Court of Midnight and Deception: The Complete Trilogy (Magiford Supernatural City)

Again, read three books without stopping in between (and then forgot to review, so I'm writing this later and it's what I remember). A character who showed up on the edges of Hall of Blood and Mercy is the major one here; the half-Fae woman who keeps animals and is neighbor to the vampires turns out to be the choice for the new Queen of the Night Court. Chosen, surprisingly and unsurprisingly, by nightmares - black horses, of both sexes, who physically reflect the condition of the Night Court. So when they show up in her field, they are emaciated and look like they've been abused. She accepts mostly because she has no choice and a also because she can help the nightmares. Oh, and by the way, she's the target of an assassin - a noble of show more her court who is famously silent and isolated. He accepted the contract to kill a half-Fae, but couldn't because she was the Queen. He's also the only one in her court who isn't pushing an agenda - trying to boost his family's rank (he doesn't have any, anymore). So when she needs to choose a consort...She struggles to negotiate Fae rules and manners - and eventually, by book 2 or 3, figures out that what the Fae need (all of them not just her court) is to change the rules. Not so much competition, more helping. Everyone tells her that's ridiculous... Until she is successful in dealing with problems no one can handle by working _with_ her people and allies (including her vampire and wizard friends). Her relationship with her consort is a problem on multiple levels; like Blood and Mercy, it's largely a problem of trust and keeping each other informed (the magical bonds on him because of his assassin contracts add an extra layer of difficulty). And also like the heroine of Hall of Blood and Mercy, she's unable to access her power until she goes about it entirely differently than she's "supposed" to. By the end of the books, current problems solved, everyone is (slightly) better off, but there's still obscured dangers in the offing - they know a _little_ more than they did before. And most importantly, there is now a vampire/wizard/Fae alliance that there wasn't before - the different peoples are less siloed (not everyone, mostly the various main characters, but even those who refuse to trust others are aware some do. Progress. show less