Rating: 3 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novella


Luc Hellbourne, son of Lucifer, is trying to settle down with his wolf shifter mate Bran after the problems with his dad and Bran’s old pack. But a calm life is something Luc has never experienced and it looks like it’s not going to happen now either. Luc’s crazy brother Galthine has imprisoned their father Lucifer in one of Hell’s lower levels and is taking over Hell. Their uncle, the Archangel Michael, wants Luc to go rescue his father. And Luc’s vampire soul mate is starving to death. And why is everyone blaming Luc for all the problems and upsetting the balance of goodness and evil? Well perhaps Luc did upset the hellish apple cart but Luc continues to refuse to get involved until his brother goes too far and kidnaps his lover Bran. Then all bets are off as Luc Hellbourne lives up to his name.

This is the fourth book in the Hellbourne series and if the reader is unfamiliar with the previous stories, this one will not make any sense. Amber Kell always manages to pack a lot of characters and plot lines in a small amount of space. In this case Back to Hell is only 80 pages long so once you start reading the action starts to fly and events happen rapidly. There are so many characters to keep track of (Stiln a one-eyed demon? Sal a werewolf, Blinok a demonic messenger, a werewolf slut named Betsy, and many more) and sometimes it is not always clear what the relationships are between the characters or even who they are. The dialog tends towards the campy and humorous with the voices all sounding much the same. Typical of this story is the scene where one a demon and vampire are chasing each other around the kitchen tossing soap bubbles. They stop, Luc asks if they are having fun, they nod. He goes off to look at his computer and they go back to playing.

That’s pretty much how the story goes. It’s light, fluffy, and pretty simple minded. If you are looking for complex characters and an intricate plot to book, then this is not the book for you. If you love Amber Kell, then you are familiar with her style of writing and the lack of depth in every element, then you will like this one too. At 80 pages, it is a quick read and the m/m/m ending should satisfy the readers of the first three stories. As for me I found this to be more of a story outline than a story itself and think I will leave it at that.

Beautiful cover by Posh Gosh.