The Necromancer's Dance

I enjoyed this a lot! I was not really sure it was something I would like and was still not sold until the romance began, but at that point I got lost in the story. The romance is definitely my favorite part of this book, but the action is also very exciting.

The main character is a necromancer with a lot of responsibilities and a prickly personality. His love interest, Simeon, is an ancient vampire. I don't think I have read a vampire/human romance novel before, so that was a novelty for me. The romance is a soul-bonding type of thing, which I usually like. I don't know if Angel would've accepted anyone's love without that element, so it works well here. I really felt the connection between the main characters.

I like the side characters, especially Millie, an older woman with a foul mouth who is Angel's colleague. The other vampires are pretty great too, definitely unique characters.

On the negative side, there is not a lot of exploration of who Simeon is; he's powerful, handsome, and he's devoted to Angel, but apart from that I could not tell you much about him. I like him a lot, though, and maybe he will get more development in future books.

Also, the world-building is not very subtle and does not often feel woven into the story. This is our world, except everyone knows about magic and supernatural creatures, but there's not much about the ramifications of all of that on everyday life. Instead, the book has a few info-dumps. Still, the magic system itself is interesting and appealing, and the descriptions of Angel using his powers are all visceral; you feel the physical impact his spells have on him.

This book is a little bit gory; there are several bloody deaths, and in general there is a lot of talk about death, due to Angel's dark past and the nature of his magical ability. I really like the reveal of how Angel killed all the vampires ten years before, because it makes perfect sense with everything we learn about him and how magic works in this world.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series!