Trix

One.Both MCs were shy in making a move towards the other. The first half of the book was filled with either Dan or Leif pining after the other, making no move towards something physical and listing the reasons why they shouldn't get involved. At one point I started to wonder if anything would happen between them since neither was inclined to approach the other. Luckily the author solved that by putting one of them (Leif) in danger and used the resulting adrenaline and fear to make the pair get intimate. The second half of the book was lukewarm at best in terms of romance for Dan and Leif, Dan tried to hide his sexuality from the people in town and then they had to battle Leif away from his abusive master. I was a bit put off that, after spending 2.3 of the book listing reasons and staying away, their relationship was nicely wrapped up with them moving away and living happily ever after. All of a sudden and just like that? That's just too easy for me.

Second. The action scenes. I was expecting adrenaline packed moments, uneasy and fearful scenes spanning for pages where Dan or Leif fought a ghost. But all I got were sparks. Before I had a chance to get into the mood, the problem was solved and the ghost laid to rest. The only lengthy fight was at the end, an amalgam of discovering the secret cave, killing Leif's former master, Runar and defeating Ezekiel, busybody/blackmailer/sorcerer that had lived hundreds of years before. And frankly, I found it a bit amusing to imagine Dan waving those antlers to help the ghosts cross over.

Second and 1/2. I remembered there was one other thing that bugged me. And that was Dan lamenting his inability to save his mother. I counted at least 3 or 4 times throughout the book (I was afraid to actually check the real number of times) where he went over the same lines: not saving his mother, letting her die alone, he was useless. I was just about ready to bitch slap him and ask him to man up.