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Some Kind of Magic by R Cooper
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Thanks for this one, R. Cooper! A friend insisted I read "A Boy and his Dragon" so I did that first (and loved it), but I am pretty much as enthused about this fairy/werewolf duo, Cal and Ray.This sort of supernatural fantasy romance isn't everyone's taste. Cooper's imagined world - an alternate America where all sort of supernatural creatures just exist and have been dealt with for decades (except, oddly, vampires, which Ray insists don't really exist!!!).
Once you just go with that premise it's sort of marvelous. Seems that each of the books focuses on teaching the reader about the deeper truths of specific creatures. I do like me a good werewolf, and Ray Branigan is a good one. But I am just the kind of gay man who loves a sugar-infused fairy, and Cal Parker is awesome. Wings aside, they seem to be my type.
The sexual repression and yearning fairly buzzes off the page, and Cooper pulls the same stunt as with the boy and his dragon - that very repression of desire and love makes the ultimate payoff amazingly intense from an emotional perspective. Cooper also infuses the narrative, which is wrapped around a peculiar murder mystery with its own complications, with wonderfully imagined cultural history about these magical creatures, exposing stereotypes and false myths that misinform and confuse the characters.
That said, the lavish description of scents and smells, which of course the werewolf is very tuned to, play a significant role in this book, almost a character in itself. I can find the standard "scent of love" used in many m/m novels to be irritating and over-calculated; but in R. Cooper's sparkly pen, the very over-the-topness of smell descriptions adds to the slightly halucinogenic quality (then again, it could have been the Nyquil...). Not for everyone, but very much for me.
Mod
Being a police detective is hard. Add the complication of being a werewolf subject to human prejudice, and you might say Ray Branigan has his work cut out for him. He’s hot on the trail of a killer when he realizes he needs help.
Enter Cal Parker, the beautiful half-fairy Ray’s secretly been in love with for years—secretly, because while werewolves mate for life, fairies...don’t. Ray needs Cal’s expertise, but it isn’t easy to concentrate with his mate walking around half-naked trying to publicly seduce him. By the time Ray identifies the killer—and sorts out a few prejudices of his own—it may be too late for Cal.
This is the first volume in R. Cooper's "Beings in Love" paranormal series. Well, it's the start of a series at any rate--- there are only two books so far. However, I'm hoping that there are many more to come, because I just loved this story!
The two reviews above mine sum things up so nicely that I don't have much to add. This idea of an alternate version of our own world---where all the paranormal creatures (that are merely fantasy in our reality) actually exist---is fascinating. My one real complaint is that this society isn't more fully explored. We only get glimpses of it, as it relates to the action of the plot and the concerns of the characters. While I did appreciate that everything wasn't spelled out immediately for the reader---you kind of figure it all out as you go along---I really did want to know MORE.
Oh, and I have to say, that this is another one of those stories where if the two main characters only had a five-minute, honest and open heart-to-heart conversation with each other, every misunderstanding would be cleared up in no time! But then---you'd have a book that's only a chapter or two long, eh?
I liked this one so much that I'm going to dive into the second volume, A Boy and His Dragon , right off. Recommended for fantasy lovers.
As for that cover, however.... Doesn't work for me. Ray doesn't look like that AT ALL. (The cover basically portrays him as a twink in an ill-fitting suit---nothing, not in the least, like the powerful were in the text.) Cal---the blond---is a better fit for the character as described in the story, but the wings aren't right...
I totally agree about the covers. They're just bad. No two ways about it.As for the characters having an honest conversation, I don't agree and this is what I feel is Cooper's strength as a romance writer--she can keep the characters apart in a believable way.
Ray had to learn about fairies. His understanding of their culture was incomplete, so he believed that they were incapable of commitment. Cal could have insisted otherwise until he was blue in his pretty glittery face and it would not have mattered.
I also thought it was sweet and a little heartbreaking that Ray loved Cal so much that he couldn't bring himself to try and force Cal to betray his nature.
I am glad you liked the book! And I hope you don't mind me debating points. I love to discuss books.
Mod
Hmmm, I'm still not sure about that, though. I can't help but think that (view spoiler)
But I'm not complaining at how it went down---I loved the story, and I really am hoping that there will be more titles published in this series.
Mod
Yes, the covers for both books in this series could have been so much better! I'm not sure---are these by Paul Richmond? It's odd---sometimes I absolutely love his cover art, but other times I think it's really... well..... I seem to run either hot or cold on his work.
Mod
http://r-cooper.livejournal.com/53186...
My reaction? I loved it! And---argh---now I'm wishing that she would incorporate this fragment into a complete novel, a sequel to Some Kind of Magic . Really---what a perfect hook on which to hang a story---I could see this scene occurring in chapter two or chapter three of such a novel. I don't know if this is in the cards, but I think it's a great idea.
But--in the meantime, we have her new Beings novella to look forward to. A Beginner's Guide to Wooing Your Mate has been accepted by Dreamspinner Press and will be published before long. I'm looking forward to it!
I'm with you, Octy, I loved "Some Kind of Magic," because it's a quite different aspect of the paranormal world that usually focuses on vamps and wolves. I'll go get that and read it. Thanks. I'm glad she's still writing!
I am very glad he did. I would have missed out on another treasure. Cooper's talent for digging into the origins and peculiarities of each type of Being is really a delight. She has an enviable way of showing how dragons, werewolves and faeries all approach love, making it clearly different from human love and yet entirely understandable.
In this book, Cooper asks the question, "what happens when a Being who mates for life finds his mate is a type of Being who has no ability to stick with anything for long?"
I simply love the way Cooper creates entirely plausible and unique barriers for her lovers to overcome. The barriers frustrate you in the best ways, because you understand why the boys don't just ignore them.
I liked Ray, the werewolf MC, but I loved Cal the faerie. In fact, Cooper's faeries are far and away my favorite Beings. They're ditzy sugar-fiends with a compulsion to cling to whatever brings them happiness--a truly lovely interpretation of fairies.
The mystery plot line was a little rocky, but it added some needed action to the plot. There was something weird about Steve the demon, because it seemed like we were supposed to know who he was. But those little quibbles took nothing away from the story.