Chrysalis (The Formicary #1) by S.E. Harmon

Release date: September 1^st

This was an unexpected story.

Maybe because this is a bit of a genre change for Harmon. It’s still MM, sure. But the romance is not center stage here. Instead, this is more of a suspense bordering on Sci-Fi.

And it’s also a cliff-hanger. Sort of.

Anyway, the story sucked me in right from the start. The MC wakes up in a hospital, having been shot in the head, and with no memory of what happened. Christian – Chris – has amnesia. There’s his doctor (boy)friend, Grayson, who appears to be keeping something from him.
Chris doesn’t know who wants him dead. But he knows he can’t rely on anybody else to help him regain his memory. And he doesn’t know who to trust. But the more he manages to learn about himself, the more questions arise. And it’s obvious that whoever shot him wants to finish the job. Chris won’t make it easy for them, though, as it turns out he has some pretty over-the-top fighting and survival skills.

With this kind of story it’s practically impossible to write anything about the storyline without revealing spoilers, so I’ll just stop there.
But I will say that the story kept me on my toes the entire book.

About the characters… I’m not sure what to think about Chris really.
There’s the present Chris, the one with amnesia, who’s a decent guy. Then there’s past Chris who did some questionable stuff, and present Chris doesn’t agree with the choices past Chris made. So, yeah. He’s a blank slate in the beginning of the story and when more and more is revealed, his own – and my – perception of him kept changing. And that’s awesome. When nothing is what it appears at a first glance. I like it a lot, even if I’m yet undecided about Chris himself.

Grayson, however, is super sweet. I insta-loved him so hard.
And I loved how Grayson and Chris sort of revolved around each other and just generally and how they were together. However, since Gray was so very much kept in the dark about Chris’ (past) life, there was always this layer of secrecy affecting their interactions. Which kept getting in the way of a deeper connection. So I’m hoping that will be “solved” in the sequel when Gray is hopefully more informed.

I enjoyed this book immensely. But, as I said, it wasn’t what I expected. And if there’s something I miss about this story, it’s the Harmon trademark snark. I adore Harmon’s humour and sarcasm. She is the bloody Queen of snark. And unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of that in Chrysalis.

Also, sexytimes. I need more sexytimes.

But all in all. A strong 4-star.

* A free copy of this book was kindly provided by Gay Romance *