Bayou Moon (Edge, #2)

by Ilona Andrews

[kimbacaffeinate]

The Andrews are such a talented writing team and the fifteen some odd hours of listening I did flew by in a wink. The Edge is a world that lies between the Broken (our world) and the Weird (a place where the supernatural dwell). We met William in the first book and I was delighted to see this was his story. William is a blue blood and wolf. He has been dealt a nasty hand of cards as far as his life goes and he spends his time working construction in the Broken and collecting action figures. When a representative from the Mirror shows up on his doorstep with horrifying images of changeling children being slaughter by his nemesis Spider, an agent for the Hand, William agrees to travel to the Mire. There undercover he will collect the object Spider is seeking. Fun right? The Mire located in the swamp regions is dank, mysterious and dark. Oh lord the creatures that dwell there! *shivers*

William is a bit of an odd duck. He is a geeky changeling and I adored his quirky mannerism. As he travels to the Mire, he loses his guide and meets up with Cerise Mar. Cerise is desperate to return to the Mire to handle a situation involving an eighty-year-old feud between her clan and the Sherrile clan. The problem this time involves a Sherrile taking up residence in her grandfather’s cabin. To top it off Cerise’s parents are missing. To say that poor Cerise is a nervous wreck would be an understatement. We soon learn the Hand is involved and William and Cerise suddenly find themselves working together.

The interaction between William and Cerise was fantastic. Their interaction is filled with snark, battles and silly moments that eventually leads to romance. The way William reacted to the smell of her hair had me laughing aloud. This was a slow building relationship, complicated by his undercover assignment and changeling personality. Toss in the events surrounded the feuding families not to mention the Hand and their relationship was chaos. I loved it every blasted moment.

The secondary characters and little side threads in Bayou Moon were well-developed and brought the swamp and its people to life. The Mar clan was delightful, crazy and sometimes I laughed so hard I had tears. Williams’s reaction to this clan moved me, and only made me fall harder. Cerise is fearless, despite her worries and quickly steps up to lead her clan. The villains are ruthless killing machines who will send shivers down your spine. The vivid images surrounding the battles were incredible. I loved the details even if at times I did not know whether to vomit or cheer at how freaky it was. If you love well developed world's prepare to drool.

Despite how dark, violent and gritty the story became Andrews balanced things out with humor. They made the swamp humorous, and side threads like those regarding a hideous Eel are reasons why this writing team blows me away every dang time.

Renee Raudman narrates as she does all of the Andrews' books and I adored listening. Her voice is soothing, perfectly pitched and she changes up her tone for each character. I love the many voices and feel she only enhances my experience. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer