Magpie by Kim Dare
I loved the first book in this series, Duck!, and I ended up loving this second book too. I'm not a huge fan of shifter stories; there are few authors I will read and enjoy and Kim is one of those. These are avian shifters, existing in a sort of alternate world populated by both humans and avians. Most of the avian shifters live in nests, breeding nests or all-male nests (I have no idea if there are all-female nests and since it's not the point of the books, I don't really need to know.).
Magpie is the story of Everet, the raven, the new head of security for this male-only nest and the magpie, Kane, that he rescues from the clutches of a bad den of humans. Their distinct personalities fall into line with the characteristics of their avian counterparts and it quite amazes me how Kim does this with all the avians. We have a swan, a hawk, an eagle, an albatross, a wren, a hummingbird... and all are true to their birdishness. :)
It's a love story of two men that each need taking care of in their own way; a story of boundaries, trust and belief and of making one's place in the world their own. There is a scene where Kane gets a new job that is ideally suited for the bird that is so very attracted by sparkly, shiny things that was so perfect that I grinned my way through it. And yes, the sex scenes were wonderfully hot and steamy. :)
(BTW, I have to say, most of the way through the book, I was imagining Joe Manganiello in the role of Everet. *g*)
Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable book and I would highly recommend it and indeed the series. And YAY! there's a 3rd book coming in the series! I can't wait!
