Half City

Mythological monsters stalk the streets of a city built around a chasm to the underworld in this action-packed if familiar romantasy series launch from Golden (If Not for My Baby). Born a hunter, Vivienne “Viv” Abbot spends her days working at the Windsor museum and her nights stalking demonic beings known as deviants. When she’s offered a spot at Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, she’s hesitant. Hunting solo has been working out just fine—never mind the fact that she’s just barely maintaining her job and relationships—and Viv fears revealing herself as an aeon, a hunter with bloodlust so strong that when there are no deviants to kill, they turn on mortals. But the school may hold the truth about her father’s murder, a possibility too tempting to pass up. Between keeping her identity hidden, hunting monsters, resisting her attraction to the dangerous Reid Graveheart, and untangling the conspiracy brewing at Harker, the tension stays high throughout. While Viv’s world doesn’t feel particularly fresh, the characters are fully realized, and all the loose threads come together neatly in the end. Both Viv’s platonic and romantic relationships are well drawn, and she makes for a flawed but easy to root for protagonist. Paranormal romance readers will enjoy the fast-paced plot and sizzling chemistry. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Feb.)