Book: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Published December 2013 by NYLA|225 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Clean Sweep #1

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night….Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

I really liked Clean Sweep!  I’m glad I picked this one up.

It was fun to read, and it moved pretty fast.  It is short, so that might be part of it.  But I really liked Dina’s world, and the magic and how it seems to be a little sci-fi too.  Like how the werewolves seem to have some genetic enhancements.  And other planets are mentioned.  Plus, the vampires kind of reminded me of aliens, but I really liked the spin on vampires.

The magic was really cool!  I love the idea of a magical inn, and how it can defend itself if it has to.  I also liked how the inns were rating, and higher ratings mean really good things.  I get why Dina took over this abandoned inn, and how she wants it to be a hustling and bustling place where she might have a guest who can lead her to her parents.  I really hope we learn more about them.  And I hope Dina finds out what happens to them.  I don’t know if we’ll ever meet her siblings- I doubt it we will, but it would be nice to see them.

I really hope we see Sean again too.  I hope it’s not the last we see of him, and I really hope he makes an appearance.  It would be nice to see him again in some way.

Actually, I liked a lot of the characters we meet.  Dina was really cool, and I really liked her.  She seems pretty independent, and she kind of reminds me of Nevada from the Hidden Legacy series.  I think, if you like that series, you’ll like this one.  Dina has a guest, and I wish I could remember her name, but she seemed pretty cool.  I want to know more about her, and I hope we get to see her in the rest of the series.

As fast as things went, and as much as I loved the world, I thought things could be explained a little more.  It’s pretty short, so more could have been added.  I got a basic idea of the world and how it worked, but a little more explanation would have been nice.  Still, I know there are other books after this one, so I think we’ll get more as the series goes in.  Even if I’m not completely happy with the information we get, I know we’ll get something.

4 stars.  I really liked this book, and I wish it were a little longer.  I don’t mind that too much, since this is only the first book in the series.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.