The Official Description: I like my women like I like my whiskey: liable to kill me.
The two parts of being a paranormal private investigator I could really do without are being forced to eat bananas by an animated statue with a potassium fixation, and being put on trial for murder by a self-appointed council of vampire oligarchs.
To be fair, I did kind of do it (the murder, not the bananas). But I was kind of saving my girlfriend, who is kind of one of them.
On top of this, I’ve also wound up with a primordial queen of the damned trying to strangle me in my dreams. And the conspiracy of undead wizards who tried to sacrifice me fifteen years ago has decided that now is the best possible time to give it another go.
Throw in the woman who left me for a tech start-up, the old girlfriend who I might sort of owe eternal mystical fealty to and a werewolf “it girl” who can’t decide if she wants to eat me in the good way or the bad way, and I’m beginning to think life would be easier if I made better choices. Then again, it’d be a whole lot less fun.
Just the facts: Kick-ass female supernatural investigator with a wide variety of ex-beings, great creatures, more bitey things, a pissed-off unicorn, hot sex and a mystery to unravel!
Alexis Hall is one of my favourite authors. His writing makes me laugh and cry! – Kinzie Things
My thoughts bit: Kate Kane is back and I still love her. Hall has created a marvelous character in Kate. She’s brave, makes really poor decisions 99% of the time, has the most bizarre interpersonal relationships ever and somehow finds time to be a detective. Her world if full of the paranormal and that makes this series hilarious and dramatic! If you want truly entertaining plots and awesome characterizations then I suggest you give this series a try!
Kate’s life hasn’t really changed much since the first book in this series: Iron & Velvet. (My review is here). The things that Kate was involved in – particularly a murder with consent – has brought the Vampires down on her! She’s on trial and could lose her life. You’d think that having a stalkery ex-boyfriend who is a vampire, a current lover who is a Vampire Prince and an estranged faerie mother might help – but really, not so much.
One of the amusing things about Kate’s life is that no one ever seems to move on from her life. Every ex she’s ever had seems to be either stalking her, trying to kill her or actively appearing to annoy her. It makes for really fun reading and I love the wit and snark that Alexis Hall puts into nearly all the encounters in the series.
“Shit. This whole clusterfuck just got way clusterier and fuckier.”
I’m going to sound like a broken record because I just love Hall’s writing. There are only a couple of writers who made me, literally, laugh out loud – Alexis Hall and T.J. Klune. It’s a rare gift to be so entertained by someone’s writing. The short explanation of this series is that it’s a strong female lead who exercises poor judgment on regular occasions. Kate is always in trouble but is always working a case that is far more complex than it may initially seem.
Read these books. That’s all I have to say.
Things You May Want To Know: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: (SPOILERS) vivid descriptions of violence and death, lots of bitey, stabby, eaty, killy things.
Readalikes: Other stories that are similar or give the same feel.
- Iron & Velvet (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator #1) by Alexis Hall
- How to Be a Normal Person (How to Be #1) by T.J. Klune
- Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1) by Allie Therin
Links: Goodreads // The Author // The Publisher
I received an ARC of Shadows & Dreams by Alexis Hall from Harlequin-Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 