| Genre | Gay / Fantasy / Elves/Fairies/Sidhe / High Fantasy / Magic / Royalty/Nobility / Romance / Action/Adventure / Humor/Comedy / Opposites Attract |
| Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 14-October-2026 |
When Perfection Collides With Chaos, Sparks Fly
Crispin Eladrin, desk fae at the Office of the Lost, could find a needle in ten haystacks. His desk is so neat it would make an accountant blush, and he's never failed to complete a recovery mission. He has no idea how adorable he is, especially when he's at his most annoyingly officious.
Enter utterly chaotic Leopold Lane. His life is a masterclass in disastrous events--and it's about to get worse. He's the latest thing that Crispin has been sent to retrieve, but when they meet, sparks fly. Literally. And now they must find their way back before someone—or something—enchants them, eats them, or stomps them to death.
Neither knows why the Office of the Lost is so hell-bent on acquiring Leo, but they're determined to survive long enough to find out--and to see if opposites really do attract.
What a truly fabulous world the authors have created for the ‘Order and Chaos’ series! The Office of the Lost (or OotL for short) is at the center of multiple worlds inhabited by fantastical beings. The offices’ task is to collect all kinds of things and beings, sometimes at great risk to the collectors. Crispin Eladrin is a desk fae at OotL, tasked with collecting Leopold Lane who currently lives on Earth and seems to cause disasters wherever he goes. Leopold’s description of the offices – “It wouldn’t have been out of place as the offices of Boring, Large, and Corporate LLC back on Earth.” – made me laugh out loud, and it wasn’t the only time.
Crispin is the perfect collector, able to retrieve anything, and he has the perfecality score to prove it. Order is his way of life, but he is so adorable and basically kind, that it didn’t matter to me that he is essentially a bureaucrat of the first order. He takes his job so seriously that he has made it the center of his life. He also happens to be the son of the Queen of the Fae, who is behind a lot of what is going on and an intimidating personality. He has a magic all his own but doesn’t really want to use it: “He could try to magic his way through the door, of course. But first of all, that would be rude, and he tried to never be more rude than the situation absolutely required.” Hilarious!
Leopold is an adorably clumsy man who doesn’t really like order, just look at his apartment. He seems to attract disasters and has done so all his life. The explanation for why he does this is very creative, but saying what it is would be a spoiler. You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out, and let me tell you, it is well worth it. Leopold is as great as Crispin, in his own way, and ready to sacrifice himself to make things right. He still expects things to be logical, sort of, even after having been chased out of his apartment by an ominous black cloud. Leopold very quickly realizes the futility of expecting things to make sense: “Leopold had already learned that there was no point in relying on silly things like logic and the laws of physics while on this adventure.”
Both men insist on usage of their full names but call each other by nicknames – Leo and Crispy – that seem much more appropriate. Their relationship is somewhat hostile in the beginning, which is no surprise with their diametrically opposed characters. But even though they seem to want very different things, they somehow fit. Going through the harrowing situations and hostile beings they encounter may have something to do with their gradual appreciation of each other! I loved watching them come closer and falling in love – and could only hope the authors would find a way to let them be together!
But the two main characters aren’t the only somewhat eccentric, whimsical, and unlikely beings in this book. There is Crispin’s supervisor at the OotL, a literal ogre of a woman who needles Crispin constantly and just doesn’t seem to care about the issue of “collecting” a sentient being. Crispin’s mother is quite a piece of work at first who somewhat redeems herself only in the last few chapters. There is Fromlith, a vegan giant who unexpectedly helps Crispin and Leopold instead of eating them; there is an intelligent archosaur named Juzir who is a wizard of frightening power; there is Thea, Crispin’s personal assistant who presents as a cell phone; and many, many other interesting characters. All of them are three-dimensional (at least!) and ensure that there is a surprise around every corner.
If you like hairbrained but well constructed adventures, if interesting characters who face an uphill battle are your thing, and if you’re looking for a fascinating world that has well thought-out rules, then you will probably love this novel as much as I do. I cannot wait to read the next volume in this series!
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Other World’s Ink for the purpose of a review.
| Format | ebook and print |
| Length | Novel, 283 pages |
| Heat Level | |
| Publication Date | 21-June-2025 |
| Price | $6.99 ebook, $17.99 paperback |
| Buy Link | https://www.amazon.com/Office-Lost-Chaos-Order-Book-ebook/dp/B0F89QQGVJ |
