Kim Harrison's Trouble with the Cursed, is the Sixteenth installment in the authors Hollows series. Witch-born demon Rachel Morgan and her friends fight to protect the inhabitants of the city of Cincinnati--including humans, werewolves, vampires, demons, witches, elves, and pixies. For the past 4 years, Rachel has been a licensed runner (bounty hunter) tracking down those who break the law. For the past 4 months, Rachel and vampire Pike Welroe have been running Cincinnati and it's mostly gone smoothly.

In fact, one could say that their partnership has been a godsend for Rachel knowing that she doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting alone. Rachel is also the Subrosa for Cincinnati responsible for keeping the paranormal community at peace and in line. Rachel's troubles begin right out of the gate. From the D.C. undead vamps wanting to send someone to Cincinnati where they believe Rachel killed the last person who was sent there. She didn't. No spoilers. They are also keeping Ivy Tamwood and her lover Nina hostages.

So, in order to see for themselves that Rachel didn't kill the former Master of Cincinnati, they're sending a powerful undead named Finnis to shake things up. Finnis, like every other villain that happens to come to Cincinnati, truly has no clue as to how far Rachel will go in order to save her friends, and her city. Finnis also holds the key to the undead vampires future in his hands. But Rachel's problems are just getting started.

Certain Demons are trying out their newly experienced freedoms which Rachel helped with and her supposed friend Hodin. Hodin seems to have his own agenda which doesn't help Rachel with her issues with the arrival of Finnis, or the fact that Al seemingly is helping her behind the scenes, or the fact that Dali is creating his own brand of chaos that is ending up spilling over to Rachel since she's the one who is supposed to keep the peace in the city, or the fact that it seems that everyone around Rachel, including Trent, is busy doing other things instead of standing by her side against the rising tide.

Without any hesitation, I love the fact that Al is back in Rachel's life. Over the course of this series, you could say that the pair have had a rocky relationship with Al affectionately calling her Twitchy Witch. I love the fact that Jenks may have found new love. It's been a long time coming. I would love to know if Rachel is going to keep teaching. She's a riot. Without any spoilers, I will say that the book does end on a sort of cliffhanger that will warm the cockles of your heart. Trust me.

As always, a wonderful read! I always look forward to Kim Harrison's books. I will admit that it took me a while to finish this one, and I'm not sure why. I love the characters, and I love the story line.

Rachel Morgan is a pantser extraordinaire when it comes wrangling all of her responsibilities which include as Subrosa keeping the paranormal community on the straight and narrow especially the demons, dealing with her roommates, and trying to have a relationship with her Elven boyfriend, Trent. When the ruling vampires in D.C. send a lacky to accuse Rachel of doing away with Cincinnati’s top master vampire, Rachel’s troubles start to mount because though she has offered help and shelter to Hodin, he is turning out to be a major liability and maybe even much worse.
Just when Rachel thinks things are going pretty well, she has trouble coming at her from several places including the I.S., the local head witch, Jenk’s issues with a new pixie, her hopes for Ivy’s coming home permanently being held hostage to politics, and Trent having business issues. Ivy is accompanying the long-undead troublemaker who is accusing Rachel of perfidy while she is trying to walk the line between rules and help Rachel achieve her goals. We know Constance is alive, but not in the same skin as before.

Rachel has been trying to get Al back on her side, but as long as she lets Hodin live in her home, that cannot happen. Al knows some things about this most hated felon that he has not shared with Rachel. She will need him, Trent, Jenks, and all her allies to combat these new and old issues because if Rachel fails, she will lose all she holds dear. Another major issue for Rachel is trying to bring back the gargoyle, Bis, who had sacrificed himself to save her and now is in a kind of torpor locked together with a Baku. Rachel is also often torn between being with Trent who lives an hour out of the city, but not wanting to leave her home behind so she has several issues to resolve while learning to deal with major threats on the fly.

