Thank you so much to the publisher for approving me. This was a DNF for me, I suppose since I never got back into it and I’m just updating this to move this off my shelf.

*~~*ARC kindly provided from the publisher/author to me for an honest review *~~*

Full review to come

5 stars

Iron and Velvet is an amusing, if rather shallow and vulgar, paranormal noir fantasy. It's sweary, snarky, and more than a little overly dramatic, but it's certainly entertaining. Kate's voice is fun, if a little try-hard - it must be utterly exhausting being that arch all the time! - and the story rolls along at quite a clip. I did have to check several times at the start of the story that this really was Book 1 in the series, as there's a lot of reference to things that happened in Kate's past as if we the reader should know about them - it very much reminded me of the way that recurring characters are reintroduced in the later books of long-running urban fantasy series. It does gets bonus points for having a sapphic main character who literally never once has any angst about her sexuality. Her relationships are central cause of tension, but it's never the fact that they're women. It's very silly, and I can definitely see how the over-the-top snark could put some people off, but it was a fun quick read. Three and a half stars.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

This book was so much fun! It is urban fantasy at its finest.

The narrative voice of the protagonist was absolutely fantastic, and I loved the running gags throughout the book - Kate writing her epitaph with the various ridiculous ways she might end up dying and listing the members of her rescue posse as she convinces them to join her.

Highly recommended.

Kate Kane is a take-no-shit PI who totally drinks whisky for breakfast. Her specialty is in paranormal cases, and she's particularly suited to this being half-Fae. Her mum is the Queen of the Wild Hunt and Kate can draw on her mother's strength and power when necessary. She's had a bad year, what with her ex-girlfriend murdering her investigation partner and then getting locked up for it. She's desperate for a little cash, though, which is why she agrees to investigate the suspiscious death of a young werewolf at the Velvet, a vampire-owned hedonism bar.

Julian St. Germain is one of the four vampire princes--despite being female. She was once a nun on a mission to kill paranormal creatures, but a lot happens in 800 years. While Julian is strong, ancient and powerful, she also doesn't want to risk a war breaking out all over London between the vampires and werewolf clans, and Kate seems like a sexy morsel who could solve the mystery and satisfy Julian's...appetites. While Kate normally stays away from bedding vampires--and clients--there's an undeniable pull between them. Also, Kate is definitely a master at bad decisions.

This is a fun and engaging read with a lush paranormal subculture set into London's urbanity. I loved the class between the contemporary and the historical physical spaces here, which plays a counterpoint to Kate and Julian's deepening attraction. There are so many intriguing characters, from the female werewolf alpha, who is a lingerie model who wouldn't kick Kate out of bed for eating chips, to a genderqueer vamp ready to wreak havoc in stiletto heels, or a female golem who just wants to be useful, but not in a sexual way. Plus, the intricate politics of the different paranormal entities is vast and shrouded in arcane traditions only immortal beings could remember.

A second murder and a direct attack on Julian leads Kate, plus an unlikely collection of vamps, werewolves, and mages, into the bowels of London. They also probe Julian's ancient history to find what could be stalking her. Wow, was the culprit not pretty. The pacing was brisk and Kate's deadpan narration was spare and self-deprecating. I think I nearly wet myself coming across one of Kate's million epitaphs--she mentally composes one each time she's in deep crap with little chance of survival--so, like 7 a day while on the case. They are almost like tiny refrains, bringing humor in at the darkest moments.

The resolution brings some tragedy, but Kate survives to fight again, and she'll need Julian's protection if she's going to make it any longer in this world. After all, Kate's a "Beloved daughter," and doesn't particularly care to be "Sorely missed." There's a dash of sexytimes here and there, while Kate and Julian learn about one another, and try to figure out who could be hunting Julian. It felt like enough, and I didn't want the romance to slow down the investigation, so I'm glad it didn't.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel.

DNF @ 25%

Trigger warnings (up until this point): underage/toxic relationship, stalker ex, violence, gore, death.
Rep: wlw mc

After my third attempt to read this book, I have come to the conclusion that it just isn't for me. I usually adore LGBTQ+ paranormal books, but this one didn't work for me due to a bunch of different reasons.

I felt like I had been dumped into the middle of a novel and not the beginning, I was quite confused and I really didn't gel with the main character at all.

Overall, I would recommend checking this out if you like paranormal novels with LGBTQ+ main characters, unfortunately, this one wasn't my cup of tea, but I'll definitely be reading more Alexis Hall in the future!

I became an Alexis Hall fan after reading The Affair of the Mysterious Letter this summer. Iron & Velvet, the first mystery starring Kate Kane, is just as fun. Kate, a detective who specializes in paranormal mysteries, is hired to solve the murder of a werewolf. While working on the case she gets caught up in the rivalries and feuds among werewolves, vampires, mages, fairies, and other creatures of London. Kate is a fantastic narrator - sarcastic, with a complicated history and a bunch of crazy ex girlfriends. This story is really about Kate and the unexpected circumstances she repeatedly finds herself in - the mystery was secondary (at least to me). This was a great read and I'm definitely interested in continuing the series.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall is an adult urban fantasy/mystery, the first in the Kate Kane series. This edition is “newly refreshed by the author”; I haven’t read it previously, so I’m not sure how much of a difference there is between this and the older editions.

