Book 8, 2019
Jan. 21st, 2019 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Spent a good part of the weekend (and today!) reading Dark Queen, which is the 12th installment in Faith Hunter's "Jane Yellowrock" urban fantasy series.
As Enforcer to Leo Pellissier, the Master of NOLA and all of the southeastern US, it's Jane's job to keep him and his holdings safe. However, the Master of the European Vampires has issued a challenge to Leo, in a bid to take over all of America. If Leo loses, it will spell disaster. The challenge is set to be in the form of Sangre Duello, a series of battles between American and European vampires and their retinues, and Jane knows she will need to fight some of those duels, either to first blood or to the death.
However, the Euro vamps aren't playing fair. They're sneaking people in, trying to undermine Leo's power before the duel even begins. Jane is kept busy, putting out one fire after another. It doesn't help that her personal life is thrown into upheaval when a man arrives at her doorstep, claiming to be a brother she doesn't remember, and Leo makes her the Master of Clan Yellowrock, giving her more responsibility and tying her even more firmly to NOLA.
Jane must navigate her way through intrigues and betrayals and treachery, and even as her power base strengthens, her physical health weakens. In the end, even her odd ability to bend time may not be enough to save her and all that she loves.
The story was certainly fast-paced. Brutal and wicked and bloody. I enjoyed the rare quiet times that Jane was able to spend with Bruiser, and in this book, Beast got far more "air time" than she normally does. If I was disappointed, it was in the deaths of some beloved characters and in the fact that Jane did not see as much dueling action as I'd anticipated. I love her fight scenes!
Favorite lines:
♦ It griped my goat that I knew all that.
♦ "Like I needed the candy sprinkles of a gun-happy cop dumped over my blood duel ice-cream cone."
♦ "Dude showed up unannounced, and tried to kill you. Double case of the rudes."
♦ I'd been flying by the seat of my pants so long I was surprised my undies didn't have wings.
Even the angst and anxiety this book caused me can't detract from how amazing it was. Five stars!

Artwork by Cliff Nielsen...I believe?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-21 10:26 pm (UTC)I heard that this book was originally supposed to be the end of the series but Faith Hunter will be writing two more books in it.
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Date: 2019-01-23 03:12 am (UTC)