Contents of blog copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2023
I've been gone a while. I started reading fanfiction to escape and I got sucked in an abyss.

I have no idea if someone else is hosting similar challenges. I just grabbed some of what I have hosted before.

Here's to a happy year of great reading
Jan2023: Not much has changed. Writing a fanfiction now O_o as well as reading but I bought 7 new books in December and hope to get those read soon. Crossing fingers about adding challenges (late!)

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

S is for . . . Squeak and a Roar (gay paranormal romance)

Squeak and a Roar
by Joyee Flynn

Series: Midnight Matings
Publisher: Siren Publishing
ISBN: 9781610348072
Release Date: June 2011
Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance 
121 Pages

format available: ebook, paperback

Author's website | Twitter 

Book Blurb
Software developer Gavin Ashby is perfectly happy with his life. He finds other people annoying after being around them for only a short period of time, and having a mate sounds like pure torture to him.

Video game tester Ant Marino is satisfied with his quiet, solitary life. After being accosted and almost forcibly mated, he meets the aloof but handsome Gavin. Neither Ant nor Gavin are prepared for the feelings that arise.

Will the two men continue to dance around each other or will they pounce on love and never let it go?

A word about the series:
There is a huge meeting every leap year. Some come every time, some come as little as possible. This time it is mandatory. Each type of shifter has an Elder, they in turn rule the Counsel. The Elders are up on the stage and everyone else is mingling in the ballroom.
Welcome. I am Elder Burke... I want to thank you all for being here tonight.... This is a momentous occasion for us. It’s been twenty-five years since the Great War between all paranormals ended, taking a large portion of our population from us.... I would like you all to drink a toast with me in memory of those we lost.... May we never forget them....
As far as we know, all the shifters drank to the toast, it would have be disrespectful not too. Unless you knew what the Elders were up to. After the toast the Elders drop a huge bomb on everyone. They've spiked the drink to jump start everyone's mating instinct and you have less than 24 hours to find, and record, your mate, or you'll go feral. Feral paranormals are hunted down and killed. And here's the cherry on top . . . you can't mate within your species. This is done in order to cut back on the squabbling. Some of these guys live for centuries and am sure they're set in their ways but after living that long no one wants to go feral.

And once you're mated, you need sex every 24 hours so no cheating the system by mating just for the meeting then going your own way when you leave.


My Thoughts
Whew. This is the first book in the series. Not all of them have the full beginning of the meeting, just enough to get the idea of what's happening if you haven't read any of the other books. There are over 25 books directly or indirectly related to this huge meeting.

As you can imagine, the ballroom erupts into a free for all. I enjoyed reading the first part of several books just dealing with that first hour or two. Especially when they overlapped.

Here's where we meet Gabe. His dad's an Elder. Did he say anything to Gabe about the drink? Of course not.
 “I make money for the pride. I don’t start problems. I just want to be left alone.”
“Good, then find a mate who wants the same! Because I’m tired of having some pathetic recluse as a child.”
Great father of the year material :p Let's see if we can find Ant.

Found him. Or rather Ant found Gabe. There's sex right off the bat, after all, Gabe wants to make sure they're compatible ;-) Now we're at Ant's house (he owns) and Gabe is moving from his rented apartment and the miscommunication kicks in. Not to mention a jealous (human) personal assistant. A lot going on and they haven't met each other's family yet! Well, except for the dad and he's doing all

back to reading . . .

One of the problems I have with ebooks is not paying attention to how fair along I am. I came to the end of a chapter, where the book could have ended, and was all what? what about? and what happened to ....

There's a lot of sex. Wild monkey sex (but without monkey shifters) and slow making love. Each has to learn how to live together, to trust each other, learn how to show love to each other. All with Gabe's dad interfering. No complaining to the counsel because he's also an Elder. Boo hoo, life's unfair. Well, if Gabe and Ant don't kill him, I might!

Whew, there's another chapter :-)
“I think I’m a bit tipsy,” my mate giggled as we climbed the stairs to the guest room we were using.

“Uh-oh,” I chuckled, and wrapped an arm under his shoulders. “And what kind of drunk is my mate?” 
“A horny one,” he whimpered
Yea, that's a good spot to leave them (I'm still going to peek).

The series is a nice concept and this is a nice introduction to it. I don't remember which I read first but I think I've read them all by now.



Disclaimer: This was a private purchase but the review is not written any differently than if I had received a complimentary review copy. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and may differ from yours. Book information courtesy of the publisher, Barnes and Noble, and the book itself.


copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2015

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In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Book Dragon's Lair. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won in some kind of contest, or received in exchange for an honest review.