Rest For The Wicked

Claire Wiche Chronicles #1

by Cate Dean

She's running from her past. And running out of time.

Claire Wiche is an ordinary woman, running her Wicca shop in an ordinary California beach town. But Claire wasn't always ordinary, and she isn't quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her.

A past that is about to explode into her present.

When it does, and everyone she loves is in danger, Claire must face up to her past - and become what she left behind in order to save them.

NOTE: This is a short novel, at just over 40,000 words (125 pages), and has graphic scenes not suitable for the under 17 readers.

Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Witches, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Fiction

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2012

About the author

Cate Dean has been writing since she could hold a pen in her hand and put more than two words together on paper.

She grew up losing herself in fantasy worlds, and now creates her own worlds, infusing them with adventure and magic.

When she's not writing, she travels to places that inspire her, having her own adventures, and reads pretty much anything she can get her hands on.

There ~ I got the official biography out of the way. I love to write, and yes, I have been doing it most of my life. I've made up stories in my head for as long as I can remember, and I’m thrilled to be able to bring those stories to life, and share them with you.

If you want to be the first to know when the next book is released, or be in on some fun, exclusive contests and giveaways, join my list here: https://catedeanwrites.com/join-my-list.

You can learn more about me and my books at my website: https://catedeanwrites.com

I look forward to meeting you. :)

Reviews

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just going to be a rant about a lot of crap.

I got a Kindle for Christmas. I was excited. At first I anticpated only loading classics onto it, because I’m a classics gal, and prefer to buy physical copies of books if I’m going to pay for them. I don’t like forking over money and not having anything tangible. But then I discovered the glory that was free Kindle books. I delve in, downloaded, started reading… and haven’t found a good one yet.

Similar to this one…

We all have that friend who sucks at telling a story. They couldn’t spin a good yarn if they wanted to. No matter how fantastic the story is, they tell it all in one breath, jumbling the words, and snickering between every sentence, until you can’t tell the difference between their enthralling tale and a recipe for spinach dip. Some people just suck at story telling.

Like this author…

Now don’t get me wrong. Her writing was actually quite good, and she had a few really cool ideas. (Hence the two stars, by the way. You don’t get bumped up from one star for nothing, you know!) But I felt like this story was so rushed that she literally forgot to mention… well, everything. I was either extremely confused, or slamming my foot down on an imaginary literary brake. She tried to encompass full ideas, actions, events into single sentences so I either missed the point entirely, or something significant happened and I didn’t pay much attention to it because it was so fleeting. There were definite parts missing. The writer sometimes would mention names and actions backwards, not put in specific actions and suddenly a character was someplace else in the setting and I couldn’t find out how they got there. This book was like looking through a peephole, being half deaf, and trying to get the whole story

Also, her characters. I was halfway through the book before I even remembered who was who. They’re just so similar, the men really aren’t distinguished from each other, and a couple times I got them confused. She didn’t describe them, through another character’s POV or through their actions, and it irked me. I wanted to get to know her characters, to see them, but it was like they were constantly hidden from me.

This book is like being dropped in the middle of the story and being expected to understand what the feck is going on. BUT WAIT, because the BS gets even more ridiculous! The author has several pages at the end of the book, as a “reading guide” as to what everything is, and how she was using magic and mythological creatures. NO. NO NO NO. You do NOT do that. You show the reader, while they’re reading, what your world consists of. You don’t put something at the end of your book like, “Oh, by the way, here’s everything to make the last 130 pages of shit make sense.” You don’t do that! That is very, very poor writing on the author’s part.

I think what was more disappointing was the fact this book had a lot of potential, but instead fell terribly, terribly short of anything entertaining. I hope the author takes time in further works, because she will benefit amazingly from a bit better planning and execution.

[Darcey]

DNF @ 90%

Ugh. These free books just aren’t working out for me. Thank god this story was short. I ended up DNF-ing the last chapter anyway.

So the only reason I lasted through the majority of this book is because I wanted to know who the killer was. Once I found that out then I was happy to DNF. I do not intend to continue the series. The characters were annoying, the storyline bores me and life’s just too short for bad books.

[Korin: A Crone Running Amok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire Wiche is an ordinary woman, running her Wicca shop, The Wiche's Broom, in an ordinary California beach town. But Claire wasn't always ordinary, and she isn't quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her. A past that is about to explode into her present. When it does, and everyone she loves is in danger, Claire must face up to her past - and become what she left behind in order to save them.
Well written & interesting.

[Criss · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

There are 7 reviews on this book. All of them just absolutely glowing. Which is why I downloaded it.

