A prostitute, an angel, and a vampire cat.
Beginning in the wild times of Storyville, New Orleans, Lilly
Marchantel works in the historically famous Mahogany Hall brothel on
Basin Street. She has one client who has visited her since he
discovered her years before, always coming to talk, never for sex. The
first night they indulge in passion, she dies. Madam Lulu White,
always flamboyant and who would do always do something for publicity,
gives her girl a lavish funeral, complete with a jazz band, and Lilly
is buried in the famous St. Louis 1 cemetery.
The first part of the book is set in the red light district of
Storyville, New Orleans in the historically famous Mahogany Hall
brothel on Basin Street in 1900. All the characters in this part of
the book are real historical people except for Lilly, Marcus, Jesse,
and Abe. Names were taken from the US Census for 1900 for Mahogany
Hall, Lulu White did own that particular brothel, and all the mourners
at the funeral were real people from the Storyville area or Treme.
Flash forward to 2005, the night of Hurricane Katrina, just after the
big storm passed and water began to inundate the famed city. Enforcer
Angel Sullivan, hunting for two non-recognized vampires in the city,
is jumped and left for dead. He wakes up in the crypt that Lilly and
her vampire cat, Baron, have lived in for over 100 years. That's when
his life gets very complicated.
Again, all the places in this section are historically correct and
were in the condition that Lilly and Sullivan find them in the story.
A bar, open for the hurricane and after was featured on national news
casts. A haunted Irish Pub, vacant and locked during the storm is a
real place. Southern Decadence, the "Gay Mardi Gras" was cancelled but
some very enterprising people who remained in the French Quarter
during the hurricane had a very small parade through the French
Quarter, and Lilly and Sullivan joined them. The mansion Lilly goes to
visit is in the Garden District and is based on the Magnolia Mansion
Bed and Breakfast on Prytania Street.
Readers will find a new way to look at angels and how they organize
their work in the Fangs & Halos series as well. And they will never
look at con-trails in the sky the same way again…
Lilly's Angel combines historical accuracy with an interesting and
compelling fiction overview.
Paranormal Romance Guild gave Lilly's Angel a 5-star review.