"A+, 10 out of 10 and a bunch of gold stars. Buy this book!"
Family problems is something Sabine Kane knows a lot about.
Her grandmother, the leader of the vampire race, is trying
to kill her and a lot of people conveniently forgot to tell
her she has a twin sister. So getting away from the vampire
side of her family, Sabine goes to New York to meet her mage
relatives and get to know the sister she had no idea existed
until a week ago. However this is no normal family reunion
and it is clear to Sabine that she needs the mages just as
much as they need her. With the threat of war hanging over her head Sabine just
wants to drink some blood and rest up. If only she knew the
rules and didn't manage to get herself into more trouble
than she was in already. Mage politics and dealings in the
Black Light District fill Sabine's days but there is someone
stirring up things to make Sabine look worse than she
already does and it might get her killed. I have been waiting for over a year to read part two in the
Sabine Kane series and it was worth it. Red-Headed Stepchild
was my favourite read last year and I knew this series was
going to be special. What I didn't realise was that this
next installment, The Mage in Black, would be better than
the first part. The story this time around just carried on where it took
off. Adam is still gorgeous and the demon Giguhl is still
the best side-kick ever. There is so much about the concept
of this series that I love. The Lilith and apple aspect is
something that makes this series unique where as the mixture
of the paranormal races give the book edge and depth. The addition of some new characters made this even more
special. I was a little concerned about meeting Sabine's
sister. Would it throw everything off balance? Is there room
for both of them in one book? However everything worked out
perfectly and the blast from the past for Sabine and the
love for Giguhl just reinforced the strength of the story
from start to finish. There is nothing to hate about Sabine and I would love to
have her life. Yeah this heroine may have some problems,
stress and violence in her life but she really does speak to
me in a way that most other characters don't. Sabine Kane
kicks butt and doesn't whine around. She is strong, clever
and fun. I am very much in love with her. I will admit that I thought Red-Headed Stepchild must be a
one off wonder that couldn't be beat. Today I was happily
proved wrong. Jaye Wells is on my must buy list, must read
list and my permanent collection list. To have this honour
after only two books just shows how super amazingly good
these books are. The only down side of this series is the
wait for book three. March is way too far away and I don't
want to be away from Sabine that long. If you want to experience the best of the urban paranormal
fantasy genre then you may go to Kelley Armstrong, Kim
Harrison or J. R. Ward. However Jaye Wells is giving them
all a run for their money and this is just book number two.
If I gave ratings this would get A+, 10 out of 10 and a
bunch of gold stars. Buy this book. No. Do what I did and
buy two. You will need the second copy to lend to friends
because you won't want to let yours go anywhere.
Reviewed by Amber Chalmers
Posted May 3, 2010
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