Mini-ish Review--Wicked Ever After by Delilah S. Dawson

 

Delilah S. Dawson’s award-winning Blud series comes full circle as Tish and Criminy, stars of Wicked as They Come, embark on a sexy and harrowing final adventure in a world RT Book Reviews called “delightfully edgy with hidden charms.”

Ever since landing in the magical world of Sang and falling in love with dashing ringmaster Criminy Stain, Tish has been waiting for the axe to fall. Until her dying grandmother’s last breath on Earth, Tish can’t bring herself to give up her all-too human frailty and commit to life on Sang as a youthful, long-lived Bludman like her handsome husband. But when a peculiar twist of fate delivers Tish’s grandmother to Sang, an unexpected chain of events forces Tish and Criminy to embark on one last wild adventure. From old friends to new and into the lair of terrifying enemies, the couple’s love and longevity will be pushed to the brink by each harrowing encounter. Is blud thicker than blood, and can Tish and Crim find their wicked ever after?

 

 

 

Blowing dust off the old kindle, I decided to dive into one of my oldest TBR books Wicked Ever After by Delilah S. Dawson! This was a FANTASTIC Urban Fantasy series that I read back in 2012 when it first started and read the subsequent books and novellas that came after it! The first book reminded me of  dark and twisted Alice in Wonderland where a young woman is transported to another world where vampires and other nightly creatures live. There she meets Criminy Stain, ringleader of a traveling caravan that is circus like with its performances and naturally, romance is found as well as our heroine tries to find her way home.

The series then moved onto other characters within the world who were apart of Criminy's caravan. Now we're back to our roots following Tish and Criminy with one more adventure, an adventure of a lifetime you could say! Naturally, since it's been over 10 years since I've read the series my memory was about shot on any kind of details, but after skimming the blurbs for the series and seeing character names I at least could tell that everybody makes an appearance! Even still, I did feel a great deal of nostalgia coming back to the land of Sang!

Tish was cursed sometime ago in one of the original books and has drastically aged thanks to a witch. Criminy promises that becoming a Blud (what we know as vampires) would fix that, but as Tish tells him, she can't leave her ailing grandmother just yet. Tish's grandmother was the one who was there for her all her life and now Tish wants to help see her grandma into the next life, but when on her last visit her grandmother kept going on and on about True Blood and how wonderful it would be to be turned into a vampire by a hot viking vampire like Eric Northman! Tish gets the bright idea to bring her grandmother to Sang and have Criminy make her a Blud.

Well, all was going according to plan, but then when her grandmother gets her youthful new body and way of life she pretty much takes off without so much as a goodbye. Tish is a bit stung and hurt by this and when she tries to follow her grandmother's path...things take a drastic turn!

Needless to say this book was a trip! It's novella length but comes in just under 200 pages but even with my spotty memory recall, I have to say this book was amazing! I loved seeing all the familiar faces--yes I only vaguely recalled them but the names stuck out to me at least, lol--and really it was a great send off for the series at large! We get a nice little mystery of sorts intertwined with the events at large and it was really just a fun way to have one last adventure with these characters before we make a tearful goodbye!

I have to say that Dawson ended this one beautifully! I loved how well rounded this little story was, a great deal happens and we get some answers to all the what ifs that previous books may have left us with and where those previous characters ended up. All is answered here. 

Really, I can't say more without getting too deep into the books that came before and even then we have my spotty memory of what I read over a decade ago to contend with as well. But returning back to Sang was like returning home in some ways. There was a great deal of familiarity with the land and the dreadful little Bludbunnies, those nasty little varmints with the adorable little faces! Lol. The Blud series was a phenomenal series! This is what Urban Fantasy series are all about! The blend of Paranormal and "normal," although we lean more heavily on the Paranormal side of things since we're literally in a Paranormal world! Forget Wonderland, this is the world I'd want to visit!

If you're a fan of paranormal reads, then I highly recommend going back to its roots with Delilah S. Dawson's Blud series! This was such an amazing series that going back with this little read reminded me why I loved it so much! Criminy is a blend of Captain Jack Sparrow and your sexiest version of the Mad Hatter all rolled into one, after adding a set of fangs of course! There's also a nice steamy romance added into the mix and I loved revisiting that with Tish and Criminy as well! This was the ultimate trip down memory lane! If you haven't read this one yet or the series yet, then it's one I highly recommend to all paranormal fans as it's pretty much the definition of paranormally perfect!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars