DARK ALPHA'S NIGHT – Donna Grant
A Reapers Novel – Book 5
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13: 978-1-250-13812-5
March 2018
Fantasy – Paranormal Romance

Inchmickery Island, Scotland, the Present

Daire is a Reaper. Death chose seven fae, either light or dark and who have died, to give them a choice to live again as executioners of other fae as Death decrees. Once a Reaper, they cease being either light or dark, owing allegiance only to Death. Erith, or Death, is the former Goddess of War who now lives in her own peaceful realm with the duty of keeping a balance of power between the light and dark fae. Ages ago one Reaper, Bran, broke Death's rules and fell in love with a woman. Death punished him, but Bran escaped his prison-realm confinement and now hunts the Reapers and Death for vengeance. Ultimately he wants power, has built an army, and has found a way to drain Death's magic for his own use. The Reapers' current and most important goal is to defeat him. They know Bran had children and now search through ancient documents to discover his descendants, ones who might have information on what weapon Bran searches to find.

In this series, Death has changed her rules and now allows the Reapers to have women partners. The Reapers, former dark fae Kyran and Fintan, and former light fae Talin, Baylon, Daire, and Neve, the only female Reaper, along with their leader Cael, search for a Reaper, Eoghan, who disappeared in a battle with Bran. Four of them now have mates: Kyran has River, Baylon has Jordyn, Fintan has Catrinona who wounded Bran—something no Reaper can do, and Reaper Talin has the newest Reaper Neve for his woman.

Meanwhile, in Killarney, Ireland, Ettie and her two younger sisters, Jamie and Carrie, live on the land their family has owned for countless generations, knowing little of their family's heritage. Their father searched endlessly to prove fae existed, but to no avail, he found nothing. He has now passed leaving Ettie to care for her sisters. She thinks them more beautiful and attractive than herself, so is surprised when sitting in a bar at a table separate from her sisters, a very handsome man sits down. He flirts with her, but her sisters take an aversion to him. Only after leaving the bar does Ettie learn the man's name, Bran.

This short novel (180 pages) is the first of this series I've read, so found the first chapter with all its information about the Reapers very helpful. Daire I knew as a character in author Donna Grant's  Dragon Kings Series , as he was the Reaper following the light fae, Rhi, a woman with whom it seems Death has a fascination. Daire intercedes between Bran and Ettie just in time, and Daire has an instant visceral attraction to the woman. He lets her know Bran has only evil intent towards her. Daire knows Bran wants something from Ettie, but what? And how far will Bran go to get what he wants? Daire vows to protect Ettie and her sisters, but he knows Bran's power grows, and as a former Reaper, the present Reapers have little power against him.

DARK ALPHA'S NIGHT is a fast reading, intriguing, suspenseful, and enjoyable story.

Robin Lee