Sweep with Me (Innkeeper Chronicles, #3.5)

by Ilona Andrews

A charming, short novella in the Innkeeper Chronicles, from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ilona Andrews. 

Thank you for joining us at Gertrude Hunt, the nicest Bed and Breakfast in Red Deer, Texas, during the Treaty Stay. As you know, we are honor-bound to accept all guests during this oldest of innkeeper holidays and we are expecting a dangerous guest. Or several. But have no fear. Your safety and comfort is our first priority. The inn and your hosts, Dina Demille and Sean Evans, will defend you at all costs. [But we hope we don’t have to.]

Every winter, Innkeepers look forward to celebrating their own special holiday, which commemorates the ancient treaty that united the very first Inns and established the rules that protect them, their intergalactic guests, and the very unaware/oblivious people of [planet] Earth. By tradition, the Innkeepers welcomed three guests: a warrior, a sage, and a pilgrim, but during the holiday, Innkeepers must open their doors to anyone who seeks lodging. Anyone.

All Dina hopes is that the guests and conduct themselves in a polite manner. But what’s a holiday without at least one disaster?

• ISBN13: 9781660140022
• Publish Date: 14 January 2020
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Nancy Yost Literary Agency, Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 136
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Fun; brief, but it packs a punch at the end.  This one is for those who've already read the other Innkeeper Chronicle books, though there's enough 'tell' sprinkled throughout that a first-timer wouldn't be totally confused.  They would be totally spoiled for the others though, as there are spoilers to previous plots in the text.

A lot of the secondary cast are 'away' for this story, so Orro gets a bit more attention, and it appears Dina is making new friends.  Not sure if we'll see them again, as this novella has a pretty tidy HEA ending, but they'll be welcome additions to any future Innkeeper books.

[kimbacaffeinate]

This is a novella in the Innkeeper Chronicles, one of my favorite series by the Andrews team. I mean a magical inn with intergalactic guests, how could you not love it?

The tale pics up shortly after the events of One Fell Sweep. While Dina survived something is off and it has her worried. No time to worry though because Treaty Stay is coming and guests are arriving. Dina and Sean must work to keep the Inn safe and the guests from killing each other.

I loved being back at Inn and I throughly enjoyed my stay. The guests were, uh, unique. Watching Dina forget her worries for a moment and deal with the current crisis was delightful.

We are treated to a side story involving Sean and our chef who take an unexpected road trip, not to mention the menu! Hilarious!

Fans of the series will enjoy the festivities and being at the Inn once again.

While I missed Renée Raudman, I enjoyed Natalie Naudus narration. She did a stellar job with the characters. She enhanced the story with her tone, pacing and inflection. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Quirky Cat]

Sweep With Me is the latest in the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews (Ilona and Andrew Gordon). It’s a holiday novella, which means it’s all sweet and endearing and was really the perfect gift from our wonderful authors.
Following the events of One Fell Sweep, Dina and her inn are facing a little bit of a backlash. Combine that with the upcoming Treat Stay, and it’s safe to say that she has a lot on her hands. The Treat Stay means that Dina must accept any and all who come staying at the inn (minus unknowing humans, that is). Including those the Assembly sends her way.

“No innkeeper could turn away a guest during Treaty Stay unless that guest had been banned from the inns.”

I was completely overjoyed when I heard that we were going to be getting a holiday novella set in the Innkeeper world. I was even more excited to hear that we were heading back to earth to see more of Dina and Sean!
Sweep With Me was a fun and sweet novella. It was everything I could have hoped for, and then some. I don’t think I realized how much I had missed Dina until I started reading her story once again. Now I kind of want to go back and reread the rest of the series…
There was a lot to love in this novella. First, there’s the obvious; the Inn and all of the characters that fill it. Then there was the plot, which was a delightful balance of whimsy and intensity. It was fascinating to learn more about the Treaty Stay, and to see a bit more of the Innkeeper’s traditions.
Seeing Sean and Dina working together in the inn was certainly another plus. I had been wondering how that was going to work, and I feel like all of my questions have been answered. So thank you for that!
The foreshadowing of the main antagonist was brilliantly done. The tones that Ilona Andrews leaned on here were as old as time, and thus they’re something that many of us can feel a resonance with. That added connection took the plot to a new height, and added impact to the final battle. In short; it was perfect.
I know it’s going to be quite some time before we see another Innkeeper novel. Since we know what Ilona Andrews will be working on in the meantime, I’m totally okay with that. But I will admit that I love this series, and will miss it in the meantime. I think I’m going to have to go back and reread the entire series again, to help cope with that bit of loss. But it’ll be worth it!

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Linda]

Sweep with Me is just the novella I needed to tide me over until the next full novel in the Innkeeper series! I love Dina so much - and there was a lot going on for such a short story! Of course, I still felt fulfilled, because I knew the main characters well already.
While Dina was upset and worried about something big - other big things happened that took her mind off things. And it was fantastic!