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Review
This novella is a spin off to the Kate Daniels series, and takes place after the events of book 3 – Magic Strikes.
It features Kate’s best friend, Andrea, who is called to investigate the appearance of house-sized, three-headed hell-dog Cerberus, who is running loose just outside the city of Atlanta. But more importantly (for romance fans like me), this book features Andrea’s hook up with hot hyena shifter, Raphael. He’s been chasing her for 6 months, and this is finally it!
Andrea’s mission puts her on a direct collision course with Raphael, and together they investigate what and who is behind the dog’s appearance, and figure out how to send him back to hell. As always, there is lots of action, with a nice amount of violence and paranormal badassery.
And for the romance fans – Andrea and Raphael finally get the opportunity to be alone together and talk about what is brewing between them. They both open up to each other, and I enjoyed their full backstories. And while Raphael has never shied away from his feelings before, he really puts it out there this time, and it’s awesome!
“I think of you a lot. Do you think of me, Andrea? Don’t lie to me.”
“Yes!” I snarled, my face burning. “Yes, I do! All the time. I can’t get you out of my head. I wish I could!”
He hugged me so hard, my bones nearly crunched. “You’ve made yourself into a new person and so have I. We deserve a fucking chance. I want you and you want me. Why aren’t we together? I’ll deal with your hang-ups if you’ll deal with mine, but if you’re still too scared to even try, then you’re not worth waiting for. I have some goddamn pride left and I won’t wait forever.”
And of course, Andrea is powerless to resist – and nobody could blame her! But don’t go thinking that it’s all steamy time and romance. There is, in fact, no steamy time at all. Sex is alluded to, and things definitely develop, but it’s done in a way that fits in with the world that Ilona Andrews has created, and both Andrea and Raphael stay very true to their natures.
“Maybe we should be careful with public displays of affection.”
I gave him my thousand-yard stare. “Oh no. I think you misunderstand the nature of our relationship. You are mine.
If there is an attractive female in speaking range, you will be publicly affectionate to me. Otherwise I’ll end up pistol-whipping them off you.”
I love that this series has such strong heroines! But Raphael is a tough and powerful male, and he gets plenty of opportunity to prove it.
If I weren’t a trained professional, I’d have fainted from the sheer overload of his badassness.
I loved this little extra! Although I missed the Beast Lord and all of his awesomeness, Kate makes an appearance, and I liked that the focus is very much on Andrea and Raphael. I enjoyed the progression in their story and look forward to seeing what the rest of the series has in store for them.
“If I die, will you grieve for me?” he asked.
“Yes. But before I do that, I’ll fight to save you.”
4 stars.
Check out our Kate Daniels series page for more information including reading order, reviews and buy links.