Iron & Velvet

Kate Kane is the half-human daughter of the Queen of the Wild Hunt, she drinks whisky for breakfast. Her ex-boyfriend Patrick is a vampire with the mentality of a sixteen year old boy, an obsessive crush, and a disturbing similarity to a certain creepy vampire who sparkles (her business partner used to joke that he (the vampire, not the partner) turned Kate gay). As this series starts Kate has an impressive backstory, her most recent ex was a thief who killed Kate's business partner. After being stalked, groomed and gas-lighted by Patrick Kate has a rule that she will never work for vampires, until the Prince of Cups, Julian Saint-Germain's, incubus right-hand-'man' Ashriel demands her presence to investigate the murder of a werewolf outside her club, The Velvet. Think Sam Spade as a modern-day Lesbian investigating supernatural mysteries. I've loved all of Alexis Hall's contemporary romances but I was a bit hesitant about this series - how does contemporary LGBTQ+ romance segue into paranormal investigations? I shouldn't have worried, it's very different but an absolute joy. The effortless weaving of numerous genres, the celibate sex-demon, the Lesbian biker witches, the vampire prince who is an accountant, the lingerie model Alpha werewolf. Set close to where I work (in a non-pandemic world), I must seek out the church where Kate meets The Multitude, a rather disgusting sounding group mind meld of rats. Humour, snark, gruesome pus and maggots, sewers, hot sex this book has everything and I am steaming through the rest of the series.

I really loved this book. If you are a fan of f/f romance, British humour & stories with a paranormal/fantasy bent you'll love this. It's very well written & Alexis is definitely one of my fave authors. I'd read a lot of m/m by them but boy do they turn there hand to f/f in a delightful manner. I think it's also fairly obvious that it's written from this place of I love the genre & these types of world's. Upon reflection there's a lot of things happening in this book: there's a secret magic London not everyone is in on, we've got Vampires, Mages, Werewolfs & the Fey. Oh & a murder plot & a romance plot. Alexis balances all these elements masterfully. It's fun & refreshing & joyous. I love that Kate didn't do any wallowing either so often in these PI type books the main character can be wallow-y or too moralistic. This series is so worth reading! For fans of Patricia Briggs, Josh Lanyon and E.J.Noyes to name a few.

I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this book. I did like the premise, but the reality of it was thoroughly disappointing. Part of that can be chalked up to world-building by way of info dumps. Then, there's the unlikable main character. I can and often do appreciate snark and wit, but Kate just wasn't likable, which could also be the reason I couldn't get on board with the romance. Either that, or there really was no chemistry. All of that aside, I think the biggest annoyance was all the borrowed elements. I sat this book aside a number of times and kept coming back to try again, but it finally reached a point that I was merely tallying up things I'd seen in other urban fantasy/paranormal stories. In the end, it felt like a mish-mash of so many other stories. If you're completely new to the genre and been living off the grid for some time, maybe you'll like this one better than I did. For me, I think it's safe to say that I won't be recommending this one, nor will I be continuing with the series.