The Innkeeper Chronicles (Volume One)
Ilona Andrews
Subterranean
May 31, 2017
Blurb from Goodreads: Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Doris Mantair.
Subterranean Press is pleased to present, from NYT #1 bestselling author Ilona Andrews, an omnibus of the first three novels in the Innkeeper series. Our edition will be huge (over 760 pages), with an original full-color wraparound dust jacket, as well as full-color and black-and-white interior illustrations by Doris Mantair.
About the Book:
Meet Dina Demille, a nice Texas gal who runs a seemingly ordinary, quaint B&B. But Dina’s inn is a magic, thinking entity; her fluffy Shih-tzu, Beast really is a beast; and her guests are the kind that no one on earth is supposed to know about: guests like a dethroned galactic tyrant with a massive bounty on her head, the Lord Marshal of a powerful vampire clan, and a displaced—and superhot—alpha-strain werewolf.
So don’t expect a normal stay…and don’t stand too close, or you may be collateral damage….
In Clean Sweep, Dina—with the unwanted assistance of newcomer (and alpha werewolf) Sean Evans and Arland, a cosmic vampire soldier—takes on an extraterrestrial killing machine that could destroy her Inn, her neighbors, and everything she holds dear.
Sweep in Peace, finds Dina hosting an anything-but peace summit between three warring intergalactic species; Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char.
One Fell Sweep sends Dina to the galaxy’s worst penal colony to rescue her sister; and back home to fend off a clan of assassins in pursuit, all while saving a guest’s civilization from annihilation…and searching for her missing parents.
SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW
When I requested The Innkeeper Chronicles Volume 1 from NetGalley, I had no idea I was actually getting three novels. The binge reader in me was quite happy though.
First off, if you’ve read the blurb above you may have gathered that this is a magical ride with all kinds of imaginative characters thrown in. In fact, the worldbuilding in these novels is pretty incredible…and great. Merchants who are foxes. Mischievous scaled creatures zoom helter skelter on out-of-this-world bikes. Vampires, but not the sparkly kind. Werewolves. And the Innkeeper with her magical inn.
The characters are pretty wonderfully drawn and realistic. In the last novel when Dina and her sister, Maud, are interacting, it’s very much like real sisters with the teasing and blunt viewpoints. The relationship between Dina and Sean has a great progression to it as well. There’s heat, but there’s also hesitancy, trying to determine if what they feel is a result of being in danger or if they really feel what they feel.
In the first and last books, the action is pretty much nonstop. In the middle one, there was more drama and it felt like less action and Sean, the smartass werewolf hero (whom I adore) was not in it as much so it just felt like it dragged. However, there were plenty of surprises as there were in all three novels.
As I am discovering, Ilona Andrews not only manages to write a kickass story, but writes funny as well. So, yep, I was literally laughing out loud.
This set of three novels comes in at 768 pages with illustrations. The illustrations seemed very well done and this may be one of the occasions where my eReader doesn’t do a book justice because I’m sure that the illustrations are much better than what I was seeing.
The only reason why I haven’t given this anthology the total five butterflies is because I felt that the writing wasn’t as smooth in the first part as I had gotten used to from the previous Andrews’ novels I’ve read. I don’t think that this is something most readers would care about though because the writing is still superior.
I highly recommend The Innkeeper Chronicles and hope that there are more to come!
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating: 
4 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies