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Salt and Silver

by Anna Katherine

3.40 · rating details · 254 ratings · 54 reviews

When trust fund baby-turned-waitress Allie and her friends accidentally open a Door to Hell in the basement of Sally’s Diner, they don’t realize the havoc it will wreak on their Brooklyn neighborhood. Of course, the upside to murder-happy demons coming through the Door all the time is that Allie gets her own sexy and mysterious demon hunter: the dark-eyed, leather-cla

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Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages

Published April 28th 2009 by Tor Books

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Dec 07, 2009

CJ - You Carry On As If I Don't Love You rated it

Shelves: fantasy, mystery-meets-supernatural, dark-fantasy, sci-fi-fantasy-romance, there-s-a-pyschic-in-my-mystery, werewolves-vampires-oh-my, paranormal-porn

This book was surprisingly better than I originally thought. It's told from the POV of Allie, the new proprietor of Sally's Diner and one of three that have accidentally opened a Door into hell. Allie is an ex-trust fund baby and for those of us who live, work and play in the City - we will understand Allie's old Long Island life and her new Brooklyn one. Her two friends, alcoholic, selfish Amanda, promiscuous junkie Stan are the other two that opened up this portal but only Allie has stuck arou...more

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Jan 11, 2010

Angie rated it

Recommended to Angie by: Janice Young

This one has been on my list for a long time now. But for some reason I was under the impression it was YA urban fantasy, which is actually not the case. The main character Allie is fast approaching 30 and, though the impetus for most of the action in the novel took place when she was a fair bit younger, her main concerns and musings are those of an adult--albeit an, at times, admittedly charmingly immature one. The author, Anna Katherine, is interestingly the pen name of Anna Genoese and Kather...moreThis one has been on my list for a long time now. But for some reason I was under the impression it was YA urban fantasy, which is actually not the case. The main character Allie is fast approaching 30 and, though the impetus for most of the action in the novel took place when she was a fair bit younger, her main concerns and musings are those of an adult--albeit an, at times, admittedly charmingly immature one. The author, Anna Katherine, is interestingly the pen name of Anna Genoese and Katherine Macdonald. Together these two publishing industry insiders created a snarky, lighthearted, fast-paced urban fantasy debut.

Allie used to live on Long Island and never wondered where her next dime was gonna come from. Her two best friends, Amanda and "Stan," were the height of shallow and together the three of them lazed around their posh estates indulging in pretty much whatever debauched activity took their fancy. But then Allie's mom runs off, her dad fades away, and Allie is left living above a Brooklyn diner, working her butt off for tips. One night, on a drunken whim, Allie and her two cronies try to cast a spell and end up opening a literal door to hell in the basement of the diner. Quicker than you can say Practical Magic, a dude in a leather duster and Stetson hat bursts into the room claiming he's an honest to goodness demon fighter. He proceeds to take up residence in the basement, sleeping on a cot, and guarding the door night and day from supernatural nasties. Just when she thinks she's gotten used to the new extreme version of her life, Allie's door mysteriously disappears, others start appearing all over creation, and Allie and Ryan team up to stop the underworld from taking over completely.

I had heard if you don't like Allie's voice you wouldn't like the book. This is probably true, as she has a very self-disclosing, up-front approach to narrating her life. Personally, I found her hilarious and winning, if not quite as dedicated to maintaining her own dignity as I maybe would have liked her to be. Her simultaneous pining for and territorial attitude around Ryan filled me with mirth and I was instantly rooting for them to overcome the barriers engendered by their different backgrounds (to put it mildly) and the fact that one of them is a wicked cool demon hunter and the other the manager of a diner who stumbles around opening doors to hell in her spare time. I laughed over and over again reading SALT AND SILVER and it was a rather welcome relief to read an urban fantasy with a healthy devil-may-care attitude and not so much angst and drama. Unfortunately the story and characters that sparkled while Allie and Ryan were aboveground and searching for clues, began to flag when they actually entered the hell dimensions and started their quest. Suddenly Allie's pining became grating and a little embarrassing. And Ryan never really broke out into a three dimensional character, staying hidden behind the brim of his Stetson and his tall, dark, and brooding role. I really liked them together, I just wish they had been more fleshed out, with a little more effort from Ryan and a little less desperation from Allie. Interestingly, once they were back aboveground things picked up once more for the wrapping up section. Though it didn't quite fulfill on all its promises, I enjoyed SALT AND SILVER overall for its sarcasm and light heart.(less)

