My name is Maia Hickson, and fire seems to follow me everywhere I go. It took my parents, it took my foster home (good riddance), and now I was on my own again. No big deal, I like it better that way anyway. Nothing important ever seems to happen to me, but after twenty years on hiatus, my favourite punk band is finally releasing a new album. They’re not touring and I’ve got just enough cash to … to get me to New York. Seems like fate, right?
With her best friend trying to come to terms with being a newly minted vampire, and her boss pressuring her to take a management position at the coffee shop, not to mention the approach of her boyfriend’s new album release party, Ophelia Turner has enough on her plate right now… and she definitely doesn’t have time to deal with anything else, but she might not have a choice.
Moonlight Burns is a standalone Urban Fantasy novel featuring witchcraft, ancient witches and a healthy dose of attitude. Follow the misadventures of Opheila Turner and her friends with the Daughters of Hecate.
DAUGHTERS OF HECATE SERIES
PROLOGUE ~ Witchmark
BOOK 1 ~ Sticks & Stones
BOOK 2 ~ Moonlight Burns
BOOK 3 ~ Power of Three
BOOK 4 ~ Vampire Punk (Coming Soon)
BOOK 5 ~ Haven (Coming Soon)
more
Ophelia Turner believes that she is the last of a line of witches called the Daughters of Hecate. Right now, she is busy trying to help her best friend and roommate, Lacey, adjust to her new life as a vampire. She definitely doesn’t need more drama in her life after 330+ years!
Enter Maia Hickson, a young woman who has just aged out of foster care. Her mother had died in a fire when Maia was young and she has no other family. When she finds out that her favorite punk rock band, Mutually Assured Destruction, has a gig in New York to celebrate the release of a long-awaited new album, she would love to go. Her friend, Becca, gifts her with a ticket and Maia is on her way to the Big Apple.
When Maia arrives at Spiral, the club where M.A.D. are playing, Ophelia feels a tug on her witchmark. Maybe she’s not the last of the Daughters after all!
This book is a great continuation in this series and is wildly entertaining. I love the whole punk scene and the addition of Eli and his band is a big plus for me and really makes this series stand out in the UF genre. What’s not to love with witches, magic, punk and vampires? And don’t forget Ophelia’s familiar, Suki. What a great cat! It makes for a great combination and you just keep turning the pages to see what happens next.
There is plenty of action, fun dialogue, and surprises at every turn.. Maia’s reactions to revelations about herself (and her newfound friends) are priceless and very believable. Ophelia has to decide if she wants to help Maia grow into her magic or just keep on the lonely path she has travelled for so long.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“It must be so easy to go through life not knowing that these things existed: immortal beings who were allergic to sunlight, magic, curses, ancient gods and goddesses. Real Housewives was way easier to stomach…..although not altogether different.”
“We are friends! You’ve got some magic in your veins, and I’m just a little bit undead…nothing’s different, Maia.”
And, I love these lyrics from MAD’s new single:
“Staked out for waiting for daylight
Moonlight burns
Eventually, they all commit crimes
and
Hecate comes for you”
I can’t wait to see what happens next in this series. Ophelia, Lacey, and Maia in New Orleans? Oh, yeah! I was given a chance to read this book through a review service and chose to review it.
WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT???
A great story, easy to follow as the tale unfolds. This book can be read as a standalone, but I would highly recommend reading first Witchmark, Sticks & Stones and follow through with this awesome read. I have truly enjoyed this series. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Median thinks of next.
Meet the new Ophelia Turner
Moonlight Burns is the second book of Meredith Medina’s urban fantasy series, Daughters of Hecate. This installment (because, no, it really isn’t a standalone) features the “new” Ophelia Turner. Still a witch (over 300 years old), still with the sex-god metal/punk band front man Eli (whose night club career suits his vampire nature perfectly), and still living with her familiar, Suki the black cat/purrbox. But things are changed too. Her new BFF Lacey is restored to life, but as a vampire. Lace needs the whole new-vamp boot camp, so she’s living with Ophelia while Eli shows her the undead ropes. Eli’s band is releasing their first new album in 40 years. Band fan Maia, newly liberated from the foster care system, attends the kick-off concert/release party, where she runs into trouble – and Ophelia. When it’s discovered that Maia is a lost Daughter of Hecate, and a total Malleus magnet (Malleus are the evil witch-burners), Ophelia and Lacey get a loud, punky teen roomie with a penchant for dropping F-bombs and running away – straight into trouble. Said trouble, with all its ripples and ramifications, consumes the bulk of the novel and the reader’s interest. Ex-hermit Ophelia takes charge of her maturing magical powers as she becomes the den mother to her tiny troop of paranormal newbies. There’s bad-assery, bone-breaking, blood-sucking and magic in red, blue, and purple technicolor from Seattle to New York to Spain. There’s Ophellia chasing Malleus, Malleus chasing Maia, and Lacey getting her licks (and bites) in before it’s all done, and urban fantasy junkies will adore every magical minute. Fortunately, there’s more urban fantasy coming in the next book. Meanwhile, don’t let this one pass you by. (This voluntary, independent and uncompensated review is courtesy of Candid Book Reviews, who graciously offered me an ARC. Thanks, Ari.)