Jenn Bennett – Kindling the Moon

The first book in the Arcadia Bell series, published June 28, 2011.
Genre: urban fantasy / paranormal romance



Meet Arcadia Bell: bartender, renegade magician, fugitive from the law. . . .

Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn't easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia 'Cady' Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she's carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.
But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can't clear her family name soon, she'll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.


The blurb pretty much sums up the book, without spoiling anything. And that is one thing I really do not want to do with this book. You have to experience and discover it all yourself.
Arcadia and her parents belong to an occult “clan” and a rival clan wants revenge on what her parents did. Arcadia believes her parents innocent, and if her parents don’t come forward, she will have to pay the price: her life. So she will do whatever she can to find the demon who committed the murders, and make it tell who ordered it. A local priest she likes, introduces her to Lon, who has a whole library full with rare books on demons, and so they set out to research which one could have done it, and how to summon it and make it tell the truth. But the other clan is hunting for Arcadia and her parents, and Arcadia is almost killed a few times. Can they find the demon in time, and find out who the real killer is to prove their innocence? And what is with the strange powers Arcadia seems to be developing?

I really liked Arcadia, Cady. She has been through a lot, always living in hiding, never getting close to other people. She is 24 now, and is really ready to start living again, when her parents suddenly are caught on tv, and the hunt on the three of them is open again. Their staged deaths 7 years ago were all for naught.
I also liked Lon, who totally loves his young son Jupe (Jupiter), and does not want him to get into danger. And danger really seems to follow Cady. Lon is not really human, and neither is Jupe, but still Cady and Lon hit it of together.

The worldbuilding Jenn Bennett has done is phenomenal, I really love every detail in it. How the demons came to live on earth, and they are really not all that bad and evil, more like normal people, only visible through their aura’s. Normal humans can’t see those aura’s, but Cady can. And how magicians (more like witches than those stage magicians we know) can summon demons for different purposes.
I like her characters, both the main and the secondary, and really look forward to reading more of her books. Jenn Bennett has a great writing style, which really appeals to me, with lots of humor, but also action and suspense and some nice lovescenes.

9 stars.

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian