Clean Sweep

by Ilona Andrews

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Pages: 228
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night...Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

I read Ilona Andrews’ Clean Sweep previously at some point, but honestly I could barely remember the plot… though I’d meant to follow up and read the others in the series. It’s not my favourite of Andrews’ work, but then, I didn’t know how much I’d love the Kate Daniels series just from the first book, so I want to read the ones I already own, at least, and see if it properly gets its hooks in.

For now, I’m kinda… irritated, more than anything, by the male posturing by both potential love interests, and the fact that there’s a love triangle. Neither of the potential male leads have particularly impressed me at this point, with the way they both behave to Dina (though she could stand to be a touch less reckless if she’s really planning to protect her inn alone and without allies).

That said, the innkeepers are a fun concept, and a few interesting potential plot threads and/or backgrounds for world-building are introduced. It’s a bit of a kitchen sink sort of world with apparent magic alongside sci-fi elements, and some of the stuff that Dina alludes to could definitely use some expansion to flesh things out — which I’m assuming happens in later books.

Enjoyable, overall, but I’m not 100% on board yet.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)