Book Date | Hungry is the Night by Robin Jeffrey

An unabashedly hot slow burn. (Plus a recipe for a copycat horchata shaken espresso)

There is a ✨vibe✨ in the city today. It’s overcast, but hot. The air is sticky in a way that makes you want to take off all your clothes if only to stop them from clinging to your humidity-damp skin, but your place is so uncomfortable you can’t stand the thought of being there another minute. They might allow a lot of things at The Grimoire Cafe, like the guy you are 100% convinced is a vampire, who also seems to live there, but you have a feeling they draw the line at full nudity.
When you walk into The Grimoire, tears of relief sting your eyes. It’s dark, and cool… impossibly cool. There’s still an energy in the air, but the edginess of humid-discomfort is gone.

Tini pushes a lock of hair out of her face with the back of her wrist and smiles when you reach the counter. The messy bun on top of her head is worse for wear. “Hey, how are you holding up?”

“I’m good now,” you reply. “When did you get AC?”

“Oh, uh…” she looks sort of surprised by the question, like she doesn’t know how to answer. “We only use it when we have to. It’s one of our regular’s birthday today. She asked me to copycat a drink from the coffee shop we don’t talk about here, but I like her so I said sure. It’s a horchata shaken espresso.”

Oh wow, that sounds amazing. “I’ll take one of those.”

Minutes later, as you walk to your table, you pass by a fan—the one with the silver streamers you’ve noticed in the past. It’s not moving, the streamers are still, but the air isn’t. Goosebumps rise on your arms, a welcomed change from the humid hell outside. You find a chair tucked back against the bookshelves and sit without looking—then stand right back up because you’ve just sat on something. It’s a book, one you’ve never read, but the back reads like something you’ll like.

As you settle in, preparing to stay all day if Tini will let you (of course she will), you can’t help but notice how quiet the air conditioner is. You can’t hear it at all. Nor can you feel exactly where the nice, cool breeze is coming from…

Ya’ll. Hungry Is The Night by Robin Jeffrey relit my paranormal fantasy fire! I’d forgotten just how fun a book like this can be to read. Moody, edgy, but oddly cozy too, Robin Jeffrey threads the needle here and the story, characters, world, and setting, do not disappoint.

I bought a copy of Hungry Is The Night at the Tacoma Book Fair back in May. If I was going to buy a book that day, it was going to be from an indie author (gotta support my fellow indies!) and I saw her table from across the room. This book has some of my favorite things: paranormal fantasy, Seattle, and semi-fame (my catnip!). There are even coffee cups on the cover, ya’ll. COFFEE! So obviously I brought this one home with me.

The story starts slow in a welcoming kind of way, letting us get to know the characters and the world. There were moments when I would have loved a little more context, but it all becomes clear as the story unfolds so I wasn’t left wanting by any means.

Grace has been living as a regular ol’ human. She works at a bank, for heaven’s sake (which I found adorably mundane.) Her life is really normal on the surface—except that she’s the next in line to lead the Seattle werewolf pack, called The Nameless. And once each month, she hikes out into the deep wilderness to transform under the full moon and hunt animals.

Except on THIS night, there’s another werewolf out in the wilderness, and she knows him. Because they used to be in love.

Over the course of the book, we learn why Grace and Marcus USED to be together, while a mystery unfolds around them. People are killed, Grace’s den is thrown into chaos, Marcus’ den leaders are breathing down his back—and it’s up to them to figure it all out before they’re both killed too. They might be having feelings for each other again, but can they trust each other long enough to figure this all out, let alone each other?

The heat in this is a slow build, but when it pays off, BOOM! They do not hold back. Grace is delightfully commanding in the bedroom, and that was a lot of fun to read. It’s pretty rare that you read an FMC who unabashedly knows what she wants and asks for it from the jump. (Way hot, imo.)

I loved this book, and plan to read the others in the trilogy.

Find the paper of Hungry is the Night back on Robin Jeffrey’s website here (she also lists indie bookstores where you can find her books!): https://robinjeffreyauthor.com/shop-indie/

Find the ebook on Amazon here. You can read it for free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

Content Warnings:

Hungry Is The Night includes one very detailed scene of animal cruelty, where the dog does die. If that’s not for you, skip ahead. You’ll know the scene is coming, and you won’t miss anything crucial by skipping ahead a few pages. (Look for the scene where the MCs are getting attacked on the scaffolding and jump back in there.)

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Copycat Iced Horchata Shaken Espresso

This is my absolute favorite summer drink to ever come out at *whispers* Starbucks. (I don’t want Tini to hear me 😂) So of course I had to try to make it myself. Luckily, I know a barista who helped me out. It’s so easy!

You’ll need…

Pour horchata syrup into a cocktail shaker (or mason jar), then top with espresso.
Add a bit of ice, and shake until frothy and well-combined.
Add ice to your favorite tumbler (or any tall glass), then strain the horchata espresso over the ice.
Top with oat milk, stir, and enjoy!

As always, if you give this a try, let me know! Comment here, tag me on social media (@elle.beauregard.author, or @ellebeauregard.bsky.social), or shoot me an email – elle[at]ellebeauregard[dot]com

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