Riku: I dislike living alone in an empty house, but unless something radical changes, I’ve resigned myself to lonely bachelorhood. No one has ever interested me, I didn’t even know I had a fancy to tickle, if you get my meaning. Then a detour through a less than savory neighborhood brings me across one of my own students. I can’t just leave him on the street, especially in this neighborhood, right?
Akira: I haven’t had a home in two years, but I’m a survivor and nothing, not homelessness, not strict teachers, not even the inconvenient passenger I carry with me everywhere, will stand between me and a good life. I have a plan, I have the means, I will make my future a success. And this crush I have on my teacher? Well, I’ll figure out how to deal with it. That’s what I will keep telling myself, anyway.
Forgotten Fox is an MM, Age Gap, Student-Teacher, Paranormal Romance. Triggers include: off-page, non-descriptive, past child abuse. This is a standalone, 45k word novella, but will be infinitely more interesting after reading Diviner’s Game Book 2: Knight to Castle Two because there are spoilers of that book in this one.
Jennifer Cody lives in Small Midwestern Town, USA, aka the sticks of Kansas. She has three kids and a Beardo she loves. Her sleep schedule is weird, so messages sent at midnight usually get answered relatively promptly. She reads all kinds of mm romance and urban fantasy, but her favorites are gay-for-you, small-town romances and over the top urban fantasy romances. Her own writing doesn’t always reflect her reading preferences, but mostly it does. She writes what she wants to read and reads extensively because she’s an addict. To books, obviously. And caffeine because sleep is for other people.
This was a great, short read. I love the world and the characters created by Jennifer Cody in the Diviners Game Series. I have so much fun everytime I read something else that fits into that worls. There are so many variations of species, location, circumstance and "everything" that there could be books written in it for a very long time that would be unique enough to stand alone but familiar enough to fit the world.
I love seeing Riku and Akira/Akio. There was something there in the Diviners Games books and it's fantastic to see what was really going on with them. They are perfect for each other and I love how they are both able to enrich and help the other in any ways needed. I hope there will be more books in this world and that they might have some fun cameos of this pair. Akira and Akio are a riot.
I absolutely loved Diviner’s Game and getting this side story was the cherry on top of a great series. Anyone who loves M/M age gap paranormal romance should definitely check these out. Bravo!
It was a book very solely focused on achieving the HEA for the couple... and that was kind of interesting.
I chose the book yesterday because I was in a mood for paranormal. Then had to "sit" through the mundane beginning. Though to be clear, the focus of how to get them together by any means necessary was already fully in motion: student is late to class, attracting his attention, later even his "care", he is seen "accidentally" wandering the streets at night, the teacher picks him up, gets his full story and decide to have him live with him. When some conflicts with law are raised, they're easily solved. When someone finds out about it, it's either accepted or explained quickly. It's like the book keeps rolling over any small or big obstacles for the two of them to be together and fall in love.
It created this pretty entertaining layer of unreality - like you don't have to worry about anything, just strap in and enjoy the ride.
I was not always happy with the style, for example the initial description was really weird: I have growly voice, that makes me a despised grouchy hermit. Oh, this? My best friend. We're as close as brothers.
I have read the first book of the diviner series (of which this book is a spin-off) and I was not impressed that much. This one is... a bit better. We'll see... especially the paranormal bit was strangely made, hurried but getting accepted in record time.
The one element that pinged my attention was the Japanese culture. It was not put in the most positive light, even though there were some hints the author may be a fan, when the Student was "adopted" by his aunt when his parents died except his aunt has already 7 kids, so she could really use the money provided by the state to care for... her children, no the Student, her nephew. It seems not just calous, it's cruel and the aunt is portrayed as such. But from my point of view, if I applied my superior knowledge from my intercultural ceminar, a.k.a the few scraps that managed to stay in my brain, I would see it as the sign that Japanese, unlike American culture, is heavily community oriented. In America, it's more every man for himself but in Japanese, if I remember correctly, the good of the many is above the good of the few/one. Student could not help much but honour and the rules demanded he helps in some way - like the bees in a hive, a bee would rather fly away and die if poisoned than bring it to their home. I mean, sacrificing your time, health or life for "America" by fighting in all their wars is okay but being homeless because your aunt has already a full house, little money, is obviously the worst crime.
Anyway, enough rambling, it's a fantastical paranormal romance with emphasis on romance and getting naked.
