Format: Kindle
Release Date: January 3, 2017
Source: Bewitching Book Tours
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance
Blood Ops leader Dr. O is chained in the bowels of Steele City, the state’s maximum security prison, and the clock is ticking for Nina and Frankie to bust him out.
Now that supernatural creatures are out of the closet, Providence is descending into an apocalyptic wasteland. With the abrupt shut down Blood Ops, Nina and Frankie are forced to rely on questionable allies to battle Leila, a powerful witch/vampire hybrid hell bent on creating an indestructible supernatural army. She also happens to be Nina’s mom.
Alliances are tested and relationships fractured as Nina and her band of supernatural crime fighting misfits are pushed to the breaking point.
Steele City Blues, the third book in the Hell’s Belle urban fantasy series, is high-octane, action-packed, cinematic story by Karen Greco that fans of The Hollows and the Cassandra Palmer series will love. Join the adventure!
Steele City
Blues is the third installment in author Karen Greco's Hell's
Belle series. It is a series
set in an alternative Providence, Rhode Island. It is important to read these
novels in order, or you will be lost. Steele City Blues is a continuation of the Tainted
Blood story. The series
features half-witch, half-vampire Nina Martinez. Nina works for an
organization called Blood Ops. Blood Ops is an elite team who quietly hunts
down rogue supernaturals and puts them down.
But, after the stunning conclusion to Tainted
Blood
and the shocking
appearance of Nina's supposedly dead mother Leila, Blood Ops is in disarray. Nina, her 700
year old vampire partner Frankie Montefeltro & her best friend
Darcy (Banshee), have found themselves hiding while trying to make plans to
rescue Dr. O. Dr. Lochlan
O'Malley (Druid) is the Head of Blood Ops, but is currently sitting in a jail
cell in a place called Steele City after Leila exposed humans to the fact that
supernaturals live among them.
Yet another member of the team, who I
still have reservations about, is FBI Agent Max Deveroux. Max, Nina's
ex, made a deal with a demon and became something that was once wiped out of
existence; Berserker. The reason I am up in the air about Max, is that I believe
with all my heart that Frankie is more suitable for a variety of reasons when
it comes to romance. Yes, it was fine when Nina and Max were sex buddies for
awhile, but Max has some issues to deal with. Max is also a dreary sort of sod
who mopes around with little if anything to add these days. Makes me want to
club him in the head with a dead fish.
One of the more important storylines of
this series is Nina's dual identity and her heritage. Her witch abilities have
recently manifested, and they are out of control which makes for some humorous
situations. As a witch, she is far behind where she should be. That's not due
to her Aunt Babette (Babe) who tried to get Nina up to speed after Hell's Belle
where her witch powers came to light. Nina is just a better vampire than she is
a witch. She's faster, she heals quicker, she has more agility, and a taste for
blood read meat.
The sudden arrival of Nina's powerful
grandfather who was stuck in Mexico for almost 30 years, makes things even more
twisted to the point where you really have to ask yourself what his real reason
for being in Providence is, and why now after all this time? His actions
towards Nina can be thought of as both antagonistic, and helpful, but he also
is brisk, dangerous, and his relationship with demon mayor Ami Bertrand is
curious to the point where you know there are other secrets waiting to be uncovered.
Whether or not this is the final
installment in the series, I have to say that I am not disappointed in having
read this series. Nina has made leaps and bounds as a character. I loved
her relationship with Casper the Ghost, who was once a witch. Nina and Casper
are quite the pairing, and the antics between the two gives a bit more depth
& fun to the story. I loved that the romance is sussed out to the point
where I can sit back and actually smile, and not groan for having the author
make the wrong choice. The bad thing about this book, was the bureaucratic horse
hockey, and the arrival of a new character who tosses a hand grenade into Nina
& Frankie's plans. Personally, I would have preferred this character to suddenly find
themselves at the mercy of Leila. But, alas, I can't get too blood
thirsty.
Previous Installments
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Karen Greco is originally from
Rhode Island and loves hot wieners from New York System, but can't stand coffee
milk. She studied playwriting in college (and won an award or two). After not
writing plays for a long time, a life-long obsession with exorcists and Dracula
drew her to urban fantasy, where she decapitates characters with impunity.
Steele City Blues is the third book in the Hell’s Belle series, after Hell’s
Belle (the first) and Tainted Blood (number two). She writes contemporary
romance for a small press under the pen-name Jillian Sterling, and has a day
job in entertainment publicity.
Tour
giveaway
10 copies of the book in Kindle or
Epub format.
Thanks so much for reviewing! (And this is not the last book in the series!!)
ReplyDeleteAwesome news! Thanks Karen! Looking forward to book 4!
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