Seeing Night Reviews: {Review + Giveaway} of Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova

Box Office Poison by Phillipa Bornikova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: Urban Fantasy
THEME: Elves, Vampires, and Law
RECEIVED: Publisher

BLURB:

What happens when exquisitely beautiful elves start getting all the roles in Hollywood? Human actors sue, that’s what. In a desperate attempt to keep the squabbling inside the Screen Actors Guild from going public, the president of SAG forces the two sides into arbitration.

Enter Linnet Ellery, a human lawyer working for a vampire law firm, to serve as arbitrator. Linnet discovers that there are sinister forces at work in Tinsel Town determined to shatter the fragile peace between elves, vampires, werewolves, and humans. Someone has been coercing famous elven actors into committing sudden and terrible acts of violence against humans in a series of tragedies that could turn the tide of public opinion against all the supernatural Powers.

During the course of her investigations Linnet realizes that a puzzling secret surrounds her, and that a strange power has been affecting the very course of her life. . . .

REVIEW:

This is the second installment to the Linnet Ellery series and for me it was just as good as the first. Bornikova created a heroine with spunk; smarts and determination when it comes to getting answers no matter what dangers lurk around each corner. With the first book focused more on the law firm, I liked that this one had the glamour and humor of Hollywood mixed in with the law business.

Box Office Poison follows Linnet Ellery a human lawyer working for a vampire law firm. She and her boss David are sent to Hollywood to help serve as arbitrators between the human actors and the elves for the Screen Actors Guild, without the feud going public. But nothing about Hollywood is boring or easy and Linnet soon finds herself in a whole lot of danger when Elves start acting out violently and something way bigger is happening besides actors having a turf war.

Linnet seems to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but she gets the job done and fights for the truth. I enjoyed her character a bit more in this book because she held her own, she went looking for answers of why the Elves were acting out and if human were behind the ordeal. But with Linnet nothing comes easy, she opens up a lot of secrets, discovers hidden agendas, gets more knowledge of the Alfar (Elves) world and tries to find some way to help her friend and lover John.

What I love most about Box Office Poison was the interactions between Linnet and her boss David. David being a vampire and one who is use to New York and humans who are more comfortable with his kind, isn’t a fan of the Hollywood life. He and Linnet actually have a lot of humorous moments, awkward conversations and always seem to help each other out in sticky situations. They are definitely a good team and I’d love to see them work on another case together.

Overall I really liked the plot, digging deep into Hollywood and having the humans being angry of Elves getting acting jobs over them because of their beauty was hilarious. Linnet also digs deeper into finding a way to free her friend John, who was forced by the Alfar Queen (his mother) to stay in her world. We get a small glimpse of him, but it was actually disappointing to not get much resolved in his storyline. I’m hoping that in the next book we find out what’s been happening on his end.

In the end I enjoyed the humor, Hollywood banter, secrets of the Alfar world and Linnet being her normal super sleuth lawyer self. Bornikova’s writing is strong with not only the memorable characters she created, but also her details and facts in the law that kept me hooked. There were a lot of great characters introduced that I hope we come back to in future books as well, even Linnets kick butt horse Vento gets involved in the case! I can’t wait to see what Linnet gets in the middle of next.

RECOMMENDATION:

This is an adult with a bit of violence and supernatural goodness. Fans of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampire series and Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series will enjoy Phillipa Bornikova’s Box Office Poison.