Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Published: October 19, 2016
Publisher: Etopia Press
Pages: 271
Source:Red Moon Book Tours
Synopsis:
Seeing ghosts should make solving
homicides easy, right? Not even close.
When detectives Maggie York
and Josh Brandt catch a new murder investigation involving occult rituals,
ghosts, and venomous snakes, it seems like a case that could only happen in New
Orleans. Not only does the victim's ghost demand Maggie's attention, but three
apparitions begin appearing to her…sending the detectives on a search for more
bodies. They soon discover the ghostly trio has links to the Witching Hour
Society, an organization of self-declared witches with far more going on behind
the scenes. Meanwhile, a neighbor believes the victim killed his family with a
curse, and the media eagerly sensationalizes the entire story.
Making things worse, Maggie
and Josh have hit a rough spot in their personal relationship. The tension
between them is already high when Josh's ex-fiancée arrives in town…and wants
him back.
Soon the violence is escalating, the
ghosts grow more aggressive, and the deeper Maggie and Josh dig, the stranger
things get. Welcome to murder New Orleans’ style.
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Bio:
Ally Shields grew up in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, still considers herself "a river rat," and currently resides near Des Moines. After a career in law and juvenile justice, she turned to full-time fiction writing in 2009. Her first urban fantasy, Awakening the Fire (Guardian Witch #1) was published in 2012, and she currently has twelve published novels. She loves to travel in the US and abroad and incorporates many of those settings into her books. Ms. Shields welcomes reader contact through her website and can frequently be found on Twitter.
Author Links
My Rating:
★★★★☆
I received this book from Red Moon Book Tours for the book tour, all reviews and opinions are my own. If you would like to check out the rest of the blog tour click
here for the official schedule.
This one picks up a few months after the first book, fast forward to Maggie and Josh's first real fight. Surprisingly they work well with one another even when fighting, I mean they have some bumps along the way of not talking to one another which makes things worse in a way but for the most part even when they aren't getting along they do. That should tell them right there that they were going to make it through this fight. Maggie is still getting a handle on her magic and the ghosts that she sees. These ghosts that she sees this time I don't know how she deals with them, I thought the ghost in the last book was hard to interpret, no these ghosts are even more thick headed. It's good she has Josh and her friend to ground her.
Josh has his faults like any guy, but he should have known that little miss ex-fiancee would try to cause more trouble than not. He is a good guy and good for Maggie though, I don't doubt that one bit. They both need to work on tearing that wall down between them. Plus he is really good listening to his instinct and he may not have any magic but good instincts are good to have all on there own and can be very useful, especially when Maggie is getting herself into trouble.
I would like to know more about Annie, Maggie's friend. She seems like she could have an interesting life, well one in the computers, but I bet she gets into all sorts of trouble. I'd also like to know how Harry and her relationship is going, it seems nice but Harry being a brother of Josh I can see how it could get rocky every once in a while. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you know what I mean.
The pace of the story was good, a lot of action to keep it moving a long. Fast paced but not to fast where you wonder how they come to the ending. I know if Maggie worked on her craft more then she could be a real tough witch one day and maybe that is what frightens her, she wants to be herself and a real good cop. I can't wait to see what more trouble these two can find in their city.
Stopping abruptly on the front
door threshold, Maggie swept her gaze across the living room of the Garden
District Victorian home, taking in the body of the matronly female victim and
the carcass of the presumed killer sprawled on the polished floor. She drew in
a shallow breath and placed one hand on the door frame, letting the eerie feel
of the scene roll over her. It happened every time. She used to wonder
why—before she knew her family origins. Now she just accepted it.
Her partner, New Orleans
homicide detective Joshua Brandt and currently estranged lover, moved past her,
no doubt welcoming the coolness of the air-conditioning. Unhampered by the strange
sensations she experienced, he squatted next to the body.
Maggie closed the door, leaving
the humid August heat outside, and circled to the far side of the victim. She
noted, discarded, or filed away each detail, searching for the ones that would
eventually lead them to a human predator.
Interesting scene, to say the
least. Two sets of reddened punctures, one on the victim’s neck, the other on
the left cheek. But no blood, only a faint odor of death thanks to the
hard-working AC. Pleasant features—or would have been if the eyes weren’t wide
open and fixed in a vacant stare—a few extra pounds but not excessive, hints of
gray at the temples and roots of her short brunette hair. She’d been due for a
touchup. A modern grandmother in faded jeans and a white shirt hanging open
over a pale blue tank top.
“Valerie Preston, age
sixty-one,” said the older of the two patrol cops who’d found the body. He
checked his palm-sized notebook. “Lived alone. Widow of real estate
businessman, Clive Preston, who’s been dead five years or more. Neighbor last
saw her yesterday afternoon about five bringing home groceries.” He put his
notes in his shirt pocket. “Looks like the snake killed her.”
“Maybe.” Josh learned forward
to inspect the bite marks, and a shock of dark hair fell over his forehead.
Maggie’s attention drifted to his strong profile, the sculpted cheekbones, the
full black lashes. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and she imagined the dark
bristles scraping softly across her skin. Whoa, girl. Another example of why
they needed to step back from their relationship. They’d grown too close, too
intense, placing their on-the-job partnership at risk.
A week ago, Josh had played the
alpha male, stepping into a situation she could have handled, and it had nearly
gotten him killed. They’d argued for days, and yesterday—after living with him
the past four months—she’d moved back to her own apartment. Ostensibly to think
it over, reassess. But Maggie wasn’t sure what would happen to them next. In
spite of their casual, matter-of-fact conversation since he’d picked her up at
her apartment a half hour ago, raw tension simmered under the surface.
The tightening of Josh’s jaw
muscle, as it did when he held back strong emotion, sharpened her focus back to
the scene…where it belonged. He looked up at the two patrolmen. “Hard way to
die. Who shot the snake?”
