This is yet another 5-star book for this series. Hondo Jinx delivers another great novel in what is fast becoming one of my favourite series in this genre.
(Note: This review is more a commentary on the series as a whole than this individual novel, but the points are still relevant)
This genre is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I have always been aware of the fact that it is little more than pure fantasy and light reading. However, some books like Michael Scott Earle's Tamer series, William D Arands's Sales on Superheros series, and Jan Stryvant's Valen's Legacy series, show the potential for how this genre could mature into something more than a guilty pleasure.
Hondo Jinx comes the closest to this potential of any series I have read yet. The story is deep enough to hook you beyond the male-fantasy angle, and the writing is as polished and professional as any other excellent novel I have read.
Therefore, when reading these books they become less guilty pleasures (a story about magic, sex and a harem fantasy), and more just an excellent story with an adult subplot that won't be to everyone's tastes, but that improves the story for others.
This has been achieved through two simple things:
1- Care has been given to the series beyond an excuse for the protagonist to have sex with lots of beautiful women
2 - All of the women in this book are treated as characters and not just conquests.
Both are important points, but it's the second that has raised this series above the rest for me. Each of Brawleys wives are developed into well-rounded characters before they're added into his harem. This makes the reader care about them individually and makes the rest of the story more meaningful.
All that being said, the balance is still a little off for this series to ever fully escape my 'guilty-pleasure' shelf, but it is a fun read that has glimpses of becoming something much more profound.