Review: Night’s Honor by Thea Harrison (Elder Races #7)

Night’s Honor (Elder Races #7)
Thea Harrison
Published: Sept. 2, 2014 (Berkley Trade)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review Source: Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Jannelle

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books in the series. If you haven‘t started yet, check out VBC‘s review of book 1 Dragon Bound.

Tess is on the run from her former employer—a Djinn who is infamous for his bad temper—and is hoping to find protection in the home of a vampire by auditioning alongside other potential candidates.

Although it is essentially her choice to audition for a role in a vampire household, Tess has made her choice out of necessity and is hesitant to comply with all of the tasks required of her by her new employer, Xavier del Torro, who happens to be the right hand of the King of the Nightkind Demesne (think vampires). This means that while Xavier is body deep in demesne politics which has the power to potentially hinder Tess’ ultimate goal of survival, it also means that Xavier is high up on the chain of command and possesses a substantial amount of power to wield as he wishes (like maybe saving Tess’ butt from a crazy ex-employer).

Now, I love me some vampires. This book hit a lot of the right kind of sexy vampire stuff I look forward to—hauntingly gorgeous male protagonist, stubborn behavior by a (possibly) centuries-old vampire and the young human he/she is consorting with, the promise of eternal life in a potential blood-bound relationship (I think you get the picture).

I enjoyed the tension between Tess and Xavier and how it wasn’t a typical love-at-first-sight romance, where they realize they have the hots for each other and are immediately in bed. And while sometimes that works, Thea Harrison did a great job at slowly—but steadily—building the trust and attraction in their relationship, which helped deliver a more believable romance between this unlikely match. If Tess’ apprehension of even being in the same vicinity as a vampire suddenly vanished, well, it just wouldn’t have worked for me. The somewhat steady build-up also made me look forward to their next meetings together.

I will say, however, that this slow build-up is unusual in comparison to almost every other book in the series. I usually expect (and receive) passionate and whirlwind romances full of bucket loads of sexual tension. While Night’s Honor had a bit of those aspects, it was definitely not to the level of previous books.

This kind of felt like an in-between novel in the Elder Races series;the absence of action (in comparison to other installments) made Night’s Honor feel slightly slow paced. I found myself looking forward to Xavier and Tess’ next meet-ups and getting a bit bored in the in between. Most of it was daily routine, which I know some readers enjoy (but I didn’t). While there wasn’t much action, there was plenty of behind-the-scenes politicking that I am sure will help move along future novels. A definite new storyline developed with the King of the Nightkind Demesne, Julian, which I am looking forward to reading about in the next novel, Midnight’s Kiss.

Overall, 3.5 stars to Night’s Honor. Although it wasn’t my favorite installment of the Elder Races series, Harrison did an excellent job of moving forward the general storyline of the series as a whole and creating an interesting and unique addition to this world I have fallen in love with.

Plenty of inter-demesne shenanigans occurring that will leave you prepped and ready for the next installment. Oh, and mysteriously sexy vampires: my weakness.

Sexual Content: scenes of a sensual nature