Must Love Hellhounds
by Ilona Andrews (Contributor)
The Guardians (Brook) (Collections and Selections — "Blind Spot", 5.5), Guild Hunter (Shorts & Deleted Scenes — Short Story "Angels' Judgment”, 1.5)
On This Page
Description
From New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook come four paranormal tales of man's worst friend...Follow paranormal bodyguards Clovache and Batanya into Lucifer's realm, where they encounter his fearsome four-legged pets, in Charlaine Harris's "The Britlingens Go to Hell." Seek out a traitor in the midst of a guild of non-lethal vampire trackers, one that intends to eradicate the entire species of bloodsuckers, in Nalini Singh's show more "Angels' Judgment." Find out why the giant three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades has left the underworld for the real world—and whose scent he's following—in Ilona Andrews's "Magic Mourns." Embark on a perilous search for the kidnapped niece of a powerful vampire alongside her blind—and damn sexy—companion and a hellhound in Meljean Brook's "Blind Spot."
. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This was a pretty good selection of writings. Despite the title not all of the stories featured Hellhounds; but all of them did include Hellhounds a little bit. My favorite stories were "Magic Mourns" by Ilona Andrews and "Blind Spot" by Meljean Brook. I am a big Ilona Andrews fan and this story doesn't disappoint. Meljean Brook's story was a surprise for me. I though Harris's story was written in kind of an amateurish style and was my least favorite. Singh's story was a bit too much of a romance for my taste but was set in a very interesting world. For synopsis and comments on each story see below.
- The Britlingens Go to Hell by Charlaine Harris (3/5 stars)
Two Britlingen body guards are hired to go to hell and help a client steal back show more something he tried to take from Lucifer. The story tone is very light and somewhat humorous. There is some action but I thought the writing was kind of amateurish. Overall I thought the story was okay.
- Angels' Judgement by Nalini Singh (4/5 stars)
Story about guild huntress Sara. She ends up as part of an investigation into a rogue guild member who is wrongly slaying vampires. Along the way she gets paired up with the Slayer, a super sexy hunter named Deacon. There was quite a bit of action but this story was definitely romance heavy. The world building was pretty good and overall it was interesting; although I didn't enjoy all the romance scenes that much.
- Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
The story is told from Kate Daniel's friend's (Andrea's) point of view. Andrea gets a call from a distressed shapeshifter; it ends up being Raphael. She finds him being chased by a Cerebus. Raphael has had the hots for Andrea for a long time. They end up investigating the presence of the Cerebus and find that one of the People are involved. Just a warning about this story if you haven't read "Magic Strikes" yet (the third Kate Daniels book) this story gives away some of the stuff that happened in that book. I was a little irritated about that because I am in the middle of listening to "Magic Strikes" and this story kind of gave away the ending of the book. Overall though it was an excellent story, with great action scenes, and it filled in some of Andrea's history. 5/5
- Blind Spot by Meljean Brook (4/5 stars)
Maggie goes to rescue a blind man and his sister. She has a Hellhound with a strange sense of humor along for help. Lots of action and investigation. I actually really enjoyed this story and it made me want to look into more of Meljean Brook's books. The writing style and character personalities actually reminded me a lot of Ilona Andrews. show less
- The Britlingens Go to Hell by Charlaine Harris (3/5 stars)
Two Britlingen body guards are hired to go to hell and help a client steal back show more something he tried to take from Lucifer. The story tone is very light and somewhat humorous. There is some action but I thought the writing was kind of amateurish. Overall I thought the story was okay.
- Angels' Judgement by Nalini Singh (4/5 stars)
Story about guild huntress Sara. She ends up as part of an investigation into a rogue guild member who is wrongly slaying vampires. Along the way she gets paired up with the Slayer, a super sexy hunter named Deacon. There was quite a bit of action but this story was definitely romance heavy. The world building was pretty good and overall it was interesting; although I didn't enjoy all the romance scenes that much.
- Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews (5/5 stars)
The story is told from Kate Daniel's friend's (Andrea's) point of view. Andrea gets a call from a distressed shapeshifter; it ends up being Raphael. She finds him being chased by a Cerebus. Raphael has had the hots for Andrea for a long time. They end up investigating the presence of the Cerebus and find that one of the People are involved. Just a warning about this story if you haven't read "Magic Strikes" yet (the third Kate Daniels book) this story gives away some of the stuff that happened in that book. I was a little irritated about that because I am in the middle of listening to "Magic Strikes" and this story kind of gave away the ending of the book. Overall though it was an excellent story, with great action scenes, and it filled in some of Andrea's history. 5/5
- Blind Spot by Meljean Brook (4/5 stars)
Maggie goes to rescue a blind man and his sister. She has a Hellhound with a strange sense of humor along for help. Lots of action and investigation. I actually really enjoyed this story and it made me want to look into more of Meljean Brook's books. The writing style and character personalities actually reminded me a lot of Ilona Andrews. show less
Sexy and tough, the women in these stories kick major ass. Whether they're hunting or protecting, they get to spar with some damn sexy men. Harris' story, The Britlingers Go to Hell is a bit unsettling - one of the male characters is...doubly endowed and has spent time as Lucifer's sexy-time plaything.