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Oct 05, 2011

Linda rated it

Shelves: contemporary-paranormal, dark-paranormal, not-my-cuppa, some-slow-reading

This book is a different type of indulgence with the paranormal theme. The premise is interesting; there are deadly secrets, fears and lust between broken characters. Not everyone is whom they appear to be.

Six years ago Allie and her two best friends open a door to Hell in the basement of a diner in Brooklyn. Enter moody demon hunter Ryan who is one of many hunters who guard these doors and fight whatever comes out. FYI, demon hunters are distinguished by the type of hat they wear.
...more

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Jun 19, 2011

Ithlilian rated it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This book is fluffier than a stuffed unicorn, and that's just not my thing. I had no idea when I bought Salt and Silver that it opened with the main character talking about how hot some demon hunter living in the basement is, and then continued to discuss whether or not said hot man had slept with her friends. Turns out air head and gang opened a demon portal in a basement by accident, demons came through, demon hunter showed up and by some miracle decided to teach air head to fight demons. All ...more

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Jan 22, 2011

Gladys Gonzales Atwell rated it

Well let's see, where do I begin! Of course I picked it because it was a paranormal romance. I don't like romance books unless there is a mix of the strange and crazy. Stange and crazy like demons, vampires or something undead. Hmmmmmm.... I read some mixed reviews on this book, but I got it cheap so I read it.

Even though it was an easy read, it did have some moments of "what the double h e hockey sticks" did I just read. The fluidity of the story line could have be...more

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Sep 13, 2010

ALPHAreader rated it

Shelves: favorites

I am currently making my way through my monstrous TBR pile. I was trying to choose which book to start with and thought I’d be very diplomatic and try out the first 5 pages of a few books to decide which hooked me.
So I picked up 'Salt and Silver', intending to give the first 5 pages a chance to pique my interest ... 3 hours and 357 pages later I was in LOVE!

The story starts right in the thick of action. When we meet her, Allie is running a NYC diner called ‘Sally’s’ which just ...more

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Jun 24, 2010

Lexie rated it

Shelves: genre-romance-paranormal, genre-romance, review-romance-reader-at-heart

There was a certain sarcastic undertone to a lot of Allie’s thoughts and dialogue that struck me as something I would say or think. And it’s not that she was a sarcastic person (snarky maybe but not sarcastic), but more that she viewed things things from a darker place. You don't go from a carefree existence filled with parties, money and expensive toys to the dull drudgery of being a waitress, without some bitter baggage. Not to mention a small mistake she made turned out to have far-reaching c...more

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Apr 06, 2010

Kim rated it

Shelves: paranormalfiction, romance

I first heard about this book a year ago, when the author(s) visited one of my favorite review sites (possibly Bitten by Books, but I'm not sure), and immediately put it on my imaginary TBR list, although I then forgot about why. Let's face it, there is soooo much paranormal romance and urban fantasy out there, that it's often difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, and I'm really not interested in reading another sexy vampire book. And I have to be honest, for its first half, that's wh...moreI first heard about this book a year ago, when the author(s) visited one of my favorite review sites (possibly Bitten by Books, but I'm not sure), and immediately put it on my imaginary TBR list, although I then forgot about why. Let's face it, there is soooo much paranormal romance and urban fantasy out there, that it's often difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, and I'm really not interested in reading another sexy vampire book. And I have to be honest, for its first half, that's what Salt and Silver really was, although for "sexy vampire" substitute "sexy demon hunter." Even worse, the sexy demon hunter wore a Stetson (this is a bit of an inside joke throughout) and spoke with a drawl, sending him dangerously close to cowboy territory, and cowboys make me go "ew, ew, ew." Add to that the fact that he smokes (not often, but this is played for sex appeal), and I was stuck in paranormal romance land, with a hero I don't find sexy. And you know, that's why I usually stay on the urban fantasy side of the divide; unsexiness is a lot easier to get over.

