Format: eBook, 235 pages
Release Date: December 2nd 2013
Publisher: NYLA
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Paranormal
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.
Clean Sweep is the first installment in author's Ilona Andrews The Innkeeper Chronicles. Dina DeMille is an Innkeeper, part of a magical race who offers safe haven to intergalactic travelers who are visiting foreign realms, in Red Deer, Texas, just like her parents, Gerard, and Helen, who disappeared without a trace while she was in college. When her parents disappeared, she lost everything and had to start over in Texas. Her brother Klaus decided to be a traveler, her older sister Maud chose to marry a vampire. Dina chose to walk the same path as her parents by asking the Assembly for her own Inn which was granted.
Dina's Inn is called Gertrude Hunt. Dina is supposed to be neutral by definition and the Inn has magical boundaries but there's nothing in the rules preventing her from defending her inn, her guests, and herself. She has an almost symbiotic relationship with the Inn she runs, the house protects her, and she is able to draw from its strength but without her keeping the Inn would wither away and die. Innkeepers have a duty of care to their guests and will do anything in their power to keep them safe which is why Caldenia feels that she can take up permanent residence without any worries that Dina will turn her out.
She has a little Shih Tzu named Beast. Dina isn't one to take lightly. Especially when her broom turns into a powerful weapon and she can literally turn her Inn into a fortress. Dina finds herself unable to sit back and do nothing when something starts attacking dogs in her neighborhood and she soon finds herself in a whole heap of trouble. This story introduces key characters who will be seen in the next several installments. Sean Evans is ex-military and an alpha-strain werewolf built for war. Arland is a vampire from a powerful family. He is noble and proud but very respectful when it comes to Dina. He understands her abilities so knows just what she is capable of, but he still wants to help keep her safe.
I could go on and on about the things I loved about this book,
but I really think you should just read it for yourself rather than have me
spoil it for you. The special edition print version contains beautiful images
of the main characters, but these illustrations are not included in the eBook which
is too bad. Fairness in reviewing, I actually received an invitation to read
this book via NetGalley thanks to Subterranean Press which combined all three
installments into one book. All three books will be reviewed back to back.
Format: ebook, 237 pages
Release Date: November 13, 2015
Publisher: NYLA
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Paranormal
Dina Demille doesn’t run your typical Bed and Breakfast. Her inn defies
laws of physics, her fluffy dog is secretly a monster, and the only
paying guest is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. But
the inn needs guests to thrive, and guests have been scarce, so when an
Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door and asks her to host a peace summit
between three warring species, she jumps on the chance.
Unfortunately,
for Dina, keeping the peace between Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing
Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than
done. On top of keeping her guests from murdering each other, she must
find a chef, remodel the inn...and risk everything, even her life, to
save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's
work for an Innkeeper…
Sweep in Peace is the second installment in author's Ilona Andrews The Innkeeper Chronicles. It has been 6 months since the end of Clean Sweep. Dina DeMille is an Innkeeper, part of a magical race who offers safe haven to intergalactic travelers who are visiting foreign realms. Her Inn exists in Red Deer, Texas. Dina is basically master of the universe when she's inside Gertrude Hunt. What she says goes and if you don’t like it, well, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!
In this installment, we meet the Arbitrators who specialize in dispute resolution. This book marks the return of characters from the authors The Edge series Jack, George, Gaston, and Lark/Sophie. We also get a brief appearance from Dina’s brother Klaus DeMille who is supposed to be searching for their parents, but it appears he’s into something even bigger. George Camarine arrives in Red Deer to ask Dina to play host to a galactic peace conference between warring factions who are fighting over control of a planet called Nexus which provides a precious mineral called Kuyo.
Dina has a decision to make. Accept and risk losing everything if she is unable to control her hostile guests or deny and lose a great chance to boost both, the magic of the inn and her, admittedly, hurting bank account. Dina decides the benefits outweigh the potential for catastrophe. The factions are Arland’s Holy Cosmic Anocracy, The Merchants led by Nuan Cee, the Merchant Dina has done business with in the past, and the Hope Crushing Horde led Dagorkun, of the Ortokari Horde. Dina also has to find a chef to be able to feed at least 40 people which sends her looking for a red cleaver chef named Orro, who is a fabulous but disgraced chef with a flare for the over dramatic.
The unfortunate part of this story is that Sean is all but a ghost until much later in the story and even with that, he’s not the same person we saw in Clean Sweep. I think readers of the Edge will be enlightened at who George has turned into and what lengths he will go through in order to get what he wants. There is also Lark/Sophie who Dina finds common ground with. The half-broken girl from the Edge has grown to be a badass, half-broken woman, fighting to prove that she isn't the monster people, herself included, see her as. Once again, the most fascinating character to date is Caldenia, ex-tyrant, and galactic exile, who always has a wonderful quip or two:
Caldenia blinked. “Who are the attending parties?”
