Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

The Viking and the Drag Queen by V.L. Locey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fabulous introduction to Vicki’s new series featuring a Drag Queen bar and its inhabitants.

Book one has a touch of the familiar as well, it includes a closeted ice hockey player in the minor leagues, and the utterly delightful Gigi Patel LeBay aka Elijah McBride, the sweetest and sassiest Queen to grace the stage of the Campo Royale.

There is a very strong sense of family in this book, not only from the found family at the club, but also from Elijah’s brother Hank, who has championed him in the face of parental disapproval which forced Elijah to leave home when he was just 16.

Hank, once he left the Marines, went searching for his baby brother and has had his back ever since and I really loved their strong bond. Before Hank found him, Elijah found his home with Mother Patel and the rest of the gang at Campo Royale.

I loved Mother (and cannot wait for book two, which is her story), she is fiercely protective of her girls and wary of the motives for why ice hockey giant Tyr Hemmingsen is coming back to the club. Closeted jocks only bring heartache she warns Gigi.

But Tyr’s different. The attraction between the two is off the charts hot. He’s under insane personal pressure due to a promise he made to his dying father and this drives a lot of the narrative.

For me, Vicki pitches this perfectly, he doesn’t want to hide Gigi or Elijah, but he’s afraid he’ll fail his promise if he comes out and his ice hockey career implodes. I liked the way the narrative unfolds with this plotline and it felt genuine.

This book just gave me a big smile the whole way through, even with the troubles on the way and I firmly believed in their long term future!

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

View all my reviews