Even at this point in the novel, however, I was very intrigued by the heroine, Allie, a former Paris Hilton wannabe who lost her fortune and now runs a diner, and enjoys it. Allie is clever, humorous, and stubborn, and even before the plot really grabbed me, her perspective was enough to put this novel safely in the "3" range. And then!!!!! I was rescued!!!! By Sumerian (and Egyptian) mythology!!!! I've been saying for months, maybe even years, that what paranormal fiction needs is more Sumerian mythology (actually, to generally venture outside of European myth, but Sumerian myth is my flavor of choice). Which is clearly the reason why Salt and Silver made my imaginary TBR list. And I honestly believe that even for non-Sumerian aficionados, the story really picks up at the midpoint, when it ventures away from the world we know and into the underworld(s). Here the magic of Anna Katherine's world comes to its own, in all its atmospheric, well-researched glory. Here Allie experiences great joy, misery, and guilt, and both she and her demon hunter Rian come to terms with their pasts. And here, yes, those of you who care as much or more about the romance as the paranormal elements will get some satisfaction here as well.

In short, Salt and Silver is a lot like its protagonist, Allie. It starts out fun and superficial, but when it moves into darker, more mystical territory, proves itself to have hidden depths.(less)

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Nov 08, 2009

Jennifer rated it

Allie is the sarcastic, sweetheart proprietor of Sally's diner, and the owner of the doorway to Hell in it's basement. Ryan is the quiet, hot, bad ass demon hunter who shows up instantly to protect both Allie and the world from the demons who emanate from said door way to Hell. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife, and rightly so. It has been brewing for six years. That's a lot of smoldering looks and lonely nights, especially after putting your life on the line almost ever...moreAllie is the sarcastic, sweetheart proprietor of Sally's diner, and the owner of the doorway to Hell in it's basement. Ryan is the quiet, hot, bad ass demon hunter who shows up instantly to protect both Allie and the world from the demons who emanate from said door way to Hell. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife, and rightly so. It has been brewing for six years. That's a lot of smoldering looks and lonely nights, especially after putting your life on the line almost every night fighting demons.

One day everything changes because Allie's Door disappears, throwing the delicate balance of Hell Doors off. Thus begins the quest of Allie and Ryan: to find an answer to the funky Hell Door problem. Other hunters assist with their quest which requires a journey to Hell through on of the Doors. This is where the story really takes off, because we learn a lot more about Allie and Ryan and their respective pasts. Not only must they battle actual demons and roadblocks, they must battle their inner demons as well. Both Allie and Ryan mature along their journey; Allie realizing she is taking responsibility for her past actions and Ryan letting people get close to him. They learn about themselves and each other.

Now back to the story. The paranormal demon parts do not flow very well, in that I was a bit confused from time to time, as if I missed a part somewhere. This could be due to the fact that Allie is the narrator, and as such, does not have full knowledge of the demon history and rules. Ryan likes to protect Allie from the bad stuff (aww). The choppiness of the paranormal tid bits may also be due to the author collaboration as well. Either way, just let that go and read the story. You will not be disappointed. The big battle scene at the end is like something out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, carnage and destruction everywhere, with one cool chick in the middle of it all.

