The Undead Pool
The Hollows, Book #12
By Kim Harrison
ISBN# 9780061957932
Author’s Website: http://www.kimharrison.net/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
*Beware of possible Spoilers*
I was so stoked to get this book from the publisher early, like normal, in exchange for an honest review, but was even more so when I discovered it was autographed by Kim Harrison herself! Squee!!
Lucy and Ray have been staying with Ellasbeth for the last three months, with Quen going along to supervise and protect them. So in his absence, Rachel has been Trent’s security. Both of them fighting their growing attraction that seems to be obvious to everybody, especially Jenks, who wants Rachel to scratch her itch and get it over with already!
“Yeah, the elf looks good in the sun,” Jenks smart-mouthed, the pixy currently sitting on the bottom of my hooped earrings and out of the moderate wind. “When you going to put us all out of your misery and boink him?”
But Rachel knows that Trent will eventually marry Ellasbeth, and can’t afford to get any closer to him, she refuses to be his mistress no matter what kind of an agreement the duo could possibly come to. She has to separate herself from the sexy elf!
But distance isn’t in the cards for Rachel and Trent. Cincinnati and the Hollows are being rocked by waves of strange powerful magic that is causing spells to go horribly wrong. And, the waves seem to be following Rachel! But worse; the magic is putting the undead masters into a sleep they can’t be roused from, leaving nobody to police the living vampires as they wreck havoc. If the magic isn’t stopped soon, the masters will starve to death!
Rachel and Trent work closely to try to solve the mystery, especially now that Ellasbeth is using it as an excuse to keep the girls from Trent!
After the ending of Ever After, I knew this book would be good, and I wasn’t wrong!
I loved that the beginning of this book really focused on Trent and Rachel and their growing attraction to one another. I especially loved Jenk’s reactions to it all! I’ve been expecting Rachel to end up with Trent for a long time, like I said in my Ever After review, and it’s so great to see it finally all coming together!
I thought the cover on this book was probably the best of the series, but that looks nothing like how I envisioned Trent! I’ll stick to my fantasies on that!
And, Trent rates his own paragraph in this review as well. It’s amazing to see the transformation he’s made over the course of the series. Going from a total rich boardroom hard-ass to someone that’s pretty sweet and looking out for others for once. Is that what being a father has done, or is it Rachel’s influence? I’m guessing a little of both! He seems like a totally different person, even from the last book to this one. He was even a bit vulnerable at times.
“Trent, is this a date?”
He didn’t reach for the key still in the ignition. “You never told me how your car got impounded.”
“Is this a date?” I asked again, more stridently.
Silent, he sat there, his hands on the wheel as he stared at the front door and the neon bowling pins flashing on and off. “I want it to be.”
Trent did have a couple of swoon worthy sweet moments in this book as well.
“His expression became serious, and his hand almost slipped from mine. “I’ve had a long time to think about it.”
“This can’t work!”
He looked down, then jerked his head up in frustration as his finger tightened on mine. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Rachel. I just …”
My heart pounded, and he stepped closer, so close the scent of cinnamon and wine enveloped me.
“I like walking into a room and seeing your face light up when you see me,” he said earnestly, the sun from the open window making his hair glow. “I like arguing with Quen over the wisdom of employing a demon to be my security.”
My throat caught. This wasn’t going to happen, but something in me was withering. I wanted more–and I knew I couldn’t have it.
He touched my hair, and I twitched as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to wake up beside you, see your curls on my pillow. I want a chance at falling in love.”
My breath came fast. That was what I wanted too, and it hurt more than I thought was possible to survive.”
I’m anxious to see what Harrison is going to pull out for us in the next and final installment of the series, which is unnamed at the time.
And that surely cannot be how things will end with Al! Nope, no way. One of the many things to look forward to in the final installment.
It’s really interesting to see how all the character have changed and grown over this series, something that was much needed, as I really struggled with a lot of this series. I’m so glad to see these final books are just so freaking good! I’m sure the next one will be bittersweet, and I have a few expectations of what is going to happen, but I’ll keep my lips sealed on that and wait and see along with everyone else.
