Iron & Velvet is the first book in Alexis Hall’s Kate Kane: Paranormal Investigator series of contemporary queer fantasy novels. I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book because I adore Hall’s books, and this was a series I hadn’t had a chance to explore yet. Speaking of which, it should be noted that the Kate Kane books are from Hall’s back catalog, but they are being republished by Carina Press.

As the series title suggests, Kate investigates paranormal crimes, like the death of a werewolf outside of a vampire-owned nightclub. Over the course of the book, Kate encounters a wide variety of otherworldly creatures; some help her, and some hinder her, and then things get all twisty before a huge confrontation with the source of the trouble.

Kate is a delightful narrator. She’s self-deprecating and wry in a classically British way, and even though the book has her dealing with all manner of paranormal creatures, Kate always seemed very real. She’s not perfect: she makes mistakes, she doubts herself, and her judgement is not always the best- and that’s what makes her an ideal guide on this madcap journey.

I loved every bit of this book. I loved the queer representation I loved the sly little details, like the werewolves all being from one of those posh families with a country house. I loved the secondary characters, with all their unique little foibles- like Kate’s new girlfriend- an 800-year-old vampire who used to be a nun. But most of all, I loved the Big Bad at the end. I can’t say anything more without giving away too much, but full marks for trying to recreate an authentic experience.

I would absolutely recommend Iron & Velvet. I must admit that I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but if there are more books out there as good as this, I’m going to have to start. Once again, Hall hits it out of the park. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series because I’m definitely hooked!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

(Disclaimer: sometimes I feel the more I love a book the more wooden my reviews get because it’s just a bit too much to put into words. So keep that in mind here because I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.)

If you’d ask me what kind of books I usually tend to avoid, urban fantasy would probably be on the list. However, with authors I like I stop looking at the genre and just read whatever they publish - and I have yet to be disappointed by anything Alexis Hall has written.

Also, this has lesbian vampires, so.

Whenever I get to read well-written f/f, I just. I can’t put into words how much that means to me. It’s like listening to Dar Williams’ “Iowa” and feeling seen and comfortable. It’s the best.

And this book gave me a lot of that. It also made me laugh, which isn’t easy. It definitely has a feeling of “Buffy” to it, but “Buffy” the way I wish it could have been. The humour and the way it doesn’t take itself seriously while still telling a captivating story may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it.

Before reading “The Affair of the Mysterious Letter”, I’d only ever read Alexis Hall’s romances, so I didn’t know how good he was at world-building. He does it just the way I like it - enough details so you have an idea how it all works but not so much you get bored. And oh god, I love every bit of mythology and demonology and just ~stuff crammed in here. And all the characters. I will never get over how good he is at creating characters and making you like and care for them in a matter of sentences.

This is a wild, fun ride of a book and I loved every second of it. It’s the kind of book I always wanted to read and I am beyond happy there’s going to be more of it.

I love love loooooooved this book!

The story is delivered in a frank tone that I compare to crime fiction. The pacing was perfection in that characters were well developed but we didn’t linger for pages in the minutia of each scene. I want more. The second book in this series releases in December. 🤩 It’s on my anticipated reads list now.

Alexis Hall is one of my go to writers for anything urban fantasy. The fact he writes queer romance is just a bonus. This series is a fun take on a well grown genre, with stereotypes that you'd expect: cynical PI, seductive vampire, oaths and promises and so on.

What really makes this stand out is the level of humanity. There's a scene where Kate makes a phone call to the loved one of the deceased, and she makes a conscious effort to be kind, even when it's uncomfortable for her. Kate is self aware in a way not many other UF PI characters are. Though, like them, she cracks a lot of jokes that just toe the line because humour helps.

I'm excited to see this series get a new life, and excited to see where it will go.