Here is a taste of the writing:

Here are some important facts about the Door. One: It was Amanda's idea to open it, not mine. Two: It was a joke. We didn't even realize we were opening a Door into Hell, because we were super-drunk at the time, and, seriously, joking around. Now that I know what Doors do and how they work...well, I never wanted something so bad that I'd open a Door for it. Because three: The reason anyone would want to open a Door to Hell in the first place-with the death, and the blood, and the bioluminescent goo that you can't actually ever clean off the floor no matter how harsh the chemicals or how many black cats you drive across the stain (and that's a fun story) - the reason you do it is because the Door...gives you things.
pg. 5

Ryan pushes the cookie toward me anyway, even though I shunned his cookie! I shunned it. But it's the vanilla half of a black and white cookie. It is inevitable that I am drawn to it. I reluctantly take a bite.
pg. 114

Allie and Ryan are two halves of a black and white cookie. They need each other and complement each other perfectly. They are a sweet, kick ass couple.
Salt and Silver was a very entertaining read and I would certainly pick up another of "Katherine's" books.
(less)

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Jul 26, 2009

Heather rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Allie is a former stereotypical spoiled rich girl that now runs a diner in Brooklyn. She tells you in the first person narration that her mother cleaned her family out before running off with her boyfriend. Only a brief mention is made about her father. What she does talk about from her old life are her friends Stan and Amanda. They represent what she used to be and how much she's grown as a person in the six years prior to the beginning of this book.

In a flashback you see how the st...moreAllie is a former stereotypical spoiled rich girl that now runs a diner in Brooklyn. She tells you in the first person narration that her mother cleaned her family out before running off with her boyfriend. Only a brief mention is made about her father. What she does talk about from her old life are her friends Stan and Amanda. They represent what she used to be and how much she's grown as a person in the six years prior to the beginning of this book.

In a flashback you see how the story started. She and her friends open a Door to Hell in the basement of the diner. Because of their stupidity, Ryan shows up to guard the door. Ryan is a hot (of course) demon hunter that has been living in the basement of the diner for six years. I had to ignore a lot to believe this. Sally, the owner of the diner, had to have been living in the upstairs apartment for a while before retiring. Did she know about the door? Does anyone else? Are Allie, Amanda, Stan and Ryan the only people allowed in the basement?

The story opens, though, with the door that has been in the diner for six years suddenly missing. This leads Allie to learn more about the hunters and the doors. Allie and the reader finds out that the hunters are separated by the hats they wear. And one hat doesn't care for the other hats. It was a little strange that it was a big deal and that any deal was made about it.

So doors have been popping up all over the place and this signal the end of the world (one of the many possible). The only way to save the world is to go through a door and find some magical person or object that might appear to them suddenly and let them know it's what they need. They didn't even have to search... what they were looking for was given to Allie in a dream and it just so happened that it was in their last hell.

Allie also discovers some superpowers in the story. She can talk to the doors and she immediately knows what door she's looking for. She can smell a person enough to tell if they are themselves (most notably her ability to tell when Stan had officially lost all of himself to the werewolf). This made the trek through the hells, while not undramatic, really simple. For me, the most dramatic thing in this part of the story was when she killed Stan. The only problem was that I had to reread it over a few times to get that she actually did kill him. It doesn't take place as action but as her telling vaguely that she did it. I didn't actually care enough about Jackson or Christian to care that they died.

They get back home with the mummified hand they need to close the extra doors. A week has passed since Allie and the others left but when she checks in at the diner no one seems either concerned or angry that she left them for a week. It was "Oh, did you and Ryan go on vacation without telling anyone?" like that is normal and acceptable behavior. There was no "We were so worried when you disappeared that we called the police and reported you missing" or anything. I know... suspend disbelief. But there are some real behaviors that would still be in a fictional world like this.

They close the extra doors but there's still the problem of what happened to her door. They figure out that Allie's friend Amanda must have wished for the door to follow her home. But this is another point where a missing person is basically ignored with the assumption that they are doing something completely normal despite being abnormally unavailable. I kept thinking that she should go check on her because something bad happened to her, but Allie kept thinking she was just drunk or high. If your best friend is on such a bender that they can't or won't call you back shouldn't you at least go check on them?

