Cursed Moon

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 show more 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. show less

Cursed Moon in the second installation in the Prospero's War series by Jaye Wells. Since this is the second book, I am going to assume that anyone reading this has already read Dirty Magic, the first book. With that assumption, I will not need to summarize the characters or magic system. If you would like a look back, check out my review of Dirty Magic, which I really, really enjoyed. With that out of the way, let us jump into Cursed Moon. We join Kate Prospero a few months after the events of Dirty Magic. She is still part of the MEA task force, on loan from the BPD. With everything that happened in the first story, there is plenty of stress in Kate's life including her brother Danny who she is raising, her law enforcement career, and show more her guilt over her recent use of magic. To add to this, a blue moon is coming right around Halloween. This moon has a profound impact on magic. It has effects on adepts and potions. With the impending moon, a crazed lunatic decides to stir up some mayhem in Babylon. Kate's MEA team now needs to track this psycho down before he does too much damage to the city.

Let me get this out of the way first: I really liked this book. Basically everything I liked about the first one carried over and even improved. Since the main characters were already very well defined, Wells took the time to give depth to some of the secondary characters. Some history also comes out to refine the already well developed ones. Kate certainly grows and her views and feeling change a lot since the last book. One other character that I was very excited to learn more about was good old Uncle Abe. Other than the characterization, I love the language used in the book. The conversations are wonderful. I don't mean to say that the words are particularly elegant, they are not. What they are is real. This is how people talk. Most of us are not eloquent, in daily life the majority of people are quite the opposite. If you are sensitive to language and easily offended, this probably is not for you. Also, if you are one of those people, Chaucer is not for you and you're really missing out on some great stuff. People talk like this. Always have, always will. This is exactly why I loved it. The language used is so real and true to life. If you are reading a book where low lives, drug (potion) pushers, pimps, whores, killers are using sanitized language, you're really missing something and I cannot see how someone can get wholly absorbed in a story unless the world is entirely absorbing and realistic. The raw, crass dialogue felt and read so incredibly natural. There is no forced language that is trying to be edgy, in fact Kate even comments on certain word choices and cringes at others. I do appreciate an author who writes such realistic characters and dialogue.

With development behind us, much of the buddy cop aspects are gone. I see this as a big improvement. You learn more about the team and their rapports. I think they have more interesting and complex relationships now, even with it only being a few months in story time. I really like the way the characters interact this time around. I do not know exactly what to put my finger on to say that I like better, but it just felt better. I know that makes very little sense, or none at all, but that is the only way I can describe what went through my head reading it. I honestly hove only one piece of criticism and that is the resolution of the main story. It was not bad, but it was a little out there, even for this. Honestly though, I kind of saw it coming, so it did not shock me that this was coming.

Even though there was one criticism, I still give this a 5/5. I was tempted to remove a half star with the ending, but I accept that I have to suspend disbelief for a fantasy novel. Besides, I really loved the book so I could not bring myself to lower this score. I absolutely recommend this book, obviously assuming you read the first one. The conclusion to the Prospero's War series, Deadly Spells, is due for publication in March of 2015. That is something I will be definitely be keeping an eye on. So far I have enjoyed what I have read from Jaye Wells and am looking forward to more. show less

Three books in, and I can safely say I can't stand the protagonist. When things don't go her way or when she's pissed, it makes me happy to see her in a funk. She sucks. To quote another reviewer, " [Kate] is so hostile towards everyone. The chip on her shoulder is the size of the sun and it makes her so hard to root for her." John Volos, the so-called antagonist, is a better person all around and did everything he did for the city and its people.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A madman is planning something big for the people of the Cauldron, and it’s up to Kate Prospero and the agents of the MEA to stop him in this thrilling second book in the Prospero’s War series.

Opening Sentence: If you want to know your future, the last person to ask is a fortune-teller.

The Review:

Kate Prospero has been fighting a lot of personal demons since closing her first big case with the MEA. Only one other person knows that she cooked the potion that saved her brother’s life. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, she’s still clean. Keeping the secret is beginning to take its toll. Friends are thinking she’s drinking too much, her brother Danny thinks she’s show more working too much, and her temper is wearing pretty thin. Amidst all this personal turmoil, she has yet another big case. One of the most powerful people in the Cauldron has been robbed, and the theft makes Kate realize that someone is planning to cause a lot of chaos in the city. With the Blue Moon approaching, the countdown is on. Will Kate and the rest of the MEA be able to track down the thief before he unleashes his new weapon on the world?

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I was really excited to have the chance to read and review this one. Thankfully, this book was just as enjoyable as the first one. It was fast paced and full of the humor that I loved in the first book. I think my only complaint would be that it took me a little bit of time to get my bearings and remember how the world worked since it had been a while since I had read the first book. There was a bit of recapping, but this is definitely a series that needs to be read in order.

One of my favorite things about this series is how Jaye Wells is able to make a world full of magic seem so realistic. This comes through especially in the relationships Kate has with the secondary characters. Her relationship with Danny continues to make me feel very emotional as I read certain scenes. I get so wrapped up in the book that I feel like I’m Kate, so the problems she’s having with Danny feel like they’re my problems as well.

Another aspect of the book that feels very real is how Kate handles her relapse and how it affects her relationships. There were many times I found myself feeling very frustrated with Kate and how she responded to certain situations, but even through my frustration, I felt that how she was acting was very true to life. Because of that, I found myself feeling even more connected to her despite my frustration.

