Really, it's 4 and 1/2.
The characters grew and learned, the relationship was fascinating and the story terrific. Loved the slight twists on mythologies of vamps and the beanne sidhe (loved them, especially.) I've rarely seen a better representation of an all-female warrior society. These women were sister tight, unapologetically powerful and sexual--they had no problems lusting after the sexy vamps they worked with. ;) They were tough--physically and mentally--in a way that warriors must be. They were fun-loving but willing to pay the high price of keeping people safe. Loved that about these women, lemme tell you. The vamps they lusted after were hot, alpha, but not a-hats. They admired strong women without losing their own power. The sexual power plays were as interesting as the fights with the bad guys, but this PNR had as much of a 'fight the bad guys' plot as it had smexy stuff, and that, to me, was gold. It's hard to find a good balance in a story, and Evie nailed both in this one, imho. This is the first of a series, and i'm looking forward to seeing other couples get together in this world. They all deserve their happiness, imho. The reason i didn't give it 5 stars is below, but it's got slight spoilers, so i'll leave space, here, in case you want to skip that part: The half a star (rather than the full 5) is because, to me, the author tortures poor Aveon too much. **slight spoilers** Not when he's actually *being* tortured--that's totally plot relevant and makes total sense, given where they go. But on the way *to* the climactic fight scene. Aveon's torment just went on and on and on and on because he's an abstainer--he refuses to drink blood from the vein and there's no bagged blood available. That's cool, but on, and on, and on goes the torment as they travel, and it got as wearying for me to watch it as it was for Aveon, after a while.