They gather all factions of hunters and go to Amanda's house. Allie finds her and she's now this weird monster as a result of too many wishes. Then she disappears into the door. I'm not even sure how or why it happens because this whole part is a jumble, but Allie becomes a door to save everyone. Her door goes back to the diner and everything is normal again.

Through the whole book there has been a thing between Ryan and Allie. She's made no secret about her feeling for him but he's kept her away even though he really loves her. I actually believed their relationship based on the fact that they had six years together before the start of the book. They end up together.

This book was pretty average for me. There were things I liked and things I didn't. The narration began a little too sassy for me, but toned down considerably as the book went on. After reading another review that said Allie's voice actually sounded like a real 20-something, I thought about it and it really did. It was less book-normal and more real world-normal. I didn't really care about the secondary characters much. I thought Allie's adjustment from having everything to having nothing was way too smooth. There was action through the whole book but it was all too easy. (less)

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Jul 15, 2009

Nicola rated it

Shelves: fiction, unfinished

This Buffy/Supernatural/True Blood remix brings little new to the table of paranormal romance. Allie, once a Long Island party girl with a trust fund, now lives a life of cheerful poverty as a Brooklyn waitress, fighting the forces of darkness that come out of the Door to Hell, inconveniently located in her diner’s basement. She’s also been lusting after her Door’s designated Demon Hunter – Ryan, a black-clad cliché – for an implausible six years, and it seems that their UST will finally come to...more

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Jun 17, 2009

Jess rated it

Shelves: 2009, paranormal-romance

Hmm.. I don't know quite what to say about this one. I've read a lot of paranormal romance books, and a lot of urban fantasy books but this one just sucked. It was told in the first person, which I have no critiques against.. but when the main character sounds like an airhead and is really irritating, that kind of ruins the book. It just seems like it was written by a YA for an adult, it just didn't sound right. The main character used more "likes" then I found comfortable. The storyli...more

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May 19, 2009

Kelly rated it

Blurbs for Salt and Silver use the word "romp" often enough that I was expecting something in the vein of paranormal chick lit. I was surprised, then, by the dark places Salt and Silver goes, and Anna Katherine's ability to both scare the daylights out of me and break my heart.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, given that the whole story is about going to, well, Hell.

Our heroine is Allie, once a spoiled rich girl, now a waitress. In the early days after...moreBlurbs for Salt and Silver use the word "romp" often enough that I was expecting something in the vein of paranormal chick lit. I was surprised, then, by the dark places Salt and Silver goes, and Anna Katherine's ability to both scare the daylights out of me and break my heart.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, given that the whole story is about going to, well, Hell.

Our heroine is Allie, once a spoiled rich girl, now a waitress. In the early days after she lost her fortune, she and her friends dabbled in magic and accidentally opened a portal to Hell. Allie's been dealing ever since with the nasty creatures the Door disgorges, with the help of Ryan, a gorgeous demon hunter.
Allie is snarky and a little flippant in the beginning, but even then it's obvious that her psyche is not a happy fun place. There's a sadness in her. Much of it has to do with her friends, Stan and Amanda, who are still living the hard-partying life Allie used to live. She is loyal to them, while at the same time knowing she's watching them self-destruct and not sure if there's any way to help them.

Then Allie's Hell portal vanishes, and things really get messy.

Allie, Ryan, and a group of hunters decide to venture into Hell to find out what's going on. When they get there, that's when Salt and Silver really gets good. The very first thing that happens upon their arrival? I won't spoil it, but it's incredibly creepy. It makes it painfully clear that anything can happen in the underworld, at any time.

Anna Katherine leads us through a series of underworlds, drawn from many cosmologies, some I recognized, some I didn't. They're all fascinating and some of them are horrific, and the most perilous of all are the ones that are shaped by the personal baggage Allie and her friends bring with them.

