The Sin du Jour faces off for the final time with Allensworth. They reached our for allies, but kept being turned down. So they made their plans, prepared to the best of their ability and waited. Allensworth, being impatient, moved with an improvised force rather than the full weight of his allies. In the end that cost him! Some very nice fight scenes, some close calls, and sacrifices. But in the end, Sin du Jour still stands, if under new management. A good ending to a fun series!

Although this series did have its ups and its downs [Idle Ingredients was probably the low-point of the series for me], this was just an absolutely perfect finale to a truly unique and entertaining series. I don't really want to give too much away about the earlier books in this review, but this is the big showdown between Allensworth and Sin du Jour that we've all been waiting for.

Some people will live, some people will die. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but overall you will just have a great time. I feel like this book had a good balance between the ridiculous humor and the consequences that had to be there to make the series feel real. I was sad to see some characters go, but I hate when authors magically have everyone live at the end of a huge battle so I definitely respect the choices that were made.

This book brings back a lot of old favorites from previous books but I think my favorite creatures in this whole series have been the goblin army of Hollywood celebrities, both because it's just a great idea and also because it's hilarious to watch Wallace describe everyone without ever actually using their names. In this book we are introduced to The Council of Chrises [yes, THOSE Chrises], a certain rockstar heavily associated with the color purple, and Aquaman - which was probably my favorite part because:

The guy who plays Aquaman just threw his axe so hard, it went through one demon and into the demon behind him!”
“I hear they call him ‘The Conqueror,’” Ritter offers matter-of-factly.
“He can conquer my panties anytime,” Cindy mutters.

#Same, Cindy. Anyway, this was just a great series overall. I can't think of any other series that mixes humor, urban fantasy, and food preparation at all, much less so flawlessly. A truly unique series from start to finish.

So honestly it's really hard to review the seventh book in a series without giving something away. So let's just leave it as some will live and some will die and concentrate on what I loved about this final installment and the series overall.

I have to say that the Sin du Jour books will go down in history as one of my favorite series of all time. I can't recall another recent series where I so eagerly anticipated each release and delved into each one so quickly after they were published. Wallace created characters I loved and characters I hated and the darn thing is he made me care about what happened to them all!

Now this series is a tad odd to say the least. But Wallace has truly honed his imagination chops and created a world where strange is awesome. Only is this series could you find angel chicken nuggets, a demonic Santa Claus, Cupid, royal Goblins and other glorious creatures. Perhaps one of my favorite of the series is "Lustlocked" where we are first introduced to the royal goblins, who basically have taken over Hollywood and all other creative markets. Well, these entities once again make an appearance in "Taste of Wrath" as do some of the other previous characters. In fact, we are introduced to the Council of Chris' who are covering the Goblin Council for a while and I'm pretty sure they consist of Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt - who is the new kid on the block.

And finally, anyone who saw my recent tweets know that Matt Wallace secured a place in my heart because this book also contains an adorable grumpy bulldog named Lucky and Prince...even though he's not really named. How fitting that I chose this as my first April read. It's nice to know that my favorite musician/artist is still being remembered, even when I least expected it. And yes, he rides a horse (just like the back of his second album!)

So if you haven't started the Sin du Jour series, do it - immediately! If you haven't finished it, well, do that too. While it's bittersweet that it's finally over, man did I enjoy the ride!

Taste of Wrath by Matt Wallace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

And the series is done.

I can honestly say I was deeply amused by this ensemble cast of chef-mercenaries who are so devoted to making the best possible meals under the worst possible conditions... including serving angel meat to demons, being tortured on live-tv, hellgnomes, and enough guns, monsters, UF, grimdark fantasy, and gun-toting madness to fill your belly and then some.

It's a wild ride. Lots of death, pathos, humor, and irreverent awesomeness.

And yes, I'm kinda sad right now. No matter how much I enjoyed the action and the foodie goodness, I've grown rather fond of some of the characters and having them leave the kitchen is pretty rough. ; ;

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me continue this Foodie Nightmare!

Love the gang from Sin du Jour. However, this is the last book in the series so don't start here.