Feeling Peckish – Hellhound by Rue Volley

Sexy cover! Sexy tagline: Hunt. Kill. Survive. Sexy Indie Publisher Name: Hot Ink Press. How can I say, ‘no’ to all the sexy. It would be like me turning down Tae Yang or Dongwoo. Could. Not. Be. Done. JSYK those are two of my most dreamy of sexy Kpop Idols. They make me have hot flashes and sometimes when they do sexy eyes I have to go have sorbet and think of the movie Ice Age. That is just how I felt when I first saw this book cover and then I felt more of that when I began reading it and met the characters. Gunnar… mmmm… blue hair. He made me think of Key when he had blue hair. And then I went from mmmm… blue hair to mmmm… Gunnar. And he made me stop thinking of Key. The book is many kittens good. Good, sexy kittens from hell. Hellkittens.

The premise of this book is that Halo Bay killed her bastard other half in a domestic abuse situation and she had every right to because he was a pooch’s plum knocker if there ever was one. But while she offed the Prince of Pooch’s Plums she also bit the big one–not the big plum, just the big ONE, and she was offered a chance to redeem herself as a Hellhound, where she got to have a pretty mean set of plums herself.

There are only five Hellhounds at any given time and when you first audition the big guy down stairs gives you a trial. If you fail you burn for so long a time that time itself stops existing. It’s sort of like one of those deals back when with all the singing and Simon “I’m the Tits” Cowell–you do or you don’t and he’s a penis with ears either way… that is what Lucifer is like. When Halo passes she gets to fill the position left empty by the last Hellhound. What she finds out was that that lamentable spot was once held by the sister of the man who is quickly making her heart pitter patter, Gunnar–whose eyes seem to whisper of more history, sorrow, TLC Channel, cups of sugar, Hershey’s Kisses and betrayal than she has ever witnessed before. And let’s thank Simon Cowell for that because if Rue made him any more wantable we would all be looking for a douche canoe to kill in hopes that one of the Hellhounds fell into the big campfire downstairs just so we could jump on his stick.

If I told you this character development and plot setup is solid gold I would be lying… I am pretty sure it’s more solid than solid gold. The thesaurus suggest veracious and I like it because it sounds like voracious! This book is VERACIOUS GOLD! I love the characters and I want to take them home. I love the plot and I want to take it home. If I hadn’t already bought the book, I would buy this book again and take it home… because it is that good!

Other than Halo and Gunnar, the other players in the story are Dorin, Finna, Ari and Lucifer and you can’t help but feel strongly about all of them. I think you will even feel dirty because you don’t want to, but you can’t help but feel a little attracted to the Prince of Two Roosters. The dynamic between Halo and Dorin, Halo and Lucifer, and Halo and Gunnar is really key to the entire pacing and character driven storyline and she might be playing with a lot of the farm animals in those relationships. Finna and Ari are part of the Hellhound group but they don’t take such an active part in Halo’s life and that means that as readers we don’t develop as much of a connection to them as we do with all the other players. And we do not learn anything about their farms or their animal husbandry, with the exception that they keep their animal tending between themselves.

I picked up the Hellhound novella because the synopsis sounded good and I liked the cover. While I was reading it I dug the character development and the plot and concept and I was behind this book 100% but one thing was affecting my own mind like when that worm burrows in Wrathful Khan’s head. In some places it is so poorly edited it distracts from the actual reading and I generally growl when people complain about things like that because people who self publish deserve major props and not only that but I’m a firm believer of “if you know what I’m saying that don’t nitpick to be a dick.” People who bitch about punctuation generally drive me mad because I feel like they are trying to beef on someone who has accomplished something that they deserve to be proud of and the reviewer is putting negative out there because they are one of those people who likes to make people feel little. People will learn as they publish more things and get better… you put crap vibes out and you feel like crap so those people who bitch probably where tight panties and their girly parts don’t experience anything nice… LIKE EVER! I don’t like that–any of it, especially numb girly parts and bad vibes. But there were sentences in this novella that I had to read a few times because they confused me. And I think I feel guilty for it because of how I feel about calling people out on editing but there were a good many sentences that needed a second look.=( Sorry Rue. I can feel my parts, it’s not my panties.

Rue is excellent in conveying description and she has a mastery over illustrating landscapes and depicting events that is amazekittens. From the beginning when Halo is getting to watch the death scene of her and Travis, to her kill with the first escapee from hell, and then her entrance to hell in her journey to save Gunnar; she paints alluring, alarming and enticing scenes and theatrics to provoke and repel. Such a talent is often absent in or underdeveloped in storytelling and this book is all the richer for it.

I truly loved this novella and I bought the second, Dogs of War, on the hope that the blue haired guy would let me jump on his campfire stick. I would say that this book is great if you like N.J. Walters Hades’ Carnival.

Purchase Hellhound:

Amazon | B&N

Rue Volley’s Web Tracks:

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Rue Volley’s Books:

Hellhound: Dogs of War Synopsis:

In ‘Dogs of War’ we rejoin Halo Bay and the Hellhounds as they adjust to an unexpected loss. Weakened and feeling as if they may be losing the battle, the Hellhounds reach out to the most unlikely of creatures…that of the vampires. At Ari’s insistence, two very powerful vampires are called upon to help them. Hunter, who has a sorted past with Dorin and Vanessa, Queen of the vampires and daughter to Dracula himself. As they struggle to solidify their new alliance Halo finds she has to barter with the only thing she truly owns. Herself. This is a deal that Lucifer is eager to seal and blinded by love Halo may be stepping into a plan set in motion centuries before she even existed. Will she restore the balance between Heaven and Hell? or will be become the final seal?

Purchase Hellhound: Dogs of War:

Amazon | B&N

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