Series: The Innkeeper Chronicles #1
Format Read: Kindle ARC
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 2, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | CreateSpace
* affiliate link; the blog receives a small commission for purchases made through this link.
Blurb from goodreads:
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.
Bea's Thoughts:
If you've read and enjoyed The Keeper Chronicles series by Tanya Huff, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you enjoy this book and haven't yet read Huff's Keeper series, go get it!
"Clean Sweep" by Ilona Andrews started as a free serial on their website and was recently collected and published as a book. I did not read it on their site but when Andrews put out a call for reviewers the blurb intrigued me and I requested it. "Clean Sweep" is less serious than the Kate Daniels series and the Edge series and I enjoyed it much more than I do those series. In addition to similarities to Huff's series, the use of aliens as the origin of one or more supernatural species reminded me a bit of the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning but overall, Andrews book is more reminiscent of Huff's series. They both have humans who have the responsibility of keeping order, an inn that is more than it seems, non-human guests at said inn, magic, pets who are more than they seem at first glance, strong female leads, creative use of mythology, and a sweet romance.
"Clean Sweep" has humor, snark, romance, a mix of magic, fantasy and sci fi, action, and did I mention the humor? The story grabbed me from the first and kept me hooked all the way to the end. Dina is earning her rank as an innkeeper and looking for her missing parents. As an innkeeper she's supposed to be neutral but when a creature starts terrorizing her neighborhood she breaks protocol and gets involved, which puts her guest, a rather violent and somewhat mysterious lady herself, at risk. Dina finds herself partnered with a local werewolf and then a vampire while trying to capture the beast, figure out why it's there, and a few other related mysteries. We get a little bit of a love triangle, blargh, but it's not the focus of the story, happily. I never actually felt the heat between Dina and the vampire, Arland, but oh the heat between Dina and the werewolf Sean was smoking! Or maybe that was the spare ribs he was grilling. :D
This is a fast paced, twisty, engaging story with fun characters who have depth to them and an interesting if not new twist on urban fantasy. Go get your copy now!
Read some quotes from the story here and an excerpt here.
Ah I love them! I so wish I had had the space to do this for review. They're such a fun writing team and have such quirky humor. Glad it turned out to be a good one. It's so on my list for the next few months :)
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