Everything changes when one of Seph's friends is murdered.
The high priestess of the local coven offers Seph an unbelievable sum to hunt down the killer, and Seph enlists the help of her wærewolf friends--including Johnny, the hunky 6'2" leather-clad singer for the techno-metal-goth band Lycanthropia.
The attraction between them is dangerous, but nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.
Comment: This is another one of the books I had in the pile, from the time I used to collect the first books in a series, in the hopes I would love them and then I would have series to binge. Often, waiting too long means some books no longer appeal, but this was was surprisingly interesting until the end.
In this book we meet heroine Persephone Alcmedi, who is a witch and is currently housing her grandmother. She leads a simple life, except that she also can't say no to helping her friends, including the werewolves who need a place to be locked in every full moon. The problems begin when such a friend is murdered and her young child is left to the care of another witch with no maternal instinct. That witch, Vivian, has a proposal for Persephone and perhaps after all is solved, they can find a way to help the child too and she can stay with Persephone instead, but will the price be too high to pay? When vampires get in the mix, everything is even worse, but what can Persephone do so that everyone can be helped?
Now that my devotion to PNR and UF has waned, several books which I would have appreciated more ten years ago aren't as amazing nowadays. Nevertheless, sometimes there are titles which feel more appealing than others and I'm glad it was the case with this one. I didn't enjoy all aspects of it, but I liked things enough to carry me through reading this with interest.
Persephone is one of those good people that we can't help but cheer for. She is a good person and tries to do the right thing and we could immediately understand her personality by how she feels responsible for her grandmother and welcomes her in her house as well as by the things she does for her werewolf friends, when just their status makes them unacceptable in so many places. When the story begins and she learns about her friend's death, she is also very worried for her child, someone she babysat sometimes and with whom she developed an emotional relationship.
It is due to this caring nature that Persephone gets herself in trouble, by accepting the proposal done by Vivian, a witch that acts one way but that we discover isn't as humble as she looks. Persephone does debate the morals of her actions and I was quite pleased that she didn't simply rush into things nor was she one of those heroines who doesn't care or who acts like that to fulfill a role. But I do confess I was a little annoyed that she didn't trust her friends sooner, before she took certain steps... thankfully, things get to a point, let's say half way, where she does talk to those who can help and even when problems happened, she wasn't alone in her decisions.
I liked that the plot situations were directly linked with this because it tells me that Persephone might see herself working as part of a team and not as a lone wolf (pun intended) among her werewolf friends and the vampires. I didn't like the vampire lore in this book... they aren't bad but they aren't good either and while this can do for interesting plots and story segments, I prefer when the villains /enemies are more black and white because I can already tell that this will be important in future books and I'd prefer Persephone to stick to her moral conduct.
There isn't any romance to speak of here, although there are plenty of hints and secrets to make me assume she and Johnny - a werewolf friend - might become a couple. It won't be easy, I bet, because of one or two things which happened in this book, but emotionally I think they will be ready to be a couple sooner than later. In a way, I actually liked how they just let things get to the point where it would be natural and even cute that they could be together but they are being cautious about their feelings.
Persephone is also a very three dimensional character, I liked how careful she was with her relationships, including some from her past which she debates on whether it necessary to keep them, namely a few friends from years ago who now don't mean as much. These situations also show me that she is not a doormat, that she thinks about herself and who she is and how everything in her life must be part of the deal...for instance why being friends with someone who belittles werewolves when some of them are now people she cares about?
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