Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148872 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 342 pages

Synopsis
While conjuring up a demon in the form of a shaggy Newfoundland, Aisling Grey, the Keeper of the Gates to Hell, searches for the elusive and sexy Drake Vireo, who is responsible for a series of murders in Paris's immortal underworld.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, wonderful, delightful!
When I read Anne Stuart I often ponder what she eats to stay so good from book to book. When I read Katie Macalister that never crosses my mind. I don't think she eats, they just plug her in! She's had 16 books (under Macalister and Maxwell pennames) in two years and shows no signs of slowing down! Most writers burning up the keyboards would begin to grown "less fresh, less original" with each book. Not Macalister. I think she just gets better and better with each novel! Her current release The Trouble With Harry, is my favorite to date, a brilliant tripping of the light fantastic with characters to warm your heart. But there I go again, as I do with each release, I have another fav! You Slay Me. A smart, sexy, smart-mouth, laugh out loud kick off to a new series!

You Slay Me, is another of Macalister's first person rants as her character muddles through life. Ordinarily, I shy away from first person books because they tend to numb my mind with I, me and mine to where I get focusing on seeing those three words till I want to scream. However, Macalister's Magic is I don't see those words when she does first person. She has such a smooth style you really don't notice it, other than it lends to giggles galore. You Slay Me is the first Aisling Grey novel, and after reading it, I am definitely eagerly awaiting more Aisling novels.

Aisling is an Irish name pronounced ash-ling and ASH-ling is starting her new job as a courier for her uncle's business. See Aisling HAS to have this job. The court has order her to pay alimony to her deadbeat surfer hubby so he can sit around all day and watch plastic-chested beach bunnies, a situation she is NOT happy about! Her first job for Uncle Damian (hum...one thinks of the Omen movies and instantly wonders if Sam Neil is Aisling's Uncle!) is to carry a six hundred year old gold dragon to a woman named Deauxville's in Paris. Getting through customs was nearly more than Aisling can handle - and that just dealt with trying to get the customs man to learn to pronounce her name right! So she is not happy after the nutty cabdriver drops her of at Ms. Deauxville's address and she finds her dead.

Naturally, Aisling is accused of the murder and the gold artifact is stolen. As she tries to clear herself, she learns she is a Guardian - that's Keeper of the Gates to Hell to the rest of us mortals. Aisling learns this from sexy Drake Vireo. Aisling thinks Drake is totally scrumptious - in his human form that is - because Drake (catch the name giving you the clue) is a real-life dragon. I am not playing spoiler - this revelation comes on the back cover! Drake stole the gold dragon - thus starting off a mad cap adventure.

Aisling's new career as courier on a bad foot, not to mention the murder rap hanging over her head. Drake also informs Aisling she is a wyvern's mate. What's a wyvern you ask? It's old French - a mythical animal with 2-legged wings and just happens to look like - you guessed it - a dragon! Aisling more than has her hands full being a murder suspect, conjuring a demon in the form of a shaggy Newfoundland, and fending off the amorous advances of the (...) wyvern, so we can see there will be a wealth of situations to mine in the Ailing Grey series.

It's refreshingly off-beat, with the quirky, laugh-till-you-hurt Macalister style, promising this to be one of the most original paranormal series since Melanie Jackson set loose those pesky Goblins to torment us! So here's to more adventures of Aisling and Drake.

A light paranormal
The heroine is Aisling Grey with an ex-husband to support she is now working as a courier for her uncle delivering a 600 year old golden dragon carved ewer to Madam Deauxville in Paris.
Upon her arrival in Paris things don't turn out to be straightforward for she finds Madam Deauxville dead the only other person in the room is a man by the name of Drake Vireo (a dragon in human form) who steals the ewer and vanishes leaving Aisling to face the police, after insisting that she is a 'Guardian'.

Aisling then has to find Drake to recover the artefact, find the murderer to get her passport back as well as figuring out what being a 'Guardian' means.
To help her she summons a demon, who turns up in the form of a Newfoundland dog apart from helping he also introduces some humour to the story. To compound her problems Aisling learns that apart from being a 'Guardian' she is also a wyvern's mate and who happens to be the wyvern (head dragon) for the green dragons but Drake!

This is the 1st of a 3 book series (although it can easily be read as a stand alone book) blending the paranormal with mystery and romance (a couple of hot! scenes) plus a dash of laughter.
It is not a dark paranormal (espresso) but is light and frothy (cappuccino) and most definitely worth a read.

You have GOT to give this book a go
I was on the search for a new author and I found a great one here. This first installment of the Aisling Grey series (Fire Me Up is the next) caught my imagination immediately. Katie MacAlister has a great new take on our world with it's underworld of dragons, guardians and demons (amongst others). But what sets this book apart is not just the wonderful sizzling romance between Aisling and Drake but the fresh dialogue and comedy moments. I really loved this book and was very glad that I had ordered the second installment at the same time. It has been hard waiting for the third to be out in paperback - Get all three at the same time is my advice...