Arcadia Bell has a new life with her parents gone – and the beginnings of a new family with Lon and Jupe, despite her ongoing nervousness about the age gap.
But kids are going missing – Earthborn demon kids like Jupe. And it seems descendants of the Hellfire club owners are the ones who are being targeted – again, like Jupe. The kidnappings mirror a previous series of kidnappers 30 years ago. As the most powerful witch the demons of the Hellfire club know, she’s quickly recruited to help find the children. Something she’s happy to do, despite her misgivings over the club, but quickly it is clear the Earthborn will do anything to force her obedience and encourage her efforts
As Hallowe’en approaches, more kids vanish and the deadline to find the children draws near – and the pressure on Arcadia grows.
Before I begin, it’s going to sound like I am 10 kinds of grouchy about this book, which isn’t the case. Because I liked the book, I enjoyed it and I dashed it off in a day with no problem at all. The problem is a lot of the positives are rather mundane and only worth mentioning because I want to counter the impression this is a negative review. And it’s not – I liked this book, I enjoyed this book. I liked the relationships. I liked the characters. The story was fun, interesting, well written and well paced. The world is broad and interesting. There’s a lot of good here.
And several of the issues I had with the last book are changed – particularly Lon and Cady’s romance which is no longer jam packed with pointless drama for the sake of drama. In fact, the romance was blessedly smooth, happy with occasional moments of angst and doubt due to the age gap, but a refreshing lack of drama for drama’s sake. In fact, her, Lon and Jupe forming their own family are some of the best and most fun elements of the book.
