Tempt the Stars (Cassandra Palmer, #6)

by Karen Chance

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

It's been six years since I read the last book in the Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance, Hunt the Moon. Six years. Which is ridiculous, because I'm such a huge Karen Chance fan. Anyway, because of this my memory of what happened in the last book was pretty shaky. I re-read my review, but because I try to keep them spoiler free, it wasn't too helpful. So I re-read the last few chapters of Hunt the Moon, hoping for a refresh. It's a good job I did, because Tempt the Stars takes place a week after Hunt the Moon ends, and there's only a very small summary of the ending of the previous book. So while I read enough of Hunt the Moon to be able to continue and enjoy Tempt the Moon, I was still pretty blank on everything bar the most basic details. Though events of past books do come up in conversation - like how Cassie killed the god Apollo - and I would have an "Oh, yeah!" moment, but my memory of how, when and why is pretty hazy. I think a re-read is probably in order.

But back to Tempt the Stars. It's just as action packed and fast paced as I remember Chance's novels to be. Seriously, Cassie finishes one fight only to be sprung into another a few chapters later. There is always a lot at stack, but this time, it's personal. Pritkin saved Cassie's life at the end of Hunt the Moon with an energy transfer, which alerted Rosier, his Incubi father, of his whereabouts, and was dragged back to hell. In Tempt the Stars, Cassie's primary focus is on saving Pritkin and bringing him back home. But one does not simply walk into hell, grab someone, and walk out again. It's fraught with danger; Rosier doesn't want to let his son go, the demon council also has strong views on the matter, but Cassie won't leave her friend behind - especially as he's only there because he saved her life.

What's particularly cool about this book is how Cassie's batteries are running low. In a lot of books, things just happen, and there's never any mention of sleep or food, the basic necessities for survival. But there is in Tempt the Stars (there may also be in the previous books, but I can't remember). Cassie is absolutely exhausted, she is getting by on just one meal a day, and is starving. But she doesn't have time to sleep or eat, Pritkin needs saving now - his very future is in the balance, and if the demon council has any say, his life. How can she say she'll go rescue him after she's had 40 winks and a few meals, when, as a half-Incubi, he's being forced into prostitution, and is surrounded by demons who want him dead?

Which brings about another aspect of this series that I'm loving. Of course, if any friend was in this much danger, Cassie would try to save them. But with Pritkin, there's that will-they-won't-they side of things. Cassie is still trying her damned hardest to remain clueless, but it's getting more difficult to do so when there is a moment - a moment - when it looks like she's going to be unable to prevent herself from thinking about that there's something there. But of course that moment gets interupted. But I am so hoping that the conversation happens soon, because I am definitely Team Pritkin.

There are a few other things that are revealed towards the end of the book that I'm sure will play a bigger part in future books; the witches' interest in Cassie, the things the Pythian Court are getting up to. But Cassie trying to save Pritkin is the focus, and with all the fighting and the danger and the near misses, it's really beautiful to see the lengths Cassie will go to to save her "friend". Such a fantastic, fantastic book, and I'm really looking forward to the sixth book, Reap the Wind, to see where Cassie will be heading next.