I read this mainly for "Magic Mourns," which follows a character from Andrews' Magic series involving Kate Daniels, which I love. This was a fun and sexy (and appreciated!) look into Kate's friend Andrea's personal life.
Recommended for those not of faint heart!
I read this mainly for "Magic Mourns," which follows a character from Andrews' Magic series involving Kate Daniels, which I love. This was a fun and sexy (and appreciated!) look into Kate's friend Andrea's personal life.
Recommended for those not of faint heart!
The Britlingens Go to Hell / My Rating: 2 **
I had a hard time with this story. I really wanted to like it but the pacing was really slow and some of the story hard to take. There were too many ideas and it didn't work well for me. Crick was an odd character to say the least. Narcissus was a bit too much. The slugs didn't really add much to the story in my opinion.
I did like the Amelia Earhart angle to the story. It was an interesting explanation for her disappearance. I did like the hellhounds being part of the story. Hell is not complete without a couple of hellhounds so I enjoyed that aspect of the story.
I had a hard time with this story. I really wanted to like it but the pacing was really slow and some of the story hard to take. There were too many ideas and it didn't work well for me. Crick was an odd character to say the least. Narcissus was a bit too much. The slugs didn't really add much to the story in my opinion.
I did like the Amelia Earhart angle to the story. It was an interesting explanation for her disappearance. I did like the hellhounds being part of the story. Hell is not complete without a couple of hellhounds so I enjoyed that aspect of the story.
Novellas that are, from what I know, fairly representative, though Harris is writing in some freaky multiverse where mercenaries escort thieves to Hell, which is a planet, on which Amelia Earheart has accidentally been imprisoned, along with Narcissus—it seemed actually much more my style than Sookie Stackhouse. Singh writes about angels with what seemed like a fairly standard strong-woman-meets-strong-man-and-attraction-is-immediate plot; Brook had a similar structure, though in her case the mythology was different (vampires and mystic weapons) and the male protagonist was blind, except that he could see through other people’s eyes. I bought the book for Andrews and wasn’t disappointed: this is a side romance from the Magic show more series between one of Kate’s friends and the were who’s courting her, and Andrews made the woman’s skittishness completely credible without making her either weak or dumb. Whetted my appetite for the next book in the series nicely. show less
Thought the Charlaine Harris story was terrible, mainly because she has tried to establish an entirely new universe and characters in a short story, which doesn't allow the characters or story to have any depth (this is in NO WAY a Sookie story and feels like an entirely different author, and contains no links to the Sookie universe).
Loved the Ilona Andrews story, from Andrea's POV, and now I can't wait until [b:Gunmetal Magic|12288282|Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels, #5.5)|Ilona Andrews|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331230049s/12288282.jpg|17264774] comes out.
Loved the Ilona Andrews story, from Andrea's POV, and now I can't wait until [b:Gunmetal Magic|12288282|Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels, #5.5)|Ilona Andrews|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331230049s/12288282.jpg|17264774] comes out.
Fantastic all four authors/stories really fantastic. I loved Charlaine Harris's story, I hope writes more on these new characters. Ilona Andrews Andrea tale, great, sexy and fun. Nalini Singh Angel vamp story tied in well with the one book I read. Meljean Brook.. never read her work before, love the story/characters so this is one author I will look into.
This review is only for Angels' Judgment. I'm not caught up with the Magic and Guardian series and the Sookieverse and I parted ways a while ago.
Loved this story. It was too short! I wanted more of Sara and Deacon out there kicking ass. It was great to see how they met. Their chemistry was immediate and undeniable. The mystery included enough twists to keep me glued to the pages. A lovely addition to the Guild Hunter collection.
