REVIEW: "Tiger Boys" by Linda Gayle

Title: Tiger Boys
Author: Linda Gayle
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 230 pages

Grade: A


BLURB:

Grad student Jules has always felt different. He’s got buddies, sure, but relationships make him turn tail and run. Dreams of tigers and memories of a mysterious great-grandmother make him wonder if there’s something his parents aren’t telling him. When an unexpected inheritance offers clues to Jules’s destiny, he’s intrigued, to say the least. It doesn’t hurt that the news is delivered by a sexy Russian who seems to know Jules better than he knows himself.

A prince of a powerful tiger clan, Sergei Sidorenko wants to live as an ordinary man. But his family nags him to take his place as king. They offer him a deal: teach the lost prince Julian how to shape-shift and control his untapped sorcerous talent. Then Jules will be king, and war between the once-rival clans will be avoided. Most importantly, Sergei will be released from clan obligations forever. It sounds like an easy out. But Sergei doesn’t count on Jules being so temptingly innocent, so eager to learn. Lessons in sorcery turn to lessons in love. And Sergei falls hard for Jules.

Dark clouds gather over the tiger clans. In a bid to seize power, Jules’s ambitious older brother, Anton, works on the key to immortality. And he needs Jules’s flesh and blood to finish the spell. Tangled in Anton’s machinations, with a traitor in their midst, Jules and Sergei must fight for their lives—and for the love that destiny would deny them.


MY REVIEW

One of my Top Five Paranormal Books of 2013 was Linda Gayle's A Shadow of Wings, which I gave 5 stars (A+) review here and on Reviews by Jessewave. So, I was very happy to see that the author had published another M/M book with Tiger Boys. Now, it isn't a sequel to A Shadow of Wings, but introduces another fascinating shifter universe, one with magical Russian tigers!

As with every book I've read by Ms. Gayle, she is able to weave incredible original world building along with a steamy romance that knocks my socks off and makes me beg for more. In Tiger Boys, she gives us Sergei and Jules, two men who should be enemies because of their family backgrounds, but who instead come together in a quest to save their lineage from a ruthless villain (namely Jules' brother). Add in complex secondary characters like Sergei's sister and Jules' parents and you have a great read. But the thing I loved best about Tiger Boys was the chemistry between Jules and Sergei. The slow build-up to their coming together is not to be missed and when you add the magical/paranormal elements of the novel, you will be rooting for Sergei and Jules' happy ending.

Because I read so many paranormal books when I find one that resonates with me, I want to shout about it from the rooftops and I can with Tigers Boys. Highly recommended!


P.S. If you haven't read A Shadow of Wings, run out and buy it. It is only .99 on Amazon right now! BUY LINK.