I found this book because it was part of a book cover contest and after reading the reviews found it intriguing. But......

I thought the story was just okay. I'm not sure what these other reviewers are used to reading but really I did not find this near as fascinating as they did. It would have been so much better if it had not been rushed. This could have been easily a 300 pg book with more explanations and I read it in four hours.

In a matter of about three days there are two deaths, one love match, one really big reveal....that was actually the most interesting thing about the book... And people healing from their grief. It just didn't flow well at all. There is a cliff hanger at the end that makes you want to read more. And I actually might provided that the author writes it in more than 150 pages because the story concept is interesting but far too crammed together.

So I don't highly recommend it but for 99 cents ..nook price..it doesn't break the bank to give it a try.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of action and it never left me bored. That said, I feel like so much happened that I missed out on my connection with the characters. The dialogue was great, and I loved the way the characters all fit together, but there could have been a little more time taken to enhance the relationship between them and the readers. I felt confused on what they were thinking. Half the time I really wasn't sure whether Marcus had real feelings for Claire or not.

Even with all this confusion, I plan on reading the second book to find out if they become an item... or at least beat Natasha - preferably with a hammer.

[L.E.Olteano · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we're here with a fun read and a rant-tastic review. But I don't edit my opinions and thoughts on books, so settle in for the ride, lol.

The story starts out slowly, and while reading it I thought, ok, this must be the build-up? See, the issue with reading a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal is that you get used to a certain pace of events. I mean, I didn't much care for agitated plots when I started out the blog for instance, I was all for the quirky, out of the mold kind of reading. I still am, but I've become a creature of habit as well. When I'm reading something about a paranormal being, I'm expecting agitated action. Because that's just how these books sort of conditioned me to react, you know? Force of habit.

While the rhythm of events did pick up pace and held it throughout, I wasn't 100% engaged in following the events. As a villain fan generally, I feel the need for a strong antagonist to be part of any story, or at least a set of very unfavorable circumstances to make up for the lack of a hardcore antagonist. The antagonist here started out feeling very promising, but ended up sort of disappointing me by not doing enough, well, evil. This is going to sound weird maybe, but it's how I felt.

The more I advanced in the read, the more confused I was about the antagonist and the protagonist. I didn't connect with either of them, an oddity, in fact I did connect with Annie, Claire's witchy sidekick of sorts, but not an awful lot. I'm not sure why, but they didn't reach me a lot. Maybe if they would have been more tortured, or tortured more intensely, lol, I don't know.

The writing was good, though I felt it was maybe a bit too mysterious about the characters backgrounds and motivations. I had a couple of spots there where I thought, ok, so there must have been some short story prequel to this because I feel like I'm missing something here, and the story is told as if either I'd been told about it or I should know about it somehow. And I didn't. For instance, the entire Wiche family thing, I would have felt better prepared for the story had I known more about it before going into the whole Natasha thing.

In this I tend to make a separate opinion from other readers, in that I like to be told what's what, what are the circumstances, the motivations, the older conflicts that are at play in a story. Don't shroud it all out in mystery for me, if I'm in the dark about it I'm not going to be interested about it. Half-measures is the key here for me, give me some of it, but leave me guessing. Don't just leave me guessing. If I'm not up to speed on things, I'm just watching a Steven Seagal movie - it's boring, senseless, and a waste of my time even though it's chuck full of action and blasts (and his ridiculous dyed hair. Does anyone really think it's not ridiculous? Not to mention the outfits...the whole effort is wasted on me, I will never get some things.).

Anyways, I'm not saying this read was like that at all, it wasn't, I'm talking about the principle here. The plot did leave me sort of clueless about the family intrigue before we went into it, I would have liked more info there. But maybe that's just me, I know other readers tend to have an unusual distaste for the parts that actually make agitated action have some logic and sense. The story here made sense, but it could have been a closer call.

A lot of ranting in this review, it's just one of those days. Sorry.
This read was fun, but I wasn't with it all the way. There were many good points to it, and I believe it's the start to a potentially awesome series, it shows great potential.

