Pale Demon (Rachel Morgan/ The Hollows #9) by Kim Harrison

Pale Demon (Rachel Morgan/ The Hollows #9)

by Kim Harrison

Publication Date: 2/22/11

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Synopsis (courtesy of Goodreads):

Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.

Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passanger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.

A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

Review:

OMG - I seriously cannot get enough of Jenks and his adorable "Tink" swears. They make me laugh so hard. 

Ok, that aside, I really enjoyed this book and would rank it as probably my favorite book in the series thus far. Not only do we catch up on how Jenks is doing with his deep loss that occurred in the last book, but also ALOT more about Trent, Al, Newt, the going-abouts in the demonic ever-after, and Rachel too. I think this book is really pivotal in the series in the sense that Rachel has come to realize and accept her status as "of demon origin" and that, hey, it might not be so bad to use black/demon magic against evil comes in the form of a crazy, lunatic day-walking demon that eats souls to live (eww to the imagery involved...).

I was pleasantly surprised how well the book was written, since the last 2-3 books kind of were "Eh" and dragging. But it seems that Kim Harrison has gotten her second wind (hopefully for the next few books too!) with this well written 9th book in the series that reflect upon her early books in the series.

There is a lot of action and fighting that keep you enthralled with the story and rooting for our merry band of characters (Ivy, Jenks, Rachel, Trent)....and sometimes Al too. ;) But along with all the action, there is a lot of focus on changing/evolving relationships between characters (Ivy/Rachel, Rachel/Al, Rachel/Trent, Rachel/Newt) so be prepared for some tears, some WAhhhhhh? moments and some surprises that come out of the left field.

Can't wait for the next book to see what happens! ^^

Entice (Need #3) by Carrie Jones

Entice (Need #3) 

by Carrie Jones

Synopsis (courtesy of Goodreads):

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever.
But that's not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead.
Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned...she's Astley's queen.

Review:

I really enjoyed reading the third book in this series, The storyline was good, and the suspense that was built up in the previous two books was still there. It was a very nice quick read, and I was hooked from the beginning to the end. 

The last book ended with quite a shocker, so I was thrilled to see how Ms. Jones continued the story - while also putting in more obstacles for Zara and her friends to overcome -- specifically getting Nick back from the dead / Valhalla. 

I also enjoyed learning more about Astley's character, and his family. And though I really dislike love triangles, I kind of feel one forming between Nick/Zara/Astley, but I guess we'll see in the coming sequel(s).
Once again, Carrie Jones has done a fantastic job of enrapturing you into the world of pixies, elves, shifters, and Norse mythology -- and gold pixie dust to-boot! :)

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars