Alyssa Day keeps us on our toes, not letting us know whether The League of the Black Swan are the good guys or not. For Rio, they are primarily the lesser of several evils. That’s intriguing since the series is called The League of the Black Swan, and a series is usually named for the good guys (ie Black Dagger Brotherhood, Dark Hunters, etc).
Another thing I loved about this is the fact that there is no band of brothers so to speak, so I don’t feel like there’s any sequel bait; the world is rich enough that the story doesn’t need it. It sort of has a Kate Daniels feel to it, which I love, and it has many intriguing new places that the series can go.
Rio witnessed the kidnapping of a young girl who she immediately recognized as a Halfling. She goes to Luke, Bordertown’s resident PI, and little to her knowledge, Bordertown’s Dark Wizard. But he’s cursed. And he doesn’t exactly let people know about that little detail.
Luke spent what feels like several lifetimes with the League of the Black Swan, but he’s out now, and wants to keep it that way. But someone in the League has an interest in Rio, and wants Luke to bring her in.
When these two get together, the adventure really gets wild. They have trolls, bad guys, fae, more bad guys, giant ducks, a sick little Halfling to save, and Rio and Luke’s own problems to deal with. In the middle of all of this, Rio and Luke are madly attracted to each other and the sexual tension is great!
Easy world-building and enjoyable characters lead to the very exciting beginning of a new series. The Urban Fantasy feel will draw in many new fans, even though it may lean more towards the PNR side of the genre. Can I call it Urban Paranormal Romance? Lol And I can’t wait to see where Ms. Day takes this series. Between the dark setting the steamy romance, and the dry wit, you can’t go wrong with Alyssa Day’s new series.
***ARC courtesy of the author via netgalley
I loved this book! Excited for more…just saying 🙂
LOL!
Alyssa Day has been in my TBR list for some time. I like the sound of the League, good, bad…a little bit of both. 🙂
I also love love Kate Daniels, so this review just bumped these books up to the top!
Oh love her! Sounds like she really did a great job with this one. Looking forward to checking it out (especially after the Kate Daniels ref-one of my faves)
Thanks guys! I will say it’s not quite as badass as Kate Daniels, but the world is similar. There’s this area where magic sort of roams free (random Giant Duck), sort of like how the magic waves would come and go in KD.
Also, Luke is seriously sexy, and trying to repress his dark urges.
Rio reminds me a bit of Pia from Thea Harrison’s Dragon Bound, though. She’s cool, she’s wanted by everyone for reasons she doesn’t understand, and once she does, it’s pretty awesome.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one these days.