…but there are Viking ghosts, gods, werebeings, and one sexy as sin vampire on Francesca’s case. And her biggest trouble is Loki, the trickster god.
When Fran arrives at Goth-Faire to deal with him, things go from bad to worse, for her immortal ex, Benedikt, is there…with a new girlfriend.
Shapesifters, Vikings, and a town filled with deranged opera fans…it’s a good thing Fran’s no ordinary mortal…
~~
Well I'm trying to think how to write this review and not make this book sound like a bummer. It's not really. The problem is that as an adult addition to a young adult series it didn't jive with me as much as I expected it to.
On the positive side, I think MacAlister did a good job taking Fran and Ben into an 'adult' relationship (mostly). As soulmates (she's his Beloved) who have known each other for so long but have not Joined, it could have been really tricky. Instead MacAlister used her trademark sense of humor to bring the reader along the journey of these two really coming together as a couple. Also I enjoy the Viking ghosts a lot. Random for sure, they add a sense of ridiculous to the story that works great with the unique characters who work at the GothFaire.
But to go on to the negative.....first I have to admit that even though the romance itself is good, having started the series with Fran being 16 years old, it was a little weird to read about her as an adult. I think her personality is just similar enough to how she was presented in the first two books that she still read in my mind as a young teenage - which skivved me out a bit when she and Ben started exploring le sexy times. With that I didn't really appreciate a lot of the characters (and Ben) telling Fran how much she'd 'grown' and 'matured'. You know what dumbasses? A 16-year old girl isn't ready to join with a HUNDREDS of years old Dark One. Suck it up and don't tell her how unselfish she's become and how much more aware of other people's feelings she is now that she's an adult- ready for an adult relationship.
It's annoying.
So yeah in the end there were some good and bad to this book, and even with the bad I still look forward to MacAlister hopefully continuing with the story since this book left a lot of things hanging. If you haven't read the back story to Fran and Ben yet I'd almost say wait until after you've read this one, because I think you'll save yourself some of my skivvy feelings.
Overall Feeling - Eh.
Series - 1) Circus of the Darned (YA) 2) Got Fangs? (YA) 3) In the Company of Vampires (Adult)
