Affairs of M/Men

I love this series. I know why other people don't--there is an excessive amount of angst and the main character does insane things that would drive any lover crazy, but it's all stuff I love in books.

Pros:

Seiran is adorable and when he's hurting, I wanted to hold him and make it all better.

Seiran is very tiny but he's strong.

Seiran suffers horrible abuse throughout his life and at college and he's still fighting. He doesn't let his OCD or anxiety disable him. He's very negative and angry but it fits what he's been through and that he's a man not a wimp.

Gabe is wonderful and dotes on Seiran. Again, this is something you learn in the shorts but you don't see here at first but it's obvious later in the book.

Jamie is awesome. He becomes even more awesome as the series progresses.

Seiran's OCD is a nice touch. I love that he cooks when he's anxious even though he barely eats and Gabe can't.

Seiran in lynx form is awesome. He's a real lynx and has trouble comprehending humans. His thoughts and impressions are believable.

The thriller, danger, desperation stuff is perfect for me. I loved it. I particularly loved when Seiran is stuck being a lynx and Gabe has to find him and bring him home.



Cons:

Early in the book someone asks Seiran if his lover, Gabe, has an invite into his home. Since he did in one of the earlier shorts, that annoys me. Consistency is important. My guess is that the short was written after this book and she either didn't remember or just ignored it for sake of the plot of the short.

Seiran has hip-high lace up boots. That sounds like boots with chaps attached. Sounds ridiculous.

Seiran is obnoxious in the beginning. I'm really glad I read the shorts first and saw how likeable he is.

At one point, the moon is referred to as "absent." No, the moon is always there, you just can't see it.

Seiran is extremely OCD (worse in one of the shorts) but he's okay with sleeping with semen on him.

One night Gabe lets him have the night off from work and takes the time, too. That meant that they were down four employees. From how they describe the restaurant/bar, that would cripple them.

Gabe and Sei have been lovers since the latter turned 17, the age of consent where they live. Gave is over 2000 years old. Ick.

Vampires are supposed to be practically dead during the day and yet the two manage to have sex.

Something horrible happened to Sei by a guy named Matthew (which we don't find out until the next book). Gabe tells Sei that if it weren't for Matthew, Sei woudln't have the OCD, anxiety, or trust issues. That's not true--Sei's mom would have caused those as she was horrible to him.

A guy is named Kelly and Sei pities him for having a girl's name. Uh, it was a guy's name before it was ever a girl's name. Currently it's more common for girls but it's still a gender neutral name. I get male addressed to Mr. Kelly H. all the time.

This one doesn't have very many good women. In fact, there's only one until the end. The next book is much better, but it did bother me.

I think it's improbably that every single witch but one would treat Seiran like crap because he's a guy. I think there would be a few more who would be supportive if only behind the scenes.

Despite all these negatives, I really loved it. It hit all the right buttons for me. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 because of the adorable little lynx.