book 3 in the series. Thanks, Jan!
147 reviews3 followers
January 2, 2020
Excellent Continuation

So far, so good! The 2nd book didn’t disappoint at all. In fact it kindled an interest sufficient for me to dive directly into the 3rd installment. I love the way the author has weaved the characters into the story and the descriptive nature in which he sets his stage. Even the story adds to my curiosity as I wonder which direction it will take next. Guess the 3rd book will tell me. I highly recommend this book to those who read for fun.
Profile Image for Brian McDonald.
35 reviews4 followers
September 30, 2017
Yet another great book

So this is my second review in a long time the first was for Black Friday. This one continues the adventures of Sean and the girls and begins to ad a face to the big bad out there. I can't stress enough how much I recommend these books and I look forward to the next installment.
286 reviews4 followers
October 1, 2017
Don't you break my heart Stryvant

All I need to say is that this is a book worth reading. Some books it's like there's no there there...but with this one there's a nice mixture of sugar and meat which sounds great but can be delicious if the sugar is in a sweet marinade...anyway, I hope to see the end of this series sometime around or after thanksgiving.
Profile Image for Upset.
18 reviews1 follower
October 6, 2017
Great Series

Love everything about this series, the only thing I ever felt weird about is how fast his relationships jumped, More so in this book with the third girl. I mean you can give excuses with 'dwarf customs or lion senses' but wow was that fast. Either way it could have been worse and I still enjoyed it all. Keep it up!
Profile Image for Curtis.
776 reviews20 followers
October 6, 2017
The Fun Continues

This next book in the series is (I think) even better than the first. Now that the characters have been introduced, we get more action and development, especially plot development. The editing is great too. The new characters are very welcome, and it gives me a hint on who might be next. Great fun, well-done, and very recommended. Next book, please!
35 reviews
October 7, 2017
I just finished book 2. I finished book one about 10 minutes before starting book two. All I can say is wow, and more,please, soon. Great combination of RPG's and programming concepts . Great job.

This is an excellent read. All I can say is wow. Great combination of RPG strategies and programming concepts. More please soon
Profile Image for George Lopez.
3 reviews3 followers
October 9, 2017
Magically addictive story

Even though their are sex scenes the story is awesome. It's like an adult version of Harry Potter, only it takes place in the states, and the main character is a were lion and Hogwarts is a watch..... I take it back, it's nothing like Harry Potter. It's better.

This is of course part 2 of the series and my favorite of the series at the moment.
102 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2017
An excellent sequel

The story picks up where the last one left off and it's still a fast paced sexy slow story. I would appreciate some world building but the story is over the course of days not weeks or month so I can forgive that. That said I want the girls to be developed more.
Profile Image for Paul.
444 reviews
January 15, 2018
Good Sequel

The adventures of Sean Valens and his harem continues. In the second book the urban fantasy expands, more characters and more action. A little heavy on the sex, but not over the top at this time. The story moves quickly and there is a lot of action. The series is a winner.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews

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