The second in a not-to-be-missed urban fantasy series about a freewheeling magician who slings drinks at a demon-friendly tiki bar.
MAGICAL TRICKS. DEMONIC TREATS.
After narrowly escaping her fate as a sacrificial scapegoat, Arcadia Bell is back to normal. Or at least as ordinary as life can be for a renegade magician and owner of a tiki bar that caters to Earthbound demons. She’s gearing up for the busiest day of the year—Halloween—when a vengeful kidnapper paralyzes the community. The influential head of the local Hellfire Club taps Cady to track down the fiendish bogeyman, and now that she’s dating red-hot Lon Butler, the Club’s wayward son, she can hardly say no.
Cady and Lon untangle a gruesome thirty-year trail of clues that points to danger for the club members’ children. But locating the person behind the terror will require some metaphysical help from Cady’s loyal bar patrons as well as her potent new Moonchild powers—and she’d better figure it out before the final victim disappears and her own darkest secret becomes her biggest enemy.
I'm not exactly sure how I first started this series. I think it was one of those Tara recommendations. I remember liking the world, but not so fond of the age difference between Cady and Lon. I probably wouldn't have picked up Summoning the Night on my own, BUT not only did Kelly give me a copy of Summoning the Night for my birthday last year, but she's also QUOTED in it. (And that is pretty cool.) And I'm glad that she gave me the extra motivation to continue with this series, because everything I remember loving about Kindling the Moon comes back strong in Summoning the Night. (As usual, Kelly is right and listening to her has proved to work well for me.)
Even though it's been over a year since reading the first book, it was easy to slide back into Cady's world. Jenn Bennett provides just enough information to ease us back into the story without rehashing every little detail. I am still very intrigued by Cady's world, and by the uniqueness of the magical system and creatures. It's easy to tell that there's much more to learn about this world, and I definitely want to know more. Summoning the Night revealed some implications for Earthbound demons that are interesting. (Vague enough for you?) And the divide between earth and the Æthyr seems smaller than ever.
And perhaps best of all, this series boasts some fantastic characters. I have been completely enchanted by Jupe who is irrepressible in his enthusiasm for life. Jupe makes me want to have a 13 year old in my life. (Though actually having a thirteen year old in my life would probably be less fun than I think it would. Minor detail. I'll just settle for Jupe.) Cady's life is going through some drastic changes now that she's dating Lon, and I like the potential for all the crazy that entails. And Lon just plain sexy.
