Sharon Hannaford

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89 points/100 (4 ½ stars/5)
Warning: Cliffhanger (status: I never want to see this type of cliffhanger again already)

Someone has tried to assassinate Gabrielle, and they don't know who. The Princeps' Court has found out about Gabrielle and now they're demanding that she be brought before them. The Oracles of the City warn that if the Vampires come to them, the consequences will be dire. So, Gabi, Julius, and a crew of friends take off to keep them away.

ALL HAIL RAZOR! KING RAZOR!

Seriously, that cat is so overpowered it is incredible. What is Razor even made of? Adamantium? Has Wolverine been cursed into cat shape? This cat is awesome.

Gabi and Julius are just so perfect for each other. I literally never wanna leave their side. I feel like I'm addicted to the two of them together. If they aren't together, if they aren't circling around each other, I get frustrated and unhappy. They work so well together. They just manage to work as a couple really well. They support each other, even when they're not.

The side romances are.... I won't say they're unnecessary. I will say they're cheesy. The author really, really wants everyone to be happy and have their "one" at the end of this series. The side romances are also really "tell not show", because everything is focused instead on Gabi and Julius. I've read a few series like this this year, where everyone is paired off at the end, and it never ever feels real. We'll see on Hellcat.

The Princeps' court is exactly what you expect out of it. The Princeps are factionous, they're dangerous, they're powerful. They have complete power over people except for other Princeps. Of course, some of them are more than willing to betray the main characters, even though they're under the protection of the court. There are a few decent sounding Princeps, but a lot have some deep issues and reasons why they shouldn't be there.

The reason we had to leave town is because the Oracles were warned about this. We also had to because apparently, the supernaturals are protecting a powerful source of power in their city. I groaned aloud when I read this. I hated it instantly. I hate how this is going to become a focus in the series from now on - how could it not? This is a little late in the game to be introducing this.

Lastly, I wanna bring up the Anita Blake influences A Cold Day in Hell has. The Hellcat series has always had these influences. Almost every single thing in the entire urban fantasy genre does (and I keep meaning to write a post on this). To get away from the influences of Anita Blake are hard, if not impossible unless you go back before it was written. Before A Cold Day in Hell, it was really low level, I noticed it, but it wasn't overwhelming. That was not the case here. It was obviously directly influenced by Anita Blake. The biggest influence was about the little kid that was turned into a vampire (though that was previously regarded as impossible as laid out by the rules in the series) by a pedophile. It is like Hannaford told Hamilton "I can do that, but better".

More, please! I just need more and more and more of Gabi and Julius. I'm greedy.
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To read more reviews in this series and others, check out keikii eats books!

Average: 74 points/100 (3 ¾ stars/5)
Warning: animal abuse

A Short Trip to Hell is a collection of four very small short stories in the Hellcat series. They're all pretty small, mostly covering one event each. They are not at all necessary to read, and all take place before the start of the series. They should, however, be read after book four, just because they rely on you having knowledge of certain events so they don't feel like part of a story and not the full story. These aren't really happy stories, but they are the stories of the characters we have come to enjoy.

So This is Hell
62 points/100 (3 ¼ stars/5)

This first story is the story of Fergus, the dour Scottish vampire, and his change from human to vampire. If you have been reading the series to date, you know this isn't exactly a happy story. And indeed, this isn't. This is so short, though, that I wasn't really able to get emotionally invested in it outside of what I already had in me from the series.

To Dance with the Devil
84 points/100 (4 ¼ stars/5)

This second story is much longer than the first, and it is Julius' time to shine. We see a lot more of his life than we did Fergus' which was just a snapshot. We see Julius as a human and while he is changed into and accepting becoming a vampire. Hannaford goes much more into depth this short story. I cared about Julius, I cared what was going on. It made me feel things and hope for things for how the series will end.

One Hell of a Day
64 points/100 (3 ¼ stars/5)

This was another very quick story, this time dealing with Alexander. This is so abbreviated, I think, because we have already heard the outcome of his story. We have heard what comes after the end of this story. If you combined this short story with what we got in one of the previous books, we'd get the full story. As it is, it is a fragment of what came before what we have already learned.

Blood and Thunder
86 points/100 (4 ½ stars/5)

This was definitely the best (and probably longest) short story out of all of them. It was also the most depressing. Who knew Razor (yes, the cat) had such a depressing backstory? I suggest strongly staying away from this if you don't want to read about harm coming to animals.
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