Tatterdemalion: a person in ragged or tattered clothing. 

In a world where magic is something to be dissected and analyzed, untrained mind mage Lindsay Carrington is a slave to a group of unscrupulous doctors who are determined to harness and control his formidable magic.  Betrayed by the very parents he should have been able to trust, he’s tortured, frozen, starved and experimented on nearly to the point of death.  An unexpected flare of his magic allows him to escape, but he only makes it as far as a dumpster in an alley, where he prepares to die. 

Shifter-mage Dane is also a broken man, a tatterdemalion trapped in a form between human and beast. Dane answers to no one except the powerful air mage Cyrus.  When Cyrus sends Dane to rescue Lindsay, Dane doesn’t expect much.  The boy is all but dead, and Dane is much more interested in confronting a long-term foe than playing babysitter.  But, Cyrus “gives” Lindsay into Dane’s care, and it’s not a responsibility the shifter can take lightly.  As Lindsay begins to heal and grow stronger, the bond between the two grows as well.  Dane begins to realize that Lindsay, at nineteen, isn’t the child he’d first thought him to be, while Lindsay begins to experience his first taste of love. 

As Dane takes Lindsay on a quest to free his now trapped magical powers, their bond grows and Lindsay realizes that what he feels for Dane is the truest thing he’s ever experienced – stronger even than the magic he’s finally able to access.  Capture at the hands of a seemingly undefeatable enemy isn’t enough to overcome Lindsay’s passion for Dane. As for Dane, well, Cyrus gave Lindsay to him and he has no intention of letting him go…at least not until Lindsay outgrows him and walks away.  That’s something, however, that Lindsay has no intention of doing.

Tatterdemalion by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox is set in an alternate world in which magic exists, though on the down-low.  Mages walk among us, and the Fae keep an interested and critical eye on it all.  The world Ms. Crow and Ms. Fox have created is rich with background and detail - just familiar enough to resonate, just alien enough to intrigue.  The cast of characters is equally intriguing. Cyrus, Vivian and Ezqel are all formidable and emotionally inaccessible. This makes Dane’s surprising tenderness toward Lindsay all the more striking. 

The two men’s quest is fraught with enough danger to keep the reader’s adrenaline pumping. The emotional intensity of the story doesn’t let up until the last page has been turned.  The sex (because, face it, we all read for the sex) is satisfyingly hot, while still managing to keep the emotional intimacy that makes this pair so compelling.  Dane’s progression from broken to whole, first physically then mentally, is a pleasure to see.  Especially interesting is his interaction with Jonas, “the dog,” who is a former friend turned fierce enemy.  Growth rarely comes without suffering, though, and Dane definitely does more than his fair share of it in this book.  But with every tragic, painful or just plain terrifying event, Lindsay steps up becoming stronger and more committed. 

Tatterdemalion is a love story set within a deeper, much wider story about society and acceptance.  I look forward to more visits to the world of the Foundations of Magic.