Iron & Velvet is written like a hardboiled detective novel, with a hard-drinking, sarcastic private eye, who quips “I like my women like I like my whiskey: more than is good for me.” This is PI fiction with a twist, though, since Kate differs from the typical PI in several ways: she’s a woman; she’s a lesbian; and, oh yeah, she’s half-fae and her private eye practice focuses on the paranormal.


The current case sees Kate working for Julian Saint-Germain – one of the four vampire princes – after a werewolf is found murdered outside one of Julian’s bars. Kate takes the job against her better judgement, and soon finds herself trying to prevent an all-out war between the werewolves, the vampires, and the mages… while navigating a very-bad-idea romance with Julian.

I liked this a lot. The tone and the humor was right up my alley – I will never say no to a snarky main character – and the mystery element was done nicely, with some red herrings and false leads but not so many as to slow down the pace. There’s a large supporting cast and there’s one or two spots where enough people were introduced all at once that I got a little confused about who was who, but overall that wasn’t a problem because all the recurring characters are well-developed.

I definitely plan to keep reading this series

This book has a pretty cool premise with a diverse cast and the world seemed to be like something fun. The mystery and world building was good for the first in a series. However, I felt dropped in the middle without really knowing anything about the characters backstories and while those backstories seemed pretty important to the plot, I always felt like I was missing something. I believe its a series so I'm hopeful that those details will be filled in eventually but that did make it very difficult to slip into the book's world. I will probably read the next one in the series eventually if it exists.

Sorry, this was not for me. The writer is just trying too hard to make this a hard boiled PI noir book and it comes off phony. They never miss an opportunity to insert a cliche. It overburdens the story and makes it plod along. The main character is meant to be snarky and self deprecating but she comes off flat and unlikeable. There is so much back story that it doesn’t feel like this is book one. It felt like it was book three of a trilogy. I really didn’t care for any of the characters and the “romance” was not really believable. It was obvious that the writer borrowed from so many other stories, maybe trying to pay homage but it seemed unimaginative to me. I know it’s a paranormal fantasy but I found it unrealistic. It felt like an assignment from a creative writing class that was in need of a good editor. I really wanted to like this book but just couldn’t. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

When I first read this book I fell madly in love with it, and I loved the second one too, so I was expecting the third one from quite some time, now, so when I saw that they were re-editing it and that there is the third volume in program I had to request it on NetGalley. Why? Well, a re-read was in order to refresh my memory and keep my enthusiasm going for the new book!
But I have a little confession to make: I loved it the first time I read it, but… not so much this time. Mind me, I enjoyed the reading and I am sooooo looking forward for the sequels, it’s just that the first time was better.

But this is just a minor detail because we have a great MC. Kate Kane is a paranormal PI and she seems just dropped out from a noir film. I loved her! She is sassy, with some bad habits that she just can’t grow out of it, and great (or bad, it depends on which POV you are using) taste for women. And, she is the daughter of the head of the wild hunt. And if you say “wild hunt” I am in!
And we have a lot of interesting characters to add, the celibate Incubus (and I just love him!), the ancient Prince Vampire who was a ninja nun (and that was just fantastic!), the angst full Vampire who is a clichè who walks around, some badass witches and big bad fae who roam around. Ah, yes, and werewolves too!
So, you see, there is something for everyone here!

The prose is fluid and it just keeps you going, while you read about the mysteries (because we have some murders, obviously) and the life of our characters. And the dialogues. They are bright and fun. So nope, you won’t get bored while reading this story!

I think that the greatest thing about it is the characters because as I said before, we have a great and variegated cast of them. But the story is good, too, and the banter and the sassy keep the ball rolling! So yeah, I loved it more the first time around, that’s true, but I enjoyed myself while re-reading it and I am looking forward to reading the second one (and the third, I really can’t wait for the third one!!!).

“Here lies Kate Kane. Killed in a foreplay accident. Beloved daughter. Sorely missed.”

It’s been years since I first encountered Iron & Velvet, and on this new reading, it quickly became clear that no amount of fond remembrance or wistful intent to revisit it has done the narrative justice. To recap: Kate Kane—paranormal private investigator and castoff daughter of the Queen of the Wild Hunt—has just been hired by the Prince of Cups to find out who killed a werewolf outside her nightclub. Things get off to a rough start and go downhill from there, but at least the company is interesting and the sex is good.

In the elapsed time, I’d forgotten how much I truly like Kate. At thirty-three, her priorities include paying rent and not dying. Booze and sex fall somewhere after that, and so on. The world is no longer mysterious and shiny, and the scars and regrets have left their marks. Yet, Kate is still entrancing, her determination and pervasive need to see all the questions answered somehow complementing her wonderfully twisted sense of humor. I have no doubt that she won’t make everyone happy, but I think she’s pretty fantastic.

