Johnnie by Cardeno C.
M/M Paranormal Romance
Released: March 11, 2015
Self Published
Reviewed by Mandi
I couldn’t resist a m/m lion shifter book. Boys kissing and lions?? Sign me up.
Hugh is over 100 years old and the leader of the lion clan. He is known as the Premiere. Because he has lived so long and amassed so much power, after a time, he needs a Siphon to – well, siphon some of his power from him everyday so he doesn’t die with power overload. Siphon’s are extremely rare, so he was happy to find his Siphon years ago. It’s the Siphon’s job to follow the Premiere around, keeping out of the way as the Premiere attends to all of his duties. It’s honestly a sad and lonely life. Which is why Hugh’s Siphon one night tries to hang himself.
Hugh is shocked his Siphon would do this. If his Siphon dies, Hugh dies – so he doesn’t take this matter lightly. He starts to talk with his Siphon, quickly realizing he doesn’t even have an actual name. They decide on Johnnie. Johnnie is sick of living this stale life. All he does is follow Hugh around, having no other purpose. Apparently in all of these years that Hugh has had Johnnie by his side, he has never realized how stagnant and crappy Johnnie’s life has been. But Hugh has been very concerned about his entire pack in general, and takes pride in being such a good leader. So I did scratch my head that it takes Johnnie trying to commit suicide to make Hugh aware of his depression.
Once Hugh notices Johnnie, they form a bond. Lion shifters are very sexual, taking sexual partners often and wherever, never embarrassed by their modesty. Hugh soon realizes though, Johnnie, who has never had sex (poor dude in the background as Hugh has sex alllll the time) is very attracted to him. They start a relationship, first just Hugh sleeping with him so Johnnie doesn’t attempt to harm himself again, but eventually it turns sexual and romantic.
This is definitely a sexy book. I love how sexually free lion shifters are – they are not self-conscious. We are told a lot about Hugh as the Premiere and how his role works. We do see him with his clan some, but I kind of wanted a little more clan presence. I like learing the politics of shifter clans and that was missing a little bit. Hugh is definitely an alpha and in charge, although I find this author’s alphas (in the couple of books I’ve read) to be a little more on the softer side.
Johnnie is sweet and naive and meek. I definitely believed in their love and relationship by the end of the book, although the beginning is a little slow.
If you want something sweet and sexy, this might be a good book for you.
Rating: B-
Leave a Reply