In this story some long held secrets are revealed and efforts Rachel has been making on Ivy’s behalf ramp up. We also find out more of Al and Hodin’s history and why he is so reviled causing Rachel a lot of angst for sticking up for him. Trent is more present than the last book and it is enjoyable to see thing working together when he is not distracted by his work issues. It is also Rachel’s birthday and as usual plans to celebrate it go awry, but then, something very special happens. This is book sixteen in the Hollows series so definitely not a standalone

Only for followers of the series. There are so many allusions to earlier characters and events that it is hard to tell what is going on in this book. Skip this entirely until you've caught up to the series.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for gifting me a copy of this book. The opinion expressed below is my honest opinion.

I am so glad that Kim Harrison decided to return to the world of Rachel Morgan! She's got some seriously interesting plotlines going through the last three books, the new ones, and I am loving where the story has been taken.

This one cleared up a few questions we had, sets up some new things, and really digs deep into Rachel's life. A long game is revealed, and it's so fun to read (but man, poor Rachel, yet again! lol).

I don't want to reveal any more, because there's some big stuff happening in this one. I can't wait for what comes next!

This was another fantastic installment in this series! I've been reading enjoying it since it's continued, I just love this world and these characters and this was another entertaining read! There were some really great developments, and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

There was a lot going on, between the vampires and their politics, missing spell books and people, and all of Rachel's friends having their own things. So Rachel had a lot of concerns, worrying about her own issues, as well as her friends issues. And it was really great to watch as things developed!

One part of this story that I really enjoyed, even if I was a bit confused by, was Jenk's story. I kinda thought that things were hinted at to go one way, but in this one, well it goes down a different path that wasn't an option until this book, and that was really great!

This is the book where the focus was on Hodin. We learn a lot about him, and there were a few shocking revelations. And all in all, I found that ending hard, but satisfying. Like, that last line has me so excited for the next in the series!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait for the next one!

I was so happy when Harrison returned to the Hollows. When the series first ended I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend.

Returning to Rachel Morgan’s adventures is like hanging out with an old friend and catching up on their crazy shenanigans.

Things seem to be going pretty good for Rachel personally- the church has been rebuilt, her relationship with Trent is going smoothly, and Ivy is coming back to town.

But business-wise Rachel has her hands full. And boy is she in some trouble.

In the last book, she transformed the master vampire Constance into a mouse. Now Rachel and her vampire partner in crime Pike are trying to keep that from the vampires in DC who will only send someone worse to take over the city. So Rachel and Pike are secretly running Cincinnati, acting in Constance's name. But the vampires seem to know something is amiss and want to meet with Constance. What is Rachel going to do?

And as if dealing with the vampires wasn't enough Rachel, acting as the demon Subrosa, has to keep the rest of the city’s supernaturals in line, which isn't easy, especially once she realizes the demons are misbehaving again (shocker) and seem to be abducting mortals.

Her hands are full. She needs her friends more than ever.

But things keep coming up and Rachel's friends are consistently distracted dealing with their own lives so Rachel has to take on demons and vampires seemingly on her own.

It's a wild ride from start to finish. Action-packed in Rachel Morgan style. Trouble with the Cursed is a great addition to the Hollows series.

Loved this installment in the Rachel Morgan series. Kim Harrison always finds a way to keep the story fresh and exciting. Rachel is trying to keep the peace in her city. Her friends and allies are busy dealing with their own problems so she turns to an unlikely ally, the demon Hodin, for help. Twists and turns, this installment will keep you entertained. Al and Ivy are both back which is absolutely wonderful! The ending? Perfection. I can’t wait to read the next one.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend picking up this series!

"Rachel Morgan must keep her friends close - and her enemies closer - in the next Hollows novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison.

Rachel Morgan, witch-born demon, has one unspoken rule: take chances, but pay for them yourself. With it, she has turned enemies into allies, found her place with her demon kin, and stepped up as the subrosa of Cincinnati - responsible for keeping the paranormal community at peace and in line.

Life is...good? Even better, her best friend, Ivy Tamwood, is returning home. Nothing’s simple, though, and Ivy’s not coming alone. The vampires’ ruling council insists she escort one of the long undead, hell-bent on proving that Rachel killed Cincy’s master vampire to take over the city. Which, of course, Rachel totally did not do. She only transformed her a little.