“…Do you want in?”

“Flats or heels?”

“Waders,” I said. “He’s down a sewer.”

Another thing I noticed was that the secondary characters seemed a little extra vivid this time around. Julian, of course, was a lot of fun. I liked (nearly) all of them more, Ashriel (the celibate incubus) and Kauri (aka Miss Parma Violet) in particular. But, it was Nimue, the Witch Queen, who I found to be especially fascinating. Considered “less than” by many of the vampires and werewolves because of her mortality, while concurrently being a major threat to both, makes her—and the other mages, in general—worthy of serious attention. Plus, I can’t help but wonder about her past with Kate.

Overall, I was extremely pleased to have the chance to revisit Iron & Velvet. The writing was as wonderful as I remembered, the characters even more enjoyable, and the icky parts far less distracting somehow. Despite the dire state of affairs in places, I still snickered and laughed my way through the whole thing. I’m looking forward to jumping into the second story, Shadows & Dreams, before the release of Fire & Water, the third book in the series, next year.

Sorry to say this didn't work for me. The heroine kept sexualizing everyone and everything in a very uncomfortable sleazy way, the setting was just too 'Lol Quirky' for my taste, it kept infodumping (7 names in the first two pages!!!!) and I felt zero chemistry between the heroine and the love interest. I'm really disappointed because I've been looking forward to this one for years.

I always enjoy this author's way with words, and I was not disappointed.
Another wonderful story by Alexis Hall. I'm always keen for more. I need more.

I love Alexis Hall but this book wasn't quite for me. The urban fantasy worldbuilding felt a little fast and I'm not that into noir, so the detective elements didn't appeal as much as I was hoping.

Disappointed, but looking forward to digging into the rest of Hall's backlist.

I DNFed at 25%. The MC character grated on my nerves and I couldn't care about the characters or the plot.
I found the plot quite confusing and found hard to keep on reading.
The style of writing is interesting even if it takes a lot of elements from characters like Marlowe but it was not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is my first foray into the series, which is being re-released through Carina Press, with the second and third books being released in December and February, respectively.

Kate Kane is a heavy drinking, hygiene shy, part fairy (fae) paranormal investigator who's recently been left by her ex-girlfriend for a startup and still grieves for the death of her partner, who was killed by her ex-girlfirend (Did you get all that?). She's hired by a super-sexy vampire to solve a mystery which grows ever more complex as her investigation continues. Any number of supernatural creatures with a million and one motives could be behind the crime (and a subsequent attack), which only makes her job that much more difficult. Most of the novel is taken up with her following leads that end nowhere, while she stumbles into one adventure after another.

I will be honest. As a huge fan of the author's writing, I went into this book with a certain set of expectations about the writing. Having devoured the Spires series, the Arden St. Ives series and then The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, I had another kind of prose in mind and found myself having to restart this book a few times before I could really settle into it. The book itself is excellent - well written, funny and subtly drawn characters, an array of interesting secondary characters, and the plot that, as far as mysteries go, was rather good. There are also a ton of references to other books and films, which makes me think the author is poking fun or paying homage to some of these things.

The style simply wasn't what I was expecting.

Upon reflection, of course, this makes sense. Kate's not exactly a metaphorical thinker. She is intelligent and observant but she's very rooted in facts, like any good investigator is. Even when she is flooded with her own supernatural power (she is the daughter of a powerful Faery Queen), she is direct in the expression of her thoughts. In this, the writing does exactly what it should do. Kate is a consistent character and the writing reflects her personality and in this task, the writing is successful. The moments where the author's natural exuberance and delight for language do burst through actually jar, not because the words aren't beautiful in themselves, but because it is in contrast to a character who is not given to waxing poetic on anything, not even her incredibly powerful and sexually alluring girlfriend. Where such descriptions would be the nuggets I would search for in another book, they are out of place here.

So, if you go in expecting Glitterland, you're not going to get it. Kate isn't Ash - she's her own character. If you like strong, complex characters who kicks ass and prefers to meet the world directly, without any filters or obfuscation, then Kate Kane is the investigator for you.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this book. I did like the premise, but the reality of it was thoroughly disappointing. Part of that can be chalked up to world-building by way of info dumps. Then, there's the unlikable main character. I can and often do appreciate snark and wit, but Kate just wasn't likable, which could also be the reason I couldn't get on board with the romance. Either that, or there really was no chemistry. All of that aside, I think the biggest annoyance was all the borrowed elements. I sat this book aside a number of times and kept coming back to try again, but it finally reached a point that I was merely tallying up things I'd seen in other urban fantasy/paranormal stories. In the end, it felt like a mish-mash of so many other stories. If you're completely new to the genre and been living off the grid for some time, maybe you'll like this one better than I did. For me, I think it's safe to say that I won't be recommending this one, nor will I be continuing with the series.