It feels like this story was written with my specific demographic in mind. After decades of reading science fiction and fantasy, I know all those tropes, and I've spent two years reading mostly m/m romances since my own novel's MC went and fell for one of his teammates - I needed to learn a new set of tropes. This book: orcs and elves have entered the world, science and magic conflict, the main orc's a techie, his former lover's an elf, and when they try to rescue part of a friend (yes you read that right), nothing goes right. Best of all, there is way more here than the plot, or the conflict between the two guys. And best of all that? The end is left swinging over a possible HEA, and the epilogue is intriguing. Without making me feel at all cheated. Beautiful!

So, yeah. If you fit the demographic or want something unusual, this is good.

A note about my rating (and introduction to this review) I've given this book three stars because I am not at all its target audience, but someone who is might like it much better. It definitely should carry an X-rated m/m warning.

This urban fantasy is a classic example of false advertising. I asked to review it because I was intrigued by the description and thought a sympathetic portrayal of an orc, and a friendship (and maybe more) between and orc and an elf might be a nifty premise. There's a lot I might have enjoyed in the book in terms of the encounter of magic and technology, how orcs (and elves, etc.) came into the American landscape, and the thriller-mystery elements. But...

It's a huge but, or rather a butt. Time after time, the story is brought to a jarring halt, losing all momentum and dramatic tension, by long, graphically explicit scenes of gay sex. I'm not objecting here to m/m porn, but here it so unbalances the rest of the story as to be infuriating. It replaces any real relationship between the characters so that the author is constantly telling me they mean something to one another without showing what that might be. As a dramatic story, it failed to hold my interest past the first third.

Your mileage may vary.

Don Allmon pens a hot reunited lovers story in his male/male fantasy tale The Glamour Thieves. Austin, an elf, has always spelled trouble for JT, an orc who’s worked hard to achieve success. When Austin shows up at JT’s mechanics shop with an amazing, yet clearly stolen, car he knows this time it will be no different. The elf does nothing for free and this “gift” undoubtedly comes with a heavy price tag.

Austin needs help. A mutual friend is in trouble and this is just the excuse he needs to reappear in JT’s life. But JT has created a placid, orderly existence that he has no intention of bringing Austin into. Can Austin convince JT that what he needs in his life is a little hot, sexy Austin style chaos?

It was easy to imagine the two of them like this always. Too easy. He should tell Austin to go. He would tell him. In just a few minutes.

This is an easy to read, a fast and furious tale of magic, mayhem and the power of love.

This book could have been great. It could have been the first book in a new series that I would have really wanted to follow. It had so much potential… and the fact that it frittered it away is extremely frustrating.

The little bit of worlbuilding we get hints at an interesting world. It's set in the future, so technologies are quite advanced, especially augmented reality, implants, and the connection to the World Wide Web that allows you to experience VR with all five senses. But we also get mentions of a worldwide catastrophe that changed something in the people's genome so that some were able to do magic. Oh, and orcs and elves became a reality.

There is so much potential in this! The author could have hooked me and kept me going if only he'd thrown a few more hints here and there about that catastrophe, or more about how the orcs and elves became so common place. Where they always there, but just hiding? Or did they come through the cracks in reality at the same time as humans became capable of magic? Or are they also a result of human mutation? Sadly, we get no answers.

I would have loved to have more background on JT and Austin, on their relationship, on what actually really happened three years ago that made them split. We get mentions here and there. We know they were part of a group of thieves and a heist went bad. We know that Austin's sister died… and nothing else. There is a mention that they were set up, and that another one of their members died as well, but we never learn anything else. What happened? There is a small mention that JT and Austin were captured and experimented on, but by whom? How did they escape? Just dwelling in those questions could have made an awesome book. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Instead we get a book in which every character is obsessed with sex. This is a short 133 pages book, and the actual plot fits in maybe a third of that length. The rest is characters either having sex or thinking about having sex, or obsessing about whether their maybe on and off partner is having sex with someone else. There is so much sexual content in it that at one point I had to go back to Netgalley and check whether I had clicked on the erotica bookshelf by mistake when I selected the book, but no, it's listed under Science Fiction and Fantasy…

And I would have been okay with some sexual content if it was justified. But when the characters are running for their life from the Triad, I would think they would be more worried about staying alive and figuring out how to get out of the mess they are in instead of jumping each other's bones. This is just such an unrealistic reaction that it threw me right out of the story.