Ok, so very cute novel, great to find out Akira and Riku's story after meeting them in Book 2 of Diviner's Game.
Having a background in Japanese myself, it was nice to see that integrated in the main characters and including some of the cultural behaviours and expressions which needed some explanation since they just don't translate into English. But nice that the Japanese myth and legends non humans actually have some Japanese in them. (Although I did scratch my head trying to work out how to say in Japanese some of the speech patterns marked as Japanese but written in English.)
But!!! I was all ready to hear Riku's story and I turned the page and the book had ended!!! Like, in the middle of something. It isn't a cliff hanger, there is no plot missing I suppose, I just wasn't expecting the book to end at that point
I know this was a novella but there's so much that happened and I wish there was an epilogue or it was a bit longer so I can have more answers! I didn't realize that perhaps I should have read the Diviners trilogy first because there was a chapter or two with so much thrown in that I got confused. Like I didn't understand why everyone knew who Loki was but non-humans aren't known to regular humans so no clue what that was but that's probably my fault. There were quite a bit of editing issues with the italics when Akira and Akio are talking to each other. Sometimes it was italics and other time not so I had to really focus to figure out what was being spoken and who was saying it. Overall, I enjoyed it and I enjoyed all the Japanese culture references. I will probably go read the Diviners trilogy and then read the next book in this series.
The only thing connecting this to the main books is the one scene where Riku and Akira are in the classroom when Robbie is taken.
I'm not a fan of the we fell in love in a day romances, neither of the age gap thing. Let's just say, I'm not the target audience. I liked Akira's tenacity at the beginning, but it fell away fast and the whole thing degraded into some soft porn with a little bit of character development kind of thing.
Lots of sex scenes, not much of a story.... Yepp, maybe this is just porn.
I can't thank you enough for blessing us with Akira and Riku's story. I must admit that I was definitely curious. I love the Akira/Akio concept and how they fit so well with Riku. I love their dynamics and am deeply appreciative of getting to know them. Again, Jennifer Cody provides a well written book with characters that you can not only enjoy but also relate to. I'm happy that I bought this book and I believe that you will as well.
A little squirmy, with the teacher/student aspect, although the student pretty much emancipated himself years before he met his teacher, he’s almost 18, and eventually nonhuman so Texas laws don’t apply.
Parents tragically absent in both cases, poor little orphans and their poor parents, dead for the sake of plot.
This is a short spin-off from Jennifer's main series, it is short but is is great. I would if you have not already read the main series and then read the shirts as it will be better sense then, as to where these characters appeared and their part in the main story. I totally recommend.
Love how this book weaves into the other books and every time I go 'oh I remember this!' I will be off to re-read the whole series again!! Love how you get to know the characters without a lot of explanation. Love how I want to know so much more by the end. Love how I care for the characters and what to know their story. Thank you Jennifer Cody for your work. Would recommend!
A wonderful little side story in the Diviners trilogy world. You get to learn more about Dr Tanaka that has been in the other books. Jennifer did an amazing job making this story fun and sexy with a little twist. If you loved the Diviners Trilogy its a must read .
A short story between a teacher and student that bridges some gaps after book 2. Sweet and with a more then a hint of magic and a forgotten identity revealed. We get to see the others from the series and a great slice of paranormal magic.
I'm not really into the taboo student-teacher dynamic, but Cody does a good job of affirming both legal and mental consent (on all sides). I'm glad we got the full story behind this intriguing set of characters after glimpsing them from multiple perspectives in the main trilogy.
I enjoyed Riku and Akira’s book. It’s a quick read and I liked how the story came together. I’ve been reading the series of short stories out of order, but it doesn’t seem ti matter as each stands alone.
Loved this series - very unique MC's and world. Definitely best read in order. There are 4 related novellas that are also vastly entertaining (Houston Hub series) and I am looking forward to the spin-off series of novels "Shattered Pawns."
How they fit in makes sense nor. Riku and Akira/ Akio have quite an issue. But Riku actually loves them both and Akio is a bit stubborn. I did enjoy this book.
This was a weird trip that took its time getting to the strange. It kind of felt like the first predator movie. How the story started with theme "A" then took a nose dive into theme "B" and the switch was jarring.
Still not sure if I liked it, but it kept me engaged, so 3 stars.
I was excited for this read. I love a good age gap. But, I am not a fan when a character is underage. Paranormal or not. I DNF'd when I saw the character was underage.