Victorian London, just with vampires and werewolves – both of which very proper and integrated – and propriety, corsets, hats, gossip, and all other Victorian stereotypes. It’s Urban Fantasy, complete with the sassy, abrasive, clever, female protagonist and a handsome werewolf.
Honestly, this book reminded me of the Kate Daniels books, only a very dainty form of them, with worse writing, and a couple of very peculiar choices. For one, barely a chapter passes before the author feels the need to remind you that the heroine is tan (due to her Italian ancestry), has a prominent nose, is absolutely not beautiful in any way, likes to eat a whole lot, and is approaching overweight. It’s constantly mentioned, in a way that felt very off to me – I’m all here for not perpetuating beauty standards, but if that’s your goal, it might be nice not to constantly point this divergence out as a flaw.
The plot is somewhat standard for Urban Fantasy and works well as a driver for worldbuilding. The characters are single-adjectives for the most part, though the heroine’s family has to share that single adjective. This is somewhat ironic, seeing as the language is otherwise doing the Victorian Thing, only so over-the-top that I was alternating between amusement and annoyance. What has the English language ever done for us?
