Book 47, 2024
Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I rocked through the rest of my "spare" book last night. It was Legacy by Jeanne C Stein, and it's the 4th in the "Anna Strong" urban fantasy series. I found myself favoring it over the regular book I'd chosen to read. Exciting!
As Anna continues to adapt to becoming a vampire, new challenges arise. Gloria, the self-centered actress who is the on-again-off-again lover of Anna's business partner, David, has asked her to investigate her own business partner, whom Gloria claims is blackmailing her. Anna doesn't even have a chance to begin looking into Gloria's case when the partner is murdered...and Gloria becomes the number one suspect. In the meantime, Anna encounters an Alpha female werewolf--one who claims to be the widow of the powerful vampire that Anna killed in self-defense. Anna's actions meant all of Avery's property and wealth became hers, but she wants no part of it. She's willing to just sign the entire estate over to Sandra, but there is something off about the female wolf...and something compelling.
So much going on in this story. I had read the first two in the series out of order, and I have not yet read the third book. Nevertheless, I did not feel as though I was lost and floundering. The plot was engrossing and characters were portrayed wonderfully. Minor complaints are that there really isn't any humor in these stories (I enjoy my urban fantasy sprinkled with humor, sue me), and the build-up with Sandra was far more exciting than the resolution. It left me feeling somewhat let down, as in, "That's it?" Hm. Oh, one other thing annoyed me. The cover illustration shows Anna wearing a bandolier, but at no time in the book did that ever happen. Hm, again.
Favorite lines:
♦ At least one thing will be fun today.
♦ Thrown out of two houses in two hours. A new record.
And, the "breath" line:
I don't realize I've been holding my breath until he drives the Jag up onto the bed.
This was one of those books that was compelling without being entertaining. Sounds odd, but that's the best way I can describe it. Giving it four stars.