4.50 Stars. I'm a big fan of this series. I have read versions of this book a total of 3 or 4 times now. I love reading this series in October since it's one of my favorite lesfic paranormal series. Alexis Hall, recently released this series again so I thought it was the perfect time for another re-read. He mentioned some light editing and cleaning up/changing some lines. I'm not sure if it is my imagination but the book seemed a little more current. I remember Kate using her phone sparingly so things felt more modern this time around. It's a guess but I feel like that was a change. Besides that, which only added to the story, this felt like the book I know and love. Kate is a favorite character of mine and I have to hope that re-publishing this series could mean that Hall is writing a book 3. I won't get my hopes up but I would love it.
Read on for my original review:

I read this book a few years ago and decided to give it a re-read to see if I still loved it. I'm happy to say, this book really held up for me, and it's as good as I remembered. If you are looking for a good lesfic paranormal story, that takes place in England, this book is for you. I would say this book reminds me a bit of the very early Anita Blake books, with a little bit of J. M. Redmann's Mickey Knight thrown in.

Kate Kane, is a hard nose private investigator. She drinks too much, has a sarcastic mouth on her, and gets in too many fights. She is absolutely flawed, but very likeable anyway. She does try to do the right thing, and wants to be loyal to the people she cares about, but it's not always easy for her.
Kate, is asked by the very sexy and alluring Vampire Prince (not sure why she is not called a Princess, but whatever) to investigate a murder at her club. The murdered victim is a Werewolf, and since weres and vamps do not always get along, Kate must find the killer before a war breaks out among the supernaturals.

If you are a paranormal fan, this book has a bit for everyone. Vampires, Weres, Mages and Fae, just about all the major sups are in play. It is interesting how the different supernaturals act in London, and the book has a decent mystery and plenty of excitement.

I would not say this book really has romance. Kate is not the most romantic kind of character. But she does have a love interest. I really enjoy the pairing and like how they interact and tease each other. They can be pretty hot together too.

As I said before, this is a re-read for me, which I don't do often. I am looking forward to re-reading book 2, also. I know Alexis Hall mostly writes M/M romance. But he really does lesfic paranormal well, and I really wish he would come out with more Kate Kane books.

DNF @ 33%

I suppose there's nothing overtly awful about this book but if you read a lot of urban fantasy there is nothing to really make it stand out from the pack either. I guess the F/F angle does make it a bit more original but even that aspect of the novel felt really awkwardly written in my opinion. I was about a third of the way through and realized I didn't really know what was going on [beyond 'murder investigation'] and also didn't care about any of the characters [and could barely even remember who was who beyond Kate and the vampire woman who was her apparent love interest]. It is possible that it picks up later in the book but I saw a LOT of low ratings for it with many of the same issues I was having so I decided to drop it. I'm sure it would be enjoyable to many people, but as much as I love urban fantasy I feel that the genre is so over-saturated and an author really has to have a unique idea or a unique character voice for it to stand out to me.

Super fun paranormal mystery with a touch of noir and Alexis Hall's typical humor.

Content warnings include: creepy obsessive ex, violence and gore, body horror, murder and death, sex on-page, death of animals; mentions of said creepy ex being in a relationship with the protagonist when she was a minor.

This was so much fun to read. I love Alexis Hall's style but only read contemporary m/m romance by him so far, so I was super curious what his take on an urban fantasy about a lesbian PI would look like. Let me tell you, it didn't disppoint.

The humor was amazing and I highlighted so many passages because I couldn't stop grinning. It's not a comedy - there is a certain noir touch to it, especially in the beginning, along with a lot of violence and gore as Kate solves the case. She also has a Past TM, which isn't elaborated as much as I would have liked it to be, but the hints definitely made me curious.

I loved that pretty much all of the key power players were women, most of them queer, while characters like the reformed sex-demon who stands around half naked, faints occasionally and flirts with the protagonist is a man.
It's a great take on the genre, and one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much, despite noir really not being my usual style (of course it helped that it wasn't true noir - here the detective gets the girl in the end, after all.)

The romantic subplot... well. I didn't really perceive it as a romance? I thought they just hooked up and did a repeat, except the next second they were suddenly girlfriends. It didn't help that there are several potential love interests, a variety of ex-girlfriends and several very interested parties, so I wasn't sure who to root for until the very end. It didn't bother me much though.

