Book Review: The Omega Objection: The San Andreas Shifters by G. L. Carriger (Gail Carriger)

The Omega Objection: The San Andreas Shifters

by G. L. Carriger (Gail Carriger)
November 4, 2018
317 pages
A werewolf walks into a bar. Tank is working as a bouncer when he notices something odd about the sexy-as-sin bartender. He’s odorless, he’s amazingly popular with shifters, and he’s terrified.

A man without a smell. 
Isaac is trying to escape his past. He hides in San Francisco because everyone knows that there are no werewolves in the Bay Area.

Until one walks into his bar.
Can a gentle werewolf with a trampled heart show a man who’s been running scared that sometimes there are monsters worth running towards?

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger (writing as G. L. Carriger) brings you the next in her charming gay werewolves series. The San Andreas Shifter books stand alone and do not need to be read in any order. but if you're a stickler this book comes after Bryan & Max's story, The Sumage Solution.

Delicate Sensibilities?
This book contains M/M sexy times and horrible puns. If you get offended easily, then you probably will. San Andreas Shifter stories include blue language, dirty deeds, and outright admiration for the San Francisco Bay Area. Not for the faint of heart or mouth or tongue.

The Omega Objection is the second book in Garriger's gay paranormal romance series The San Andreas Shifters. I really enjoyed book one The Sumage Solution and was looking forward to more stories set in this world. The series is full of snarky humor, warm and fuzzies, and representation. You find all sexualities, races (human and supernatural), and genders.

I loved Issac's character. Poor guy has spent his whole life on the run and disconnected from his wolf. He is an omega (this is not a/b/o story...if you don't know what I'm talking about it don't worry) A very rare occurrence and something all werewolf packs want and even kill for. And when it comes to sex, he wants to be in charge. Tank is a "...demigod-mountain-werewolf-dream-creature..." Issac's words. He has no rank in the pack and sees himself as just a grunt. And when it comes to sex, he's a sub all the way... put the two together... hubbahubba.

There are a lot of characters to keep up with in the SA pack. But each one is fun and essential to the pack family dynamic. The story moves at a fast pace from the POVs of Issac and Tank. And as expected in a house full of shifter men it's all about the rooster (euphemism) jokes. My favorite line from Tank "Come to the dude side, we have 🐓." (insert four letter word for rooster) 

Already looking forward to Jude (pack enforcer, no one knows how old he is) and the emotionally fragile and broken Colin. Both have secretive pasts and you can bet they will collide in a spectacular way.

4 "🐺🐓+🐺🐓=🌈🎆" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
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Gail Carriger is the author of over a dozen New York Times Bestsellers, her latest is The Sumage Solution written under the pen name G. L. Carriger. Almost 20 books later and she still gets excited every time she sees her book in a bookstore or library, and she still loves Drinks with Stuff!

Series Book Review: San Andreas Shifters (The Sumage Solution #1 and Marine Biology #.5) by G. L. Carriger + giveaway

The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters #1)

by G.L. Carriger (Writing as), Gail Carriger

July 18, 2017
ebook, 313 pages

by Gail Carriger LLC

Can a gentle werewolf heal the heart of a smart-mouthed mage?

NYT bestseller Gail Carriger, writing as G. L. Carriger, presents an offbeat gay romance in which a sexy werewolf with a white knight complex meets a bad boy mage with an attitude problem. Sparks (and other things) fly.

Max fails everything - magic, relationships, life. So he works for DURPS (the DMV for supernatural creatures) as a sumage, cleaning up other mages’ messes. The job sucks and he’s in no mood to cope with redneck biker werewolves. Unfortunately, there’s something oddly appealing about the huge, muscled Beta visiting his office for processing.

Bryan AKA Biff (yeah, he knows) is gay but he’s not out. There’s a good chance Max might be reason enough to leave the closet, if he can only get the man to go on a date. Everyone knows werewolves hate mages, but Bryan is determined to prove everyone wrong, even the mage in question.

Delicate Sensibilities?
This story contains M/M sexitimes and horrible puns. If you get offended easily, then you probably will. The ­­­­San Andreas Shifter stories contain blue language, dirty deeds, and outright admiration for the San Francisco Bay Area. Not for the faint of heart (mouth/tongue/etc.).

This book stands alone, but there is a prequel short story featuring Bryan’s brother, Alec, the Alpha. Want to know why the pack moved? Read Marine Biology.

Marine Biology (San Andreas Shifters 0.5)
by Gail Carriger
October 4th, 2011
43 pages
by Gail Carriger LLC
A short tale of seduction, selkies, and sushi.

Alex is a werewolf with problems – he’s unexpectedly alive, he’s quite definitely gay, and he’s been ordered into a partnership with one very flirty merman.

In this LBGTQ sweet short love story, New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger brings her comedic voice to contemporary fiction and m/m romance. Explicit language warning but little erotic content. (11,000 words ~ 43 pages) First published in The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2 (2010).

WARNING
Contains confused lovelorn werewolves and very pretty ex-Goth mermen who are exclusively interested in each other. May also contain fish, Irish mafia, and a shocking lack of tea.

You can get this story for free if you sign up for Carriger's newsletter.

I have never read any Gail Carriger...her previous books seemed interesting, but steampunk isn't high on my reading list. BUT she now has a gay romance urban fantasy series, San Andreas Shifters, and you could smell the burning rubber of my shoes as I came to a full stop. Then I read the blurb and this little nugget at the end:

Delicate Sensibilities?This story contains M/M sexitimes and horrible puns. If you get offended easily, then you probably will. The ­­­­San Andreas Shifter stories contain blue language, dirty deeds, and outright admiration for the San Francisco Bay Area. Not for the faint of heart (mouth/tongue/etc.).

If you aren't a mm romance lover or haven't tried one before...heed this warning! Carriger revels in the down and dirty of werewolf shifter natural tendencies. Of course, I couldn't read it fast enough...take from that what you will ;)

There is a quick and sweet (no sex) short story, Marine Biology, that introduces you to Alex (alpha of SA Shifters) and his OMFG fabulous mate Marvin. I read The Sumage Solution first and then read Marine Biology hoping for a little more info on Alex and Marvin but it doesn't give all that much. No need to read it first. After meeting Martin (a secondary character in The Sumage Solution) I want him to have a book from his POV. Love him!

Okay, The Sumage Solution...I haven't read Carriger's other books so I don't know if TSS represents her writing style or if she used it just for this series. The book is internal and external dialogue heavy. Which made for choppy reading, but not in a bad way...just different from what I'm used to. But this style does well for these very male characters. Carriger does a great job of writing horny supernatural males. This is kind of a subjective generalization, but if you've read lots of paranormal romance then you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, it's a genre stereotype, but that is why it tastes soooo good.

Carriger has created a unique world of magic for her series. But the word magic isn't used...it is called quintessence. Those who wield it are called Surges or mages. I'm not 100% clear on the mage hierarchy and the workings of quintessence or the savage power that the shifters have. In a successful attempt at no info dumps, it was hard to piece together the workings of this world. But Max is at the very bottom of it. Most of the info comes at the very end of the book. Not saying this is bad, just I would like a San Andreas Shifter's world tutorial on Gail's website...hint, hint, wink, wink. I still enjoyed the feck out of this story and world, but I hope there isn't a test.

This is getting kind of long...but it was such a reading experience! I'll just say a little about Max and Bryan. Max is about as fractured of a character as they come, figuratively and literally. And he deals with it through sarcasm and surliness. So, of course, I love him. Bryan is the beta of his homeless rag tag pack. This means he balances and brings calm to those around him. Which is in complete in contrast to his physical appearance. Betas are kind of like empaths, they know what you need before you do sometimes. When Max and Bryan meet it is instant lust. These opposites attract and it seems fate has brought them together. That's all I can say without spoiling. But I can tell you they have lots of dirty sex...I've never read about so much tongue action (is that too much info <G>).

Anyway...I really enjoyed The Sumage Solution despite some of the issues I mentioned. It is a fun fated-mates story and we've gotten an introduction to the other pack members we will probably see in future books. There are lots of other shifter and supernatural types in this world too. Marvin is a merman.

I can't show some of my favorite quotes because we are a PG-13 site, but here is one from Biff's (Bryan) POV.

