happySpectra, paperback
528 pages, dark urban fantasy/supernatural romance, life doesn't end with death
Currently in print
***
I'm going to be up-front here, because that's always struck me as the best approach for something like this: when I first read Haunted, I didn't like it very much. I blame this on the fact that I was coming off two books with a narrator that I adored, and was frankly a little bit annoyed by the switch. When I went back later and re-read, I found that Haunted was, while very different from the earlier books in the series, also not a bad book. (It probably helps that by the time I went back to Haunted I was extremely fond of Jaime Vegas, who plays a major role in the book and has become my second-favorite narrator.)
So, Haunted. Eve Levine was a dark witch when she was alive, pursuing any route to power she could find. These routes to power included an affair with a Cabal sorcerer, Kristof Nash, the father of her daughter Savannah. (Sorcerers only have sons, witches only have daughters. Apparently, when the two get together, they go back to the gender lottery like everybody else.) Eve and her daughter were captured by Tyrone Winslow prior to the events of Stolen. Savannah survived the experience. Eve didn't. Welcome to the afterlife.
Since her death, Eve has been trying to find ways to get back to her daughter, much to the annoyance of the Fates -- the people who run the supernatural afterlife -- who'd really prefer it if she'd just settle down and accept her death. Kris isn't too happy about it, either, since he's been trying to get her to rekindle their relationship ever since they both wound up dead. And then there's the little matter of the Nix, a nasty demonic entity that's been using willing partners to wreak havoc for centuries...
Eve needs something to do. The Fates need the Nix to be stopped. It's a match made someplace that's nowhere near Heaven, and one that's going to test everyone involved to the very limits of what they can handle. Maybe even a little bit beyond.
Eve is smart, sharp, cynical, and the sort of woman who tried never to depend on anyone when she was alive, which makes things that much harder on her now that she's dead. Kris is a completely believable romantic foil, alternately frustrated and fascinated by this crazy woman that he finds himself unable to fall out of love with. And, of course, Jaime Vegas is utterly delightful in her role as necromantic Girl Friday, trying to help Eve in her quest without getting herself seriously injured in the process. Can they succeed? Wouldn't you like to know?
This is Eve's only viewpoint book so far in the series, and it's well-worth the reading, if only because it gives you some valuable information on the world (and because it kicks ass, but that's not the point here). The writing is solid, the plot is exciting, and the heroine is refreshingly flawed (even beyond that whole 'being dead' thing).
Next up is Broken, a return to Elena and the werewolves. Because everybody wanted to see the Pack versus Jack the Ripper, right?
