I’d been waiting for IRON & VELVET since Riptide shared the cover and blurb on Twitter. A lesbian private investigator who deals with the paranormal? Yes please! So when it came up for grabs on NetGalley, I grabbed. And boy am I glad I did.

The story follows PI Kate Kane and her voice is one of the most unique I’ve read in ages. A few pages in, and I was in love. A few more and I wanted to have the book’s babies. The cast of characters is rich, from love interest Julian, who’s a vampire prince, to Kate’s ex-boyfriend Patrick, who is such a hysterical pastiche of Edward Cullen I giggled through every scene he was in.

Kate is called in to investigate the death of a werewolf outside the Vampire Prince’s nightclub. She’s carrying the ghost of her business partner and doesn’t want to get involved. But the price is right and Kate’s not exactly overwhelmed with work. However, the more she digs into the murder, the odder things get. And the more she’s drawn into a relationship with Julian.

I’m not going to give much more away, because I don’t want to spoil readers, but the worldbuilding is solid, with enough real world detail to really capture your imagination. Each character snaps off the page. There are vampires and werewolves, fairies and witches… and an animated statue. Seriously.

In short, IRON & VELVET stands as one of the best books I’ve read this year – five stars is the maximum I’m allowed to give it – and I’m jonesing for the next installment.

First rule in this line of business: don’t sleep with the client.

My name’s Kate Kane, and when an eight-hundred-year-old vampire prince came to me with a case, I should have told her no. But I’ve always been a sucker for a femme fatale.

It always goes the same way. You move too fast, you get in too deep, and before you know it, someone winds up dead. Last time it was my partner. This time it could be me. Yesterday a werewolf was murdered outside the Velvet, the night-time playground of one of the most powerful vampires in England. Now half the monsters in London are at each other’s throats, and the other half are trying to get in my pants. The Witch Queen will protect her own, the wolves are out for vengeance, and the vampires are out for, y’know, blood.

I’ve got a killer on the loose, a war on the horizon, and a scotch on the rocks. It’s going to be an interesting day.

Length: Novel

Release Date: 16 DECEMBER 2013

Genre: Paranormal Suspense

Primary Book Format: e-format

Publisher/Imprint: Riptide Publishing

Smart Girls Rating: 5 stars

Available at: Riptide Publishing