Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel (The Hollows 5.5) by Kim Harrison in the anthology «Holidays are Hell»

Hello to all,

           Christmas is approaching fast and  the exams even faster but i will pursue my discovery of stories for my holiday romance and holiday books challenge. Today, i 'm sharing with you a novella from a series i love "The Hollows" written by Kim Harrison; this novella is part of the anthology " holidays are Hell" but if you are a fan  of the series and want to read it in order then this is book 5.5 ( no worries if this is your first discovery of the series though^^)

i loved this story a lot and  it explain a bit why Rachel is hesitant with her vampire friend Ivy... her first experience with vampire was quite explosive after all and we get to understand her "first" love as well.

Happy reading!

Publisher: Harper

Publication: 2007

ISBN:  0061239097

Genre: urban fantasy, holiday romance, paranormal romance
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: none
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads

 Kim Harrison introduces us to a younger Rachel Morgan- an undergraduate witch-in training-who naively resurrects a spirit and sparks a terrifying showdown with a deadly undead adversary.

My opinion:

          This short story could be read as a stand alone without problem but it’s a must have for the fan of the Hollows series, I will try to avoid spoilers but I will give you my opinion on this novella as part of the story too.

It’s funny to see the past of some characters; in the Hollows series, we have glimpses of Rachel‘s past but they are just allusions, small details here and there. Here we get to see how Rachel was before entering the IS (the agency she is leaving in book 1), we see how passionate she was already but also how frail she was and we can judge how she improved. She was already really stubborn and brilliant though.

It’s the story how she met Pierce, the same ghost who reappears later when she doesn’t expect him. Pierce was a witch went the paranormal creature were still undercover, he was a kind of investigator, policeman for the paranormal world. At that time, he was working on the case of a vampire who captured young children, he wanted to save a little girl but the vampire in question turned the situation to his advantage by revealing Pierce’s real nature to put the blame on him. The young man was killed and put in unrest state in the purgatory since he was buried in an unsanctified ground. While trying to make her father’s ghost appears, Rachel accidentally manages to get Pierce and in corporal form even.

At that time, on all the news a picture of a little girl is shown , she has been kidnapped, Pierce sees immediately the links between this case and the one on which he died, it’s the same vampire and his opportunity to redeem his soul. When the authorities doesn’t believe them, it’s up to him and Rachel to save the little girl by confronting the old Vampire…a test for Rachel too to see if it’s really what she wants to become.

I enjoyed to see that the story fitted perfectly what was said in the series, there is not a real link so it could be read as a stand alone but for a fan it’s a real bonus and it’s also a bit funny to see Rachel without Jenks and Ivy and how she could already put herself in danger so easily. Kim Harrison gave us a real treat with this short story written with a fantastic style as always.

To recommend to all fans of the Hollow series and to the others too and if you like this jump on the series it’s even better^^

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

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