Anna Katherine's world-building is well-thought-out and well-executed, and I found myself more interested in the Hell dimensions than in the love story. I really enjoyed this, and I recommend it to fans of romantic fantasy.

Read this and other reviews at FantasyLiterature.net!(less)

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Oct 17, 2009

oliviasbooks rated it

Shelves: swapped-or-given-away, urban-fantasy, gods-demons-angels-immortals, read-2009

Don't let the first chapter throw you off!
The beginning is unstructured and therefore confusing. I groaned: Not another new author who does not know how to tell a story! The writing style is probably meant to make the reader curious: All this hopping around from one whiff of the past to another and then a part-flash-back interrupted by a return to the present - that also doesn't last long enough to get a grip. It really takes an annoying while to get all the facts straight. But when one i...more

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Jul 19, 2011

Meredith Enos rated it

Shelves: b-plus-reading

I enjoyed this in a completely unironic way.

I think they should make the cover art less hokey. Right now it just screams "for teenage girls who wear black." I mean, she has extra big anime eyes and she's holding a dagger, for pete's sake. I am not a teenage girl who wears black, but I used to be one, so I picked this up in the library thinking it would be funny to see what the kids are reading nowadays.

Actually, this book is not YA fiction--it is a book for ad...more

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Jul 27, 2010

Michelle rated it

Salt and Silver is a Paranormal Romance by Anna Katherine and a TOR novel.

Book Blurb:

When trust fund baby turned waitress Allie and her friends accidentally open a Door to Hell in the basement of Sally's Diner, they don't realize the havoc it will wreak on their Brooklyn neighborhood. Of course, the upside to murder-happy demons coming through the Door all the time is that Allie gets her own sexy and mysterious demon hunter: the dark-eyed, leather clad, Stetson-wearing Ry...more

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Jan 23, 2009

Catherine added it

This is the first published novel written by a friend of mine (RLPGers, take a closer look at the byline) and I was privileged to get an advanced read. This is an excellent paranormal romance. I think anyone who likes the Sookie Stackhouse books or Anita Blake books would enjoy it. Give it a try!

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Jun 28, 2009

Janice (Janicu) rated it

http://janicu.livejournal.com/73620.html...

I've wanted to read this book ever since I found it browsing online and I read the excerpt. The cover and the excerpt made me think this would be shelved in urban fantasy but I found it in the romance aisle. The spine says "paranormal romance". It kind of walks on the line on the two genres I think.

Note on the cover - I noticed they changed the cover font from blue and white to half silver (to resemble molten silver) a...morehttp://janicu.livejournal.com/73620.html...

I've wanted to read this book ever since I found it browsing online and I read the excerpt. The cover and the excerpt made me think this would be shelved in urban fantasy but I found it in the romance aisle. The spine says "paranormal romance". It kind of walks on the line on the two genres I think.

Note on the cover - I noticed they changed the cover font from blue and white to half silver (to resemble molten silver) and half white (like sprinklings of salt) - Love it.

The Premise: Allie is an ex-spoiled rich girl. The kind of rich that meant a mansion in Long Island, designer clothes and accessories, and two equally spoiled and rich best friends, Amanda and Stan, who grow up next door. The day her mother stole all their money and ran away to Brazil with her lover Rio, Allie suddenly had to grow up. She had to take a job as a waitress in diner in Brooklyn. After her first day at Sally's Diner, Allie, Amanda, and Stan perform a silly ritual in a fit of drunkenness which ends up opening a Door to Hell in the basement of the diner. Immediately a Stetson-wearing demon hunter, Ryan appears. This was six years ago. Allie has grown up, taken over management of the diner, and on the side she helps Ryan kill demons that escape from the Door. Until one day the Door in the diner's basement suddenly disappears and she and Ryan have to find out what happened.

