I have to start this with a confession: until early last summer, I did not know who Darynda Jones was. To be fair, I did not know any of the Fab13. Crazy how a reader’s life works, no?
In Darynda’s case, I started reading Charley Davidson thanks to a friend of mine, to whom I was telling about my recent rereading of Karen Robards’ Charlie Stone series (one of my favourites). My friend told me that since I like a good paranormal story with ghosts, I would love Charley.
She was right.
I borrowed the first books from the library and took the plunge. What a plunge it was! I read the whole series (the 13 of them) within a month and a half, and only the slowness of getting my books from the library hindered my progress, else it would have taken much less time to read them all! Then I also bought the Reyes centred novella, Brighter Than The Sun, and I was completely heartbroken for him.
It is really thanks to her, and to a retweet of hers, that I discovered more of the Fab13, namely Michelle M. Pillow, Mandy M. Roth, and Eve Langlais. There went the end of my summer, my fall, and most of my not-yet-finished winter! Add nine other authors (like my reading the whole of K.F. Breene’s Darkness series within a week during the Christmas holidays), and I was all set. Not complaining! I still have a lot of their books waiting in my TBR pile (or ePile, really).
Betwixt
I admit: I was over the top happy when I saw that Darynda Jones was part of the Paranormal Women’s Fiction group! I knew that Betwixt would be one of the first book I’d read from the Fab13. It was the third.
In good Caro fashion, I devoured it. Technically, I would have needed only a day to read it. That was counting without a little nasty impediment called gastroenteritis.
Still, I fell. Hard. Defiance Dayne is a terrific heroine, who inherited a house from someone she did not know just after a pretty nasty divorce. There started the fun for herself and for her best friend, Annette.
Defiance moved into Percy (Percival), in Salem (yes, the Salem!), and met with annoying neighbours who knocked on her door at any hour of the day or night, a scruffy cat named Ink… and Roane.
Holy cow! I mean it. I love Reyes; he is perfect book boyfriend material. However, Roane is my type, ink (tattoos!!) and all. Especially the kilt! Yes, like many, I have a fondness for men in kilts. A huge fondness. In this case, it is not a surprise that I somewhat fell in love with Roane and was eager to discover his secrets (because he does have quite a few of them).
When the action got me so completely engrossed that I seriously could not put down the book (to heck with the gastro!), I reached the end of the book and a major cliffhanger!!!
Consequently, I will have to wait until August (!!!!) for the next book in the series, Bewitched. Cue me excitedly waiting for it! Thankfully, we will have more from Darynda in the coming months: the first book of her new series, A Bad Day For Sunshine (coming out in April), and a novella about Garrett Swopes (coming out in June)!!! This will definitely make the wait bearable.
My Goodreads review
Betwixt by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m officially dead.
I’ve been a fan of Darynda’s writing since my friend introduced me to Charley Davidson last summer (!!!) and I read the whole series within a month and a half. Then I read her novellas.
And now I’ve fallen for Defiance, Annette, Ruthie… and Roane! Can I have a Roane, please? Reyes is awesome, but I think Roane is more my type.
Seriously, Betwixt is an incredibly compelling story, full of snark, full of sass, full of magic… and with a major cliffhanger that only makes me want one thing: for the next book to come out soon!!!
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