For those looking for a bit of romance, they’ll be disappointed with this installment. There are developments on the romance front, but they’re very slight, and it’s much more of a detective story than a romance. As someone who loves romance, I honestly didn’t miss it. I was so wrapped up in everything else that was going on that I really didn’t care. That more than anything should show how much I enjoyed this book. I’m very much looking forward to book three!

Notable Scene:

His costume–too short for his five-foot-and-spare-change frame–was a green double-breasted blazer, matching tights, and two black shoes with shiny silver buckles. A bowler hat on his head tipped jauntily forward over greasy brown hair. And on each cheek, he’d painted a jagged black lightning bolt.

He turned to face us, and a small plume of glittery golden powder spilled from the cauldron’s wide mouth.

I had my weapon in my hand before you could say Erin go Bragh. “Stand down!” I shouted in my best or-I’ll-shoot tone.

A single black brow disappeared under the brim of the hat. His gaze went to the salt flare gun in my hand. Every criminal in the Cauldron knew that the rock salt’s purpose was as much about inflicting pain as it was neutralizing magic.

Beside me, Morales aimed his Glock at the guy. “Put down the cauldron!”

As it turned out, fake leprechauns are surprisingly fast runners. One second he was staring down the barrels of our guns, and the next the bastard took off. The tails of his jacket flapped in the breeze, and it was a miracle of physics that he managed to keep his hat attached to his head. Morales and I exchanged shocked looks and took after the little shit.

“We need EMS at Pioneer Square,” I yelled into my phone. “Two officers down and several civilians hexed.”

“Ten-four, Detective Prospero,” the dispatcher replied. “On their way.”

“Stay with him,” Morales snapped. “I’ll cut through the alley and head him off at the intersection.”

He veered off to the left. I dug in and ignored the burning in my thighs. My gaze locked in on the sequined clover mocking me from the back of the leprechaun’s coat.

A high-pitched, potion-mad giggle taunted me. “Ye can’t catch the Leprechaun Man!”

I considered shooting the asshole in his pot of gold.

FTC Advisory: Orbit provided me with a copy of Cursed Moon. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

*I read this book for my own enjoyment.

Halloween's in two weeks. The full blue moon is the double full moon this month and has people acting all sorts of crazy. The police have their hands full so MEA, Kate's team, is helping to subdue events. Then things take a turn for a scary future. Aphrodite Johnson has one of her Houses of Worship robbed, $50,000 of powerful sex magic potions stolen. The hint of the Raven, new thief in town, they are looking for comes from Kate's Uncle Abe. The big show from this new threat is planned to happen on Halloween when the blue moon is at it's fullest.

No more introduction. We know Kate and her close friends, or those that she doesn't consider friends, well and get right into work. Yes! This is what I show more want. Jaye does remind us of events in the previous book as the story goes because those events affect current places of the characters mentally and physically, but we are fully focused here in this book.

I feel for Kate in this book. She's working hard to keep her family and dear friends safe along with keeping her big secret from them all. The guilt over the secret has her feeling worse and worse with everything that happens, and seeing John Volos getting all the admiration and love from her littler brother... which is part of her secret. It's eating Kate from the inside out. It seems like no matter how hard she tries, everything just keeps piling on.

This is what I wanted! Kate's anxiety and internal stress is growing and I can feel it. It's terrible to watch life as people react to what you did, but they don't know it was you. The good and the bad that resonate from it, the love and hate that's felt.

Kate and her friends. Her relationship with her brother Danny is cracking. Danny's upset with her not being around like she use to be, but there's more to it too. Pen knows something is up with Kate, she's been drinking more and gets a feel for something else. John Volos... oh he's a slippery slope for Kate. She hates him, yet there's something else. I guess that first love never really leaves, but you know it's not a good relationship. John's not as prominent in this book but he's here, a shadow in Kate's life and mind. Is he holding the secret over Kate's head? Will he act against her uncle? Or will John get in more trouble? Only time will tell. Then there's Morales. I really enjoy him and Kate together. They have an easy banter and sixth sense as partners when it comes to work. They trust each other and know how to work together.

Kate feels the temptation to read potion signatures and cook. This is the withdrawal from cooking in the first book. Just that one time has a pull on her. And she likes it. Kate fights herself and pulls through, but she'll realize that magic is a part of her. She has to figure out how to handle that. For me, I loved this part of the book. Kate faces her demons in magic and who she is. This makes Kate stronger to me.

Another demon Kate faces is her uncle. I love seeing her go toe to toe with the man verbally. I just hope she can stay ahead of him because there is a lot of work to do in order to not fall under his thumb.

We learn more about Adepts. We know they aren't suppose to be affected by potions. But in this book we see it happen. The double blue moon causes the immunity usually seen to not be as strong, and Adepts are struck with the same results as humans.

Yes! This is what I want. Police in a world that uses potions (magic-ly made). I am once again taken with how closely related the magical potions run to drugs in our world. The magical potions gives the story an urban fantasy feel but it could very easily be replaced with drugs from our world. The world is a bit grittier here too. A feel I really enjoy. show less

Wonderful character development

I read some reviews before buying this book, and while it was explicit in one scene and violent, there was excellent, human, painful character development within the rawness. I look forward to the next book, and I am interested in seeing where Kate, Volo, and Abe end up.

Detective Kate Prospero is trying hard to deal with the consequences of her potion making in the last book. She's also trying to deal with a case of sex magic partially fueled by a blue moon and her uncle is still wielding power from jail.

I like this series, I like how it deals with addiction and temptation and trying to cope and how sometimes the only thing you can do is your best and balance is important.