SWEET RUIN by is book 13 in the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. This is a fun and campy paranormal romance series where supernatural beings find their one true mate and battle other groups of immortals. There has been a core of main characters in the Immortals series, and hardcore fans may have been dismayed to find two unknown or new characters featured in this book, rather than one of the parings we've been jonesing for. However, Josephine and Rune quickly won my heart and my avid interest, and I devoured this book happily.

There are a ton of immortals secretly existing alongside humans, of all different kinds. There are Vampires and Lykae, Furies and Shifters, as well as Fey and Valkyries. It's a fun amalgam of mythology and other mystical creatures- quite the rollicking world! All of these creatures don't get along, of course. There are old rivalries and all kinds of new, shifting alliances happening. Every five hundred years, the Accession, a battle for supremacy between the groups of immortals, rages. It's almost time for the Accession again, and the slow progression of all of our favorite players is inexorably marching on toward that doom. SWEET RUIN advances the plot nicely, with all kinds of twists and turns to keep us guessing.

Josephine is an immortal who doesn't know anything about the Lore, the magic world, around her. She was separated from her brother as a child, and lives her life just to watch over him and keep him safe. She first meets Rune when she spies him sexing up a nymph in an alleyway near Bourbon Street. Rune is instantly attracted to the woman who has no interest in bedding him, since no one has blown him off before. Rune and Jo end up teaming up to try to track down Nyx, the first-born Valkyrie who has Jo's brother, and who Rune has been tasked with assassinating to get her out of the competition for the upcoming Accession. The comedy as Rune tries to get Jo to sleep with him is hysterical, but once Jo finally succumbs, the sex is off- the-charts hot.

Readers new to the Immortals After Dark series will find it relatively easy to jump in, because Jo doesn't know anything about the Lore, so Rune explains most of the details to her- a clever way to lay out so much of the worldbuilding that has taken place in earlier books. However, a lot of the small details from the book make much more sense if you've read the preceding books. SWEET RUIN is classic Cole, with wacky characters, snappy dialogue mixed with supernatural combat, and scorching sensuality.