Anna Kensing, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-7342344-1-1
Fantasy Romance, 2019

Yes, those are tentacles of an octopus behind that bloke on the cover of Anne Kensing’s Devilfish.

Elliot shrugged. “Well, what do you want from me?”

Declan looked at him like he’d suddenly sprouted tentacles.

Oh, the author must be feeling very clever with such early foreshadowing.

It’s the Victorian times, one with woo-woo in the world, and we have Elliott Bishop, who’s going to marry Celeste Brady. Won’t the darling be surprised to know that Elliott and his stepbrother Declan Fitzgerald have been shagging since they were lads and Declan woke up to find Elliott enthusiastically performing CPR on his knob. I’m not sure why I should be rooting for people that are roping in some unsuspecting persons into their own personal soap opera. Do they think those poor people have nothing better to do?

Their father goes missing at sea, and curiously enough, Declan, who’s the stepson of the man, is far more determined to find him compared to the biological son.

That’s the biggest issue with this story, really: Elliot.

I’ve said this before, but the protagonist’s attitude when it comes to the premise and the plot can rub off on the reader. Here, Elliot is singularly incurious and disinterested in everything and anything, and as a result, I can’t help wondering why I should care when one of the main characters clearly doesn’t give a damn. He is also relentlessly negative, being the highest maintenance crybaby and whine bag in the land, and he constantly lashes out at Declan when he’s feeling testy.

Oh, and he’s also finding excuses to rub Declan out while professing his fidelity to Celeste, until push comes to shove and he insists that he never cares for her and he doesn’t want her back.

I’m sure the author must have wanted me to like this guy even a bit, but maybe I am missing something as I can’t think of any reason why I should. The fact that Elliot eventually realizes that he can shift shape into octopus only wants me crave for a plate of crispy fried baby octopi, yum yum.

Declan is alright, but because he keeps putting up with Elliot’s drama queen antics, despite the occasional yelling and scolding he aims at that negative knob-head, he resembles more of a punching bag as well as doormat.

I’m reluctant to give this one two oogies because I find the premise and mythology interesting. Personally I would have loved it if the author had gone full Dagon on me, but then again, a whiny octopus crybaby may already be too much for some people. Me, I like what this story could have been, and a part of me dies inside each time Elliot stinks up the joint with his horrid attitude and personality. I actually have to force myself to finish this thing because that fellow is a walking source of peripheral neuropathy.

So yes, Devilfish is an interesting historical fantasy romance, but yikes, tread with caution where Elliot is concerned.