Diego’s impulse to rescue a naked bridge jumper starts as just that—talk the man down and get him to social services. But there’s something odd about this homeless person, more than just his delusions of being a pooka, and something so vulnerable that Diego’s determined to help him stabilize rather than see him institutionalized or deported.
Finn went into the Dreaming centuries ago to escape a heartbreak he couldn’t bear. Now that he’s back, he finds the Veil to the Otherworld closed. The fae courts have abandoned him in a poisoned human world where a displaced pooka has little chance of survival. His human rescuer is kind and compassionate—and shockingly familiar. One thing at a time, though. He needs Diego to believe he’s not human first.
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| Averaged! |
Ann - 4 Hearts
Finn charmed me greatly right from the beginning and while I’d heard of a Pooka before, it wasn’t a definition that came readily to mind, so I was super happy to basically be introduced to a new kind of fae. Especially a fae that could shift into any critter imaginable depending on his needs and one of said critters was a dragon! So, yes. I love him.
Diego, our human MC, is a man who has a heart bigger than his brain at times but damn it’s a beautiful heart though. While it’s gotten him into some dangerous (and violent) situations in the past, he can’t stop helping everyone he comes across that needs a hand up. From homeless street kids to homeless adults to homeless animals, Diego can’t abide by seeing someone in need and just passing on by, which is how he meets Finn to begin with. Finn is sickly, naked and standing on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge when Diego drives by and of course Diego turns around, talks Finn down and takes him home to give him some care he desperately needs. His plan is to take him to a doctor and then get him some mental health treatment.
Welllll, things didn’t go that way, Finn stays with Diego and soon Finn has laid all his Fae cards on the table and Diego is introducing him to the human world. This setup and getting acquainted time was a significant portion of the book and I enjoyed it very much! At this point I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go, I mean it’s a multi book series, some paranormal drama has to be coming down the road soon, and it did, in spades, but this quieter part of the book was great for me. It made me buy into the two of them together in the long run because they did spend a lot of time together well before the proverbial shit hit the fan.
The city isn’t good for Finn, there’s just too much city-ness there and he needs some wide open, unpolluted place to let his Pooka self run free. Diego doesn’t really see himself leaving the city, but when push comes to shove, he can’t see himself without Finn either so he takes his editor up on her offer to stay at her cabin in Canada for a bit.
I’m going to digress a bit about Diego’s editor here. Miriam was an awesome character! She was just the kind of person Diego needed in his life and she was someone I would love to grab cocktails with. Of course we’d have to invite Tia Carmen too. She could be all full of sage wisdom and she’d feed us and it would be amazing.
Anywho, the guys head to Canada and it was beautiful and relaxing and wonderful right up until it wasn’t. Shit got real in Canada. Like, really real. There’s more than trees and squirrels in those woods. There’s a wendigo who’s set his sights on Diego and his lightening. See, Diego has some latent powers that he is just now coming into with Finn’s help and he’s a helluva lot more powerful than even Finn realized. Angel Martinez is really great at writing apocalyptic showdowns and the days long battle between Finn and Diego against the wendigo. I googled wendigo and they are very scary. VERY SCARY. I mean, goddamn. And I loved it.
Finn is a great foray into a unique paranormal world that gave a good balance between action, romance and suspense. I would highly recommend Finn to fans of all those things for something different and very enjoyable.
Fantasy Living - 3 Hearts
This story started off really strong. The concept was really interesting, and the introduction of the main leads, Finn and Diego went well. The writing style worked and I had no problem following along.
Somewhere around 70% is where this fell down for me. I don’t even know why. I don’t know if it was just me, or whether something in the story bothered me, but I definitely lost interest and it started to drag. It may even be because it changed direction to where I thought it was going. Nevertheless, I really struggled to finish it.
Up until that point I was really enjoying it. I loved the difference between Finn and Diego. I enjoyed their dynamic together when they started out as friends and when it developed into more. Finn was a fun character, and having him in the city, exploring and remarking on the surroundings was very entertaining. Diego was a fairly serious character, but a really good guy, and he put himself out there to help Finn while he recovered.
Once they moved locations to the wilderness, that is when the story took an unusual turn and confused me. It felt like a really wild swing into a new plot line and I just didn’t get it. But I have been having a hard time with reading lately so I completely own my reaction and don’t think it is a good measure on whether this book is good or not.
I would encourage readers of PNR to give it a chance or at least read other reviews to help decide if this is for you. I will definitely try this author’s other work, but will ensure I’m in the right frame of mind to go on an adventure.
A review copy was provided for an honest review
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