[ARC Review] Smolder by Laurell K. Hamilton
Anita Blake is engaged to Jean-Claude, the new vampire king of America. Humans think she’s gone over to the side of the monsters. The vampires fear that their new king has fallen under the spell of the most powerful necromancer in a thousand years.
In the midst of wedding preparations—including getting Edward, aka U.S. Marshal Ted Forrester, fitted as best man—Anita gets a call that the local police need her expertise at a brutal murder scene linked to a nationwide slaughter of vampires and humans, dubbed the Sunshine Murders.
But there is more than just a murderer to catch: an ancient evil has arrived in St. Louis to challenge Jean-Claude for his crown, his life, Anita, and all they hold dear. Even with Jean-Claude’s new powers as king and Anita’s necromancy, it isn’t enough; they must embrace their triumvirate or allow primeval darkness to spread across the country, possessing first the vampires and then the humans. Evil will triumph unless Jean-Claude and Anita can prove that love conquers all.
My thoughts: Smolder feels like a love letter to all of us Anita Blake fans who have been waiting around for certain events to happen for 20+ books.
As Anita's inner circle grows, so does the careful balancing act she has to go through to keep everyone happy; the last few books have seen Anita either away from home or focusing on other people, so Smolder felt like a return to older Anita Blake stories. Even as Anita continues to grow and work through her issues, I found myself giddy from the direction this plot went in. Sure, there was an enemy more powerful than Anita or even Jean-Claude had ever gone up against before. Their power structure was tested in new ways. But several things happened that I've been waiting a long time for, and it almost felt too good to be true.
Hamilton packed a lot into this 29th volume of the Anita Blake series. Between being called in to help on a case, trying to plan a wedding, encountering a new enemy, keeping the poly group's dynamics healthy, and reintroducing variables into her private life, Anita has a lot on her plate. I think Hamilton did a good job at keeping all these plot points balanced within the plot while simultaneously leaving a lot unfinished for future books to wrap up. Smolder definitely did not tie everything up in a neat bow; almost everything new in this book will have consequences or roles to play in the next book or books.
I truly enjoyed this Anita Blake novel. Hamilton brought back a lot of the things that originally made me fall in love with this series while also keeping Anita moving forward on her path. A lot happened in this book, and I can't wait to see what it means for all these characters going forward.
[A huge thank you to Berkley Publishing for giving this Anita Blake fangirl an advanced review copy of Smolder!]
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Release date: 3/21/23
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: NetGalley
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