My other problem with this book is Austin. I hated him as a character, and since a lot of the narrative was from his point of view, getting through his chapters was a challenge. He is incredibly self-centered. He wants JT because he wants things to go back to how they were, and JT always had his back. He lies, cheats and uses underhanded techniques to get him to agree to this one last job, even though he can clearly see that JT has created a new life for himself. He has a legitimate business that he loves, and he has a protégé he is responsible for. But no, Austin doesn't care, if he wreaks his friend's life. He doesn't even ask himself whether what he is doing will harm JT. Not once. The thought of considering somebody else's interest apart from his own doesn't even cross his mind. With Austin, everything is about Austin.

The second thing I hate about Austin is how twisted his sexual desires are. Like that scene in the orc night club. What he did to the bouncer cannot be called anything but rape. No matter how he justifies it, he used his glamour to force that orc to do what he did. And Austin's thoughts in that moment were exactly what any other rapist would voice to justify his actions - I only exacerbate the desire that's already there, my glamour wouldn't have worked if he didn't want it… No. Just NO. Rape is rape and there is no excuse!

As I mentioned, the book had potential, but the lack of plot and my intense dislike for one of the main characters made it so I have no desire to find out more about this world. That's one series I will pass on.

PS. I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Things about The Glamour Thieves:

1. It has really cool world building. It’s a blend of magic and technology that hints at some kind of huge change that took place on Earth 40 years before the story that led to mutant species, and it’s very interesting and has a lot of potential. This was what drew me to the book and accounts for most of the good parts of it.

2. It has a lot of sex, and it’s very graphic. That one’s on me — I need to learn to take the time to look up the content of non-YA books before blindly requesting them because of one recommendation on tumblr. I’ve had this problem before. Anyway, if you’re thinking about reading this book, be aware the way I wasn’t (because I ended up skimming quite a bit)

3. Intense mutual pining trope! Austen’s chapters are so full of it. This elf is a Mess™

4. The ending??? It has no real closure. The plot is finished up but the relationship has loose ends.

5. The plot was mostly very good — like I said, it really explored this cool mesh of magic/technology. But after about two fight scenes and some angst, it was over. It’s a little too short, and despite those epic fight scenes, ends a little too easily. I felt a little cheated, and I feel like the implications of the Blue Unicorn and how it connected to JT and Austen’s past weren’t explored enough.

6. The book has a really cool backstory that isn’t explained all the way. You get information on it scattered throughout the book, which is done nicely, but I think we could have used more of it, especially because the angst of the main story depends on that shared backstory. If the book were longer and perhaps done in the alternating chapter format of telling both stories at once, I think it would have worked very well.

Overall I have mixed feelings about this book and it’s hard to decide whether I recommend it.

I've always had a weakness for cyberpunk settings, heist novels, and queer characters. To find something that combines all three is awesome for me. I couldn't put this book down and will definitely be handing this breakneck paced, thrill ride heist to anyone who reads anything remotely close to what I do.

4.5
This I truly enjoyed. My only complaint was that there is a lot of history and I felt like I was reading a second book, instead of a first. It left some important information too vague. Like, why have there only been orcs for a generation and a half? What, exactly, was the Awakening? But beyond that, which admittedly is a big complaint, I loved the characters and the world. I liked the writing style and the author's voice. And the epilogue tempted me into wanting book 2 right now. So, it's an all around winner for me.

A futuristic fantasy world, anti-heroes reunited for one last adventure, and nothing is as it seems in this first time outing with new to me author. I was eager for the high octane rush that was sure to come with a story such as this and it did not wait long to present itself.


Review

This story had a lot of moving parts and was layered with hints to a backstory and world building involving the main characters that played a huge role in the present, but was fed to the reader in bits and pieces through out. It was a loose plot though it possessed a fast, gritty tone that I thought well suited to the story. I found it a tough go at times and had to stop and re-read sections or wait for further pages to elucidate things to get back on track.

The main plot thread of protecting an old friend and a secret device from a criminal group was the easiest to focus on, but I found myself less interested and wanting more of what was happening with JT the orc and Austin the elf. The pair were once friends, almost lovers, and now have an acrimonious distant relationship at best. The flash backs helped get to know them better and what led to where they are at with each other now.

Speaking of their relationship. Their attraction is off the charts and the pair do eventually get down and dirty. I got frustrated with them and wanted to lock them in a bunker (closet wouldn’t be strong enough) and force them to talk things out since they both have skewed memories of the past. The end came and things were still unresolved. I will give things the benefit of the doubt that as this is a series, there will be more of their story in future books. Other parts of the plot are left open so this is not a far stretch.

There’s a bit of a love triangle type of affair going on, but I tolerated it because it felt more wishful thinking and a form of denial on the part of JT than anything real. Not to mention, I don’t think this pair will do conventional in the long run.

All in all, it was interesting, creative, and somewhat confusion for me. I’m willing to press forward with more of the series and the characters and would definitely recommend The Glamour Thieves to others who enjoy a futuristic fantasy mash-up.

My thanks to Riptide Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This short book had an interesting storytelling technique in that you just got thrown into the middle of two men with a history together, and you really had no clue what was going on. Even by the end of the book I still wasn’t real clear what their past entailed and what they had meant to each other or what they meant to each other by the end. JT, the orc, is a mechanic who I think was a car thief in the past, and Austin, an elf, is still the same slick con man who he’s always been. Everything in this story is based on the men’s backstory, but that backstory is never fully conceptualized. There are brief flashbacks into the men’s relationship (well, it was basically just a sex scene), but they were a bit confusing as to time and place in relation to what is happening in the present. Normally the only time I feel lost in a book is when it’s a series and it’s not a stand alone book, but this book skated the edge in a lot of areas.

Austin and JT hadn’t seen each other in two years, and Austin bribes JT into helping rescue a friend of theirs by offering JT a stolen car. Their mutual friend, Buzz, had stolen some virtual information and was being hunted by Chinese Triad. What had me laughing during the book, was that the bad guys were called 49ers. It would read, “The 49ers bullets tracked him all the way.” And without fail, every time these 49ers were mentioned, I just visualized football players. Sigh….I know, but when I hear 49ers…I think football. So I kept seeing these bad guys in gold and red uniforms with shoulder pads and helmets…carrying guns! Needless to say, it pulled me out of the story every time.

There wasn’t a clear direction for the plot, and the world building was rough and not explained well. I’m sure there will be other books to come which will delve into this world and the explanations will be much deeper, but it was a little irritating in this story. The narrative is pretty rough and tough…not much sentiment in this story. This is a guy’s story, and the sex is definitely guys sex. For a while, I thought Buzz was going to be the third man in a love triangle, but only he and JT had a sexual relationship, well, not so much a relationship as a hookup. JT and Austin both have sex with other people multiple times in the book, so if this is an issue for a reader, you should probably stay away from this story. The sex is rough and smutty, nothing gentle or sweet between these men.

Overall, there was just a lot of information to absorb in this story, which just didn’t seem to work considering how short the story was. There was world building, past histories, different characters and their powers and pasts, different sci fi technical information…all of this just didn’t coalesce well. It seemed very thought out, and the bones were there for a very good book, I just thought it needed more depth and explanation. This could not be seen as a romance, even though you knew both main characters had a thing for each other. Their relationship didn’t progress beyond sex, and I do like for the sex to actually move the relationship and story forward to some degree. For a basic sci fi book and a light, quick read this book works great. For any depth and relationship-centric story, you might pick a different book. I’m sure there will be plenty of readers who will love this story, it just wasn’t for me.

*I received an ecopy of this via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

This book was fantastic! I saw the title and the cover, and I was interested. I saw the genre was sci-fi/fantasy, and I was still interested. I started reading the blurb and saw the word ‘orc,’ and I was sold. I didn’t even finish reading the blurb before deciding I wanted this. And it did not disappoint.

The writing, the characters, the characters’ *voices*—that was what made it so amazing. Their voices were so strong, well-written, and different from what I normally find. Harder, raunchier, grittier. I want to say it’s exactly what you’d expect an orc to be like, but, to be honest, I don’t know anything about orcs. It was definitely not what you’d expect an elf to be like though, which only made it even more interesting.

Speaking of the creatures, as I mentioned, I didn’t actually know anything about orcs, but I love uncommon supernatural creatures, so I loved that the main character was one. The orcs were pretty cool, different from other creatures I’d read about. They even had tusks! Elves are markedly more common, but it was still cool seeing this author’s take on those too.

There wasn’t as much emotion as there normally is in the books I give 4.5 stars to, but there was enough. I felt for these characters, especially JT. They were hard and tough. They were thieves and hackers and adrenaline junkies and the type of people (or supernatural beings) who enjoyed getting each other off while driving at ungodly, one-wrong-move-and-you’re-dead speeds on the magway. They could be real jerks sometimes. But they still had real emotions. They still felt pain over past hurts. They still worried about others. They still wanted to be loved.

