Peace, Blood, and Understanding by Molly Harper by Molly Harper

Ever since Jane Jameson took over running the Vampire Council for Half-Moon Hollow, things have been a little unorthodox, and that doesn’t sit well with the head office. Who would have thought vampires were so into bureaucracy and tradition?

Enter a vamp from corporate who’s determined to unseat Jane and get the council back on track - which means no more of this Kentucky neighborliness and mixing with humans, werewolves, witches, or anything else.

But Jane’s not interested in going back to the bad old days when the council was mired in corruption and tended to "accidentally" eat people now and again, but she might be in over her head this time. Good thing there’s a pretty new face in town who just might be the perfect distraction and help save Jane’s career.

Series: Half-Moon Hollow #15 | Publisher: Audible Studios | Narrator: Amanda Ronconi | Length: 6 hrs, 50 mins. | Genre: Paranormal Romance | Source: Purchased | Rating: 4.5 Cups

Challenges Read For:  - Literary Pickers  - Tea Tray/Cart

 

Cue happy little Snoopy dance! It’s been a minute since there’s been a new Half-Moon Hollow book, so when I found out Peace, Blood, and Understanding was coming out, I couldn’t contain my excitement.

 

While I like all of Molly Harper’s work, there’s just something about her Jane Jameson/Half-Moon Hollow series that will always be my favorite. When I pick up a new book from this series, it’s just like meeting up with old friends.

 

Here’s what’s going on: Meadow, a vampire on probation, has been doing everything in her power to live a tranquil life. Running her a tea store and working for the Council in their archive department has kept her focused and busy but when a run in with jackass threatens her calm, she’s determined to keep herself far from the attractive, yet arrogant vampire. When Erik Weston, auditor for the Council, shows up in Meadow’s teashop, he doesn’t want to be attracted to the annoying but attractive vampire he ran into when he first came to town. The only thing he has time for is facts and figures—not falling for Meadow.

 

While Meadow seems to reciprocate the feelings, she’s hesitant to start something when Erik is investigating Jane’s leadership and determined to bring Dick down.

 

Did I mention I love this series? This was a bit different from the previous books. While it focused on the romance between two new characters, it also focused heavily on Dick and Jane and the problems they were facing with the council business. I did like that this one had extra layers to it.

 

Erik and Meadow were definitely a chalk and cheese pair; he’s straight laced and facts/figures oriented and she’s what Dick lovingly refers to as ‘Hippy-Dippy’. They’re not the type of couple that works on paper—they’re not even in the same filing cabinet—but that’s what made them such a fun and interesting couple to watch.

 

Jane and Dick had their hands full with the audit and with someone trying to sabotage the council. I had a feeling who was behind it but I second guessed myself a time or two.

 

Like the other books in the series, we get to see what’s going on with the other residents of Half-Moon Hollow and I enjoyed that.

 

As always, Amanda Ronconi nailed this narration.

 

While this is an already established series, this one does read as a standalone.

 

Overall, another great addition to the series. Even though there were a few different threads going on, each were fleshed out and fully developed.

I know some of you have been wondering about the reading order of the Jane Jameson and Half-Moon Hollow books so I thought I would help you out with this reading guide.

 

The Jane Jameson Series (also referred to as the ‘Nice Girls’ series) started it all. It contains four books and this is a complete series. These books work best if you read them in order.

 

1-Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs

2-Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men

3-Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever

4-Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors

 

Then we have the spinoff series, Half-Moon Hollow. These can be read without reading the Jane Jameson/Nice Girls series—although characters from the Jane Jameson series and Jane herself often pop up. Most of these can be read out of order.

 

0.5 Fangs for the Memories (novella) This one actually happens in the middle of Nice Girls Don’t Dead Men—Jane Jameson #2.

1- The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires

1.5-Driving Mr. Dead (novella)

2-A Witches Handbook of Kisses and Curses

2.5-Undead Sublet (short story found in the Undead In My Bed anthology)

2.6-I’m Dreaming of an Undead Christmas (novella) This needs to be read before  The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire

3-The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire

4-The Single Undead Moms Club

5-Where the Wild Things Bite

5.5-Big Vamp of Campus (novella) This needs to be read before The Accidental Sire

6-The Accidental Sire

7-Peace, Blood, and Understanding