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Devouring Flame by E.J. Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love EJ Russell. Her books are always such FUN! And this one is no different. In book 2 of the Enchanted Occasions series we get to learn more about half demon Smith and the ifrit, Hashim, of the Windrider clan, erstwhile suitor of Prince Reyner of Faerie.

One passion filled night during the prince's courtship contest and both Hashim and Smith fall head over heels for each other, although neither knows how the other feels. The problem is Hashim is a bound ifrit and he failed to do what his master wanted him to do - steal the soul of the prince. So Hashim is punished with servitude at the Twilight Carnival, a seedy little carnie located in the Vegas Interstices and is eventually sold to the Carnie master by his former master - made a slave for eternity to the Ringmaster.

Fate reunites Smith and Hashim as Enchanted Occasions rents out the carnival for a convention full of food-crazed vampires on the one day out of the century they can consume something other than blood. Smith and Hashim stumble across a sinister set of accidents that have taken place in the carnival, and find out the Ringmaster has been playing fast and loose with the lives of those unfortunates who were indentured to him, lining his pockets with gold by selling both the lives and the deaths of those he owned.

Working together, Smith and Hashim fight to bring down the Ringmaster and free Hashim from his slavery by finding the ifrit his true name. All while dealing with a convention of crazy vampires with weird fetishes, a goblin berserker chef on the verge of going beserk, and trying not to destroy the interstices but overload it just enough to liberate all the unfortunate souls trapped there. And maybe, just maybe, get a happy ending of their own.

This was a brilliantly written book, and a great sequel to Nudging Fate. Definitely recommend!

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