carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

Buddy read with Robin, Alexa, Athena, and oOSarahOo.

5 Stars!

This book is absolutely fantastic. I am convinced that the writing team of Ilona and Gordan Andrews can do no wrong. I was immediately pulled into the story once I started reading and simply could not stop reading until I had finished the book, which was a bit of a problem since I was supposed to be keeping pace with a group of friends who were reading it with me - oops, sorry guys. Unfortunately, the fact that I finished so quickly has created a new problem in that I have to wait to read the next book in the series and I hate waiting.

"I didn't have all the relevant information. Had I known you had a haunted house, a magic broom, and a devil dog on your side, my initial response would've been different."

The cast of characters in the story are just phenomenal. Dina is an Innkeeper. She is a tough girl who is not afraid to act on her own. She is spunky, stands up for herself, and more than willing to handle difficult situations when the need arises. Beast is her small dog and maybe just a little bit more than that. Sean is a werewolf who happens to be new in town. He has a lot to learn and Dina is not afraid to tell him what he doesn't know. Caldenia is the one and only guest at Dina's Inn and she is always more than willing to take troublemakers off your hands, especially if they look tasty. Arland is a vampire who seeks refuge at Dina's inn. Gertrude Hunt is the inn and while many would not consider the inn to be a character, it was one of my favorite characters in the story.

"It's not funny. I've got a naked drunk vampire running around my orchard."

I love most things that fall in the paranormal category. I really enjoyed the fact that humor found its way into this story. I love the banter between characters that this author incorporates into the story. The humor fit into this story naturally without being forced and it added to the story. I love that these characters were able to laugh at each other. I hate it when fictional characters takes themselves too seriously.

"I suggest you give up now. According to my research, in a vampire-werewolf love triangle, the vampire always gets the girl."

I am not usually a fan of love triangles but any romance found in this book was so minor that I didn't mind this time and to be honest I don't think that this triangle was really much of a triangle. I think that the world this story was set in was so well done. It was very different than any other story I have read and it was so believable. If you think that this book is simply going to be another Kate Daniels story - you are just plain wrong. If you have read Kate Daniels, then you should already know how amazing this writing pair is and you need to read this book. I also think that this would be a fantastic book for anyone new to Ilona Andrews to start with because it is an excellent representation of their skills both as writers and storyteller. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone and can't wait to read more of this series.