Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger.

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger.

This book is: urban fantasy centering on the adventures of a group of magic-wielding, monster-fighting bartenders in Chicago.
Other elements: magical bartenders, hapless millennials, cocktails.
Read it: if you like the idea of a story about magical bartenders.
Overall rating: 6.75

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge book has a unique premise: what if bartenders were actually a secret society of do-gooders, protecting the ignorant populace from monsters that they can fight using the superpowers that only those in the know can bestow by making drinks in exactly the right way, with the right ingredients?

It’s well written, and I give it a lot of points for creativity…but I just never quite embraced the concept enough to care about the character’s lives. Not to mention the fact that the main conflict over the course of the story is the discovery that one of the Bartenders is messing with forces that should not be messed with by trying to make the most powerful of all magical cocktails, the Long Island iced tea.

Maybe it’s because Long Island iced teas were the official “let’s make bad choices tonight” drink of my early 20’s, but I just can’t take anything that hinges on the idea of a magical Long Island iced tea too seriously. It’s not a drink that lets you take over the world, it’s a drink that lets you kiss a boy you just met.

I wanted to like Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge, I really did. I found myself thinking “come on, convince me to believe you so that I can enjoy this more.”  But I just wasn’t able to let go of my skepticism about the world Kruger had created for this story. And when you don’t care about a book’s entire universe, it’s hard to be very interested in what’s going to happen….especially when what’s going to happen is an apocalyptic Long Island iced tea.

Even though this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I do think that the right person would be into it.

I’m headed off to NYC to scope out some new jewelry to share with you!! I’ll be back next week. And don’t forget to enter my giveaway! You could win a rose gold and diamond ring by Jennie Kwon.

For more reads anytime, check out my Amazon recommended books store. This post contains affiliate links. My thanks to Quirk Books for providing me with a copy of Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge for review consideration.

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