The Mudpie

Title: The Mudpie

Author: A.J. Llewellyn and Serena Yates

Publisher: Total E-Bound

Publisher URL: www.total-e-bound.com

ISBN/BIN: 978-1-78184-089-4

Genre: {M/M} Contemporary Paranormal Series

Rating: 4 Nymphs

Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Dragon Minx

Getting hired as the marketing director for World Wide Wrestlers is a great career move for Mitchell Dykins. Now he’s involved in the creation of a new set of retro trading cards, featuring their premier wrestlers. When he bumps into champion Whip "Mudshark" Jackson at the airport, he’s surprised, but not as much as he is by their mutual attraction. Whip even insists the company give Mitchell his own trading card.

Seeing his face on a card isn’t nearly as surprising as finding he’s changed into his card’s persona, Mudpit Madman when he wakes next to Mudshark covered in mud. Things only get stranger when he and Whip discover that Whip’s Mudshark alter ego has come to life and is trying to kill Mitchell. What’s going on in the superpower world? What can they do to solve the mystery before one of them ends up dead?

The Mudpie is the latest release in the Elemental Superpowers series by A.J Llewellyn and Serena Yates. Since there are numerous returning characters, I recommend the books be read in order.

On the surface Mitchell and Whip don’t appear to have anything in common. It’s just the typical attraction between two guys and then the authors throw in an unexpected twist—Mitchell has family secrets that not only complicate their lives but show that he and Whip aren’t that different. In fact, Mitchell’s past pulls them into more danger than either ever imagined possible while dealing with wacky superpowers, a new relationship, family secrets, mud wrestling and numerous trolls.

The story has a complicated plot and things are rarely how they first appear, so pay attention or you’ll be totally lost. Mitchell and Whip have well-developed personalities, but Mitchell is definitely my favorite. Using flashbacks is a good way of throwing in bits of Mitchell’s history and it really helped to understand how what happened with his mother formed him. The multi-layered plot moves along at a fast pace, there’s plenty of action, Mitchell and Whip interact with numerous otherworld individuals and the descriptions are nicely done. Villains abound but the one in the background, and the story surrounding that individual and how it all ties back to Mitchell, certainly surprised me. It’s a great plot twist. I look forward to the next release, The Souffle.