Elise ✘ a.k.a Ryder's Pet ✘'s Reviews > Echoes of Deviance

⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱*At least there was more romance*⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱

This final book of the soul-bonded couple Darren Dominic Oberton (early thirties) and Supervisory Special Agent and Shaman Kavon Boucher (40) was at least a bit more romantic than the previous three books in the series. We got to see them more as a couple, than a boss and employee. However, I was already tired of the series, as the lack of depth put me off the whole series, so even if this one had more in it, it was a little too late for me. It just wasn't enough. Overall, I struggled to finish and kept putting it on hold, but I still managed to finish it as I hate quitting books. Glad I'm done with the couple, that's for sure. But hey, at least Kavon said ‘I love you’ out loud for the first time in the series...

“I never want you to forget that I love you.”
Darren frowned as a shiver of guilt ran along their bond. “I will always love you,” he said. He forced his mind to focus even though most of his brain cells had leaked out. “I loved you back when you were still trying to protect me by pushing me away.”
“And when I get overprotective by holding you too close?” Kavon asked.
The worry was all there in the bond, staining it with ugly fears. “I’ll tell you to knock it off and still love you. And when I fuck up, I trust you to tell me to get my head out of my ass so your cock can fit up there. No matter what stupidity either of us does, we’re good. We’ll always be good,” Darren promised. He sent his own surety along the bond.

Other characters:
I've put these in a spoilers tag simply because it's a long list; contains spoilers (view spoiler)[
↦ Agent Kaleolani ‘Les’ Gillette (over 30, 40 maybe?), Darren’s primary partner and closest friend. Les was an adept with innate magic, a status he couldn’t easily hide since the gift caused spiderweb markings that ranged from bluish to light beige along the backs of his hands and up his arms. Against Les’s dark Hawaiian skin, the marks stood out. And because he was an adept, many shamans wanted to bond with him. A connection to an adept could help anchor them to the physical plane when they spirit walked. However, shamanic power did not equal moral soundness, and plenty of shamans had tried to manipulate Les to get what they wanted. It had left him a little shaman-shy. He’d only joined the Talent team because back then Kavon had been adamant that he would never form a permanent bond with any adept.
↦ Agent Traci Frane (over 50 and near mandatory retirement), the oldest member of their team, and ironically the latest to join them. She was a white-haired magic user who specialized in incantations. Traci’s incantations could only affect the immediate area. She betrayed the team as she was working with O'Brien and Cruz. Might get up to 30 years in prison.
↦ Agent Coretta Nixon, on the team and was the official second in command, even though Darren was the first to join Boucher's team. She's a crystal speller.
↦ Ben Anderson, a adept magic, Boucher’s adept partner. Newbie.
↦ Agent Rima Dolen, on the team. As the Talent Unit’s spell caster, she had mad skills. Give her the remains of a curse or even an object that had been struck by the energy of one, and a lot of times she could identify where a person had trained from the ingredients they incorporated.
↦ Henry Halverson (spirit animal guide: crocodile), one of the three heads of the DC Shamanic Council. They mediate magical problems and lobby the political world for the rights of magic users. It turned out he was the nice one. Susan McLean (spirit animal guide: horse) was all smiles and gray hair and offers of coffee, but she suspected their every move. The woman had turned twitchy into a way of life. And Charles Cruz (spirit animal guide: giant squid) made every handshake feel like a sexual encounter. His mother had been some beauty queen, and he had used his looks and his father’s money to make a name for himself in business. Now he was a hotshot shaman. Turns out Cruz wanted to be a king, and he was the one working with O'Brien killing all those people. Cruz decided to stay in the spirit world and his body died in book two.
↦ Ezzat Sherif (spirit animal guide: snake), Egyptian shaman....., Egypt embassy? The most powerful shamanic council in the world; not a council but a ‘regent.’ The regent and the court wait for the return of the rightful rulers. Thuya Sherif (spirit animal guide: mastodon), the dead shaman, were the regent. Ilham Massri, Thuya's student. Tariq Hassan (spirit animal guide: polar bear), Egyptian shaman.
↦ David O’Brien, a shaman (spirit animal guide: rockfish), hiding his considerable powers from everyone and using his magic to prey on adepts; a serial killer. He managed to disappear when trying to control Kavon.
↦ Assistant Director White, Kavon's boss.
↦ Agent Ahtisham Boyd (late thirties), their newest team member. Kavon had accepted Boyd’s transfer in as a mundane for those times when people invoked their right to be questioned by a nonmagical agent. His time on the Hostage Rescue Team had come to an end when a section of a wall had landed on him during a hard entry.
Rimaish 'Rima' is asexual
↦ Salma al-Ghamdi (didn’t look a day over thirty or thirty-five), the adept (spirit animal guide: fish) who had worked with Thuya Sherif and Ilham Massri; the Egyptian embassy shamans.
↦ Lieutenant Roger Kowalczyk, the Maryland police law enforcement. Racist.
↦ District Commander Wilma Emerson, the Maryland police law enforcement.
↦ Parole officers Kyle Hall and his work partner Chandler Owen. Now Owen had a chip on his shoulder. Hall is Bernard Peterson’s son’s godfather, the victim who was killed.
↦ Shamans Gretchen Underwood (spirit animal guide: beaver) and her husband Alan Underwood (spirit animal guide: glowing millipede). Alan is the main suspect in Peterson's murder. (hide spoiler)]

Kavon knew how lucky he was to find a partner that would forgive all his overprotective and negative impulses, and tonight he wanted to show Darren how much he appreciated him as a lover.

Quick basic facts:
Genre: - (Adult) Paranormal Romance (M/M).
Series: - Series, Book Four.
Love triangle? - (view spoiler)[No. (hide spoiler)]
Cheating? - (view spoiler)[No. (hide spoiler)]
HEA? - (view spoiler)[Yes. (hide spoiler)]
Favorite character? - Darren Oberton, I guess.
Would I read more by this author/or of series? - Sure, I guess.
Would I recommend this book/series? - Unsure.
Will I read this again in the future? - No.
Rating - 2 (I struggled to read) stars.