Tatterdemalion by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox
This is a luscious urban fantasy story that reminded me one of my favorite tv fiction, the one with a leo man living in an underground New York City. And I think the authors wanted also to play a bit with old legends and modern romance: the two main characters are a shapeshifter leo (even if until the end the reader and the other man is not understanding exactly what type of leo and how magical he is), Dane, who is gentle and caring, and as the hero of my youth favorite tv show, even if he has a royal presence and attitude, he is indead almost a servant of other characters; the other man, boy, is fragile and delicate in body and name, Lindsay, and he is the one Dane has to protect and cherish.
To play along with the imaginery, and to a point that reminded me almost a Fedro or Esopo’s fable, Dane is a leo and he calls Lindsay little bunny; moreover Cyrus, the man who seems to have power on Dane’s actions, asks Dane to take care of Lindsay, basically he is asking to a leo to take care of a bunny, it’s like a mythical temptation, exactly like in those fables of above. The animal metaphor is subdetly used again when Dane and Lindsay, for most part of the book, instead of having sex, are mostly cuddling: better Lindsay is searching for Dane’s big body like a shelter, a comfort blanket, a source of warm and protection; and Lindsay is like the little bunny who, unaware of the hazard of being near a leo, awakes the sleeping leo.
I think this novel was mostly concentrated around Lindsay: not only he is younger, and still in a developing phase, but he is the one who has to learn about his power and gain enough self-esteem to be a right companion to the big leo. Dane is a little of a mystery, but the mystery is right with his character: a leo has that aurea around him, of royal power, but indead, what exactly a leo does, if not protect his relatives, only if strictly necessary, lazly sleep and make love to his partner? It’s not the leo who has to do most of the work, basically his task is to protect and being strong for his dear ones.
As often in the urban fantasy with a New York setting, the story has a “gothic” feeling, that is strengthened by the habitat where Dane is living and Lindsay is brought; a big mansion with multiple floors, strange inhabitants; even when Dane and Lindsay go out, in the daylight, the feeling was always of a gloomy day and the idea was confirmed by the revelation of Dane “true” nature. The authors managed to mix different sources, mythological, fairy, gothic, and created a good melting pot that has plently of cues for other adventures.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/tatterdemalion
Amazon: Tatterdemalion (Foundations of Magic)
Amazon Kindle: Tatterdemalion (Foundations of Magic)
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