NATO's Irregulars Affairs Division is a secret organization operating in thousands of cities around the globe. Its agents police relations between the earthly realm and those beyond this world, protecting us from terrible dangers as well as enthralling temptations. These agents—Irregulars, as they are known to the few who know them at all—are drawn to the work for their own reasons and close cases in their own unique ways...While searching for some lost family heirlooms, half-human, half-fae Archer Green must play a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Commander Rake, the new and mysterious head of the Vancouver branch of the Irregulars Division. As the humans say, All's fair in love and war...
Author of 100+ titles of Gay Mystery and M/M Romance, Josh Lanyon has built her literary legacy on twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance.
Her work has been translated into twelve languages. The FBI thriller Fair Game was the first Male/Male title to be published by Italy’s Harlequin Mondadori and Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins Italia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan’s annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list). The Adrien English series was awarded the All-Time Favorite Couple by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. In 2019, Fatal Shadows became the first LGBTQ mobile game created by Moments: Choose Your Story.
She’s an EPIC Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), an Edgar nominee, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All Time Favorite M/M Author award.
Josh is married and lives in Southern California with her irascible husband, two adorable dogs, a small garden, and an ever-expanding library of vintage mystery destined to eventually crush them all beneath its weight.
Find other Josh Lanyon titles at www.joshlanyon.com Follow Josh on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.
I really liked the world-building parts, liked the main character pretty well, wasn't convinced by the romance part and felt like there were a number of holes in the plot.
The protagonist is described as looking like Cecily Barker's "Box Tree Fairy". His sex partner is an enormous flaming demon with claws and a barbed penis. I don't judge other people's kinks, but as a reader I found this... not sexy.
I've read a lot of JL's books but for some reason not this one. Reading the blurb I wasn't expecting this but I totally fell for this fantasy. Excellent narration from Joel Leslie makes it even better. Managed to also find a xmas coda with favourite fae and demon. 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love this story, so I jumped on the chance to pick it up on audio, once I found out it existed. Unfortunately, the audio quality was wonky (the intro volume was fine, then the rest of the book was very quiet, and turning the volume up, far past anything I'd ever used before, just made it distorted), and Google Play wasn't able to resolve the issue for me. I finally found a workaround (an incredibly complicated workaround, ugh) and then I was able to enjoy the story, but the annoyance kind of stuck with me. As much as I dislike the Amazon monopoly, I think I'll stick to Audible from now on.
I do love this story, though. It was one of my favorites from the Irregulars anthology, so it was wonderful to (eventually) get to listen to it on audio.
3 1/2 stars. Paranormal Romance or Urban Fantasy. There is so much overlap it can be hard to decide which one this fell into. I guess it is both.
The novel had rich world building with a lot of potential for storytelling. I sympathized with Archer's outrage that artifacts of fae and other world origins are "terminated" and not returned to the people or place of origin. It was an unusual take for the protagonist in a battle of wits and attraction between a liberator of items and the representative of law and order. The chemistry was good between Archer and Rake. I love these types of stories.
I just wish this was a little longer. Some things felt left out. Details about Archer's activities in the past were sketchy. Particularly about how the group he was part of disbanded. Archer's boss in the museum supported his mission and there were hints of a sophisticated network Archer's boss was involved in but they were vague. Overall, this felt this should have been part of a larger arc of stories set in this world. References by other reviewers suggest this may have been part of an anthology. Maybe some of those things I wanted filled out would have been there.
The story is complete within itself even if there were some things could have been expanded on. It was a sweet romance with good sexual tension and great snark by Archer. Very enjoyable.
Great narration as always but Archer's treatment by the 'cops' wound me up and I needed more in the romance department. Honestly this would have suited a longer format story better. There was so many unanswered questions.
I really liked this, but I would have liked more to this story. It felt like something that could have been longer than 4 hours. As it's only been released as an audiobook, I'm guessing in pages it's around 200 pages - but I would have liked two 200-page books. This felt...abridged.
Also, as is unfortunately the case with Joel Leslie (narrator) quite frequently, his voice is often muddy and quiet. What was really strange about this one was that the first chapter was muddy and had to have the volume cranked, but the subsequent chapters were much clearer and louder. Did they get a better microphone between recording sessions?
I don't feel like all of the questions raised were answered, which is also why I think this would benefit from expansion.
Archer works at an antiquities museum and as a fairy, procures magical items for all the realms. He learns of the glass beads owned by his family being bought by someone at auction.
He wants them back, as they’re the last thing he has of his family, who all died and left him an orphan in the human realm.
Rake is a magical police officer, and he snd Archer meet on and off duty. During one incredible night they spend together, Archer learns that Rske is a demon.
Rake saves him when an artifact comes to life, but then they argue and say hurtful things. Archer tries to go after his beads, but both he and the owner are arrested for different reasons, so Archer escapes to another country.
Rake catches up to him and returns his family heirloom, and they share their feelings and begin a new life together.
A unique book, with magical creatures, a treasure, and an interesting commentary on the power of the police versus the rights of the creatures that can’t be kept by these rules.
NOBODY does chemistry like Josh Lanyon. I enjoyed this short story -- however, one criticism that I had about the audiobook is how Commander Rake was portrayed in the audiobook -- sounded like a grandfatherly old-man and that kind of ruined it for me. I think if I read this instead (available in the Irregulars collection) -- I probably would have enjoyed it more. As always with short stories -- I would have liked a little more but was pleased with the story and how it still managed to produce a very satisfying punch. I remain a devoted fan of this author's writing ...
Definitely a fabulous narration by Joel Leslie that gave this book a bump in the rating. Story wise I must say novellas are always a hit or a miss with me, because the character development always lacks in them. While character development was on the fringes even in this book, it wasn't a miss because the story had potential and Lanyon worked the magic. I admit that when I read this book before, I must have dismissed it coz I hardly remembered the story, but Joel made it memorable(。•̀ᴗ-)✧
3.5 stars A romance between a Demon-Policman and a half fae-half human???...Why not. Its too short????.....do not worry we have a lovely holiday coda to make the happy ending more believable.
Note-Did you say, I am bad at Maths because I have already declared TWICE that I have finished everthing by JL.😂😂😂 Maybe I didn't count the audio ones....anyone We have 2 more new releases so it doesn't matter..
I really liked it. I wish there was a sequel. The premise and world is really interesting and I think it could really be explored in a trilogy and have lots of possibilities. I was surprised as the author does a lot of one offs and detective stories but the world building could be amazing if explored more.
This is one of those books that feels like special treat. I adore mysteries and faerie stories. The combination of two written by Josh Lanyon is delightful. Lanyon always created such beautiful settings that I would thoroughly enjoy an entire series set in the land of the fae.
Great world building and character development. Felt like there were a couple small gaps in the plot and the romance was a bit rushed, but I enjoyed the chemistry between the MCs and the brilliant narration by Joel Leslie brought the story and characters to life.
Why wasn't this longer?!? Seriously, I needed more of this. This was amazing. The world was well fleshed out and the storyline was gripping while also allowing for the romance to develop. Just fabulous.
I adore Lanyon when she writes mysteries, but I don't like her fantasies. I've read most of them because I'm a loyal fan, but there's something about her fantasy novels that leave me unmoved.
Read the ebook originally, it was 2.5 stars, I made it to the sex in this one, seriously disgusting, bad enough when I read (skipped) it, but hearing it out loud, just no.
This for some reason this one reminded me of the Twilight series. I would like for this story to be longer or a series. Got my attention for sure. Enjoyable read with intriguing characters.