Wicked Hourby Chloe Neill
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780399587115
Series: Heirs of Chicagoland #2
Publication Date: December 3, 2019
Pages: 352
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Berkley
Vampires were made, not born—until Elisa Sullivan came along. As the only vampire child in existence, she grew up with a heavy legacy, and tried to flee her past. Then circumstances drew her back to Chicago, and she stayed to keep it safe. With shifter Connor Keene, the only son of Pack Apex Gabriel Keene, at her side, she faced down a supernatural evil that threatened to destroy Chicago forever.
After the dust from the attack has settled, Elisa is surprised when Connor invites her to a usually private Pack event in the north woods of Minnesota, and by the warm welcome she receives from some of Connor’s family, even though she's a vampire. But the peace doesn't last. The shifters tell tales of a monster in the woods, and when the celebration is marred by death, Elisa and Connor find themselves in the middle of a struggle for control that forces Elisa to face her true self—fangs and all.
I was a big fan of the Chicagoland Vampires series, but wasn’t quite so sure about the spin-off until I finished the first book (which started slow). Then I was hooked. Wicked Hour was even better than the first book combining a group of established friends from the first book with a great setting, snarky dialog, and an interesting mystery. What is the mysterious beast in the north woods of Minnesota?
The two main characters of this series are a vampire and a werewolf in love with each other, so I expected the inevitable conflict between species to be one the author might milk for at least a couple of books. So imagine my glee when she didn’t take that trope-tastic route but instead had her two main characters act like rational adults.
Where the author did skirt the line was the amount of animosity Lis was up against from the werewolf clan. At times it felt too manufactured to be believed, although towards the end the author made it work by turning it inward and making it about something larger than Lis’s vampirism.
All up it was an excellent sophomore entry in a promising new series I look forward to continuing.