Title: Doggone Mess
Author: R.J. Blain
Series: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) #20
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Humour, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

As with all of the other Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) books that I’ve read, I got into this right away. It was funny, it was quirky and it was light-hearted enough that I got to smile quite a bit. Yet, as I’m really starting to discover with Blain’s work, there was that serious undertone and message throughout which still left me thinking once I’d finished enjoying all of the fun. I also really like that this is very obviously building towards something – there is a conclusion to this series in the works, and Doggone Mess feels like some of the threads are now all coming together to build towards this.

The way in which Joyce is attacked and turned into a shifter is pretty sad and brutal, possibly one of the more brutal turnings / attacks of this series so far. Yet, I love how, instead of curling up into a ball and hiding from reality. Or feeling like a victim, she uses this brutality as the fuel to get out there and make the world a better place for everyone else. She is an absolute powerhouse of a woman, and I really loved reading about a character that takes the worst of circumstances and turning it towards, well, violence. But it was violence in a good way – against those predators that would continue to perpetuate the cycle of abuse for other women and innocents.

I’m always a pretty big fan of books in which the male part of the duo is the quieter of the two. Wayne most definitely fits this bill – and I adored him all that much more for how he continuously keeps trying to support and help Joyce. At first with moving her into a new home, and then when he realises the depth and breadth of her issues, he starts to move heaven and hell (kind of literally) to make her feel better / supported. Even their mating isn’t what I expected it to be – all because of the supportive nature of this fairly cute relationship.

There are a number of surprise cameos throughout this story – I particularly liked getting to see Emma the Swan again. Her willingness to stab people with her beak and just be a total menace to everyone made me smile. I love the idea of a swan shifter, and that they are not the kind, cartoonish swans, but the real assholes that true swans are. Plus, with all of the activity and action in this story, there are a number of loose threads that begin to get tied up, Emma just being one of them.

I seriously loved everything about this book. It was the typica fun, enjoyable R.J. Blain book that I’ve come to expect from her writing. And I seriously enjoyed that to tie everything up, the epilogue tells the tale of Joyce’s run at Fort Knox with her daughter. Aside from being a fun heist, it’s also a reminder that this world is one filled with change, and the biggest changes feel like they are just on the horizon.

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Image source: Barnes & Noble