With Rachel’s friends distracted by their own lives and problems, she reaches out to a new ally for help - the demon Hodin. But this trickster has his own agenda. In the end, the only way for Rachel to save herself and the city may be to forge a new understanding with her estranged demon teacher, Al. There’s just one problem: Al would sell his own soul to be rid of her...."

Why don't they have like book holidays from work? Like if a book you've been waiting for forever is coming out you can take the day off and just read. I think it would catch on. Really I do.

I have to say that this book made me cry happy tears. If you’ve been on the journey with Rachel and Jinks, you’ll absolutely need to pick this up. I probably had to read the last chapter many times. Really looking forward to the next one, as always.

Still loving The Hollows, Rachel and the gang. I was really sad when the story came to an end back in 2014 and was thrilled to see Harrison pick it back up in 2020. This is another fresh and fantastic installment. As long as she doesn't "jump the shark" I will continue reading this series. As usual I was on the edge of my seat pretty much from the beginning until that ending...which was completely unexpected! I really hope Harrison is able to keep this series going. Looking forward to another visit to The Hollows.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.



Kim Harrison returns to the epic series that is The Hollows with Trouble with the Cursed! The Hollows was one of the first series I remember reading when I was looking for more “adult” books to read. It was one I became quickly addicted to because it is complete awesomesauce! I love that Kim has continued the series after a few years gap in our world. It’s like no time at all has passed in the Hollows though.

Naturally, things in Rachel’s life are still utter chaos. There’s still a lot that needs to be done, such as rescuing her gargoyle familiar, Bis from the demon baku that is trapped with him. She’s also trying to work the cure to help the vampires keep their soul when they die for the second time. But all that gets cast to the side when things start to go very wrong with her demon roommate, Hodin.

When Rachel and Hodin were trying to work a curse together, Rachel is left covered in smut. She also notices her other roommate, Stef, is looking rather ragged lately and other signs point to not good things happening with her and Rachel gets suspicious that Hodin might be the cause.

But not everything is too terrible, as Ivy comes in for a visit of sorts and I positively loved seeing Ivy, Rachel, and Jenks together again! Though, there are not necessarily happy vibes going on since trouble keeps seeming to find them at every turn. Trent is having real estate related problems, Pike’s enemies have found his new hiding spot in Cincinnati…leaving Rachel almost vulnerable to attacks.

This book was simply amazing! I loved every moment of it though I was surprised by the turn of events. I had been expecting the danger to be something more detrimental to society at large, and while it mostly certainly could’ve led to that, it was more of a danger that Rachel had to face head-on in her own time. Granted, the book takes place over a handful of days, so it’s not like it was a year-long problem or anything.

Oddly, I did find myself wishing that Rachel and Trent could have more together time. I still look back and feel shocked that these two ended up together but since Trent did start to grow on me as the series went along, I was happy that they found each other. But alas, they hardly got any page time together in this one. Granted, what time they did get was well spent, so it wasn’t as much of a loss as I might make it seem. I just wanted more…as every reader does!

I will admit that sometimes the pacing to this one did bring me down a little bit here and there. While things were definitely intense and Rachel seemed to have a ticking clock running against her, there were times where it felt like things slowed down as Rachel and Co. had to regroup and strategize. Luckily, these moments were few and far between.

The ending was by far more tantalizing than I expected! I had thought things might end on a sweet and happy note, perhaps a moment between Trent and Rachel as they had a belated birthday celebration, but Kim gave us a far greater surprise than that! Needless to say I am excited for what’s to come from future installments.

As I might have said in past reviews of this series, especially in the last two years, this is definitely a series you will want to read from the beginning just to be familiar with characters and history. While it may seem daunting to read fifteen books before this one, just think, you get to binge read 15 books before this one!

Trouble with the Cursed continues Rachel Morgan’s journey as a the first demon-witch. Where she’s going and what she plans to do is a future yet untold but I look forward to continuing her journey with all the familiar faces that come with it! This is one of my favorite series and is a true staple in the Urban Fantasy genre!



Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars



Trouble with the Cursed releases June 14, 2022

**Received ARC from Publisher**

There's so much I want to say about this story, but alas... it's not release day yet so I can't.

I will say, however, that this story is Rachel Morgan at her best. The ups and downs are so worth it.
And that ending, *chef kiss*. Absolute Perfection!

