House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City) by Kristen Painter

House of the Rising Sun by Kristen Painter
Also by this author: , , City of Eternal Night, Garden of Dreams and Desires, The Vampire's Mail Order Bride
Series: Crescent City #1
Also in this series: City of Eternal Night, Garden of Dreams and Desires
Published by Orbit on May 13, 2014
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 434
Format: eBook
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Augustine lives the perfect life in the Haven city of New Orleans. He rarely works a real job, spends most of his nights with a different human woman, and resides in a spectacular Garden District mansion paid for by retired movie star Olivia Goodwin, who has come to think of him as an adopted son, providing him room and board and whatever else he needs.

But when Augustine returns home to find Olivia's been attacked by vampires, he knows his idyllic life has comes to an end. It's time for revenge—and to take up the mantle of the city's Guardian.

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I bought House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City) by Kristen Painter when it first came out in May, I read and loved it but honestly wasn’t in a mood to review it, as I had lost my mother in late February and my dad was ill.

In preparation for the release of City of Eternal Night (Crescent City #2), I want to recommend  House of the Rising Sun. I  don’t re read books prior to a new one coming out, as I take plenty of notes during the read.   I am able to keep all the books and series I have read pretty organized in my brain. As I like to think of it (my brain) as the Library of Literati, named Literati for short.  It is multiple stories tall, with squish couches and chairs all around, rolling brass and wood ladders to reach all the books, servants to serve tea when required, quite nooks and crannies to curl up and read in and all the latest technology wrapped in old world charm. My brain is quiet posh and expansive, may be filled with some fluff and dead flies, but you can’t have everything.

I loved House of the Rising Sun as Painter incorporated the world building of her Comarré  series into this newer series .  The House of the Rising Sun, is a book about love, lose, mistakes and redemption, as it centers around the fae Augustine Robelais. He was introduced as a very minor character in Painter’s  Comarré series of  books.   His life collides with Harlow Goodwin, the estranged daughter of his friend/mother figure Olivia. What follows is an electrifying tale, that leads them to uncovering mysteries of their own lives and that of the city of New Orleans. Painter has written a rich narrative, where the characters learn that sometimes getting what you wish for, isn’t always what you thought it would be. In which fantasies can be pleasant and utter poppycock, and where reality can be extremely harsh. Plus, there are times when you have to pick up the mantel of responsibility to become the person you were meant to be.  The characters learn that life is hard, but you don’t give up on it and you can’t continue to hide from the world. As with all of Painter’s Urban Fantasy books the choices the characters make are not always black and white ones, as there is muted grey in the world, and sometimes the difficult choices are not always cut and dry.