A review by reader44ever
Lustlocked by Matt Wallace

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. :-)