Rachel is trying to control Cincinnati with the help of Pike. Seems like she can’t catch a break. This is one of my all time favorite series. I really can’t get enough of Rachel, Jenks, Trent, and Ivy. Kim Harrison has done it again with this installment. Can’t wait for more!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Kim Harrison could give lectures on how to properly writing a long running series. The latest Hollows book is in competition for my favorite in the series. I love getting to see Rachel kick ass and come into her own. I have missed Al so much, and I was pleased to see him back, as well as some happy resolutions to multiple storylines. The ending wrapped up a bit fast. I would have liked to savor the last chapter spread over a few to fully experience the magnitude of what was happening. I can’t wait to see where Rachel is heading next and what is in store for the Hollows.

As a longtime reader of this series I am please to write that this is a strong contender as best book in the Hollows series (so far). Rachel and her crew are maturing even as the stakes become greater than ever before. You won’t find any spoilers here just know that this series is getting better as it ages, and this book has the sweetest outcome of one storyline.

I received a copy of "Trouble with the Cursed" by Kim Harrison to review from NetGalley. #TroublewiththeCursed #NetGalley #berkleypublishinggroup

Adored it! Intricate plot with all our favorite characters. You know it is good when the last sentence makes you cry!

This is a near classic case of Urban Fantasy.

Rachel Morgan is a witch born demon who helps control the supernatural population of Cincinnati when they start doing some...not so legal things. The book actually starts with her busting into a vampire blood house filled with underaged ‘donors,’ shall we say.

What is really going on, in the long run, is that her friend Ivy is coming home, escorting a not so nice vampire who wants to pin a vampire master murder on Rachel. Only the master isn’t dead. Just transformed. That WAS Rache's fault. Rachel’s normal friends, who do dangerous things with her, are busy doing other things so she’s stuck asking for help from a demon named Holdin, who is obviously using her for his own ends. Such as figuring out an old spell no one has successfully caste in centuries….just an example! Also, did I mention she also has to find a way to get her old teacher, Al, to talk to her again? Only he absolutely seems to hate her guts.

I have to say, these read the exact same way I remember them….which I only remembered as I started reading this one. There is nothing really wrong with it, per say. I can’t quite put my finger on the full nature of the problem, but there is just something in the writing that keeps me from actually getting fully immersed in the story.

Maybe it’s that, I think, the writing makes Rachel sound a bit whiny and I find it hard to like her even though she does some pretty awesome stuff. She flip flops and kinda flounders and needs a friend to pull her up, refocus her on the issues at hand and spend her off. There are a lot of support characters and return characters I am assuming are from the previous books a missed, That's cool. The book is written well enough you can totally figure out what's up with each of them. Some of them add extra side story, some of them are mentioned in passing and some just seem to be...there for a bit. I probably would have been more excited about them if I had read what happened between books 1 & 2 and book 16, to be honest. But I didn't...

As a result of not really being invested in the story, I found this book relatively easy to pick up and put down at will. But the story is decent. I think there are tons of people out there who will absolutely love this! Particularly people who have read several of the previous books.

Conclusion

I definitely think this would be up other people’s alley. It's pretty much a classic case for urban fantasy. It just doesn’t seem to be up mine right now, for whatever reason. I found it hard to get really invested so I was reading it like a fluff read and just picking it up and setting it down in spurts. Not my ideal way to read urban fantasy.

Not bad, but not binge read inspiring.

I received an copy of "Trouble with the Cursed" by Kim Harrison to review through Netgalley. #TroublewiththeCursed #NetGalley #berkleypublishinggroup

I have read all of The Hollow series and have enjoyed most of the books. I really enjoyed this one. I'm loving where things are going with Rachel and the other characters. Once you get hooked, you will not want to put it down. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Kim Harrison continues to develop the Hallows and her characters. The main character, Rachel, is again trying to maintain peace in the city of Cincinnati while those in charge work against her. Her rose-colored view of the people comes back to bite her and she must work to retain control of the city, keeping all creatures in line. Trouble with the Cursed was an enjoyable addition to the Hallows series and the ending sets up the next book perfectly.