Bayou Moon by Ilona AndrewsBayou Moon on October 2010
Pages: 447
Format: eBook
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four-stars

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

We return to the Edge with William, from the previous book. He’s been sitting for two years. He works in the Broken, comes home to his trailer, rinse repeat. He’s a changeling (werewolf). He was Declan and Rose’s friend. And now, he’s just waiting. Until he’s forced to hunt for an old enemy.

Cerise Mar is a bayou girl whose parents disappeared one day. She wants to set out immediately to find them, but some swamp politics keep her from being able to do that. Her clan’s enemy sets up camp in her grandparents’ house, coincidentally the last place her parents were seen. Cerise needs to travel to the Broken (our version of the world. She lives in the Edge, and it borders the Weird. Broken = us, Edge= some magic, Weird = all magic). So Cerise needs the deed to the house and it’s with a relative in the Broken. On her way back home, she and William wind up traveling together.

I love how Ilona Andrews world-builds. This series is no different. And I really enjoy how this book takes place in the same world, but a different part of the Edge. It’s neat seeing such a different aspect of the world.

Cerise and William go through a lot. There’s so much more at stake than either of them knows, and watching their paths cross, and their missions coincide is so exciting. The action is intense, and sometimes heartbreaking. I really loved seeing Declan and Rose again, and of course, George and Jack.

***SPOILER***

This spoiler is actually for the Ilona Andrews series The Innkeeper.

Since this is a re-read for me, I really loved revisiting George and Jack and Lark. Seeing them in the Innkeeper was the best cross-over scene I’ve ever read in any series. You aren’t expecting it, and then Bam! Familiar faces and names! Excellent. This book makes me want to re-read the Innkeeper series next.

four-stars