Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab #2) by Karen Chance
Just as her romance with Louis-Cesare seemed to be going somewhere, he disappears on a family emergency.
It just so happens that his whereabouts are also of interest to the head of their vampire family (and Dorina's father) Mircea Basarab.
Claire is back to being Dory's roommate, this time with her royal son in tow, which is fortunate since the fey mix Dorina had impulsively adopted for a pet turns out to be sentient, thus catapulting him into the territory of... "son"?
These adversities aside, Mircea has a mission for Dory: to apprehend a smuggler who turns out to be in possession of information on the whereabouts of a fey rune that Claire desperately needs to protect her son.
To complicate matters, Louis-Cesare is trying to save his... mistress?! Needless to say, this doesn't bode well for his relationship with Dorina.
It's a race against time with Dorina having to navigate the waters of vampire politics and get to the fey relic before Kit Marlowe (yes, that Kit Marlowe, who is now a vampire), Mircea (acting on behalf of the North-American vampire consul), Mark Anthony (yes, that Mark Anthony) who is the European Consul, enemy fey factions... and Louis-Cesare himself.
Karen Chance manages to avoid the dreadful 2nd book syndrome by raising the stakes (pun intended) and delivering non-stop action, bits of scorching-hot romance, a compelling mystery, well-researched historical backgrounds, and an extremely tight plot - all with a humorous tone.
If this sounds like the kind of book for you be sure not to miss Death's Mistress!!!
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