And the *sex*. There was quite a lot of it considering the length of the book, and it was not for those with delicate sensibilities. It was just as rough and hard and gritty as the rest of the book but still sexy as hell because you could tell how much the characters enjoyed it.

This book also had a really cool urban fantasy/futuristic cyberpunk mash-up. There were orcs and elves and wizards and mancers. But there were also advanced technologies, cars that drove themselves or that you drove with just your mind, virtual reality laid over the real city, technology that basically allowed telepathy (including the ability to simulate touch to another person). JT was even able to feel what the car felt, like the wind, once he connected to it.

The only negative thing I can say is that there probably could’ve been more to the plot since the book was short and the plot itself mostly just consisted of driving and fighting some baddies, plus a romance that wasn’t resolved yet. The book was more about getting to know the characters and the past relationship between JT and Austin. But this is going to be a trilogy, I believe, so maybe there’s a good reason for the plot in this one being what it was. And I was able to pretty much overlook this because of how much I liked the rest.

So overall, this book was gritty and sexually charged with unique character voices, the plot was action-packed, the orcs and elves were interesting, and the characters were all hard edges but still with enough emotion to make them seem real and to make me feel invested!

Shadowrun, for those who don’t know, is an RPG world developed in the late 1980s which combines cyberpunk with fantasy. Orcs with lasers, pixies with cybernetic implants, and the like. It’s an enormously fun concept that, outside of Shadowrun itself and Warhammer 40k, has been puzzlingly neglected (the last series outside of those two shared worlds I can remember doing this sort of thing well is Justina Robson’s excellent Quantum Gravity). I’m pleased to report that newcomer Don Allmon has done an outrageously good job of deploying those elements in The Glamour Thieves.

The two leads are JT, an orc car thief turned mechanic, and Austin, and elvish con man/thief. It is very clear from the first page that the two have History with a capital H, but the exact nature of that history is not something we find out until much later in the book, and even then only partially. It’s an interesting storytelling technique: the heist plot which drives the action and the romantic thread which drives the character tension between JT and Austin are both very much tied in that backstory, and neither is ever fully contextualised. This worked to make the madcap rush of the plot seem even more like a headlong dive into the unknown. I found this very effective, but can see others would be irritated by the lack of clear direction in the plot (I should add that I’m sure Allmon has control of his plot at all times, but the reader does not always have access to the same information). This stylistic adventure is allied with a flashy if deliberately rough prose style that I suspect will quickly become instantly identifiable with Allmon.

We quickly go from JT and Austin meeting again for the first time in 2 years to JT being pushed into helping Austin with a heist. They end up roping in a red headed hacker, Buzz, and a Wizard, Victor. The heist, of course, goes badly, with heavily armed Triads, necromancers, and advanced AIs all coming to the party. The action scenes make great use of the worldbuilding, with Austin using his elvish glamour to warp enemies’ emotions, JT using his cybernetic connections to command an army of drones (and, uh, a pickup truck), Buzz hacking man and machine alike, and Victor using the magic powers inherent in his frankly terrifying metal eyeballs. These scenes are creative, but most importantly, they’re also fun.

Points, too, for a good cast of side characters. Buzz and Victor are intriguing, and I really hope we see more from JT’s apprentice, Dante, who seems like she has some interesting stories of her own to tell. Even the villains mentioned above are developed enough to be more than cardboard cutout antagonists. Allmon also has a real talent for outright filthy sex scenes. Sweat and jizz and biting and glamour and sex involving cybernetic cars. It’s smut but it’s not just smut: in their own rough hewn way, the sex scenes in the Glamour Thieves are evocative, and reveal quite a lot about the characters of those with their clothes off. I should also note that both JT and Austin have sex with other people multiple times in the book before they turn to each other. This isn’t a romance, at least not yet, though I understand Austin and JT’s story is going to continue in Book 3 of the Blue Unicorn series (Book 2 is Buzz’s book), and I cannot wait to see where they end up. Highly recommended.

RATING: 3 out of 5

I was immediately intrigued with the blurb when I saw this being listed at Netgalley. First, ORC! Yep, orc and elf. While I read a number of urban fantasy books with elves, I don't think I've read many with orcs as main character and protagonists. Second, the allusion that JT and Austin had history previously. Second-chance romance will always be a favorite trope of mine. I wanted to know why it didn't work between them before and how would JT and Austin found a way back to each other again.