I wish the world-building had been a bit more in-depth. It all works out and I was never confused, but I really want to know some of the background workings of this world (and especially the 23848392 things that happened Kate's past.)

Despite the minor flaws, I had such a great time reading the book that I really didn't mind them, and it left me with a really great feeling after finishing it, which is really all I ask for from a book.

I read this a couple years ago, so this time I really took my time to try and find any place that was switched around. Aside from the really cool cover, there wasn't much. If anything, I'd say that the transitions seem a little smoother, which are a big help for a book that reads at such a break neck pace like this one.

I think what makes this such a fun read is that Hall is super ambitious when it comes to mashing together all kinds of paranormal groups. Usually, authors stick to one supernatural or paranormal monster set, but Hall has vampires, werewolves, and Celtic fairies. He shoves them into a modern day London and just lets them go. Kate Kane (not Batwoman, but close) is a very cynical changling PI with an attitude - reminiscent of a Constantine - that is drawn back into the world of vampires when a Vampire Prince's territory is invaded, by someone throwing the corpse of a werewolf noble on their front door.

I love that Kate is full of quips, but not so much that she's spitting them out of her head once she's thinking them. She also knows what she is - and tries her hardest not to be pushed around in the supernatural world that she half belongs to. Kate's romance with Julian is surprisingly sweet, if perilously balanced. Given that Julian is the Vampire Prince mentioned above, Kate is more than likely going to have to choose between her budding relationship with the quirky vampire and what she feels is right. She had to do a little of that in this book, to some disastrous results, but I am here for it.

This is a really fun, slick paranormal mystery. Kate is a great lead, and Julian is an excellent foil. Add to that a Incubus bouncer, an Alpha werewolf who's a model, and some interesting creepy crawlies, you've pretty much got the beginnings of a good arch. I can't wait to read the updated second book!

Mentioned in SBTB's September "Whatcha Reading" post: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2019/09/whatcha-reading-september-2019-part-two/

Iron & Velvet is fast-paced, funny, and with a wealth of backstory and new intriguing possibilities to follow in future books. The characters are interesting, Kate is a fun lead, and Julian possesses the rarest character trait among vampire love interests—respect for her partner.

This book is definitely for fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance; not just because of the host of supernatural creatures it features, but also because of the numerous jokes it holds for fans of the genre (most noticeably the jabs taken at Twilight). If you’re not already a fan of urban fantasy, the various races of supernatural beings might blend together a little, or create some confusion—the book definitely assumes you have a base level knowledge about the various supernatural creatures that inhabit the Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator world. Once again, though, I doubt a non-fan of supernatural creatures and fantasy would be inclined to pick up this book.

Another part of the book that I personally didn’t mind, but that could perhaps irritate other readers, was the way so many characters were attracted to Kate. Was it a bit unrealistic? Sure. But it was entertaining, and I never felt like any characters involved got reduced by/to the flirty interactions they were having. I think that’s about as specific as I can get without spoiling anything, and maybe I only enjoyed the interactions because for once—for once—it wasn’t a socially awkward man that supermodels were falling over themselves to undress for, but even though Kate has flaws aplenty, it’s hard not to sympathise with her.

Kate’s internal dialogue is a pretty familiar mix of self-deprecation, pop culture references and getting distracted by boobs and sudden attacks by monsters. Nothing new, for urban fantasy, but a well-written example of the type.

I’m glad that Kate has friends, family, exes and a past—not springing fully-formed but inexplicably grouchy from the fogs of noir, PI land. Her family situation is intriguing (especially with the developments in the latter half of the book) and I look forward to meeting more family members in future books (from the snippet of book 2, Shadows and Dreams included at the end of this book, I think we’ll be meeting Kate’s parents soon enough).
The plot of Iron & Velvet was pretty straight forward, very classic noir; some of the developments were a bit convenient, relating quite directly to information Kate was told directly, rather than discovering it herself in a more narratively satisfying way. That being said, I still enjoyed the book immensely, and would read the next book without question.

The interesting cast of powerful monsters in Iron & Velvet create interesting situations, resolving in unique ways. Every interaction with Patrick, Aeglica or Elise was comedy gold, and I really liked the inclusion of the Multitude. The way this series portrays demons is likewise interesting, and I look forward to seeing how Ashriel’s backstory is developed in future books.

All in all, Iron & Velvet is a fun, quick read that pokes fun at expected themes in noir, urban fantasy and paranormal romance. The quality of the writing is excellent—reminiscent of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, early books from Kim Harrison’s The Hollows and a little of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, while the heroine—Kate—reminds me a lot of Toby from Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series (a personal favourite of mine). If you don’t need your fiction to take itself too seriously, and you enjoy character driven mysteries with plenty of unlikely team-ups and witty banter, consider reading Iron & Velvet.

alexis hall somehow makes the unoriginal original in this paranormal mystery.

there are multitude of tropes from the genre used in this book and it's absolutely hilarious. my favourite of them being kate's edward cullen-esque ex-boyfriend who is depicted as he truly is: obsessive and creepy.

kate is a Mess™. she's a dysfunctional alcoholic lesbian, but somehow all the hot girls want to fuck her. #goals

this was witty and entertaining and the brief use of middle english was surprisingly easy to decipher.

Iron & Velvet drops you into the London world of Kate Kane, paranormal investigator. There are (sexy lady) vampires, (sexy) demons, (sexy lady) werewolves, (sexy) witches, and (not sexy) zombies. I was a little disoriented early on because there are tons of references to Kate's history. It made me question if I had missed earlier books. No, this character has just lived a busy and dramatic life before we drop in.

Kate is hired to investigate a murder outside a vampire prince's fancy club. The victim is a werewolf. Kate needs to find out who murdered the fellow which, as you might guess, isn't altogether that easy.

After my initial confusion, I was in for the ride. I was definitely reminded of the Mercy Thompson series (lady with magical heritage gets involved in solving supernatural mysteries), but this book has more sexy-times and Kate gets involved for money, not loyalty.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series and exploring the complex supernatural world Hall has developed here.

3.5 stars. I liked the setup for this quite a lot, but the ending action sequence chapter dragged. I do like snarky MC Kate Kane and I especially like her weirdo assistant that shows up in the last quarter of the book! A cast of Scooby characters seems like it’s being assembled - I’d be willing to give book 2 a shot eventually. If you like urban fantasy like Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series but with a F/F twist, give this a shot.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks as always to Netgalley for sending this to me!

In recent months, Alexis Hall has become an auto-buy author for me. His Kate Kane series is one I’ve always been curious about, but due to it being pulled from publication I was unable to read it until now, and I’m so pleased I finally got the chance to explore this world.

Iron and Velvet is one of Hall’s earliest books – if not THE earliest – so I was expecting it to be a little different than his other works, which it definitely is. That being said, I feel like when reading you’re getting constant glimpses of the writer he will become in the future, with flashes of the snark, humour and beautiful writing that comes across so well in the rest of his books.

This book is one that gently pokes fun at many of its predecessors, incorporating elements of numerous beloved paranormal and urban fantasy stories that have come before it. Other reviews, I’ve noticed, have blasted this book for ‘ripping off Twilight,’ along with a bunch of other titles – but that’s uh… sort of the point. It’s meant to be slightly satirical, though I think it’s done out of love, and I enjoy that it mashes all these different stories together with the stereotype of the borderline alcoholic PI to create Kate’s slightly larger than life world. More than anything this book reminded me of Jessica Jones – you know, if Jessica was half faerie and also a lesbian.

In terms of plot, I had mixed feelings. It’s a plot that seems simple, but could be deceptively convoluted at times. I think this is largely down to the large cast of characters and the fact that the story is so reliant on their interpersonal relationships, social and political dynamics, and personal histories. I think the problem is that this feels like the third or fourth book in a series, as if we should already be familiar with these people and how their society works. If we read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and were immediately expected to understand the inner machinations of the Ministry of Magic, the Death Eaters and how a Horcrux works, it would be overwhelming – and that’s the feeling I got here. Kate herself has been involved in this world since she was a teen and knows these people well. The reader doesn’t have that advantage, and that’s where I think the story can become difficult to follow because not only are we not familiar with these people, but we aren’t particularly invested in them either. As a reader, I only have a certain amount of bandwidth for new characters – the result being that I finished this book three days ago and have already forgotten the names of almost everyone. (Granted, I’m notoriously bad with names, but this was bad even by my standards.)

The characters I do remember, I think of fondly. Kate is a great MC – sharp, snarky, smart and funny with a side-order of unresolved trauma to boot. I also had a strange soft spot for Patrick, the annoying ex-boyfriend who really pulls the curtain back from the reality of what it would be really like to date someone like Edward Cullen. The epitome of the possessive, brooding vampire boyfriend, Patrick embodies all the stereotypical behaviours many of us swooned over back in the day – watching Kate sleep, ordering her about, being excessively protective and possessive – except here, his behaviour is rightfully challenged for being annoying at best and toxic at worst, which was more satisfying than I could have expected. For me, Patrick is a character I like to dislike, if that makes sense. Yes, he’s deeply irritating, but in an intentional way.

Then we have Julian, the love interest. My problem with Julian is I didn’t feel she had much substance, which encapsulates my feeling toward the romance in this book overall. It’s one of three, so obviously the characters have room to grow and don’t need to be head over heels straight away, but for me this relationship was very beautiful on the surface but didn’t really have much going on underneath. This is especially true of the sex scenes, which were not at all what I’ve come to expect of an Alexis Hall book. Not that sex needs to be super graphic and detailed, but every time these two got it on, there were a lot of flowery metaphors (I mean that quite literally; there were a lot of roseleaves mentioned) that kind of obscured the actual sex. It was beautiful writing, and obviously sex scenes in a book can serve many purposes aside from helping the reader get their rocks off, but there were a lot of smoke and mirrors in the way of the actual act, so if you’re looking for some steam I wouldn’t say this is the right book. Overall, I can’t say I’m especially invested in Kate and Julian as a couple, though I’d be curious to see how they might change and grow as the series goes on.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Iron and Velvet. I’m on the fence about whether or not I’ll continue with the series, though I might give it a go out of sheer curiosity – but I enjoyed the opportunity to see how much Hall has grown as a writer, and Kate laid some great foundations for his future works.

Alexis Hall 7 Oct
4* A total romp of a book, with shades of Buffy, Angel, Sookie, Twilight and many more beloved PNR trope’isms.
This is only my 2nd tale featuring FF characters, and boy was it a riot. I loved that the romantic elements didn’t overshadow the bonkers-paced plot and that the action never stopped. This book unashamedly borrows and barely veils that it’s borrowed, characters/characteristics of characters from the above-mentioned shows and turns it into a fantastic romp of a tale. It reminded me quite a bit of the adventures of Janet, in the Stormwalker series by Allyson James, in terms of the various ‘worlds’ that exist, and the humans who’re not always what they seem.
It’s set in my town, London, and it was a joy to see an author who’s either really familiar with the place, or who’s done his research properly. Some of the tale is set about half a mile down the road from me and is on my daily commute, and it was brilliant to imagine what could be going on underground (nope, not on *the* underground, but actually under the ground) whilst we humans go about our day none the wiser.
There’s too much happening for me to go into it, but take vamps, fae, a human-fae hybrid, ogres, rat monsters, a statue turned to life who can turn her hand to pretty much everything and anything without any training or knowledge, princes (the title is used for both female and male characters, and indeed, Julian, Kate’s romantic partner, is a female prince), different ‘worlds’, fights, magic weapons, magical powers, those who’re not what they seem, ‘veils’, etc., and it all melds to make a wonderful tale. It’s not one that I could sit and read in one go, as PNR isn’t my fave genre and there’s a LOT going on, with so many characters that it was hard to keep on top of who was who (and why have 2/3 males with similar names starting with the same initial, with similar powers and similar roles? It was unnecessary and confusing, as I couldn’t at times keep track of them), but it was a brilliant intro to this author, who I was surprised to see is a guy.
There’s an extract of book 2 at the end of this, and yes, it has even more shades of the Janet books mentioned above, but it already tells me that I want more of Kate Kane and her adventures.

