But what passes for Dina’s normal life is about to be thrown into chaos. First, she must rescue her long-distant older sister, Maud, who’s been exiled with her family to a planet that functions as the most lawless penal colony since Botany Bay. Then she agrees to help a guest whose last chance at saving his civilization could bring death and disaster to all Dina holds dear. Now Gertrude Hunt is under siege by a clan of assassins. To keep her guests safe and to find her missing parents, Dina will risk everything, even if she has to pay the ultimate price. Though Sean may have something to say about that!!
Comment: This is the third installment in the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews, following the adventures of innkeeper Dina and of her guests.
Things have been pretty quiet for Dina until she receives the message from her sister Maud, asking for her help to leave a certain planet. Dina knows the only way to get there in time is by asking for Arland's help, with his super fast ship, and they manage to pick up Maud and her daughter Helen. No sign of Maud's vampire husband, but she learns he has died, which makes Dina assume Maud her her niece might live with her and she will love to know Maud is nearby. However, a sudden new guest, a Hiru, shows up asking for Dina's help in hosting a certain event, on the recommendation of George, the Arbitrator she met in the previous book. The problem is that the Hiru's enemies want to kill him, and that might place the whole inn in danger...
I was very hopeful this would be a great story, not only because the previous installments had already been so, but also because the authors are excellent writers. I was also hoping this book would advance some of the loose threads that came from the other books, namely the romance and the search for Dina's parents.
As expected, this was a fluid and easy story to read. It's not long, as the others had not been either, which means the plot doesn't languish and the main events are told in a very objective manner. This doesn't take emotion and complexity out of the story, which might happen if it were to be written by another author, and I think there is a very good balance in what we think will happen and in what does happen.
For me the only reason why this didn't get a higher grade is because the two elements I was eager to see developed were a little superficial. The romance between Dina and Sean is heartfelt but I kind of wanted less subtlety about it. During the plot there is a moment where Sean offers all the help he can to Dina and we do see how committed he is to her, and how balanced they are as a couple, which is great. But there were times this felt more like an afterthought.. I suppose this might have been originally planned to be the final installment, perhaps?
Dina is still in search for her parents. Once again we get two or three hints on this and I surely hope something substantial happens in the next three stories (two same sized stories as the ones we had already and a novella) because if things had to end here at first, no closure/resolution happened. Considering what we do learn, perhaps the final book might explain the mystery of their disappearance, especially because the next book seems to be centered on Maud and not Dina as the main character.
As for the adventures in this book, they were as fun as I imagined, I really have a great time going through the fast paced scenes and character interactions. The authors have an incredible amount of imagination to create worlds and characters, and everything related to how these two elements come together. I particularly liked the big conflict here, between the Hiru and their enemies, although it wasn't difficult to guess what was behind the conflict and why the Hiru were targeted.
Now, I'm quite eager to see how Maud adapts to one more stage of her life, bearing in mind what happened in this book. Maud and Dina have a sisterly relationship that isn't too close but they still would do anything for one another. It also helps to think that in this series, interplanetary travel isn't as lengthy as if it was in real life. I also liked how knowing Maud and learning about her gave me another perspective on Dina too.
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