[Book Review] Hunting In Bruges By E.J. Stevens & Van Houtte Belgian Chocolate Light Roast

Title: Hunting In Bruges
Series: Hunter’s Guild Book 1
Author: E.J. Stevens
Publisher: Sacred Oaks Press
Publication date: November 11th 2014
Page Count: 278 pages
Age Rating: YA & Up (violence, blood, and gore)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received an ARC to review
Publisher’s page: Hunting In Bruges

The only thing worse than being a Hunter in the fae-ridden city of Harborsmouth, is hunting vamps in Bruges.

Being shipped off to Belgium sucks. The medieval city of Bruges is quaint, but the local Hunters’ Guild is understaffed, the canals are choked with dead bodies, and there’s no shortage of supernatural predators as likely suspects.

On second thought, maybe Bruges isn’t so bad after all.

With a desire to prove herself, protect the innocent, and advance within the ranks of the Hunters’ Guild, Jenna Lehane hits the cobbled streets of Bruges with blades at the ready. Someone, or something, is murdering tourists and dumping their bodies in the city’s scenic canals. With the help of a mysterious stranger, Jenna begins to piece together clues that are dotted throughout the city like blood spatter.

Determined to stop the killings, Jenna delves into a bloody local history that only raises more questions–but some secrets are best left buried. Jenna must put her combat training to the test as she struggles to unearth the truth about an ancient enemy.

Hunting in Bruges is the first novel in the Hunters’ Guild urban fantasy series set in the world of Ivy Granger.

About the Hunters’ Guild series:

The Hunters’ Guild series is an urban fantasy series written by E.J.
Stevens and set in the world of Ivy Granger. The series is told in the
first-person point-of-view of Jenna Lehane, a Hunter with a troubled
past, a proficiency with weapons, and an intolerance for monsters who
target the innocent.

My Review

Witty and action-packed, Hunting In Bruges follows twenty-year-old Jenna Lehane as she hunts for whatever’s been killing tourists in the historic Belgian city of Bruges. Part of the Hunters’ Guild, it is Jenna’s sworn duty to protect humans from supernatural monsters – a duty she takes very seriously. Jenna is joined by a mysterious and flirty stranger with a garish sense of style and some rather unconventional guild mates – an addict witch, a blind archivist, and a one-armed demolition expert who just loves to blow things up, among others.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are fantastic and I particular liked the main character Jenna, a young woman who kicks butt and takes names and will release holy hell on anyone who hurts innocents. The world building is richly detailed and the plot flowed really well. I was completely hooked early on and just couldn’t put the book down, finding myself eating lunch with one hand and drinking my coffee with my eyes glued to the page as everything unfolded.

One of the aspects I also really enjoyed in the book was the various supernatural creatures sprinkled throughout. Yes, there were the usual vampires, witches, werewolves, and fairies that are staples in urban fantasy books, but there were also the very standout additions of swan maidens, grindylows, and rusalkis.

I absolutely recommend checking out Hunting In Bruges if you like richly detailed urban fantasies set in historic locations. I definitely plan to read more books by this author and will be on the lookout for the next book in this series (it’s set in Paris – I can’t wait!)

There’s this scene in Hunting In Bruges where newly arrived Jenna is touring the city and she walks by a street lined with chocolate shops – she describes them as “heavenly” and as a chocolate lover I would probably agree with her so I’m recommending Van Houtte Belgian Chocolate Light Roast – a rich, smooth light roast coffee with a lovely chocolate taste.