ARC courtesy of Carina Publishing and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

To be perfectly honest, I went off urban fantasy as a genre a while ago, having read far too many books which were retreads of each other. This meant that Iron and Velvet was a bit of a harder sell for me than it should have been - it's one of those books I wouldn't have read if not for Netgalley.

It's urban fantasy set in London, with a protagonist who has just broken up with her girlfriend and also lost her (business) partner, so life is all a bit raw. She also has a dodgy ex hanging around who's obsessed with her and who happens to be a vampire, leading her to have a strict no-dating-vampires policy. This doesn't stop her from getting dragged into a murder outside a vampire-run club and then getting embroiled in the life and former history of its proprietor.

There's a lot to like about this book, as it had a really strong set of characters - even the supporting cast are well-defined and feel like real people (or not people, depending on where they come from). There's also a strong sense of place, though a lot of that time the place is London's sewers so some people might struggle with that as a location. While our hero has powers, they're not convenient most of the time and aren't used as a cheat code for the situation. The plot is also pacey and drives on, with all sorts of twists and turns - what starts off looking like inter-species rivalry turns out to be well-entrenched in our hero's new love interest's own history. My only slight caveat is that our hero is also attractive to everyone, which is the curse of many urban fantasy protagonists and gets a bit annoying.

So, all in all an enjoyable read and also a book that went a few places I wasn't expecting. These books have been republished so there's a sequel but at the moment only one, if you're not looking to dive into a lengthy series.

Having never read a queer urban fantasy before, I probably liked it more than I would have if it was a run of the mill urban fantasy, but the representation was nice to see.

Kate Kane is a highly sexed, moderately paid and more or less successful private investigator. She gets hired by one of the vampire princes, Julian, at the beginning of the novel, which is where the story first begins to turn the genre on its head. Instead of being a male, Julian is female, which kind of suits because Kate is a lesbian.

If the romance between the two of them went a little bit fast, it was quickly overtaken by the fact that everyone who came across Kate was either an ex or someone intending to get her into bed. I quickly revised my opinion from this being like the Dresden Files where everyone was gay to more like Anita Blake where everyone was gay.

The book suffered from the fact that it read like there had been another one in the series before it, which had the result of me feeling like I was playing catch up on all the information and characters for the first half of the novel. I feel as though there was so much plot and too many characters that none of it had the time to be delved into enough.

Despite that, the plot of the story was more or less enjoyable, though there was a part between when the first part of the investigation was solved and when they went against the fae realm at the end that dragged a bit for me, but ultimately I was satisfied by what I read and would consider reading the next book in the series.

I will be posting this review to my blog on September 7, 2019!

Queer, marvelous, dangerous and hilarious! This is a perfect beginning to a PI series! – Kinzie Things

Full disclosure: Alexis Hall is one of my favorite authors. Most of the time, I find myself wanting to read certain genres or certain “types” of plot. After reading Iron & Velvet I now know that I will happily read anything that Alexi Hall writes.

Kate Kane is a part-fae, kick-ass, bit-of-a-disaster, lesbian private investigatory. If that’s not enough to interest you, Kate has a vampire ex-boyfriend who stalks her (and watches her sleep), an assistant who may be reconstituted marble, a love-interest who is both witty and debauched (and also kick-ass), and a murder case to solve. The case is going to be a challenge that is the supernatural-bitey-attacky kind!

“That made it me, my dickhead ex, a celibate incubus, the most fabulous man in fangs, an indestructible Geat, a shape-shifting toff, and someone who’s already tried to kill both me and the person we were trying to rescue. We’d got to seven after all. Still a bit light on magnificence, though.” – Kate in Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall

I absolutely loved this book. There were several times when I was laughing out loud and had to set the book down to explain to my partner what was going on. Yes, this novel is a little over-the-top, and yes I absolutely recommend it. It’s kind of like a mash-up of a stream of consciousness and supernatural crime-fighters.

Kate’s life is a bit of a mess. Her business partner is dead… and the whole history behind it seems convoluted. I’m hoping that this is the kind of hanging thread that Hall will tug on in future installments of this series. While Kate is pretty funny, there’s a hint of resignation about her that is a bit sad. Of course, she has sworn off vampires when she meets Julian – the devastatingly beautiful and enticing female Prince of Vampires connected to a murder. Of course, Kate’s intrigued and has trouble sticking to her own swearing off of said supernatural creatures.

Patrick, the vampire ex-boyfriend turned stalker, has absolutely got to be a swipe at the Cullen type of vampire from the-books-that-shall-not-be-named. Patrick is fiercely devoted to Kate and has been for far longer than they were actually together. He’s both a hindrance and an inevitability in Kate’s life but I couldn’t help being amused every time he appeared.

More than anything… it’s just the writing that makes my heart happy. It’s the little things…

“I finished my coffee and gamely ate a banana. They’re basically mush held together with stringy bits. And Eve once told me they were technically nuts, which blew my mind. Then she told me that peanuts weren’t nuts. And then I dumped her. Though not, admittedly, for a couple of years.” – Kate in “Iron & Velvet” by Alexis Hall

Alexis Hall? You get me. So much wit and humor in one action-packed book is good for my soul. Cannot wait for more of this series.

[this review will be up on my blog, acquadimore.wordpress.com, on September 6, 2019]

This book is one of the most trope-y and unnecessarily overdramatic things I have ever read, and I was living for it.
I mean, it is a story about Kate, a paranormal investigator, as she tries to solve the murder of a werewolf, falls for a vampire prince (don't let the name fool you, Julian is a vampire woman), while also trying not to anger various other paranormal creatures.
Everyone in this book is a combination of queer, ridiculous, and horny, often all three, and... I didn't know how much I needed an f/f vampire romance until I read this book. I loved how these tired and often ugly tropes felt a lot less unbearable and even interesting when one makes them gay and doesn't expect the reader to take everything seriously. For example, drama with ex-girlfriends from the point of view of a lesbian is a lot more interesting than the drama with exes in straight books. I loved all of it.

When I say that this is tropey, I mean that this does read a little like fanfiction, also because so many parts of it are obviously references to more well-known urban fantasy series, and that's part of the fun. The minor character who is very clearly an Edward Cullen reference was hilarious, and I mean, after years of being told by the very straight urban fantasy genre that I needed to take books like Twilight or the Fever series seriously, this is so refreshing. Nothing about this book demands that! And urban fantasy works so much better this way.

On the negatives, I will say that while the sex scenes aren't bad, they could have used less weird metaphors and descriptions (it could have been part of the parody aspect, but it usually wasn't over-the-top enough to be funny, so maybe it wasn't?) and that the pacing felt a bit wobbly, but overall, but I haven't laughed this much while reading a book in months, so I'm definitely not here to complain. It's short, it's fun, it's exactly what it needs to be.

Kate is a half fae PI with a penchant for magically powerful girlfriends. Her partner has been killed, her diet consists of hard liquor, and investigating a werewolf kill is the only way she can earn enough to pay her bills. The dialog is precise, snarky and on point. Elise was the best character on the side, really good sidekick. Lots of action, but at times it just dragged. This would have been a better story for me if every single prominent character had not been a lesbian. This was written in the genre, but I thought it was too much. Also there were a LOT of English inside jokes that went over my head and took me out of the story. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book for Netgalley.