Review : By Fairy Means or Foul by Meghan Maslow

Twig Starfig had no clue the unicorn was trouble the moment he walked into his office. Of course, it would be hard to notice trouble at that moment as he was busy forgetting his name and nearly drooling, completely overpowered by lust for the hottest guy he had ever seen. So much that he barely noticed the indentured servant who came into the office with him. Not a great way to show off detective skills.

Once Brandsome Nightwind, the unicorn, dials back on the unicorn lust magic though, Twig definitely starts noticing the cute human with him, and Twig's dragon half takes notice too.

While the unicorn tears up and tells his tale of woe, Twig finds himself constantly glancing at the other man who is rolling his eyes and just generally sassing behind his back. Apparently even being an indentured servant can't keep Quinn's sass levels low. And he doesn't seem to care for his master much.

The case is finally revealed by the distraught and stunning unicorn, Twig must find and get back the unicorn's horn.

As part dragon, Twig is able to magically sense where things are, so the case shouldn't be too hard. Though there is a holdup already. Brandsome doesn't have enough money for a deposit. Though he can temporarily sign over his indentured servant who will do anything Twig wants. Anything. Twig is not remotely interested in owning a sex slave, but before he can say no, he thinks about how Brandsome might just sign Quinn over to someone else to get the money. Unwilling to have that happen, he agrees to take Quinn as a surety.

As a half-breed, generally disdained by both fairies and dragons, Twig is a loner. He doesn't want or need anyone and has no intentions of keeping anyone around, but as he's forced to be around the human more and more, he finds himself falling for him. And his dragon doesn't help, he seems to have decided the human is his mate. Mate, not food, because his dragon half wasn't already weird enough.

Soon, the half-fairy, half-dragon who can't shapeshift, and the indentured servant who should be a wizard, but doesn't have access to magic, are falling for each other, but Brandsome still owns Quinn, and when they find the unicorn's horn, Quinn will have to go back to his owner. That is, if they survive trying to find the unicorn's horn.

I really enjoyed all three of these books and hope there will be more in the Starfig Investigations series. The world-building is top-notch, encompassing multiple realms and types of beings, each with their own uniqueness. 

A high fantasy romance detective novel shouldn't work, but it totally does. A fantasyland detective is as fun as a space western. It's as though the familiar set in the unfamiliar makes all the common tropes new again and fun.

The first two books in the series are solely from Twig's POV, while the third book is from Quinn's. While I miss seeing things from another point of view, it is better for the mystery to not switch between characters in each book as so many do today.

Twig Starfig tries to be the big, bad dragon detective, but while he is coarse and pretends to be gruff, he's really a marshmallow inside. He's bigger than most people because of his dragon blood, and he's just a bit bulky. He has midnight blue hair to his shoulders and black fingernails he can extend into claws. He can also shift his teeth, but is unable to shift his entire body into dragon form.

Quinn Broomsparkle is the first male witch wizard in 1000 years...well, he was supposed to be. Instead he was taken away from his family and taught magic for years, awaiting the day he came into his majority and could bond with a familiar to access his powers, only to find on that day that he couldn't seem to bond with any of the familiars at all. Sold into indentured servitude to pay back his schooling, Quinn is stuck with a narcissistic, mean-spirited unicorn who likes to gamble, cheat, and pass around Quinn at sex parties. This is not where Quinn saw his life going.

"Go ahead and say it. I can tell you’re dying to tell me something,” I said when he began chewing on his bottom lip. My dragon practically purred. What was that about? And what was with the urge to lean over and pull his abused flesh from his teeth? Must be the lingering effects of the unicorn’s magic. I was still so horny, my cock refusing to behave. My brain even now felt slow, but I could talk at least. Perdition, punishment, and perversions, that was some wicked magic. 

      “You’re awfully small for being dragon-born,” he blurted out, even though he was a good foot shorter than me. 

      Well that deflated my cock faster than a werebeaver with braces offering free blowjobs. My dragon wasn’t happy either if the grumbling in my head was any indication. 

      “And you’re awfully rude for a human,” I shot back. 

      He blushed. If I wasn’t so annoyed, I’d think it was adorable. But no.

The secondary characters are interesting as well. They each have very unique personalities and voices. It is very obvious when one or another is talking. They don't tend to reveal complex backstories, but they reveal enough to know they have them without hindering the storyline with unimportant details. Twig's father is an 8-inch tall fairy politician who wants Twig to run for office too. His dragon mother is slightly less terrifying and rules a clan in the dragon realm. There are also giants and ghosts, demons and and dragons, and numerous other creatures, including zombies.

Quinn is understandably intimidated by Twig at first. He's been used and abused for years and he doesn't trust Twig's altruism. But being afraid doesn't mean he's going to just roll over. He opens his mouth and talks back far too much for someone who knows he's likely to get his butt kicked for doing so. And when Twig doesn't punish him for it, he gets far more advanced in his snark.

“You know, dragons are known for their stamina,” I said to goad him a little. 

      “And selfishness,” he muttered under his breath, probably thinking I wouldn’t hear him. Little did he know, dragons had exceptional hearing.

The two are cute together. They play off of each other really well and have decent chemistry. The give and take between them reminds me a little of the snark chemistry between Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel, though the adult version.

There isn't a ton of sex in the book, but there are quite a few close encounters before they start. They want each other, but Twig is initially worried about inadvertently putting pressure on Quinn since he might not feel able to say no. Then, later, he is afraid of accidentally mating Quinn and since he don't want no relationship, his dragon will just have to suck it up, or suck it as the case may be.

The setting is really good. As they journey across the land we see the bad areas of the main fairy city, a huge desert, forests, and more. Each are unique and well-described, but not overly so so we aren't bombarded by details but can fill in our own images.

The pacing is good enough to keep one reading. Not too fast, not too slow. Just a steady stream of adventures, with a few high points throughout. I think the only slogging is in the desert.

Where By Fairy Means or Foul really shines is the tickle of the funny bone. It's sort of a better quality of Piers Anthony's Xanth style humor or along the lines of  Robert Asprin's MythAdventures. Less puns, but tidbits of silliness alternating with snark.

We continued through what had to be the center of the outpost, looking for a watering hole. It didn’t take us long. Another sign announced, “The Watering Hole and Inn.” 

“Creative folk.” I snorted, and then pushed through rickety swinging doors into a dimly lit saloon. An elderly cyclops barkeep shuffled down the counter toward us, setting down small pink doilies at each place along the way. Macramé hangings and weavings of cute Cerberus pups and adorable Pegasi foals littered every inch of wall space. Romance novels filled a large bookshelf near the bar. Not that I had a lot of time to look, but I did see a well-worn copy of Fifty Shades of Fae. 

“What’s with the grandma couture?” Quinn whispered from the side of his mouth.

The style of funny fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously is my favorite part of the books. It's just genuinely entertaining. Though that doesn't mean there isn't character develop. Twig and Quinn both learn to trust each other and get past their issues quite a bit.

The editing is pretty good too. Few if any errors, and nothing overly wrong enough to disturb the story. Even the feel of the words was correct for the scenes.

Overall, By Fairy Means or Foul is fairly funny, even if a little foul. These two may be questing for a horn, but in fine fantasy style, a lot happens along the way, making the journey the destination. Twig and Quinn definitely deserve their HEA, even if it takes a form they could never have expected.

Oh, and the sequels are just as good! Most times, sequels lose the luster of the original and are just somehow lesser. But Be Fairy Game and His Fairy Share are both decent stories with new adventures and character developments. It is really worth reading all three. And hopefully the author will continue on.