Biff went to make the tea before he had to respond to whatever pointed questions Marvin intended to throw at him next.
He brought back three cups of tea without having to be asked. Peppermint for Alex, because he was a putz, seaweed for Marvin, because he was a fish, and pu'erh for himself. Because I'm a real man.

This is my long winded way of saying this book gets 4.25 "licking" sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
website-FB-twitter
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Gail Carriger is the author of over a dozen New York Times Bestsellers, her latest is The Sumage Solution written under the pen name G. L. Carriger. Almost 20 books later and she still gets excited every time she sees her book in a bookstore or library, and she still loves Drinks with Stuff!

GIVEAWAY
my slightly used signed copy of The Sumage Solution

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Author Gail Carriger Guest Post: My First Time (Seeing My Book In The Wild)

My First Time 

(Seeing My Book In The Wild) 

By Gail Carriger 

The first time I saw my book on a shelf in a bookstore it wasn’t in person. Instead, there it was, blurred by cell phone camera inefficiency, taken by one of my Twitter followers in Minnesota. There was something very peculiar about this.

It was a week before Soulless was supposed to be released, so both she and I were taken entirely unawares and understandably confused by its presence. It turns out, bookstores can do that with certain books: shelve ’em when they get ’em. No gag order ~ as it were.

Mine was one of those books.

A small but enthusiastic following had been anticipating Soulless, and they were gratifyingly a-buzz to find it arriving early. Suddenly, the spies-I-didn’t-know-I-had went to work and began reporting in from around the country.

Soulless spotted in Indiana! In Texas! In New York! Thousands panic!

(Oh, wait, different headline.)
And then, finally, a dear friend snapped a shot if it in my home state of California.

A day or so later, I was out shopping with a couple of girlfriends, as you do. We were consuming those Vietnamese beverages with the black tapioca in them, affectionately referred to by me as “Drinks with Stuff!” (Exclamation point absolutely necessary.) This process, three shopping females plus drinkies, involves much chittering and slurping and sideways perambulations.

Thus engaged, we wandered by a Borders. (I know, right? But this is 2009.)

“Ooo,” says I, “can we go in and see if they have my book?”

And so we do. And there it was! The chittering and the slurping became more enthusiastic as a result, which attracted the attention of one of the green t-shirted staff.

“Can I help you?” says she.

“That’s my book!” I crow.

“Would you like to sign it?” says she. Crazy authors, she’s thinking.

“Really? Of course! Me? I’d love to.”

And so she disappears and returns with a whole stack for me to sign, right there: Drink with Stuff! in one hand, cheap pen in the other.

As we leave the store one of my friends keeps saying. “I can’t believe they didn’t ask you for an ID or anything.”

“Oh, of course,” says I, “because there’s a mad plague of crooks masquerading as small-time authors dashing into unsuspecting stores and demanding to sign books they haven’t written.”

“Well, fine. But it’d be pretty funny if there were.”

And with that, I leave you to ponder what is obviously an untapped criminal market.

The Sumage Solution: San Andreas Shifters #1

by G. L. Carriger

July 18, 2017

315 pages

Can a gentle werewolf heal the heart of a smart-mouthed mage?

NYT bestseller Gail Carriger, writing as G. L. Carriger, presents an offbeat gay romance in which a sexy werewolf with a white knight complex meets a bad boy mage with an attitude problem. Sparks (and other things) fly.

Max fails everything – magic, relationships, life. So he works for DURPS (the DMV for supernatural creatures) as a sumage, cleaning up other mages’ messes. The job sucks and he’s in no mood to cope with redneck biker werewolves. Unfortunately, there’s something oddly appealing about the huge, muscled Beta visiting his office for processing.

Bryan AKA Biff (yeah, he knows) is gay but he’s not out. There’s a good chance Max might be reason enough to leave the closet, if he can only get the man to go on a date. Everyone knows werewolves hate mages, but Bryan is determined to prove everyone wrong, even the mage in question.

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About the Author:
website-FB-twitter
Instagram-tumblr
Gail Carriger is the author of over a dozen New York Times Bestsellers, her latest is The Sumage Solution written under the pen name G. L. Carriger. Almost 20 books later and she still gets excited every time she sees her book in a bookstore or library, and she still loves Drinks with Stuff!