kimbacaffeinate
Written on Dec 28, 2014
Set-up: Each book in the Grave series features a character who upon their death was offered a chance to clean their soul by working for Fate as a Reaper. They have never met Fate, but deal directly with Samuel, he is a stiff and by the book suit. Scenes with him always make me giggle a little.
First Date: Dmitri Stavitsky was a former Soviet KGB spy. He is a bit of a loner, but recently took on a team of Reapers to supervise. A new case and orders from Fate have him working alongside reaper Gwen Peterson. In her former life, she was an American counter Intelligence agent and the two have a complicated shared history. The banter, snark, and disdain bouncing around, have alerted me to the fact that we are in for one heck of a ride. You can feel the chemistry between them and they may call it hate but I am seeing sparks. A Reaper has gone rogue and is somehow clocking their location from the higher ups. Their mission is to locate him.
Second date: An ancient artifact, danger and unusually circumstances have these two working side by side despite their shared animosity. *snickers* I am loving the banter and little digs these two keep sharing. Dmitri keeps speaking in Russian. Who knew it was such a sexy language. I am flipping the pages, as the action gets intense. I love how Sjoberg balances out couple development and the actual case. Nightmares, injuries and a snowstorm have Dmitri and Gwen calling a truce and pop-tarts and fish are starting to sound like romantic meals.
Third date: Eep! Feelings, answers from their past and conversations above and below the sheets have me completely caught up. I like Gwen and feel completely connected to Dmitri emotionally. Their history was well developed and fascinating. Things get intense and it gets a little dark here. The mythology with the artifact was an interesting twist and as we got closer to the climatic ending, I was holding my breath, and even shed a tear.
Copy provided by publisher This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer