Short Book Reviews: A Steamy Vampire Werewolf Mystery

 Blood of the Pack (Dark Ink Tattoo Book One), by Cassie Alexander (Caskara Press)

My introduction to the works of Cassie Alexander was the “Nightshifted” series (in which a nurse discovers a new career path in a secret hospital ward for supernatural patients). I loved how she handled nonhuman characters, great dramatic tension, and smooth prose. So I picked up this first book in a new series without knowing much about it beyond the lots-of-queer sex content warnings. I found many of the elements I’d previously enjoyed, including characterization and great action sequences. The sex scenes were better done than usual for “high heat” stories. There was a nice balance in tension between a satisfying landing level for the first novel in a series on the one hand, and enough of a cliff-hanger so the reader will be left hungry for the next. My personal quibble, and other readers may feel quite differently, was that the sex scenes took up a disproportionate amount of space for what they contributed to the plot. I think this has to do with what different readers look for. If it’s a (in this case) action-mystery with sex scenes that enhance that plot, or if it’s very juicy sex scenes that make sense in terms of character and motivation. As I said, the scenes are very well done, great examples of how to write literate, well-paced intimate encounters. I especially liked the depiction of consent, the mutuality of pleasure, and the care of the partners for one another.

And of course, if that sex comes with vampire and werewolves, oh my, so much the better.

Short Book Reviews: Saving the World from Cursed Objects

Trifles and Folly (A Deadly Curiosities Collection), by Gail Z. Martin, and Trifles and Folly 2 (SOL Publishing)

“Trifles and Folly” is the name of an antique store in Charleston, South Carolina, run by Cassidy Kincaide, with a bit of help from Teague, her magically talented hacker and weaver-witch assistant, and Sorren, vampire and silent business partner. But it’s not an ordinary store, it’s a front for the collection, safeguarding, and occasionally the destruction of magically dangerous objects.

In the early stories, each featuring a different cursed or otherwise evilly charged object, Cassidy is new to the business of keeping the world safe from ghouls, ghosts, and wraiths. She’s just coming into her own as a psychometrist who can experience the history of those who owned those objects, as well as forming a network of allies, each with their own particular skill. My favorites were “Father Anne,” an Episcopal priest skilled in exorcism, and “Bo,” the ghost of Cassidy’s golden retriever, still fiercely loyal and protective.

 As the stories unfold, Cassidy gains in skill and experience. The bonus stories to the first volume feature Sorren in his early life, a mere century into his vampiric existence, charged after the death of his maker with continuing the work through the shop, Vanities, a precursor to Trifles and Folly. I love that Sorren isn’t infallible, and that even his vampiric strength can be overcome with sufficiently ancient and evil sorcery. Like Cassidy, he finds allies, both human and supernatural. His shortcomings and limitations give him add to him being a sympathetic character.

Although the entries in the first volume are all short stories, those in the second include longer novellas. The “Deadly Curiosities” novel series offers even more complex delights for readers like me who find the characters and their challenges enchanting in the best possible way.