Reviews

Lustlocked by Matt Wallace

marita379's review

4.0

I liked this a lot better than the first book. The wtf moments were still there but you were better prepared for them this time and could easily roll with the punches and enjoy this ridiculous roller coaster of a story.

jayshay's review

2.0

Turned into lust-lizards that rape people to death? Don't worry when you get magiked back to normal your mood will be altered to make you okay with it. AND the bride & groom will THANK the Sin Du Jour assholes for doing this to their families. Gross, unbelievable and only passingly amusing. Wallace is a cool guy on his podcast and youtube channel so this might be a miss-fire (or we just have different senses of humour) so I'll skip the rest of this series and check in with him later. Also WAY WAY too many characters. I don't need deep characters for a light fantasy but nobody gets to make an impression because there are like five or more main characters in this short novella & a bunch of secondary ones. Too many so I didn't care about any of them. Which is okay, I suppose, since the plot disappointed me

nichola's review

4.0

I was *not* expecting that ending.

Jesus. Okay.

Next please?

I think when I am finished Pride's spell I will give a full review but for now my only real complaint is the bullshit love triangle that is being started. Everything else was so good.

ericrosenfield's review against another edition

2.0

Charming, until you realize the ethical horror of one character having drugged a bunch of other characters to sexually assault one another and then drugging them again so that they won't be mad about it, and everything played for laughs.

monkeysbecausewhynot's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

noveladdiction's review

4.0

These remain ridiculous and hilarious. Humans turning into creatures of pure lust and attacking everyone? Droopy Dog hoping the catering staff dies? Worth it.

e_flah's review

3.0

Lustlocked was entertaining and funny, which I've come to expect from Wallace. The plot was a bit rushed, with hardly any setup before the main action began. I was miffed when I found out the story wasn't actually the whole book -- the last forty pages are a "bonus story" that didn't make the abrupt ending of Lustlocked less upsetting.

I love the premise of this series so I'll give the next one a go even though this didn't live up to Envy of Angels .

reader44ever's review against another edition

5.0

I am in love with this series. This second book was as fun to read as the first one was! :-)

In the main story, Sin du Jour has been hired to cater a royal goblin wedding. The King and Queen

were David Bowie and Iman!

They weren't ever named, but it was obvious who they were even before the "Davi--" slip. :-)

After the main story we were gifted a bonus short story: "Small Wars." This story shared how Stocking and Receiving

got the gold needed for the goblin wedding,

, and, in between the telling of that story, it shared how Stocking and Receiving came to be a four-person department. :-)

The main story was really great. I chuckled a bit on page 91 and I cried a little after I processed the final line.

"Bronko dies." The End

Really?! WTF. :'(

The LOL scene on page 91, in Chapter "The Toast,"

was after Jett was turned into a lust-filled reptile. She attacks Bronko and we have these lines (1st paragraph on page 90):

Stogie still clutched between his teeth, Bronko finds one hand grasping Chanel while his other grips what feels like scales.
A giant, bipedal reptile wearing Jett's suit is attacking him, he realizes with only minor horror.
Actually, it's not attacking him, and that second realization spikes his horror significantly higher.
It's trying to hump him.
Is humping him, in fact.

*hehehe* :-)

The wedding did not go as planned, but

the goblins didn't seem to mind that half the guests were turned into dangerous, lust-filled, reptiles. Instead, it was the wedding of the century and "will be considered the epitome of goblin celebration."

That latter quote is on page 161.

Then we have an Epilogue, in which

Bronko returns to his office to find Allensworth in his chair, behind his desk. Allensworth eventually says, "I think you'd be served by a gentle reminder, Byron. Of your contract. Of your obligations. Of the penalties for failing either." And then he stabs Bronko in the abdomen!

And two pages later, "Bronko dies." (!!!)

He doesn't know it, but he has fifteen seconds to live.
Fifteen seconds is an eternity to those who trade in magic.
It's plenty of time for any one of the dozens of loyal employees of Sin du Jour to stumble into Bronko's office and find him slouching to death's door.
It's more than enough time for them to summon the magic to save him, or summon a coworker who can do the same.
Unfortunately none of these things happen.
No one comes.
Fifteen seconds pass in a few ragged, terrified breaths.
Bronko dies. [fin]

The ending quote I shared above spanned two pages. It started on page 167. Then I turned the page, feeling hopeful, only to read from "Unfortunately" on page 168, and my hopes were cruelly dashed. :'(

So this was a most excellent story, but I really, really, really, hope that

Bronko isn't dead and gone.

Surely Matt Wallace wouldn't be that cruel. . . ???

And I think I'm going to buy this series. Waiting for my library to get book three in on interlibrary loan will take too long. So I'll buy it from Barnes and Noble with a coupon I just happen to have available to me and then buy the rest with later coupons. :-)

In the bonus short, I loved that we got to see how Cindy, Hara, and Moon came to join Ritter in Stocking and Receiving. It was also fun to read about how they got

the "Welsh Gold" needed for the goblin wedding feast.

:-)

And Ryland was in both the main story and the bonus short! I love that guy. :-)

jshaden's review against another edition

4.0

My favorite of the first three Sin du Jour novellas.

squishy_mage42's review against another edition

4.0

A fun urban fantasy novella. The mystical chefs of the catering company Sin Du Jour are tasked with catering the wedding of the Goblin Prince, the son of David Bowie. There are tons of jokes about pop culture going on throughout, with the book coming to a pitch with an epic battle against people transformed by a love spell gone awry.

Unlikely to show up on any awards slate, but it was a fun read all the way through.