Magic is breaking.Newly recruited by the Void Union, enchantress Adrienne Morales plans to stay on good terms with her magic-immune handlers. That’s hard to do when everyone knows about the enchantment tattoo storing catastrophic magic on her body. Then she discovers a murder victim with an identical tattoo. That corpse means only one thing: the cult that enchanted Adrienne has a lethal operative … a lethal operative in town, and her conflict with the Voids just became her smallest problem.
With mysterious fires destroying Voids across the nation, the Union Legionnaire has his hands full. Catching the murderer is up to Adrienne. But as her search intensifies, magic begins breaking down around her: Ghosts rise, enchantments go haywire, and the specter of war looms over San Francisco. Plagued by fears from her past, mistrust from the Voids, and the sudden unreliability of her powers, Adrienne isn’t sure where to turn.
Worse, Adrienne’s life isn’t the only one hanging in the balance. If she goes down, her friends will fall beside her, and the entire city might be next. To defend the paranormal world, she must stop the murderer, uncover the cult’s secret plot, and decide whom to trust–when she’s not even sure she can trust herself.
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The pressure is definitely on in this sequel!
I don’t want to give away spoilers, but book two in this series really delivers a punch. The stakes are going up with magic behaving in ways it shouldn’t, especially for our enchantress who struggles with the nature of her own power. The sidekicks continue to shine in all their quirky ways. I just love the dynamic of this group. AND THAT ENDING! Twists everywhere!!
Bring on book 3!
I have come to the conclusion that true magic has exploded in the world, but only affected those who wield the mighty pen (or should I say computer?)! What is going on? How are so many newer authors turning out to be such amazing writers? Well, one thing is for sure. A.C. Spahn has definitely joined the ranks of amazing authors in my book! And while she may not be new exactly, she certainly came to shine with her Arcane Artisans series.
What a ride! Adrienne has been driven to such a chaotic life, and taken us along with her. Between the cult that is searching for her and the Void council that is supposedly helping her, she doesn’t know what is up and what is down. All she knows for sure is her friends, Desmond (also her love), Kendall and Sam, are loyal and true and people she can count on without hesitation. With them she tries to just run her little artisan business of handmade pieces designed most often to siphon off her residual magic, but good enough that ordinary people like to buy them as trinkets, knick-knacks, and jewelry. But of course, the Void council won’t just let her be, and the cult that is chasing her is zeroing in, so no ordinary life for her.
The action, the emotion, the friendships and conspiracies, all of it comes together to create a crazy, chaotic life for Adrienne, one of the most powerful Enchantresses out there, not to mention one of the most sought after ones. And we find ourselves drawn along with her and her crew as they try so very hard to just live.
In this volume of her life she has definitely come under pressure from the forces that seek to use and abuse her. Some very hard decisions have to be made, and making decisions based on love and trust was never something she expected to become familiar with so she has to first wrap her head around it, and then learn to live with it. Friends. People who care about her and aren’t either trying to kill her, control her or abuse her. What a new and wonderful experience! But also heartrending, because she is so torn between wanting to stay with them and live the life she has created for herself, and believing she should just run, get as far away as she can and protect them at all costs.
This action packed book 2 in the Arcane Artisan series captured me from the first word to the last. Now I have to patiently wait for the next one? I’ll probably combust before that finally comes, cause I have zero patience!
This was so Very Very Well Done, AC! I’m floored! Flabbergasted! And completely enamored. So Very Very Well Done, indeed!
I received this as an ARC and am offering up this review in my own words and of my own volition. Doesn’t matter cause I plan to buy it anyway!