★★★½ #bookreview @TheDevinHanson #diamondintherough
New to me author Devin Hanson came by... a FaceBook recommendation. I admit, the cover looked interesting which is saying something as I generally ignore covers. The title also piqued my interest. I read the book blurb and thought... why not? I am glad I picked up the book.
Alexandra is the main character. She is a private investigator who works on the unusual cases - X-file style cases. She keeps to herself and seems to be just another dime a dozen PI. So when her apartment is completely destroyed, down to flattening of spoons, it appears, Alexandra is not as boring as she tries to present.
The plot of this story is intriguing and the characters are more robust and three dimensional than most paranormal novels. I say this because the key characters are not wholly good or evil. Instead there are varying shades or morality which makes this story immediately stand out for me. Mr. Hanson's usage of different standard paranormal creature mythos is perhaps a bit sharper. It is hard to explain. Perhaps it is better explained as, many female authors tend to soften the women even when the characters are a BAMF. There is also a slight romanticizing of the bad boys plus making the heroes hawt, rich and intelligent. I am not sure if it is because Author Hanson is a man or it is their specific style in creating characters, but the characters come across more authentically them, without a layer of sugar coating. I was a bit surprised by this and liked it as I read the book. Although at the time I thought the author was a female as I did zero research before reading this book. Still, it is such a subtle difference that I don't think most would notice it or care. I notice it because I prefer to only read female authors due to the fact that most male authors can't create and develop characters well. (Yes, yes, there are a few big name ones who excel like Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis, Patrick Rothfuss, Orson Scott Card. But these men are few and far between.)
What did surprise me is the erotic elements in this story. Wow. I am going to be up front with my sexist bias. Most men write delicious porn. And I like it. Very few men I've read can actually write sensual erotic sex that pulls a female romance reader in. There are a few F/f scenes in here that are panty moistening goodness. Specifically, Alexandra's relations with a certain fox is definitely something I would be happy to read more of... soon.
Overall, this book was a page turner for me and I devoured it. I immediately went to get the second book. This urban fantasy with erotic elements is recommended to readers who like tough females with a white knight complex and can successfully complete her quest to save the damsel in distress.
