In the Air Tonight (Sisters of the Craft #1)
by Lori Handeland
Blurb:
With
her blue-black hair and dark eyes, Raye Larsen has never fit in with the
Scandinavian community of New Bergin, Wisconsin. Being adopted is part of the
reason she feels like an outsider, but what really sets Raye apart is her
ability to see dead people. Everywhere.
She’s
learned to keep her visions to herself . . . until she stumbles onto the ghost
of a murder victim who needs Raye’s help. Enter Bobby Doucet, a distractingly
handsome homicide detective who has been tracking a killer all the way from New
Orleans. Could this be the break in his case he’s been looking for all along?
Meanwhile,
the deeper Raye gets involved with the case—and with Bobby—the closer she comes
to unlocking the mystery of her own origins. What she discovers about herself
could destroy everything she knows . . . and everyone she loves. Is finding the
truth worth the risk?
Themes: Magick,
Demons, paranormal
Rating: 3.75 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
One of my favorite authors, Lori Handeland,
has begun an all new trilogy full of drama, intrigue, and the beauty of
discovery for three long-separated sisters.
The set-up is an interesting one, with three sister-witches being sent
400 years into the future by their dying parents, also witches of course, to
try to save them from the hunters that have set out to destroy their
family. Each of the sisters has grown up
in a different area of the 21st century, unknowing of their powers
it seems, but never fully fitting into their lives. The first story revolves around the dark
beauty, Raye, as she finds herself the center of a witch hunt and is confronted
with the truth of her ancestry, the facts of her strange powers, and a man that
could forever change her life. I love Handeland’s
NightCreature series and this trilogy is looking to be a success as well. The only issue I had was with the way writing
was actually done because personally I am not a big fan of romance novels
written in first person, but with the over POVs and the skill of writing, Lori
pulls it off and left me with a happy read and anticipation for the next two
stories. And I can tell any of her longtime
fans, that we get some cameos from previous characters in her NightCreature
series as well, which was AWESOME.
Raye
is a haunted woman, literally and figuratively.
She has always had the strange ability to see the ghosts that surround
us on a daily basis and has long come to understand that her little skill sets
her apart from all others. When a woman
is brutally murdered in the her small, sleepy town, the woman’s ghost leads to
more questions than answers for Raye, and ultimately brings her face to face
with the disarmingly gorgeous detective that arrives in town to investigate the
death. Bobby has traveled a long way in
hopes that the woman’s death provides him some insight to a string of murders
he has investigated in New Orleans and the first person he meets is the
enigmatic and dangerously sexy Raye, as she flees from a knife-wielding
madman. As they find themselves thrown
together again and again by the killer and Bobby’s desire to keep Raye safe,
their passion for one another becomes something neither can resist and leads to
some interesting discoveries. The
question is can a man so against believing in anything supernatural handle
being in love with a witch that sees the souls of the departed, including
someone very special from his own past?
Raye
was a very interesting character, a woman with no idea the true depths of her
powers or real understanding of her heritage.
A foundling discovered abandoned on the side of the round as an infant,
Raye has never felt connected to her family or the people in her small
town. Her strength comes from
understanding and accepting that she’ll never fit in and she needs to be happy
with who and what she is, even if at times her powers scare her or make her
feel isolated. I felt so bad for her as
she tried to get Bobby to accept the truth of her skills and accept her for the
woman she is, even though he is afraid of the past that haunts him. I loved seeing her come into her own, once
she understands the full scope of her abilities and learns to better control
them. I can see her becoming a strong
force for good in the coming novels and see her finding herself even more as
she reunites with her missing sisters.
Bobby on the other hand was an enigma; a man who has spent the majority
of his adult life in New Orleans, the most paranormal packed and haunted city
in the states, is firmly on the side of disbelief. He is determined to resist believing in
anything supernatural even if the facts are right in front of his face, and ultimately
that will bring pain to Raye, whose entire existence is shrouded by the
supernatural. It was interesting to see
him in action, fighting the bad guys, and he is obviously a strong and loving man,
but his closed mind and refusal to discuss his past keeps a wall between him
and Raye for a very long time, even going so far as to deny his feelings for
her in his unwillingness to accept the truth.
I really came to love Bobby when he decided that maybe Raye was telling
the truth and she is worth the fears and work it will take for him to overcome
his suspicion.
Overall
I found this story to be extremely interesting, especially the way Raye’s birth
parents are worked into the story, because really what could be cooler. There was of course a lot of set-up for the
world in this story, but I found lots of reason to laugh, cry, and lust, and of
course the HEA was one that I cannot wait to touch on more in the coming
novels. I am unsure how the sisters will
finally be reunited, but I suspect it will be a gradual process, one that will
take some buildup to get them all back together. Raye was a wonderful character with lots of
wit, sweetness, and sarcasm, to make her into a well-rounded woman that will be
a great future addition. Bobby was the kind of guy that just needed a
swift kick in the butt to force him to see the things around him that he’s
always felt but ultimately denied. The
love between Raye and Bobby was slow to build, but will obviously be lasting
and true. I imagine their partnership
will become a crucial stepping stone in the future novels as Raye meets her
sisters and they work to stay alive and protect themselves from a returning
danger. Another great series with all
the things I’ve always loved about Lori’s writing, wit, sarcasm, twisty plots,
and characters that make you laugh and cry.
Bring on the witches, Lori!
*eARC provided by publisher (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No
compensation was provided.
No comments:
Post a Comment