A Sword in the Sun

Alright, well I thought the first book had mysterious events, this one has even more! Callie's life has definitely taken a hard left turn. In The Queen and The Tower, Callie found out she was mysteriously pregnant. With Jeremy off on his mysterious trip to the Old Country, and Callie dealing with all that goes with her pregnancy and everything else that happened alone. She realizes she has isolated herself from her friends and family. Her coven, now excited about her upcoming arrival, are more than happy to help her navigate her new world without Logan and as a coven-bound single mother.

We see less of Jeremy in this novel, or of Raymond (unfortunately!). Callie is consumed by the fatigue of her pregnancy and of the secret Gregorio has burdened her with. He believes he’s serving the good of all witch-kind. After the Cautery, Callie is still feeling uneasy about the resolution of the mysterious illness that stole Logan away from her. Where is Willson and where is Logan's soul? Callie begins digging deeper into the mystery, falling deeper into her research of the sick witches and as Jeremy returns still with clear intention of setting their union contract immediately, she finds not all is what it seems and she determined to sort it out, newborn or not, by travelling to the Old Country to see to it herself.

This second instalment in The Nightcraft Quartet takes place immediately after The Queen and The Tower. The pacing is a little uneven, and not as smooth as the first novel. But as we are reading through Callie's perspective, I imagine that pregnancy brain has quite a bit to do with it. The secrets revealed in this novel were as I suspected but I think that was the point. This series is not what I expected it to be in all the best way. Now, the ending, I do not know what's coming next, but I will definitely be on the look out for book 3.

You know the saying “it gets worse before it gets better”?

Calendula’s situation definitely has the saying apply to it. On one hand you get to know a little more about how the magical world coexists with modern day San Francisco living, including a very important birth. On the other, the antagonists seem to close the net closer and closer around Calendula and her allies. This novel is the first where Calendula travels to the “Old Country”, a place where warlocks and witches live with their magic in the open but without modern human technology comforts like warm showers.

Calendula discovers more of the conspiracy related to disappearances and death as introduced previous book in the series. It becomes a bit of a nail biter in the end.

The pacing is at times uneven but it’s interesting to see how the protagonist goes up against traditionalist magical opinions and navigates the sides of both magical and mundane realms.