Title: ⟫ Scales and Song: Monsters in my Bed Book #2
Author: ⟫ L Eveland
Rating: ⟫ 4/5
Blurb: ⟫
We were supposed to protect the world from monsters, not become them.
All I’ve ever wanted was to protect the people I love. That’s why I joined the military’s Elite Specimen Containment Unit.
When I learned they were experimenting on sentient monsters, however, everything changed.
Now, I have a new mission: protect a scaly winged monster named Bud and escort him to somewhere he’ll be safe from my superiors.
Yet, Bud’s so sweet and perfect, I can’t help but fall for him, even though I know it’s too dangerous for us to be together. It’ll be safer for us to go our separate ways, especially when we’re being hunted.
But I’ve only got so much willpower…
Though
Scales and Song is the second book in the Monsters in my Bed series, it can be read as a stand-alone novel. It features a closeted and traumatized special forces soldier, the sweet cinnamon roll monster who loves him, and a HEA. Please see the interior for content warnings.
Review: ⟫ I’ve got complicated feelings about this book. In the first instance, the premise really reminds me of the Lily Mayne’s Monstrous series: monsters coming through a tear, being imprisoned by the army and experimented on; soldier falling in love with one. That’s not a bad comparison, but it did make it hard to shake from my head whilst I was reading.
I’m in the middle of reading the first book in the series, Kissed by the Krampus, as I enjoyed reading Scale and Song enough to want to go back to the beginning. I would say if you’re wanting a bit of monster-loving, with a side order of stoic soldier boy and conspiracy theory, this could well be the book for you. The love-making scenes were frequent and hot, and the lead characters Bud and Phoenix were interesting. As a gay man of colour, Phoenix was quite well written – his concerns about telling his family, the way in which he compartmentalised things, his feelings of isolation and betrayal – were all palpable.
However, I didn’t get as much of a sense of Bud. Maybe it was me and I was missing it, but I wasn’t sure how the music thing was such a calming influence on him, and I really didn’t get his magical abilities – they felt a little vague and definitely unexplored. It felt like some of them transpired at just the right moment with little to no real explanation of them.
The mating cycle’s influence on Phoenix wasn’t fully explained for me either, and I would have liked to know just a bit more about how and why he was reacting to Bud the way he was.
The main cast of characters was interesting – obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone looking for the rest of the series – and it was obvious who else would be getting their own story. I did enjoy reading Scale and Song and would recommend it if you’re looking for something a bit different, with some kinky monster sex for good measure!
I received an ARC from GRR.
