Rating: 4.25 Stars

Publisher: Vinni George

Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Enemies-To-Lovers, Fated Mates/Insta-Love, Mystery, Series, Shifters

Length: 215 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Cal Hunter didn’t hate Jack Grayson the moment he met him. He actually kind of liked the arrogant great white shark shifter… until Jack left Cal zip-tied to a bed and stole Cal’s job. Now, every time their paths cross, things get heated, and they both have the scars to prove it.

Jack has always worked better alone, but there is something about Cal he can’t get out of his system. So it shouldn’t be a problem when they are forced to work together to figure out who is after one of the most famous pieces of stolen art in the world.

But both men are keeping secrets that compromise their mission, and when Jack’s life is threatened, Cal has to decide if holding on to his own secrets is worth it. Turns out fate has one hell of a sense of humor.

Grayscale is book two in the Organization for the Return of Criminals and Assets (ORCA) series, featuring an orca shifter former mercenary who hates taking orders, a great white shark shifter who’d rather work solo, and a worldwide chase to track down a missing painting that ultimately forces them to cooperate in more ways than one!

Review –

I almost did a DNF on this at 28% for a couple of reasons. One, the back and forth between Jack and Cal, along with the secrets they were keeping, starting getting ridiculous. They acted like children, especially Cal, who was supposedly a Navy SEAL. Two, as much as I hate to say this, the art stuff started to bore me. At times, I  felt like I was reading an art history book, not a gay romance novel. I walked away from the book overnight, then came back and finished it. I’m glad I did because it did get better, even though they did keep up with the back and forth.

Jack and Cal, both introduced in Black & White when they saved Felix from his kidnappers, have a history. For two years, every time they’ve come together because of their respective jobs, there’s been physical and verbal fighting and a whole lot of sex. They seriously can’t stand each other, but they’re good in bed. Now they’re being sent around the world to try to find a missing painting, The Evolution of Man. This art piece is why Felix was kidnapped. There’s more to it, but suffice it to say that Jack and Cal are on a mission to find the missing painting, and they’re stuck doing it together whether they want to or not.

For the last year and a half, every time I saw Jack, we fucked, fought, or both. Hell, we’d almost killed each other in Budapest. I had a scar on my left side from the blade of his knife, and he had a matching one on his right from mine.

Every time they’ve come together, they’ve hooked up. Cal refuses this time, even when they’re forced to pretend to be newlyweds on their honeymoon as their cover story. They may share a bed, but there’s nothing going on, with a pillow wall between them keeping it that way.

Cal has known that Jack is his fated mate since the first time they got together, but he’s not dumb enough to tell anybody, especially Jack. Every single time they’ve had sex, Jack has bolted. One time he even left Cal ziptied to a bed while Jack did the job that Cal was hired to do. They seriously despise each other, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting each other bad.

Jack is a great white shark shifter. Cal is an orca shifter. Orca shifters have fated mates. According to Jack, great whites don’t. So Cal has spent the better part of two years keeping the mate thing to himself. He hasn’t even told his brothers, including his twin, Quin. He has the mark on his neck telling the world he’s found his mate – not the same as the mate bite – so I’m guessing he somehow managed to keep that hidden from his family and others. As for Jack, he doesn’t notice the mark, much less know what it means.

Well, until later anyway.

A majority of this book is Jack and Cal going from place to place following leads about the missing painting, and fighting like cats and dogs. Cal mostly keeps up the fights so he won’t be forced to face his feelings. I didn’t quite understand the deal with Jack. Even now, I don’t understand the deal with Jack.

I did like how it came out that they were mates, with Jack even admitting that’s what they are, though he always believed his kind of shifters didn’t have fated mates. That was actually pretty hot. Once that came out, they stopped fighting their feelings, and even exchanged mate bites. This helped with their newly married honeymooners cover story. It also helped me start really liking the book. I’m all about enemies-to-lovers books, but this one took SO long for Jack and Cal to actually come together.

The rest of ORCA – Cal’s brothers and Felix – are in this book, but not much. I was really hoping to see more of them, but this was mainly all about Jack and Cal. There’s a bit of mystery with Cal’s grandmother that I’m sure won’t be solved until the last book.

Grayscale ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but it had nothing to do with Cal and Jack. They definitely got their HEA.

Quin’s book is next. His love interest was introduced in this one, so I’m curious to see what happens there.

Overall, this was a good book. I’m glad I took a chance and finished it instead of leaving it in limbo. There was no doubt about me finishing it eventually because I want to know Quin and Julius’ stories.

4.25 stars instead of higher because of the amount of time it took for Cal and Jack to finally stop fighting. That just dragged on too long, in my opinion.