"Amusing romantic fantasy amateur sleuth"

Working for her uncle at his Seattle-based firm Bell and Sons, Aisling Grey delivers a six hundred year old golden aquamanile dragon statue to customer Aurora Deauxville in Paris. However, instead of making the exchange nothing goes right as Aisling finds Aurora dead with a demon circle nearby. Drake Vireo, the Wyvern head of his Sept, arrives and steals the package before leaving. The police arrive just after Drake leaves and suspect Aisling killed Aurora.

Aisling decides to prove her innocence and regain the stolen artifact. She knows all roads lead to Drake and soon begins a journey to the underground otherworld of Paris. However, the path is similar to that of Alice down the rabbit hole as Aisling learns she is a guardian and Drake insists she is his mate. As a guardian she calls for a demon, getting Jim the dog and though she heats up with Drake's kisses in dreams or his bed, Aisling insists they are not mates for eternity as she thinks he is the killer who stole the artifact and ended her courier job.

This is an amusing romantic fantasy amateur sleuth tale in which somehow Katie MacAlister never loses sight of her key player Aisling. The story line is action-packed as Aisling goes from one out of control scenario to another. Drake is her delightful counterpart while Jim provides comic relief sort of like the canine in Men in Black II as the heroine wonders how she let this dog out of hell. Fans will appreciate this warm humorous tale that slays readers with laughter.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 1, 2004

Aisling Grey is a courier enjoying a free, work-related trip to Paris when she learns she's a Guardian. That's a keeper of the Gates of Hell, for those who don't know. She finds this out from Drake Vireo, who's scrumptiously sexy- at least in his human form. Now Drake has stolen the package Aisling was sent to deliver, and she must track him down, get the package, and try to resist the passion boiling inside her.

Summary

The first book in a sexy, humorous paranormal thriller series featuring Aisling Grey, an apprentice Guardian, and her sometimes boyfriend, sometimes foe Drake Vireo, wyvern (leader) of one of the four dragon septs. Aisling finds her true calling when she travels to Paris to deliver a medieval object that is part of a set sought after for the power it wields.

There she meets the handsome Drake, a man who is not at all what he seems. Implicated in the circumstances of two murders, Aisling, the demon she summons for help (and subsequently can't get rid of) named Jim, and Drake find themselves caught up in a web of lies and confusion that could well result in the demon lords of hell ruling the mortal world. The first book in a sexy, humorous paranormal thriller series featuring Aisling Grey, an apprentice Guardian, and her sometimes boyfriend, sometimes foe Drake Vireo, wyvern (leader) of one of the four dragon septs. Aisling finds her true calling when she travels to Paris to deliver a medieval object that is part of a set sought after for the power it wields. There she meets the handsome Drake, a man who is not at all what he seems. Implicated in the circumstances of two murders, Aisling, the demon she summons for help (and subsequently can't get rid of) named Jim, and Drake find themselves caught up in a web of lies and confusion that could well result in the demon lords of hell ruling the mortal world.