Delilah is ready to party – it’s her sister’s Camille’s birthday and Menolly has just managed to re-open her bar; in the lull in the war in the Otherworld they can have a break; a night off

Until their human cousin, Daniel, runs into their bar chased by an angry Viking ghost.

Unfortunately their professional thief relative has acquired a cursed and haunted sword – which comes with a family curse and a whole lot of dangerous haunting and consequences which only his magical cousins are equipped to deal with.

This series is huge. It has run for a huge number of books. It has an absolutely enormous cast of character. It has a huge world setting – several huge world settings. We have several metaplots all running alongside each other, all intertwining and related and touching on each other. And we have three protagonists all with their own lives and conflicts and relationships. We have a household that not only has the three D’Artigo sisters but has Camille’s three husbands, has Menolly’s wife, has Delilah’s husband. We have Hannah and Vanzir and Rozuriel and Iris and her husband and her twins and Chase and his daughter and then the gargoyle Maggie. And all of them have things going on. And this is without looking at Roman, Rozuriel’s ex-wife, Smoky and Shade’s extended families, the fae queens, Morgaine and the whole Arthurian legend group, the various powers of the Otherword and then loads of friends and neighbours dotted around the city…

We have a lot. We have so much. This world is huge and rich and full of lots of important characters each with their own stories and enough details to give each of them a realness and a presence that gives the whole story and world depth

But my gods there’s a lot. And when we were introduced to the sisters’ human family a couple of books ago part of me cringed because there was no need for this to add to this already very full world and these sisters’ already very full lives with very full missions. Especially when it turns out that dear brother Daniel is a master thief ex-special forces magical specialist – which means that’s a whole lot more complexity and storylines and distractions added to what I already a very full series.

Which is the feeling I had through this book – we had Daniel and the sword and Viking ghosts to try and deal with but it felt very peripheral to the sisters’ lives. And we had moderately high stakes to make sure they pay attention to it –but it felt like a distraction because there’s a lot of other things going on. In fact, the attack on their house almost felt like a way to drag them into the story again and make it all feel more relevant to them since we haven’t really built that much relationship with Daniel yet. With Camille’s new role with the Earthside Fae courts and Delilah’s issues with the Autumn Lord which also includes some expanding powers and possible consequences and we have love triangle issues with Hannah and Rozuriel with more looking at what it means to be an incubus since we’ve been mentioning it for a while but never really seen it developed. And there’s some sorcerer following Camille around which is important or worrisome but it’s mentioned at the beginning and we don’t really return to it. We add in a dose of

All this time we still technically have the War in Otherworld and with Shadowing but I think the last time that played a relevant role in the book was in Haunted Moon – book 13; it’s now on book 17. And I get having breaks or occasional distractions but this is a very long deviation from the main metaplot especially since it’s so random, unrelated to that main metaplot and just feeling quite random an inclusion. It also kind of leaves me wondering just how much supernatural activity there can be in Seattle – because these aren’t things specifically targeting the sisters or because of the war – it’s just random supernatural stuff happening in this city ALL THE TIME.

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Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: While not connected to the overarching storyline, this book was a fast-paced, entertaining read from start to finish. I did not want to put it down!

Opening Sentence: “Do you think she knows what we’re up to?” Menolly fretted.

The Review:

Life has never been calm for the D’Artigo sisters. After their latest experience, they’re all hoping for some downtime, but fate has other plans in mind. At the grand-reopening of the Wayfarer, their cousin shows up with a very angry Viking ghost in tow. Turns out, Daniel stole an ancient sword that houses a spirit who wants out so he can wreak havoc on the world. While the sisters try to figure out what to do, the sword is stolen again, this time by someone who wants to help the spirit get out. Now, they’re in a race against time and need to find the sword before it’s too late.

I had a little trouble getting into the last book, so I was slightly hesitant about starting this one. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded, as this book starts quickly and never lets up. There always seems to be something going on, and I had a hard time putting the book down, as I constantly wanted to see what would happen next. For the most part, the action in this story takes place outside of the overarching storyline, so it could be read as a standalone if someone new to the series wanted to try it. As someone who has only read the previous two books in the series, this one was probably the most accessible for me as a new reader.

I’ve now been able to read a book from each sister’s perspective, and I would have to say, I think Delilah is my favorite. She was very easy for me to connect to. There is a pretty big development in her fiance Shade’s life in this book, and Delilah’s reaction seemed very realistic, and it made it that much easier for me to connect to her as a character. I’m also very interested to see how this development affects her and Shade’s future.

My one complaint would be that there seemed to be a lot of instances of repetition. For example, it’s mentioned multiple times how Delilah prefers her laptop, but always has a tablet around for convenience’s sake. Not that big of a deal, but it got extremely annoying with each subsequent repetition.

All in all, I was very pleased with this installment of the Otherworld series. After reading three books in the series, it was this one that finally convinced me to go all the way back to book one and see how it all began. I think fans of the series will be pleased with this one, and I for one am very interested to see what’s going to happen next!

Notable Scene:

“Everybody stand back. We can never tell when I have a misfire what’s going to happen.”

Everybody took a big step back, leaving her in the middle of the room, alone. Even Morio winced and edged back.

With a deep breath, Camille held up one hand as she closed her eyes. The prickle of magic began to spin in the air — she was summoning the Moon Mother’s power, calling it into her. I could almost see the shimmering in the air as she let out a long breath and rolled her neck, then brought her head up. As her eyes opened, her violet irises were shimmering with flecks of silver.

Creature of Fae, by name Aslo I call you,

Where are you? Show me the way,

Blood to flesh, an arrow points,

Lady of the Moon, reveal my prey.

As the last word rang out, there was a sudden crash of thunder in the room and a brilliant light flashed out, like a lightning ball, surrounding Camille and temporarily blinding me. She screamed, but in the neon blue glow of the light, I couldn’t see what was happening. The next moment, the room was plunged into darkness, and the jar from someone hitting the floor hard shook the room.

FTC Advisory: Penguin/Jove provided me with a copy of Panther Prowling. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Wow this book is great! I love this series and can't be more excited about this author. Love her too! ( )

The sisters have what seems to be a break from the war in Otherwworld and the thread of Shadow Wing, but that does not mean time to rest. Delilah investigates when their cousin Daniel winds up with a sword he does not recall stealing, and makes their break anything but. In addition to dealing with a sword with history and a personality, Delilah learns more of her family history and both Shade and Camille hit points of transformation.

I've been following this city since the first book came out, and love that there is a good mix of both plot and romance. I'm tired of books like this having little plot advancement, and even less which seems to happen outside of a proverbial bed. ( )