As warned Hodein turns against Rachael and teams with the new vampire sent from DC to take everything from her. She has to unite her allies and defeat new enemies to stand her ground. A good fun read with constantly evolving characters. ( )

Rachel thought she had figured out a good way to handle the new vampire Master of Cincinnati, but her solution has caused her more issues. Now she must deal with bigwig vamps from DC that want to meet the Master and also get rid of magic that Rachel came up with to give new vamps their soul back. Just another week in the life of Rachel Morgan. Of course there is more than one fire for her to put out at the same time and everything collides together to make everything that much harder for our heroine. Things do work out in the end and now to wait for the next book.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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This was great! I have been working on getting caught up with this series for a very long time and it is almost hard to believe that I have finally accomplished that goal. I have had such a fantastic time with my monthly adventures with Rachel, Jenks, Ivy, Trent, and the rest of the gang may feel a little lost while I wait for the next book to be published.

Rachel has more problems to deal with from both vampires and demons. I had no idea how she would be able to get everything to work out but I had faith that she would figure it out. There was a lot to keep up with in this book and a few things happened that should have a significant impact on future installments. I knew that Rachel’s trouble with the master vampire of Cincinnati was far from over and I was quite impressed by how she handled things. I love that we get to see a different side of Al in this book and I was impressed. It is hard to believe that this is the same demon we met at the beginning of the series.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Marguerite Gavin did a fantastic job with the series once again. She is the voice of these characters and I honestly couldn’t imagine experiencing these books any other way. I love the way she is able to bring the characters to life and the consistency of the character voices. I am certain that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this book.

I would highly recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. Since this is the sixteenth book in the series, I wouldn’t recommend that readers start with this one because you will want to read this series from the beginning. I cannot wait to read more books in this fantastic series! ( )

I have been with Rachel, Jinks, and Ivy since the beginning back in 2009, and while I love this series, always recommend it to fantasy lovers, and will continue to read it, I am a bit fatigued. I tried to figure out why and I think it’s because while the series has been around for 13 years, Rachel and friend’s time span in the books is over just four years.

A lot, and I do mean a lot, has happened to Rachel over those four years, but yet it’s only been four years in that world and she’s still finding her footing and realizing she does deserve to be loved. But it’s been 13 years for me, and by now I feel that she should be at least 95% secure in love and life… but she’s still only around 75%... more when it comes to love and less when it comes to life.

When the scenes repeat about her feeling insecure or not having more control over her magic I have to remind myself that it’s only four years in her time. But does the reader really want to have to keep reminding themselves that and pulling themselves out of the story?

That being said, Trouble with the Cursed, book 16, finally ties up so many story arcs that have been floating around The Hollows, and for that this was a great book. This is not a series you jump in anywhere but book one, so those of you who are reading this have also been along for the wild ride too. I really don’t want to say what happens because you’re going to want to read it, but I will say the band is getting back together, along with some new players. And sweet baby Bis is so much closer to being back in all of our lives… like he should be. ( )

The last two new Hollows books were excellent but felt like they needed tightening up and editing and for Rachel to step up already and move from whining to action. This one does not have that problem, and I'm wondering if it's a me-thing? I read the last two as audio books and became very sensitive to repetition. I devoured this one as a print book and just loved it. Either way, things are finally breaking in all the good ways, and Rachel's creative genius for getting out of trouble is back in full focus. The characters are back and solidifying and changing in great ways. Rachel is gaining some confidence and Trent, goddess love him, is helping her by sitting her down and saying -- ok, what are the problems? And what steps can we take to address them? while stress baking cookies and brainstorming new magical techniques. Which is, frankly, what she's been needing for while -- someone to focus her and help her move from wallowing to action. (I may be projecting a bit here...)

Anyway, I was somewhat troubled with the Baku's reappearance in final events, for all I am glad of their outcome -- dangit, really don't want to spoil things! -- and I am intrigued where several things are going next. What is Constance up to now? Will Ivy and Nina really be back? And will Al stick around? Exciting!

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )