Alexis Hall

"First rule in this line of business: don't sleep with the client." My name's Kate Kane, and when an eight-hundred-year-old vampire prince came to me with a case, I should have told her no. But I've always been a sucker for a femme fatale. It always goes the same way. You move too fast, you get in too deep, and before you know it, someone winds up dead. Last time it was my partner. This time it could be me. Yesterday a werewolf was murdered outside the Velvet, the night-time playground of one of the most powerful vampires in England. Now half the monsters in London are at each other's throats, and the other half are trying to get in my pants. The Witch Queen will protect her own, the wolves are out for vengeance, and the vampires are out for, y'know, blood. I've got a killer on the loose, a war on the horizon, and a scotch on the rocks. It's going to be an interesting day.

Iron & Velvet

Previously published; newly refreshed by the author I like my women like I like my whiskey: more than is good for me. Name’s Kane, Kate Kane. I’m a paranormal private investigator, which is like a normal private investigator except—and stop me if you’re having trouble following this—more paranormal. This business comes with a few basic rules: don’t start drinking before noon, don’t get your partner killed, don’t sleep with the woman who killed him. Last year I broke all of them. The only rule I didn’t break was the one that said don’t work for vampires. But then a dead werewolf showed up outside the Soho shag palace of Julian Saint-Germain—a bloodsucking flibbertigibbet who’s spent the last eight centuries presiding over an ever-growing empire of booze, sex and hemoglobin. I shouldn’t have taken the job. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a supernatural smackdown between a werewolf pack and a vampire prince. Even if the vampire prince was dangerously my type. But what can I say? I was broke, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and I gave up on making good decisions a long time ago. This book is approximately 77,500 words

Jude Silberfeld

Kate Kane (not Batwoman) is a London PI with a complex backstory. Her partner was killed and it seems she was responsible, one of her exes is a vampire, another is a Witch Queen, she swears she’ll never get involved with another vampire but never say never, eh? So when a werewolf is murdered and Kate is asked by a Vampire Prince (who would be a princess if she wasn’t a vampire, I guess) to investigate, she agrees and tries hard (not really) to resist her employer’s charms.

I know it’s unfair but I’m always a little biased against lesfic books written by men. It’s not that they’re men per se, it’s more that I worry about the male gaze, whether it’s in books, movies or TV series. Plus there are so many good books written by women (most of whom are wlw), they’re usually my priority. So many books, so little time, you know?

With this one, I was misled by the author’s name but it was a perfectly fun read anyway. I enjoyed the tone and the tongue-in-cheek humor. I liked the whole film noir and femme fatale feel of it. It was a bit like a Raymond Chandler novel but with vampires, witches and werewolves. And lesbians. It’s funny and sexy and action-packed. In the end, that’s all I care about. I am therefore totally looking forward to book 2.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Iron & Velvet

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