My Thoughts: The narrative is in the first person and is really informal - almost stream of consciousness, and full of swearing and sarcasm. It almost seemed young adult but not quite. After thinking about it I decided it was the voice of a young twenty-something, and it's a BIG part of whether you will enjoy the book. If the voice here isn't for you, you won't like it, so I highly recommend reading the excerpt of chapter one.

The world here is ours except there are Doors to Hell which every so often let out creatures that the door guards kill. Normal people (the mundanes) don't know about it and just keep living their lives. I won't go into more detail than that, but I thought that the world building was really organic - you learn as the story goes along, with Allie not ignorant, but kept uninformed of certain facts from the hunters until she needed to know. The demons and monsters that Allie runs into all have basis in mythology and a wide variety of beliefs. For example there are different versions of Hell and it was really fascinating how characters reacted to what they saw in the Hells according to what they believed.

Allie has grown up but her two friends from her old life have not. She holds on to them because she remembers that they were there for her when she became poor, but you get the feeling she keeps in contact because of loyalty, not because she actually likes them. It's an interesting situation, and it's sort of a coming of age aspect that you don't usually see in adult urban fantasy. This also works with the story because Amanda and Stan's selfishness and immaturity affect what's going on with the Doors. I think it explains Allie's voice too. She may have grown up but her thoughts sometimes channel Cher from Clueless, but not in a way that made me dislike her. I actually really liked Allie's character because of what she's gone through, and because she came out with a wish to be a better person. She can't hate the Door under Sally's Diner because she knows it brought her Ryan and fighting it has also made her a more mature person.

The romance is a decent chunk of the story, but Ryan and Allie's relationship has been an ongoing one so a lot of the falling in love seemed to have happened before the book even starts, with some flashbacks to key scenes and the only barrier is Ryan's admitting that he feels anything (Allie on the other hand admits freely that she has a huge crush). A lot of the book happens before it starts, with flashbacks used to show how things have changed over the years, not just with their relationship, but with Allie's relationship with Stan and Amanda. Ryan's reasons for not acting on his feelings for Allie were believable (though I didn't agree with him), so I found it understandable why he kept pushing Allie away even when it's obvious he really likes her. When the relationship heats up, I guess it is "finally" for a lot of other characters, but because this book doesn't really show all 6 years up to that point, to me it was a little surprising. I thought it would take longer for Ryan to break down, he acts very standoffish when the book begins, but by chapter two his soft center regarding Allie begins to show, so apparently six years was enough. I liked this couple, especially Allie, but I wasn't a fan of Allie begging Ryan with "Please" during certain scenes.

Overall: Really liked this one - I had a hard time putting it down and it was a fast read. It has a bit of a quest in different dimensions in it which is something I like reading (looks like the authors enjoy researching magic and superstition), and the romance was sweet - good friends becoming more. The voice is different so do go read the excerpt before you buy. This isn't a standalone, it's the beginning of a series, but I think that other books may focus on other characters in this world if I read the authors comment's on it here right, so you can probably treat this as almost a standalone. The ending is in a good, satisfying place and I'm definitely putting whatever else Anna Katherine writes on my wish list.(less)

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Feb 24, 2010

JessicaMF rated it

Shelves: fantasy-supernatural, kindle, recommended-silly-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 23, 2010

Jackie Uhrmacher rated it

This first thing I thought when I finished Salt and Silver by Anna Katherine was, “Wow.” Actually, that was the first thing I thought when I started the book. From page one, I was into this book. The plot, the romance, the mythology, all of it is masterfully crafted and wrapped in this cute little package that, if you’re not careful, has the power to eat you alive. It was like Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere with a hint of MaryJanice Davidson—well researched with amazing world-building and a level of s...more

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Jun 07, 2009

Montana rated it

Shelves: paranormal, romance

Full disclosure: I know the author of this book. That said, I knew and liked Anna's writing before I knew her, so I'm not likely to be biased by friendship.

