This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by DonnaMarie. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Paranormal Romance category.

Here is DonnaMarie's review:

Evernight is book 5 of the Darkest London historical paranormal romantic suspense series (Yes, all of those things), so let’s answer the obvious first question first. Can you read it without having read the previous books? Yes. The events from Shadowdance (swoon) that shape the relationship in this book have a brief, but no less horrifying recap at the start of the book.

The world, while very well built, is fairly easy to follow. You don’t absolutely need to know what happened in the previous books to enjoy this one. On the other hand, this is a really good series, so you should indulge yourself. Kristen Callihan has such a way with atmosphere and language and revelations of the heart. Her London isn’t all candlelit ball rooms and carriage rides in the park. It’s also dark back alleys and smelly docks and mayhem in the streets. And she could teach a master class in how to write people falling in love.

As their story opens, Holly Evernight, the SOS’s scientist/inventor extraordinaire and a metal elemental, has become an agoraphobic recluse in the aftermath of her ordeals in the previous book. The world, however, will not leave her be. It becomes apparent that someone has it in for her when her carefully crafted booby traps keep getting tripped. Will Thorne, a Sanguis demon, is in even worse shape. The clockwork platinum heart Holly unwillingly created & helped transplant into his chest has robbed him of his sanity and is changing his body in ways he can not control. He’s spent the months since his rescue locked away in his friend Jack’s basement.

One of the few things he remembers is Holly’s face and her role in his current agony.  And he wants her to pay, which works well for the entity who releases him and points him in her direction. Fortunately, she’s is no shrinking violet and subdues Crazed Platinum Will with ease. Luckily her innate curiosity leads to the discovery that she is the source of his only relief from constant pain and insanity. An uneasy alliance is formed: Will agrees to protect her while trying find out who wants her dead as he has no memory of what happened while he was Crazed Platinum Will, and Holly agrees to provide him with relief from his symptoms and find him a cure because guilt, she has it.

Whenever I try to review a book I like, I seem unable to coherently convey what it was that made it so good. I end up sounding like a bad Chris Farley imitation. You know that part where Holly has to fight the Raptor demon?  Yeah. That was cool. And when Will and Holly are sniping at each other. That’s so funny.

It’s pretty pathetic. So the third time through I filled the book with little pieces of paper marking what I wanted to talk about. It doesn’t really help. There are 36 page markers. I might as well just copy the whole book into the review. How about we just go with:

What to love about this book.

The perfect blend of action and romance. Often one or the other of these suffers.  Here we have an engaging adventure that both informs and accents the romance, and a romance that grows because of what they learn about each other as a result of their adventures.

Holly. I want to be her.  She’s brilliant!  Everyone wants her: the SOS wants her back in her lab, the Nex want to steal her to have her inventions for their own, the Fae have her in their sights as a conduit for achieving their nefarious purposes. What happened to her in the last book has taken its toll, but she epitomizes that John Wayne quote “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”

When the threat hanging over her head becomes oppressive, she takes those fateful steps out her front door and dares the devil. Her mind is always working and she has total confidence in her abilities. There’s this lovely, lovely episode where Holly must fight in a cage match (I know! Just go with it.) in order to get information she and Will need on one of the groups that’s after her. Holly is getting ready for the fight. This is totally outside her experience. She’s a scientist, not a regulator, as Will reminds her. She’s selecting weapons, and Will is dithering like any Victorian maiden before her man goes off to a duel. She’s throwing out the reassurances and acting all competent. She goes out there, kicks major ass and then gives in to her fear when she’s safe in Will’s arms.

The slow burn. If you’re a fan of instalust, instalove or sex by chapter two, this is not your book. Unlike another book I reviewed that shall remain nameless, propinquity does not lead to “love” or sex; it leads to liking and respect and emotional intimacy. Then, when you are absolutely dying for it, there’s the physical intimacy, and it is soooooooooo worth the wait.That scene with Holly preparing for her fight ? Best. Foreplay. Ever.

And then there’s this:

Will groaned low and pained. Her smooth, cool skin was a balm, yet inflamed him all at once. Her slim arms wrapped     about his neck. And she hugged him.

He felt the touch down to his soul. And some dark emotion swelled up within him, choking him.

“Holly, love,” he croaked out, “sweet Petal, let me pleasure you-”

“Shh.” She snuggle closer. “Let yourself feel. It’s alright. It’s only me. Here with you.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and fought against the hot prickles behind his lids that threatened to unman him. His breath came in sharp, agitated bursts. Still she held him.

“I will not let you go, William.”

He swallowed convulsively. She held on tighter. “You are mine now.”

A choked sound left him – half laugh, half sob. “Evermore.”

As if she’d been waiting for his capitulation, she tilted her head and placed a soft kiss on the vulnerable spot on his neck where his artery lay below the skin. Slowly she rose to cup his cheek. Her smile was radiant in the amber light. And when she leaned close and placed a soft open kiss upon his mouth, his breath hitched, flowing into her.

Yes, emotional intimacy in the middle of physical intimacy. It’s never the sexy times just for the sake of sexy times. It’s also about being welcomed into someone’s heart and soul. It made me swoon.

So, why not an A, you ask? Two things. A lot of time spent with sequel bait. Yes, it was relevant to Will and Holly’s story, but it verged on too much time spent telling too much of other characters’ stories. Really I just wanted more Will and Holly. Pages and pages more.

The other was the end. We have the age old problem of immortal creature in love with human. Not entirely happy with how that was dealt with. You’ll have to decide for yourself when you read this book. Because you really, really need to read this book.