Review Detail

 ** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **

 3rd person, single character POV

 Themes: historical, gothic, romance, paranormal, investigative, crime, banshee

 Triggers: death of main character, danger

 World-Building: ★★★★★

 Heat: ★☆☆☆☆

 Chemistry: ★★★★★

 Plot: ★★★★★

 Romance: ★★★★☆

 It's ridiculous to say, but it's been almost a year since I was given an ARC of this book, and it's only now that I've been able to pick it up. Luckily, the author is an understanding, forgiving woman, who knew my deep attachment to the characters of this series. When I told her how scared I was to read of Lord Cross dying...well, we had an understanding, and yet I still couldn't bring myself to read it.

 Yeah, I'm a coward.

 Because I was so nervous, I took to mentally torturing myself. I bought the paperback of Books 13 and 14 of the series, waited until they were delivered and put them in a place where I would see them EVERY. DAY. Thereby, emotionally blackmailing myself into picking them up. And it worked.

 And, I'm still half pleased I read it, and still heartbroken that I had to go through it.

 From Book 1 of this series, Pip stole my heart. The fact that he and Cross had an Epilogue in EVERY book that followed, even when they didn't play a big part in the story, sustained my love for them both. Having another book that was entirely for them was both a blessing and a curse. For a start, it was in Thomas' POV, which was a surprise and also the most logical choice.

 It was sad, but so clever that while reading, I could tell when Thomas was and wasn't acting like himself, when his thoughts and actions were counter to what I would anticipate. But, at the same time, it hurt my heart to see how that affected Pip and Julian. Having them both around more often meant that my affection for them grew, but it also meant I had to watch them suffer.

 A whole host of previous characters reappeared, predominantly Stephen Mereweather and Harris, from Book 2. As well as other characters, who had their own appearances and cameos.

 While I can't say much about the plot without giving away massive spoilers, I will say that it was both intriguing, and a difficult read. Knowing how the events would end, and how it would affect the characters, left me with a bittersweet feeling, half heartbroken and half relieved the series are written out of chronological order, in that we might see Pip/Cross back again, on page together. But, what I can say is that I was almost in tears from page 25, and the feeling never really went away. I was in full-blown crying mode with the last 30 pages, and that heartbreaking Epilogue in Pip's POV.

 Will we see Cross again? In books preceding this chronologically, I'm positive. In books that follow...well, time will only tell.

 ~

 Favourite Quotes

 ““Doesn’t sound much like a banshee to me,” Julian said.

 Pip’s expression grew ever more exasperated. “A werewolf who ignores the dictates of the full moon has no room to complain about a banshee who prefers to point.””