Wild child Isidora Avramov is a thrill chaser, adept demon summoner, and—despite the whole sexy-evil-sorceress vibe—also a cuddly animal lover. When she’s not designing costumes and new storylines for the Arcane Emporium’s haunted house, Issa’s nursing a secret, conflicted dream of ditching her family’s witchy business to become an indie fashion designer in her own right.

But when someone starts sabotaging the celebrations leading up to this year’s Beltane festival with dark, dangerous magic, a member of the rival Thorn family gets badly hurt—throwing immediate suspicion on the Avramovs. To clear the Avramov name and step up for her family when they need her the most, Issa agrees to serve as a co-investigator, helping none other than Rowan Thorn get to the bottom of things.

Rowan is the very definition of lawful good, so tragically noble and by-the-book he makes Issa’s teeth hurt. In accordance with their families’ complicated history, he and Issa have been archenemies for years and have grown to heartily loathe each other. But as the unlikely duo follow a perplexing trail of clues to a stunning conclusion, Issa and Rowan discover how little they really know each other… and stumble upon a maddening attraction that becomes harder to ignore by the day.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

We glared at each other, the distance between us seeming to thin and contract, pulsing like a heartbeat, as if our shared loathing were potent enough to actually distort the fabric of reality.

I glanced up at the massive gilded portrait of Margarita Avramov— our family’s ancestor and one of the four original founders of Thistle Grove— hanging on the flocked maroon wallpaper above the fireplace. She appraised the crowd of her descendants with black and lustrous eyes, set in the kind of gorgeous resting bitch face that could launch a thousand ships, probably mostly out of screaming terror.

A gratified glow fueled by pure pettiness lit just beneath my ribs. There’s a certain special exhilaration to driving the object of your loathing to soothing breathing techniques.

I was playing with the worst kind of fire here, and I knew it— but when had that ever stopped me before? When had it ever done anything at all, besides making me want to keep blazing my way down trails marked “forbidden”? For me, the forbiddenness usually tended to be the point.

Quit trying to salt my game.

My Review:

 

I rarely read this genre as I am far too lazy for all the world-building so I’m unfamiliar with the different roles and rules and types of magic, but despite the extra effort it took, I found the divisions and petty feuds between death magic and green magic quite clever. I was pleasantly surprised by the range and diversity of the author’s pen with keen snark, biting humor, and creepy curses and spells. The plot was intricate and slowly unfolded with unpredictable story threads and a bit of everything with thick and juicing servings of salty language, an entertaining macabre mystery, a fledgling romance, sensuality, and family drama. I enjoyed the change of pace and have decided I should indulge in this genre more often.