“So, you’ve seen me naked before?” I said.
“Oh, yes, many times. You have a beautiful body, by the way.”
My cheeks heated. Damn. It had been so long since anybody had complimented me, I was blushing at the disembodied words of a magical house.
― Jemma Croft, Shroom for Improvement
CBR17 Bingo: School
Sonny is a professor and his knowledge of mycology is a key part of the story.
Sonny Daye has a problem. To complete his research on mushroom glamours, he must find a shroom fae that is willing to talk to him. Known for their secrecy and all around antisocial natures, shroom fae are notoriously difficult to engage. So, when Sonny meets an attractive shroom fae working on his local commuter rail, he strikes up a conversation. Claude, said shroom fae, rebuffs his attempts, but Sonny is persistent. The day after he gets Claude to speak to him, Claude disappears.
Claude Stinkhorn receives news that his absent father, Lord Stinkhorn, has passed. Raised by his mother, Claude has no memory of his father. Being the only heir to the Stinkhorn estate, Claude travels to the other side of the Faerie kingdoms to assess and hopefully find a buyer for his late father’s manor. The manor, a sentient being, has other plans. The manor is fuelled by magic, specifically by a twice-yearly ritual that must be performed on the summer and winter solstice. If the ritual is not performed, the manor dies, as does its inhabitants: two sentry fae tasked with managing the manor and attached B&B. Claude, the new Lord Stinkhorn, must perform this ritual. However, no one has any idea what this ritual entails. And Claude has less than two months to find an answer or the house and the sentry fae will disappear into the ether.
As Stinkhorn Manor is a sentient cluster of magical mushrooms, Claude gets in contact with professor Daye, the mycologist. When Sonny arrives, Claude realizes that his most annoying passenger is now his only chance to revive (and hopefully sell) the manor and its surrounding lands.
This was a fast, fun, silly, and sexy read. I’ve read Croft’s “By the Pint,” and Shroom for Improvement is, well, an improvement. Not only did I like the characters better, but the side characters are fantastic, especially the sentient house that prefers to be called “Jenny.”
The mystery is as silly as it is predictable, but it didn’t detract from the story. I’m looking forward to book two of this series, which comes out sometime next year.