Ever After by Kim Harrison

I had been eagerly anticipating the latest installment in Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series, Ever After . With only one novel in the series published each year and knowing the series is coming to a conclusion soon, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and Kim did not disappoint. Rachel continues to find herself in one disaster after another in Ever After.  (FYI does contain minor spoilers from prior books)

The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It’s up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing… for the worse.

While saving the world is important, it isn’t Rachel’s only motivation. There’s also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate events. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It’s also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He’s already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn’t give herself up soon, they’ll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skills of her own, and she isn’t going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She’s also got a surprise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she’s going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones… and prevent an apocalypse before it’s too late. Or, at least that’s the plan…

I love how Rachel has grown over the course of this series.  She is more confident in herself, though she knows she is still learning.  Her abilities are really put to the test in Ever After. Remember Ku’Sox? You know that demon that was created in hopes of being the demons salvation but was so out of control the demons had to bury him under the St. Louis Arch…well until Trent accidentally set him free?  Yes? Well…he’s back and he causes Rachel and all of demonkind quite a headache.  Rachel not only has to figure out just what she’s able to do now that she’s realized she’s a demon and not a witch but she has to also heavily rely on her training as an investigator to figure out how to prove who’s behind the craziness in her ley line.  Ever After is a nice culmination of all the growing Rachel has done thus far.

I have a soft spot for some gargoyles.  Personally, if these creatures were real I’d totally have some as pets/surveillance gurus lol.  Ever After really features the gargolyes in the Hollows.  I love it.  We get to learn more about Bis and his family.  They actually play a really big role towards the end.  I truly hope we get to see more of them in the last couple of books.

Oh and fellow Nick haters…he’s baaack. Ugh! But, I think you may be kinda pleased with how Kim deals with him with this new and nasty appearance.  I think he totally deserves what happens *G*.

Overall I really enjoy this series and I can’t wait until next February for the next to last book.  While we don’t really get much in the way of any hints about who Rachel may finally end up with (Ivy is surprisingly fairly absent in Ever After and there are some events that make me question whether it will be Trent after all). As always, Kim delivered an excellently written novel in Ever After which will keep you turning page after page until you reach the end…and left wanting more.

Read Order:
Dead Witch Walking
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
Every Which Way But Dead
A Fistful of Charms
For a Few Demons More
The Outlaw Demon Wails
White Witch, Black Curse
Black Magic Sanction
Pale Demon
A Perfect Blood
Ever After