A Rake of His Own, A.J. Lancaster

From the Blurb: Marius Valstar doesn’t know which is worse: the dead body in his greenhouse or the naked fae prince on his desk.

The only rakes of interest to Marius are garden tools. Not fae princes. Certainly not the arrogant, selfish fae prince he has the misfortune to have a history with.

But when Prince Rakken turns up naked and bleeding in Marius’s college the same day a body appears in his greenhouse, scruples must take second place to solving a murder that could unravel the delicate balance between humans and fae.

Marius’s own developing magical powers are more hindrance than help – as is Rakken’s bloodied past. Forced to work together, they must forge an uneasy alliance if they are to track down the killer. But how can Marius trust the man who represents everything he’s trying to avoid?

My Comments: Not my normal reading fare. So far from my normal reading fare I don't really know what or how to describe this. Flagged as an LGBTQI+, Historical, Fantasy Romance novel with mystery elements, it is part of the Stariel series, although I'm told it's chonologically before the rest of the series, and can be read as a standalone. 

Obviously for readers who love the combination of flags noted above, it was certainly readable, funny in places and quite engaging. Lots of puns, lots of romance although I did feel that the mystery wasn't an obvious focus. (Was primarily reading it from that viewpoint so it didn't rate as a standout on that basis for this reader).