Hexslayer

A witch-and-police-hating familiar teams up with the nicest witch policeman, so he can solve a grisly murder. Everything points to it becoming one of the (nineteenth) century's biggest mistake, but romance fans will be delighted to hear that things turn out just fine. An awfully cliched kinda fine, but fine nonetheless.

I had quite a few reservations when I started this book. For all that Nick's image was definitely that of a very yummy alpha male, his constant snubbing of witches (their bonded familiars included) had never excited me. And Jamie's battle scars raised all sorts of preemptive alarms in my mind. All in all, things promised to veer into gloomy territory real damn fast... yet somehow they never quite get there.

As expected, show more Nick's hatred of witches was just as annoying as I had feared, but his unwilling liking of Jamie was way too adorable to resist. Then there was Jamie, whose gloomy war hero impression (dead lover included) was hardly likable, but his cheeky flirting with Nick totally had me swooning on the spot.

Score: 3/5 stars

Expecting yet another politically correct and gloomy romance, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking the two main characters. Their chemistry was off the charts, even with Jamie's fetish for questionable odours. Add to that some rather unexpected twists and turns in the plot, and an the bonus scene extravaganza of famous New York City sights: I found myself basking in a serious bout of nostalgia.

All in all, I'm now cautiously excited for the sequel.
==========================
Review of book 0.5: The 13th Hex
Review of book 1: Hexbreaker
Review of book 2: Hexmaker
Review of book 2.5: A Christmas Hex
Review of book 3.5: Wild Wild Hex show less

Enjoyable enough. Nick is a bit of an ass, and it sometimes felt like he had all the emotional maturity in his reasons for thinking horribly of all witches everywhere for all time. I would have liked it more if his hatred came more from examples of what had happened to familiars that he knew rather than primarily from misplaced blame of the decisions his mother and brother made. I did like the place Jamie and Nick ended up at though, and I'd like to hope that Nick can start to understand his brother and mend that relationship now that he can accept Dominic's place in Rook's life.

Narrated by Tristan James (excellent as always)

I found the discrimination against ferals in this books disturbing and it took a bit of shine off the experience. So whilst I really enjoyed Nick and Jamie's story, the extremity taken by the Government to detain all dangerous ferals was not something I enjoyed; it also didn't quite make sense at the end when all blame was placed on the police squad ~ if ferals were dangerous, how did all the cats/dogs/birds that rose up to fight for Nick not get the same moniker and get off without any consequence? Whilst the media is fickle and ready to make anyone a hero, the Government doesn't move that quickly. All of them would have been detained at the very least, despite the fact they saved the show more city. IDK - I guess I'm overthinking the story ;) show less

Story: 4 stars
I think this one is the best in the series so far.
The mystery was really engaging and exiting. Jamie and Nick were exasperating, and had their tstl moments. (though I do understand why they fell for the obvious traps - Jamie is too trusting and loyal, and Nick to vulnerable to any familiars in need).
In all, this series isn't my favorite by the author, but I still love it.

Audio: 3 stars
The narrator though.. I don't really like him. He has a nice voice and is pleasant to listen to, but he has a couple of character voices and he mixes them up easily. Not the MC's (though there was also the accent mix-up in Hexbreaker), but the rest of the NWP crew... At times I couldn't differentiate between them at all. I'm not sure if show more it's the narrator or if it's just me not being a native speaker, but it managed to really confuse me out of the story a few times.

Final verdict: 3.5 stars, rounded up. show less

3.5

The plot was creative with the mystery, and I loved their bond and the differing personalities. Sweet ending. One of the villains wasn't a surprise, but it was kind of sad and multi-layered. I loved seeing some of the old gang again, although I'm confused on the timetable for the couple I've been waiting for most (next book, Isaac and Bill). I do with Ferguson and Athene would have played a little more into the story, including seeing the new bond and realizing their connection, but ah well. The familiars in this society are treated so abysmally.

This might be my favorite of the series, but it's awfully close. Nick always intrigued me, and Jamie is such a good man to be saddled with such a stubborn ass. How could it not be great? The stakes rise once again so I read the last half of this book in a rush of 'Oh, no!' 'Uh-oh...' and 'Aw, crap!'

It's really good. They're all really good. READ THIS SERIES!

Nick was a little excessively prickly and prejudiced against witches I thought, but overall I liked his protective nature, and there are plenty of difficult people who still find love, and the world is the better for it. I'm not overly fond of the enemies to lovers trope, but this did hold my interest. It started to get a bit over the top at the end, but overall I enjoyed it.