Review: Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Sweep in Peace: Dina Demille

(Innkeeper Chronicles #2)

Sweep in Peace on Amazon

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

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…

Review:

I’m a total Ilona Andrews fan girl, this is no secret. Whenever a new book comes out its on my auto-buy list. I haven’t read a single book by Ilona Andrews that I haven’t enjoyed.  This particular series is made available online in pieces on Ilona Andrews website. This in itself is super awesome and lets you know they care about their fans. That being said, I did start out reading this tale online as the pieces came out but stopped about halfway through so that when it was all done I could read it in one piece.. I was a day late and missed it being online for free so alas I had to wait until they prettied it up and released it as one piece. Was it worth the wait and the cost?! Absolutely!

So we are back with Dina, maybe 6 months ish after the last book. Sean had left the planet to see the universe and repay a debt. Arland aka Rapunzel (Seans nickname for him) left to join his House and now it’s just Dina and Caldenia in the house and no guests. When the Arbiter approaches Dina, she knows what she is about to undertake is very risky and dangerous but she needs this, not just for herself and the quest for her parents but for the inn itself.

The story is laced with typical Andrews’s humor/sarcasm. The description of Grumpy Cat about had me rolling.  Dina is participating an a peace talk among three factions that desperately want peace but their prides won’t permit it, on top of that there is a thief she must find and a temperamental chief in residence.   The pace of the book is steady and intriguing, there isn’t time to get bored not with all the preparations to be made and the three factions out to kill each other.  The end of the story when Dina has to interfere to get everyone on the same page is so deeply emotional and heartbreaking. George is a conniving asshole but he gets the job done. Caldenia has her typical wise insights and wisecracks and we get a new cat! (With no name) My only issue with this book is we didn’t get enough time with Sean, but im sure he’ll be featured in the next book whenever that one starts. I assume early next year. 

Review: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Clean Sweep: Dina Demille and Sean Evans

(Innkeeper Chronicles #1)

Clean Sweep on Goodreads

Clean Sweep on Amazon

Summary:

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.

Review:

I picked up Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews because this is an Ilona Andrews novel and no other reason. I didn’t even know what the book was about; I saw the author and grabbed it so it’s a good thing this book didn’t suck! I knew I could count on Ilona Andrews to deliver a solid novel and I was not left disappointed. The premise of this book ended up being very interesting. So basically Dina is an “Innkeeper” a supernatural with great powers tied to their Inns. They have some powers away from their Inn but they are quite powerful when within the boundaries of their Inn. Their Inn themselves are magic and are pretty cool; it can shift around to suit the Innkeepers needs or even the guest. It has all sorts of gadgets and weapons to protect the Innkeeper and mostly its guests. An inn is a sanctuary of sorts, beings of all sorts have safe passage while in an Inn and the Innkeepers tend to be neutral not getting involved unless the Inn or guest is endangered.

Dina is a new Innkeeper and a kick ass one at that. She took over an abandoned Inn in a small town in Texas, she has exactly one guest who has paid for a lifetime at the Inn. Everything is normal and boring until dogs start turning up dead so Dina turns to the local werewolf to fix it, after all it’s his territory. Sean, does not appreciate this little bit of a “human” telling him what to do and tries to intimidate Dina. Sparks fly when Dina shows Sean that he can’t bully her and they she has more than a couple of tricks up her sleeve. I really enjoyed Sean and Dina as they circle each other until the settle into a tentative truce. Sean shows off his muscle and Dina shows off her magic, it’s a battle of stubborn wills and I’m not sure who won. LOL The action escalates in the small town when some vampires show up and get their asses handed to them and they take sanctuary in Dina’s Inn and Dina is pulled further into a fight to protect her Inn and her guests. This fight while not originally hers she’s making it hers and ending it! Add in a killer dog and a love triangle and you have all the makings of a great book/series! I’m already stalking Ilona’s website for the next book…