A Dead and Stormy Night

[cornerofmadness]

A Dead and Stormy Night by Steffanie Holmes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I would have liked this better without the 'romance' (more like outright lust than romance). Mina had potential but there was a lot repeated whining and letting herself being manipulated by everyone around her. Now, yes, she has reasons to be upset and feeling sorry for herself. I have friends with RP and it's an awful disease that slowly steals your sight. I know exactly what it's like to train hard for a job and have a friend stab you in the back to get it. On the other hand it goes on for a very long time.

Mina has come back home with her mother who is a career get rich quick scammer after her bff Ashley blabbed about her eye disease to a hugely important fashioner designer who was about to hire Mina. He turned around hired Ashley, blackballed Mina and her dreams died so she retreated to England, to the Nevermore book shop she loved as a child.

Seeing a bizarre job ad for the place, Mina applies and gets it, in spite of how obnoxious the owner, Heathcliff is. He lives above the bookstore (which is in a Georgian/Victorian old home) with Morrie (James Moriarty) and Quoth. There is also a raven and the cat Grimalkin. It doesn't take long before a) Ashley returns and is murdered in the bookstore (guess who is the chief suspect) b) Mina learns the book store is magic and characters come to life out of the books.

So this really IS James Moriarty, Heathcliff and the raven from Poe's poem (who is both the raven and the narrator shifting back and forth). Together they try to solve the case of Ashley's death before she's arrested for killing her former friend.

And if that's where it concentrated its efforts I might have rated it higher. Now, I will say for me the only way I want to see love triangles (or quadrangles in this case) resolved is in some polyamorous fun and this does do that (Not really a spoiler since it's labeled as a reverse harem). However for me this was the weakest part of the book. I'm easily annoyed when all we hear about it how hot everyone is (and yes you're going to hear about it every chapter) and the sex scenes were like bad fanfiction ones (and as someone whose been reading and writing fanfic for decades, I know whereof I speak).

While I'm fine with her sleeping with all three (well two of the three in this book), I don't constantly need to hear how wet her panties are.

I liked the mystery part, I thought the guys were interesting (though that Heathcliff and Catherine's story is NOT romantic but rather abusive is a hill I'm willing to die on) I just hope the next books has a lot less oooo we're gorgeous in it.



View all my reviews