Thursday, March 5, 2015

Book Review: Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells

Cursed Moon 
Author: Jaye Wells
Series: Prospero's War (Book 2)
Publication: Orbit (August 12, 2014)

Description: MAGIC IS A DRUG. IT'LL COST MORE THAN YOU CAN PAY. . .

When a rare Blue Moon upsets the magical balance in the city, Detective Kate Prospero and her Magic Enforcement colleagues pitch in to help Babylon PD keep the peace. Between potions going haywire and emotions running high, every cop in the city is on edge. But the moon's impact is especially strong for Kate, who's wrestling with guilt over her use of illegal magic.

When a rogue wizard steals dangerous potions from a local coven, Kate's team must find the thief's hideout before the vengeful coven catches him. But the investigation uncovers the rogue's dangerous plot to unleash chaotic magic on the city. Once the Blue Moon rises no-one's secrets will be safe. Not even Kate's.

My Thoughts: This second novel in the Prospero's War series is filled with both external and internal action. Kate is dealing with the guilt she feels after cooking dirty magic and keeping it a secret in the first book of the series. She feels guilty and extremely disappointed with herself. Her relationship with her brother is troubled both because of her lies and because he's a teenager. She is burying herself in her new job with the task force which means that she is neglecting her relationships with her brother and her friends.

It doesn't look like the job pressures are going to end any time soon either. A new Raven has come to town. He is stealing dangerous potions from the powerful covens and is planning something spectacular for Halloween which happens to occur on a Blue Moon this year. Kate and the task force have to find and stop him. It would also be good if he finds them before the leaders of the covens do because they won't even leave a body to discover.

To make matters worse, Kate's uncle who is in prison but who hasn't lost control of his crime empire wants to talk to her. He is still pulling strings. Kate ran from him years ago after the death of her mother and wants nothing to do with her Uncle Abe. But Abe isn't letting her go so easily. Finally, in this book, she comes to terms with this toxic relationship.

She has a couple of other relationship issues going on. Kate has a long history with John Volos who is the head of one of the dirty magic covens. In fact, it is the coven that used to be run by her uncle. John had his criminal past wiped clean in return for providing evidence against Uncle Abe. Now John looks like an upstanding citizen and is even running for mayor. But Kate knows that he hasn't given up dirty magic.

Her relationship with her new partner on the task force - Drew Morales - is also heating up. Both are in denial about whether or not they want to begin anything personal and so there is a lot of sparring  and teasing going on. Other members on the task force have been taking bets about when the two will have sex.

This was a complicated and very entertaining urban fantasy. The relationships among the characters were well-developed. I enjoyed it very much and can't wait for the third book in the series to be released in February. I have already ordered my Kindle copy.

Favorite Quote:
Morales rubbed his hands together. "I don't know. Considering how dead it's been around her lately, it kind of sounds like fun."

"Remember those words later," I said, "so you can regret them."
This one is from my TBR mountain. You can buy your copy here. 

2 comments:

  1. I read this one a while ago and really enjoyed it, even though I hadn't read the first one yet! Kate was a really interesting main character and I would love to get on with the rest of the series! Glad you enjoyed it :)
    Juli @ Universe in Words

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  2. OOoh nice review! I still need to read this one as well! I liked the first book, but am struggling to remember details! Lol. Very nice review!

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