I liked it a lot, if only it weren't so short! ( )

Its honestly not an exaggeration when I say that this story made me tear up. Look I have read a lot of romance novels (and I do mean a lot) in my life. Everything from early Harlequin romances to yaoi and I can name on my one hand the amount of books that have made me so happy that HEA's exist in romances. Silent Blade made the list.

Meli and Celino were both defined and restrained by who their families were. What it meant to be kin, the sacrifices you had to make to keep the family strong. I'm also fairly certain that neither of them had families worth sacrificing for, but that's just my opinion.

The world that Andrews creates is brutal and devestating and neither of them are completely innocent. Its dog eat dog, where ruthlessness will win you more brownie points then mercy. This isn't to say they are evil doers killing the innocent and such, but they have a certain pragmatic viewpoint of the world. You hurt mine, I'll hurt you.

Meli's revenge is poetic and says much about who she is. I'm not entirely certain why her family put the hit on Celino--I doubt they waited 12 years to administer payback for what he did to Meli--as that was a gray area unexplored. Meli didn't question it, her father and brother weren't offering the reason and no one seemed overly concerned if Meli turned it into a personal vendetta against Celino.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I wanted to read more about this world of theirs--where its practically Mafialand in the future, but this small taste proved again why Ilona Andrews should be a must buy for anyone and everyone.
( )

This is basically the distilled essence of an Ilona Andrews novel.
By stripping away all the clutter there is not much space to make mistakes in the surrounding.
It's quite cheesy romance, I won't deny that, but sometimes a bit of well-done cheese like this can be heart-balm. ( )

It was okay.
( )

Gah, I forgot what amazing authors this duo are. How they managed to pack such a wallop in 42 pages astounds me. And reminds me that a re-read of all the Edge and Kate Daniels books is overdue, and that I should read all the new stuff too. ( )