From the very first paragraph of quirky first-person narration, you know exactly what you're getting. Allie's a smart woman with a sharp sense of humor and a tendency toward sarcasm, imperfect but not fatally flawed, and while her desire and affection for Ryan are evident, she's not some stereotypical romance heroine who's pining ...more

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Mar 21, 2010

Colleen rated it

I read this cause it kept popping up on my Amazon recommended list and based on all the reviews, it looked like everyone else loved it. I thought Oh cool... a new Urban Fantasy author to read. But the reality was oh... just another Paranormal Romance.

The didn't ever really like the heroine. I thought she was a little too wishy-washy. Someone said she had the unfortunate habit of sounding a lot like Eliza Dushku's Faith. I didn't see that. If she had been more like Faith, maybe I...more

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Feb 17, 2010

Tammy rated it

Shelves: demons, urban-fantasy, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Allie is not at all who I expected her to be. She was rich, and she had everything she ever wanted. She was also spoiled and self-centered and unthinking. When we meet Allie she's poor, living above a restaurant and working there. She lost her money when her mom ran off with it and her tennis instructor and I expected her to be resentful. She isn't, though, she's more sad.

Allie and her two best friends Amanda and Stan got drunk one night and they did a spell and created a Door. A Do...more

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Jun 05, 2009

Leslie rated it

Shelves: urbanfantasy, favorites

Salt and Silver by Anna Katherine was a great read and is definitely going on my "keeper" shelf.

Allie's life had changed after her mother ran away with the family's money and her tennis instructor. She now lives above the diner she works in instead of a posh house. Allie also helps fight the demons and other monsters that tend to come through the Door to Hell in the diner's basement instead of.......wait. Here's what happened: Allie and her friends worked a spell one ...more

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Jul 24, 2009

Mary rated it

I did not expect much from this book, as I found it in a CVS halfway between not-home and home on our last vacation. I am, however, very glad I took the chance and picked it up. While it does not, as one reviewer said, bring anything new to the genre's table, it is very entertaining, and I enjoyed meeting the characters. Anyone wanting a semi-light read (with some darker themes in places), give this book a chance. It's rather good.

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Jun 05, 2011

Melissa rated it

I actually really loved this book. I remember I just picked this book up randomly at the bookstore because I wanted something to read. I was surprised by how riveting the storyline was. I read quite a bit of fantasy/scifi and I felt like this was a fresh take on the supernatural. It was also fascinating how the authors wove in different myths from around the world into the story.

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Feb 02, 2010

Jenna rated it

I really liked the story about Allie and her diner. It was nice to see a character who went from a wild child, rich kid to one who has to take on responsibility because of a runaway mom who wiped out their fortune. Gives Allie alot of depth.

I also liked Ryan and the tension between them.

I hope there will be a 2nd installment of their demon hunting.

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Feb 11, 2010

Reva rated it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This book had some decent ideas in it, but definitely fell flat toward the end. The ending was abrupt and if the author said something about his "stubble" and his "hotness" and wanting to "lick him" etc one more time, I thought I was going to cry. Ugh. Way too "Harlequin" for my tastes.

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Jul 12, 2009

The Listmaker rated it

Shelves: paranormal-romance

A decent enough story of demon hunters and the levels of hell. My only real complaint is that it seems as if the author was trying way too hard to make Allie likable, smartassy and cute. It was interesting at first, but after a while she became a bit annoying.

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Jan 08, 2011

van rated it

DNF, Did not finish

I got up to page 200, and gave up. The pace was extremely slow, and the way allie came across was not likeable. The entire first person point of view dialogue seemed odd and choppy.

The other secondary characters were not likeable either nor memorable.

· see review

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Anna Katherine has traveled the world, and several parallel ones as well, and has discovered nothing is more awesome than duct tape. She currently splits her time between Boston and New York City.

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Anna Katherine is the pseudonym for two women who have both worked in the publishing industry for most of their lives. They wrote Salt and...more

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