Loved this story. It was too short! I wanted more of Sara and Deacon out there kicking ass. It was great to see how they met. Their chemistry was immediate and undeniable. The mystery included enough twists to keep me glued to the pages. A lovely addition to the Guild Hunter collection.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
The Best Vampires, Werebeasts, Witches Books
192 works; 12 members
Author Information
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. They have co-authored the Kate Daniels series and The Edge series. Their title One Fell Sweep made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography)
All Editions
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Höllische Versuchung
- Original title
- Must Love Hellhounds
- Original publication date
- 2009-09-01
- People/Characters
- Batanya (she's the senior bodyguard of the team, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Clovache (she's junior bodyguard of the team, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Trovis (he's their commander, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Flechette (she's a higher ranking commander, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Geit (he's a Britlingen assassin, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Crick (man who wants to hire two Britlingen bodyguards, The Britlingens Go to Hell) (show all 62); Lucifer (being who rules a planet named after Hell, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Marl (wolfman prison guard on Hell, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Sha (snakeman prison guard on Hell, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Narcissus (he's one gorgeous prisoner, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Amelia Earhart (another prisoner on Hell, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Hell hound one (The Britlingens Go to Hell); Hell hound two (The Britlingens Go to Hell); Ginever (she's the day captain of Lucifer's guards, The Britlingens Go to Hell); Raphael (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Michaela (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Zhou Lijuan (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Neha (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Elijah (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Astaad (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Titus (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Charisemnon (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Favashi (Archangel, Angels' Judgment); Simon (Director, American chapter of the Guild of Hunters, Angels' Judgment); Illium (angel, Angels' Judgment); Sara Haziz (hunter-born Guild Hunter, Angels' Judgment); Rodney (vampire, Angels' Judgment); Deacon (the Slayer, Angels' Judgment); Lacarre (angel, Rodney's master, Angels' Judgment); Mindy (another of Lacarre's vampires, Angels' Judgment); Elena Deveraux ('Ellie,' hunter-born Guild Hunter, Sara's best friend, Angels' Judgment); Timothy Lee (Guild Hunter, Angels' Judgment); Lucifer's Girl ('Lucy,' Tim's hellhound, Angels' Judgment); Shah Mayur (Guild Hunter, Angels' Judgment); Marco Giardes (Guild Hunter, Angels' Judgment); Silas (Marcos' vampire ex, Angels' Judgment); Mrs. Abernathy (society matron with a low opinion of Hunters, Angels' Judgment); Slayer (one of Lucy's puppies, Angels' Judgment); Andrea Nash (tech-using Knight of Merciful Aid, Magic Mourns); Teddy Jo (saw a shapeshifter in distress, Magic Mourns); Maxine (Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid secretary, Magic Mourns); Raphael Medrano (werehyena/bouda, son of Aunt B, Magic Mourns); Cerberus (three-headed hellhound, Magic Mourns); Kate Daniels (magic-using Knight of Merciful Aid, Magic Mourns); Alex Doulos (ghost, Raphael's stepfather, Magic Mourns); Thomas (service desk, the People's Casino, Magic Mourns); Ghastek Stefanoff (2nd most talented, but most dangerous Master of the Dead, Magic Mourns); Jessica (navigator inside a vamp, Magic Mourns); Danton (journeyman Master of the Dead, Magic Mourns); Maria (journeywoman Master of the Dead, Magic Mourns); Lynn Morris ('Spider Lynn', necromancer, Magic Mourns); Beatrice "Aunt B" (alpha of Clan Hyena, Magic Mourns); Alex's little nephew (Magic Mourns); Thanatos (Angel of death, Magic Mourns); Maggie Wren ('Winters,' ex-CIA agent, Blind Spot); Geoffrey Blake (Maggie's boss' nephew, Blind Spot); Colin Ames-Beaumont (Maggie's vampire boss, Blind Spot); Katherine Blake (Geoff's sister, Blind Spot); Sir Pup (Colin's best friend's hellhound, Blind Spot); Savi Murray (Colin's vampire fiancée, Blind Spot); Trevor James (ex-CIA agent, Blind Spot); Langan (Maggie's former CIA handler, Blind Spot)
- Important places
- the Britlingen Collective, Spauling (fictional | The Britlingens Go to Hell); Hell (a very inhospitable planet - fictional | The Britlingens Go to Hell); Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Magic Mourns)
- First words
- Batanya and Clovache were cleaning their armor in one of the courtyards of the Britlingen Collective, which sits atop a hill in the ancient city of Spauling. (The Britlingens Go to Hell)
The Cadre of Ten , the archangels who ruled the world in all the ways that mattered, met in an ancient keep deep in the Scottish Highlands. (Angels' Judgment)
I sat in a small, drab office, one of many in the Atlanta chapter of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, and pretended to be Kate Daniels. (Magic Mourns)
That morning, two hours after she received an anonymous e-mail that included an address and a short message, Maggie Wren boarded a flight from San Francisco to New York.
(Blind Spot) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)You'll be the only guest. (The Britlingens Go to Hell)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Since it would've been a little confusing to have two Deacons in the house, they decided to call him Slayer. (Angels' Judgment)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Cerberus made sweet puppies, but the damn things sure ate a lot. (Magic Mourns)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She cracked the door open again and called out softly, 'Mr. Blake?' (Blind Spot) - Disambiguation notice
- Short stories in anthology:
The Britlingens go to Hell by Charlaine Harris
Angels' Judgment by Nalini Singh
Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews
Blind Spot by Meljean Brook
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 963
- Popularity
- 27,414
- Reviews
- 45
- Rating
- (3.69)
- Languages
- English, German, Russian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 11