“The Holy Anocracy represented by House Krahr, the Hope-crushing Horde, and the
Merchants of Baha-char. They are coming here for Arbitration and they will
probably try to murder each other the moment they walk through the door.”
Caldenia’s eyes widened. “Do you really think so? This is absolutely
marvelous!”
She would think so, wouldn’t she.
There's a very Agatha Christie mystery that needs to be solved, and at the end, Dina does her best impression of Hercule Poirot - what with the gathering the suspects and the announcing of the perpetrator in a big dramatic way.
Subterranean Press combined all three installments into one book, but I've chosen to review them separately.
Format: ebook, 257 pages
Release Date: December 20th 2016
Publisher: NYLA
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Paranormal
Dina Demille may run the nicest Bed and Breakfast in Red Deer, Texas,
but she caters to a very particular kind of guest… the kind that no one
on Earth is supposed to know about. Guests like a former intergalactic
tyrant with an impressive bounty on her head, the Lord Marshal of a
powerful vampire clan, and a displaced-and-superhot werewolf; so don’t
stand too close, or you may be collateral damage.
But what
passes for Dina’s normal life is about to be thrown into chaos. First,
she must rescue her long-distant older sister, Maud, who’s been exiled
with her family to a planet that functions as the most lawless penal
colony since Botany Bay. Then she agrees to help a guest whose last
chance at saving his civilization could bring death and disaster to all
Dina holds dear. Now Gertrude Hunt is under siege by a clan of
assassins. To keep her guests safe and to find her missing parents, Dina
will risk everything, even if she has to pay the ultimate price. Though
Sean may have something to say about that!
One Fell Sweep is the third installment in author's Ilona Andrews The Innkeeper Chronicles. It has been 3 days since the end of Sweep in Peace and 5 days before Christmas. Dina DeMille is an Innkeeper, part of a magical race who offers safe haven to intergalactic travelers who are visiting foreign realms. Her Inn exists in Red Deer, Texas. Dina is basically master of the universe when she's inside Gertrude Hunt. What she says goes and if you don’t like it, well, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out! All visitors to earth have one rule, never let themselves be discovered.
Things really get off to a thriller start when a male Ku named Wing crashes the party carrying a message, a silver necklace, and a dolphin pendant for Dina. The message is from her sister Maud who claims she’s in trouble and needs Dina to save her. It is the first time in 3 years that Dina has heard from her sister. It also seems that Maud’s fortunes have changed. Her vampire husband is dead, she’s been sent to Karhari in the Holy Anocracy Territory, which is a hellhole along with her daughter Helen. Only criminals, exiles, and heretics are sent to Karhari.
With help from Marshal Arland, Dina, and Sean, Maud and her daughter are brought back to Red Deer, Texas. Maud is a changed woman. She married a knight of the Holy Anocracy and in turn, has a custom fitted syn-armor and blood sword which was used to kill everyone who murdered her husband. Oh, Helen, how I adore you. You are cute, and fierce, and this story is totally better because of your presence. But the action is just beginning when a Hiru, an ancient civilization capable of interstellar travel, asks for sanctuary and help from Dina. It seems that their race has been hunted down and is near extinction thanks to a race called Draziri.
Dina gets out of the Inn a little more than usual this time. There was a trip to a vampire planet, a few to the greatest and deadliest flea market in the world Bah Char, and even to a mystical sanctuary that made Sean’s skin crawl. Dina has a new foe and is currently under siege in the Inn, but these creatures have no idea who they are up against. With Sean, Arland, Helen, Maud, Dina and Caldenia as allies, the Draziri have no idea what they’ve done by attacking the Inn and targeting Dina. Between all of them, they should be able to save the day from a tribe of mercenary aliens on a mission to wipe out some of Dina's guests to please their god.
There is also FINALLY movement in the right direction between Dina and Sean while Arland is pretty turned his attention to Maud and her fierceness which would impress any vampire. If you’ve read this series, you know that Dina and Officer Marais have had an antagonistic relationship. Especially after Sweep in Peace when he wandered into something dangerous. He has been poking around for a little while and that has finally come to a head. I think Sean and Marais could be friends with everything that has happened over the course of this series.
Subterranean Press combined all three installments into one book, and I've chosen to review them separately. With this review, thus ends my review of the Innkeeper Chronicles. I am looking forward to reading Maud’s book called Sweep of the Blade. But I’ll wait until 2021 to search for deals on it.
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