Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

Twig Starfig and Quinn Broomsparkle are finding their way as partners, both at work and at home. Things are perfect; Twig wants to mate, and Quinn is reluctant, but they are working through it. When their latest case goes awry, they need to have each other’s backs.

Their client, Professor Jipaa Icegem, is incensed when they fail to bring back the artifact he sent them to find. But he offers them triple if they’ll work to find it and keep his competitors at bay. Twig is about to say no when Quinn accepts the job. And things get even more twisty when people start ending up dead.

While this is going on, Twig’s father, the frightening and highly powerful High Council member, is insisting on Twig running for city council. Twig doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want the job and more, he doesn’t want to bend to his father’s wishes. But he has no choice. With Quinn’s help, and that of their demon assistant, Bill, Twig campaigns. And finds out his opponent is not all he appears.

But with the murders, the attacks on Twig and Quinn, and also the attacks on Twig’s father, things are getting especially murky. It seems all these things are related, but Twig can’t figure out why. As the mystery unravels and Twig and Quinn piece together the clues, things get even more bizarre. But in the end, they solve it, while fighting for their lives. Their lives are changed, but at least they love each other and have come to a good place in their relationship.

In this second book in the Starfig Investigations series, we continue the story of Twig and Quinn. This book takes place a few months after the end of By Fairy Means or Foul and we find the lovers in a pretty good place. Well, not literally, as their latest case has gone off the rails. As per usual. This series definitely needs to be read in order, but I wholly suggest you do read it, as it just keeps getting better.

What I particularly enjoyed about this book was the emotional and relationship development going on. Twig and Quinn are in love, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Both men need to grow and learn, and I love that they do. Twig, especially, needs to reconcile his own feelings and emotions with that of his dragon. And his dragon is incredibly dominant. I loved the way he opened up and admitted his feelings, and also the way he finally accepted his made clan, of which he is the alpha.

There were a lot of twists and turns in this book, both with the mystery and with the relationship. I will say it’s a rather long book, but the pacing was spot on, and I never felt bored or that it dragged. I immensely enjoyed the way the author tied the mystery together, and was actually, for once, surprised about one particular bad guy. Not completely, but I was shocked about the way and the reason behind it, so that was a real treat for me. And I was impressed with how the other half of the mystery played out, as every bit of it was well laid out, so that everything made sense. There are still loose ends to the story as a whole, but since there’s another book coming, that’s to be expected. And the loose ends are the kind that make me want to keep reading, to find out exactly where things will go.

I will say that I enjoyed this book a little bit more than the first. Most of that, I think, was down to liking Quinn more. As much as I liked him in the first book, he was secretive and furtive, and it went on right to the end. Here was see much more of his personality, his love and loyalty, and I absolutely adored him. I also loved the relationship, and that of all the secondary characters who inhabit Twig and Quinn’s inner circle.

This is a fun, funny, sometimes silly romp. Maslow has a gift for humor, and the story even seems to poke fun at itself sometimes. It pairs beautifully with the larger plot, giving a unique balance that makes this an engaging and exciting read. If fantasy is your thing, or even if it isn’t, definitely give this series a try. There are great things to come, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.