Arden freely admits he’s a pain in the ass. He’s lewd, crude, shameless, and very nearly a nymphomaniac. Sure, he’s got some good qualities, but that’s never before been enough for someone he loved to stick around. Though he loves Shavey and wishes he could be the kind of long-term lover Shavey wants, Arden can’t pretend to be something he’s not.

The only place that leaves him is waiting for that other shoe to drop–drop-kick him out the door, that is. Though Shavey promises otherwise, Arden’s heard that song and dance before. He’s not buying it.

But that’s all before Arden needs Shavey’s help breaking a chameleonic shapeshifting curse. In return, there are a few things big bad bear Shavey would like to ask for — and intends to prove to Arden — in return.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review:

Karma Chameleon is a pretty entertaining and amusing story. It’s set in the Tomcat series although you don’t have to read the previous books to understand this one. You’re likely to enjoy the story more if you’ve read the previous stories but it’s not mandatory. This new offering focuses on Arden and Shavey, best friends of TJ and MacGowen. The story is not deep and thoughtful but instead keeps the same sense of ridiculous antics the previous books have. There are back and forth grapples, quick banter, hot sex, and chaos magic thrown in to keep things interesting. As a quick, engaging read this satisfies.

Arden has never been with a man before but he doesn’t let that stop him when it comes to Shavey. Arden’s more than willing to throw himself at the big dominant man but when Shavey starts talking commitment and the “L” word, Arden runs like his pants are on fire. Convinced everyone eventually gets sick of his pain in the ass ways, Arden is determined not to get hooked on Shavey. Yet he worries it may be too late. Not to mention the slight issue that Arden is now turning into random creepy crawlies like a gecko or a platypus due to the chaos magic he unleashed.

The story keeps the very light, fun loving nature from beginning to end. It incorporates Arden’s commitment issues with Shavey’s desire for more while adding in the rather entertaining quirk of Arden randomly shape changing. This keeps the pace very quick and the story incredibly easy to read. It’s not emotionally deep or challenging, instead it’s light, frothy, and pretty amusing. The characters are fun to read and Arden is engaging, even for all his asshole tendencies. Since told from Arden’s perspective, his banter and quick wit are on display and help find humor in everything.

The story has some stumbles, especially in the beginning when Shavey and Arden are grappling and some moves are impossible (for example Arden is suddenly on top of Shavey when the story forgot to add the flip in positions). But these are pretty minor since the focus of those scenes is always sex, I doubt many will care that the bump and grind is not perfectly orchestrated. Also sometimes the intent of a scene is telegraphed without really explaining fully. Some of the later scenes between Mac and Shavey revolving around their friendship makes some leaps that aren’t backed up by their actions. But again these are minor issues that I highly doubt readers will mind.

Instead the focus is on delivering a fun, entertaining, and witty story, which it does very well. The random shape changing Arden experiences is very funny, as is Shavey’s response to each. I really enjoyed the tension and question of what Arden would turn into next, as well as the revelation of what was controlling his shape shifting (very fitting). The author has a real flair for humor and knows when to keep the scenes and dialogue witty and sarcastic without going overboard into ridiculous. So if you’re looking for something fun and thoroughly entertaining with a dose of amazingly hot sex, definitely pick this up.