Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Iron & Velvet
SERIES: Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator #1
AUTHOR: Alexis Hall
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: 258 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2019
BLURB:
I like my women like I like my whiskey: more than is good for me.
Name’s Kane, Kate Kane. I’m a paranormal private investigator, which is like a normal private investigator except—and stop me if you’re having trouble following this—more paranormal. This business comes with a few basic rules: don’t start drinking before noon, don’t get your partner killed, don’t sleep with the woman who killed him.
Last year I broke all of them.
The only rule I didn’t break was the one that said don’t work for vampires. But then a dead werewolf showed up outside the Soho shag palace of Julian Saint-Germain—a bloodsucking flibbertigibbet who’s spent the last eight centuries presiding over an ever-growing empire of booze, sex and hemoglobin.
I shouldn’t have taken the job. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a supernatural smackdown between a werewolf pack and a vampire prince. Even if the vampire prince was dangerously my type. But what can I say? I was broke, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and I gave up on making good decisions a long time ago.
REVIEW:
Over the past few years, I’ve practically sworn off these types of books. Vampires, faerie magic, a dark other-world settled atop the one we already know. It’s a popular formula that is yielding diminishing returns as time goes on. But once in a while, a book like this will come along—a book that follows genre expectations while still feeling fresh, funny, and full of potential.
Kate Kane (no, not Batwoman—this is a different bad-ass lesbian heroine) is a worn-out paranormal investigator in London, reeling from the recent death of a partner and the looming presence of a years-ago vampire ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone. She’s exhausted, unimpressed, often drunk, sometimes horny, and totally not looking for a fling with a powerful vampiric ex-nun who runs a sizeable chunk of London’s paranormal empire. But fate has other plans, and Kate’s small percentage of faerie blood and total nothing-to-lose attitude draws her into a case of monsters, murder, and one delicious vampire.
First of all, I love this character. Some people won’t, if you’re not into total human messes with a flagrant disregard for their own personal safety. Think if Jessica Jones lived in London and was part fae. Oh, and also was a huge lesbian disaster who can’t resist the charms of an 800-year-old vampire who wants to fuck her and feed her sugary desserts. Kate Kane is loads of fun—she’s got brains, brawn, and a sharp tongue, but she also has a ton of heart, and she’s not into seeing others suffer. Julian Saint-Germain, her powerful lover, is much the same. She may be an immortal vampire who participates in blood orgies and loves teasing flustered PIs, but she really likes Kate, even if both women know it is a bad idea.
This book moves along steadily, introducing interesting side-characters and humorous subplots. It follows urban fantasy conventions with a lot of mythical creatures, dark magic, and hidden pasts, but it always stays funny, even when there is gore galore. Kate is mostly just sick of everything, wanting to get answers without, you know, dying. She’s often out of her league, but she has a knack for attracting strays who are willing to help her out. If this was a one-off romance, I’d be perfectly satisfied, but I’m also eager to see what else this series will do.
I’ve never read Alexis Hall’s books before, but it seems he primarily writes M/M romance, which surprised me! His lesbian characters feel full and well-rounded, as if this is a person making a career of writing these types of bad-ass, multi-faceted queer characters. It shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover, pun-intended.
This series has been victim to publisher issues over the last couple years, but it seems to have finally settled at Carina, with the third book being released shortly. It’s not one to miss—urban fantasy books may be a dime a dozen, but few are as fun as this.
RATING: 
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