Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Ted’s life is not an easy one. His job is emotionally taxing — having to pick up and transport the bodies of the recently deceased; having to witness families grieving for those they’ve lost — along with the physical labor of lifting and carrying what was once a human. But on top of that, he also sees ghosts. And ghosts, for the most part, aren’t pleased to see him. They’re angry, they’re lost, they’re confused, and they take it out on Ted. And then there’s his roommate’s cat.
His roommate is fine; Jay’s a chill guy. But Jay’s cat hates Ted with a passion, and tonight the obnoxious brat has managed to turn himself human and toss Ted through a portal to another world where he lands with a dead body and great mess in front of a group of gods who immediately declare Ted a murderer. After all, if he hasn’t killed the man, why does he have his blood?
Fortunately, one of these eldritch abominations has stepped forward to be Ted’s defender: Grell, none other than the King of this alien realm, who is charming, charismatic (a cat monster), and more than a little interested in getting into Ted’s pants. Hopefully before he’s exiled for eternity for murder.
The last book in K.L. Hiers’ Sucker for Love Mysteries series (Acsquidentally In Love) gave us a god with tentacles. Lots and lots of tentacles. This book, the second in the series, gives us a god with two penises, and double penetration. This series is being re-released by the author with gorgeous new covers, and has the trademark wit, writing, and world building I’ve come to enjoy from them.
This book works well as a standalone. Ted and Grell’s adventures through their alien world as they hunt down the actual murderer are well plotted, and the ridiculous rules of this world continue to be amusing. When finding another body, Ted gets more blood on him — which means he’s legally the murderer, even though he and Grell saw that she was dead before he got near her. Not that that matters; it’s guilty until proven innocent, and someone really wants Ted to be declared guilty.
Ted is dealing with a bit of depression. Roughly a year ago, his boyfriend proposed to him, but when Ted told him he wasn’t ready, his boyfriend broke up with him. Ever since then, Ted hasn’t had a relationship to speak of — a few one night stands don’t count; and there weren’t that many in the first place. As a tall, broad-shouldered man, others expect that he’ll be the one on top, taking care of his partner, when what Ted really wants is someone to hold him. To tell him it’s going to be alright, to love him despite his problems and make him feel wanted.
Enter Grell, a god, a widower, and single father — to the grown cat alien who caused this whole mess — and a snazzy dresser. He’s lazy, horny, very good in bed, and sees potential in Ted. Not just as a fling, not just as an entertainment, but as someone who, like him, is lonely. Who has known suffering and loss and yet still continues on. Grell is a good guy, but he’d rather laze in bed and fuck the day away rather than actually do anything. It’s Ted who inspires him to action and to taking an interest in his world again.
This isn’t a book that takes itself seriously. It’s a book of gods and colorful suits, sex scenes, and a slightly contrived and overly convenient mystery where Ted figures out who an earring belongs to out of nowhere and that has ghosts answer all the questions Ted and Grell are too busy fucking to find answers to. It’s fun, it’s silly, and if you’re in the mood for that, then you’re in luck because this series has nine books in it — and I am going to happily devour them all.
