Review: House of Cards by C. E. Murphy ★★★★

House of Cards by C. E. Murphy

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: Negotiator trilogy #2

Publication Date: March 1st 2008
ISBN: 9780373802630
Page Count: 408

Rating: ★★★★

 Review Copy: Audiobook  

Margrit is summoned to negotiate a peace treaty amongst rival factions in the Old Races, but even as she does so, her own mortal world threatens to fall apart. Caught between a ruthless vampire mobster, a dragonlord who won’t take no for an answer, a group of subversive selkies, she finds herself alone - because the gargoyle who brought her into their world won’t return her calls…

Nice sequel. Glad I continued with the trilogy.

I finished the first book in this series with slightly mixed feelings. I loved all the secondary characters (there really are some great multi-layered ones in here) as well as the love interest character, Alban, but felt little to nothing towards the protagonist, Margrit. I had nothing against her, exactly, but found her a bit dull overall. I think if she were stronger or I connected with her more, this series could move up from being really good, to great in an instant.

Still, I definitely enjoyed her more this time around. This book did everything a sequel should; it expanded on the word-building and history, it revealed a few secrets and answered some questions, and the characters progressed and became more interesting the more I found out about them. And there was progress on the romantic front too!

The audio narration is very good for this series if anyone is looking for a good Urban Fantasy to listen to. She handles all the different European accents very well.

4 Stars ★★★★

Posted in: 4 stars, C. E. Murphy, djinn, Dragons, gargoyles, sexual tension, sweet romance, Urban Fantasy, Vampires