Genre: MM Fantasy Romance
Length: Novel
Sebastian Orwell is the son of a washed-up wizard, but when he saves the crown prince, Turren, from an assassination attempt, he unravels a plot that will change everything. Turren isn’t the only one the assassins were after, and Sebastian has to defend the lives and secrets of his entire family, and fight to keep his own secrets safe from exposure.
Plots, twisted in plots, twisted in plots. Needless to say, the plot of Family of Lies was fantastic. The entire Orwell family was loaded with secrets, and Argent leaked them out to us throughout the novel. To tell you more would be spoilers, but man, it was delicious.
What I was truly impressed with, however, was the humor through witty repertoire and characterizations. Each character was precious in his/her own right, and because I loved them all so much, I can’t tell you who my favorite was. Sebastian was quick on his toes and a delightful asshole. Pretty much everything that came out of his mouth was delivered with sass and cunning—my favorite. Prince Turren was incorrigible. It was entertaining and a bit pathetic how he kept at Sebastian, even when Sebastian made it completely clear that he didn’t want anything to do with him. Lord Orwell was another winner, very slippery and underhanded, but loveable.
Sebastian also had many great siblings and sibling-in-laws. There were a lot of Orwell children, maybe too many. Lord and Lady Orwell had been quite busy. Lord Orwell is a wizard, his wife is fey, and that combination created some fairly impressive outcomes, okay, a lot of fairly impressive outcomes. I honestly couldn’t keep track of all of them—were there ten?—and that’s usually my forte. I didn’t let it detract from my experience, though, and you shouldn’t either. It’s a helluva ride. Enjoy and hold on tight!
From what I can tell, Sam Argent has only one novel out, and she’s a bit of an enigma. I’ll be looking for more from her, hopefully soon.
Beth Brock is a reviewer for DSP and QSF. She enjoys reading, writing, running, family and food, and fills her life with bent bunk. She especially loves to discuss LGBTQ+ literature. Her website is http://www.bethbrockbooks.com. You can find her on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/BethBrockBooks.
Dreamspinner Press–Where Dreams Come True… International publishers of quality gay romantic fiction since 2007. http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
DSP Publications–Off the Beaten Path. Worth the Journey. http://www.dsppublications.com
Harmony Ink Press–LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction. http://www.harmonyinkpress.com