Bout of Books Mini-Review: Devil’s Gate by Thea Harrison

"When it comes to love between a medusa and a Vampyre, it's every man, woman, and snake for themselves. "

As a coroner, medusa Seremela Telemar has always felt more comfortable chatting over a dead body than over drinks. But when her wild niece, Vetta, runs off to Devil's Gate, a lawless town that has sprung up overnight in a modern-day gold rush, she knows she has to extricate her before the rebellious girl gets into real trouble. Though she's confident in her head snakes' ability to defend her against attackers, Seremela is still a bit nervous about braving this modern-day Wild West by herself.

Vampyre Duncan Turner is not about to let his new co-worker go into that chaos alone. His Vampyric power and lawyer smarts make him the perfect ally, and the fact that he already had his eye on Seremela for more...personal reasons, doesn't hurt matters. Any romantic thoughts pull up short, however, when they arrive at Devil's Gate and learn Vetta is set to hang by morning.

In order to save Vetta and themselves, Seremela and Duncan are going to have to fight fire with force and magic with fangs. And pray they make it out of Devil's Gate alive.

Warning: Contains mother effin' snakes in planes, cars, tents, and beds. Luckily, our hot Vampyre hero doesn't mind them one bit...

The Deets

We first meet Seremela in Serpent’s Kiss, and I was so amazed to find a medusa in a story! Big ups to Thea Harrison for incorporating medusa lore into her series. I mean, who ever thought they wanted to learn about these supposedly icky creatures? I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED learning more about the medusae culture in Devil’s Gate.

The medusae believed that each medusa was born with a drop of poison in their souls. The poison turned into a medusa’s Adversary, the dark voice that whispered doubts and fears in one’s own thoughts. The measure of one’s strength was determined by how well on withstood one’s internal Adversary. Seremela tried to overcome the negative voice, but her own Adversary had a lot of ammunition to use against her.

It was eye-opening to be in Seremela’s head and realize how lonely it most be for that species. However, what tenacity and determination this women possesses! And her snakes, poisonous to many creatures, were hilarious to experience. She refers to them as brats occasionally and they really did remind me of rambunctious, nosy pets. They sure did calm down and appear at ease when Duncan was around though…

Duncan is a Vampyre and the progeny of Carling, who was once the Vampyre Queen but is now enjoying her days and nights with her mate, Rune. I don’t think I ever thought twice about Duncan, but he certainly came across as appealing int his novella. And so very different from the large, aggressive Alpha males in this series. Duncan’s Alpha-ness is different. Still quite strong physically, his intelligence and charm are more his forte, and he has them in spades.

Duncan and Seremela are an odd pair, but I was quite taken by their story. They seem to complete each other, accept each other. It just felt natural and beautiful. Win!

Favorite Quote

 He’s have to be a liar or blind to claim he wasn’t affected by her beauty, because he was, but what really engaged his interest was her quick mind. It was such a goddamn pleasure to seduce an intelligent woman.

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