Reviewing The Innkeeper Chronicles 1&2.
I heard about the Innkeeper Chronicles when Ilona Andrews was publishing the chapters one by one as a serial on her website. I'm not very good at following serials, so I did not start reading then but rather waited until they were done and published the serial, and later the sequel.
It was very much worth the wait. I don't think I've ever read a book from Ilona Andrews that I did not like at all. There's been some that I didn't really fall for like the new hot&heavy sorcerer romance Burn For Me. Clean Sweep and Sweep in Peace were both excellent and I couldn't make them better if I tried.
Clean Sweep introduces us to a new world but in a series that will at some point (fine, fine... in Sweep in Peace) tie into Andrews' series The Edge. The characters are fresh, interesting and alien... literally. I love that the different alien races in the series are also described as looking very different from normal humans. And they are clearly from cultures that do not share much with humans - and those clashes and fun and scary.
Sweep in Peace takes what Clean Sweep created and emphasizes the strong points of the heroine Dina DeMille; her integrity, pride and extreme down-to-earth practical mindset are impressive and help take the story forward. The sequel surprised me with the emotional baggage the feelings that I got from it. Without the lighter parts and humor in it, it would have been much heavier read, and even as it is it left me in deep thoughts and misty eyes - unexpected, but not unwelcome.
Without giving away more, I would urge any fans of Andrews, magical inns, clever heroines and an action fantasy that doesn't focus on romance to get their hands on these!