scijessreads

• Genre: paranormal romance
• Tropes: mafia, fake relationship, mates
• Spice Level: moderate+
• TW/CW: death and violence
• Recommend: yes

This one was absurd and funny and full of magic and mafia and demons and monsters. There were sentient houses, and a reliquary bracelet full of helpful (if not odd, ferocious, and surprisingly sartorial) spirits that only help the owner it chooses.

Neil is just trying to help out his uncle by watching his flower shop for the summer. And somehow he ends up fake dating a werewolf named Lou who is the underboss of the monster/demon mafia. Only, the fake dating quickly turns real, and Neil is definitely not able to keep his mouth shut in dangerous situations.

Flanders the hellhound (with a vocal distaste for Crocs footwear) and Myrna (a very cheery housekeeper with anger issues when she can’t clean) seem to be the main reliquary ghosts that keep Neil in the loop (along with Izba, the sentient house that loves Neil and is less enthused with Lou).

Once Lou and Neil get going and turn the fake dating/matehood real, things get spicy quickly. And along the way there is snark and cheesey banter and traitors within the mafia family that definitely don’t want Lou (or Neil) to have the reliquary. The whole thing is low angst, high fun, and just a delight.

Oh, and Buffy… Buffy will work for really good scratchies.