Unfortunately, I had trouble when I tried to figure out the universe of this novel. One important thing when it comes to urban fantasy books for me is the ability for the author to introduce the world so I can easily understand what is happening. In here, I felt that the particular aspect didn't flow as smoothly as I wanted.

There were references to previous events or other characters that were not known to me as a reader. I also didn't understand how Austin's glamour really works -- did it also influence feeling?? So I was quite confused with many things: the players, the events, the technologies, the magical power!! It wasn't really fun reading experience.

HOWEVER, I was excited with a number of things. There were times the emotional conflict between JT and Austin felt strong, I wanted them to work things out. Although their background didn't feel flesh out enough, I was quite invested with JT and Austin's relationship. I was a bit disappointed that the ending felt more like HFN, though.

Conclusion:
Some things excited me. Some things confused me. All in all, I felt rather indifferent. But it wasn't bad enough for me to say that I disliked it. Thus the rounded-up 'just okay' rating of mine. Not sure if it's enough for me to check out the sequel ... I just have to wait and see.

I would say this was very imaginative, with pretty cool, if odd characters, and the sex scenes are not for the feint hearted or easily offended.If you like your action fast and furious in more ways than one, with some humour thrown in and you can suspend belief and just go along for the ride so to speak this is a good read .It is not going to tax the old brain cells too much but it is an entertaining read and will keep you amused.Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

3.5*

This is like World of Warcraft characters come to life in some sort of dystopian new age society.

What I like most about this story was JTs "implants". He could connect mentally with all his toys. By toys I mean cars, drones, cameras,etc.. He controlled them with his mind, but if he really wanted to, he could also feel what they felt. Like the wind blowing across the surface, etc... That last scene was kind of Ludacris but I loved it anyways.

What I wasn't to thrilled about with this story was JT and Austin's relationship. It confused me. Were they in love, were they not? What is happening now? Is Austin a liar? Am I the only one who feels awkward when Buzz is around?

Even by the end of the story I still feel kind of unsure. I will say though that JTs apprentice, Dante? yeah, I'm excited for her story. She seems like she's going to be pretty badass...and I'm wondering what the ghost will lead her to.

Not a great hit with me unfortunately because I really liked the blurb. :(

When I read the blurb for this story I immediately wanted to read it. I kept a look out for it on Netgalley and when it finally arrived it went straight to the top of my review pile (and yes I have a substantial review pile). There was just something about an adventure with an orc and an elf that sounded both intriguing and innovative.

And to be honest it was innovative and intriguing but it just didn't grab me.

I thought the story was a bit slow for the first 50%. This may be because the first part of the story was focused on world building, introducing the characters and kind of setting the scene for the story and it managed to do this but it just wasn't interesting for me. There was also a flash back in this first part of the book which was actually a sex scene from the past and I don't think that added anything to either the world building or the development of the characters. For me a sex scene needs to be really integrated in the story and somehow move things along and I felt it just didn't do that and so overall the first part of the book kind of fell flat.

There was a lot to get to grips with in the first part of the story which isn't a problem normally but for some reason it just didn't flow for me. There was the world, the characters, their pasts, their powers, the enemies and all this different sci fi technology. Each of these aspects of the story were well thought out but I felt something was lacking in the way the aspects unfolded as the story progressed.

This is the first time that I am reading anything by this author and so it could be that I just haven't clicked with the author's writing style.

But I did click with the characters towards the end of the book. From 60% onwards I felt the story started flowing and it felt as if each character really came into their own and the story became more comprehensive.

But alas in summary, this story didn't really work for me which is fine because I don't think every story has been written for me and I am sure there are plenty of readers who will love this.

Having said all this I am still glad I read it because the characters are unique. I haven't read any mm stories with orcs in them, especially orcs who build cars and this is what attracted me to the story in the first place. So I am pleased I read it to the end even though I didn't really enjoy it

Copy provided by Riptide Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I was expecting this to be YA but this was definitely in the new adult ballpark! It’s about an orc called JT who has left a life of crime behind him and started his own robotics business when his old partner and friend (and maybe something more), an elf by the name Austin, comes around calling and asking for help on a job. JT reluctantly agrees and they go on an adventure. Wizards, necromancers, zombies, drones, virtual reality, AI’s and magical foxes all get thrown into the mix. Sounds exciting right? Only, the whole thing was so overtly sexual that it was pretty uncomfortable for me to read in places. Focusing on the plot, I enjoyed it, but it felt a bit crude to me especially as I was expecting a YA adventure and the blurb definitely didn’t give me any indication that this was the way the book was going.