Butterfly-o-Meter Books

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rest for the Wicked
Claire Wiche Chronicles #1
Paranormal 13 … 4th book
Continuing through the Paranormal 13 book which includes 13 full-length paranormal stories by different authors; I have read and reviewed the first story, Darkangel from The Witches of Cleopatra Hill series by Christine Pope and am trying to read each story in the Paranormal 13 book. I liked the first book so much that I bought and read the next two books in the series immediately afterwards, before I continued on to the next stories in Paranormal 13. I read a little of the next two stories in the book but they were aimed at a younger audience than what I prefer to read since they are about high school kids so I decided to skip to the fourth book in the book.
The fourth book, Rest for the Wicked by Cate Dean is the first book in the Claire Wiche Chronicle series. I was pleased to see that is was aimed for an older audience or at least wasn’t about high school students.
The book starts out with a psychotic woman with some sort of magical powers terrorizing a brother and sister. She kills the sister and puts some kind of spell on the brother, Eric, which makes him obsessed with wanting to kill Claire Wiche who the psycho woman, Natasha, has programmed into his mind, making him believe she was responsible for his sister’s death even though he actually saw Natasha kill her.
Claire Wiche owns and operates a Wicca shop in a small coastal town in California. She is a witch but obviously has some secret that she is hiding, making me wonder if she is something other than a witch but the author doesn’t come right out and say it. She has a friend, Annie, who has magical powers also but she has not learned to use them yet.
Eric shows up across the street from Claire’s shop but there is some sort of festival happening in the town which makes it hard for him to just go in and kill Claire. He ends up going to a pub nearby and runs into Annie who tries to help him because she thinks he is drunk. She sticks him in a cab and sends him to his motel.
Another man shows up at the shop. Claire recognizes him as a Jinn and tells him to leave her alone because she doesn’t trust Jinns. Because I am an avid paranormal romance reader, I know what a Jinn is. I have seen it spelled various ways but if someone wasn’t aware what a Jinn is, they would kind of be lost because the author doesn’t go into much detail. Come to think of it, the whole story isn’t very detailed. I think the author just assumes everyone knows what all the different types of demons and mythological creatures are and leaves it at that. My knowledge of Jinns is limited but in other stories they are usually powerful demons or creatures who are beautiful and use trickery, kind of like genies do. This Jinn, Marcos, did seem to attract women but he seemed honest and willing to help Claire.
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters except maybe Marcos because the author doesn’t go into much detail about any of them. Most of the book is conversation between the characters and the author doesn’t go very deep into their emotions so I just didn’t get a connection to anyone.
The book was just okay for me. It ended on a cliff-hanger like the first story in the book did…hmmm…I wonder if that is a pattern but I don’t really know since I didn’t read the second and third stories in the book. Unlike the first book where I wanted to know what happened so I read the next book in the series, I won’t be reading the next book in this series.

www.paranormalromanceslut.com

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rest For The Wicked is the first book in The Claire Wiche Chronicles by Cate Dean. This urban fantasy begins with Claire Wiche, an ordinary woman, running a Wicca shop in an ordinary California beach town. But Claire wasn't always ordinary, and she isn't quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her. Unfortunately the past and big secrets are hard to keep buried, especially when it puts the few people Claire has come to care for in danger. Claire needs to stand up and defend her friends and face her past even if it kills her.

Rest for the Wicked is a short book, and a quick read. It was also a book with a ton of promise. I loved the characters, but felt that there could have been a lot more of building them. Claire is a powerful witch with a hidden past and battling some kind of illness. Annie is Claire's outgoing and man crazy side kick (my favorite character by the way), and then there are Jack and Marcus who both have a significant role to play. I really liked the plot, and the villain from Claire's past doing bad, bad things. However, I think this book should have been longer, offering more insights into the relationship between Annie and Claire, offering more background on the mythology of the supernatural elements and more time for new relationships to form. I enjoyed Dean's writing style, but just wanted more from the story.

Rest for the Wicked is a quick, interesting read. However, I felt like it could have been fleshed out much more. I liked what was offered, but felt like I missed out on a good bit of information. Perhaps if Dean put the glossary she offers at the end of the book in the beginning, it would offer a more satisfying reading experience. That being said, I just might pick up the second book just to see if the missing bits are picked up there.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot does not make up for the deficits in the writing of this book. The whole book was written like the author held their breath and scribbled it all down in one go. It would have perhaps been a wonderful book if she had used this as her first draft, and then taken time to flesh out her ideas, shore up the plot line, and generally form a cohesive and functional story. Instead she handed in her rough draft and called it complete. More aggravating is the author wrote a type of glossary at the end of the book, where she seemed like she was still confused and vacillating over her own key terms. A glossary should be forward and direct, and your terms should be so clearly defined within your world that the glossary seems redundant, not imperative and disappointingly perplexing. Normally I can forgive nearly any defect in writing, as long as the plot keeps me interested. Sadly I don't think any dramatic twist of events could have kept me from feeling disappointed by this illogical jumble.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordinary is Not the word to describe this book! I absolutely enjoyed this tale about witches and other things that go bump in the night. The author did an excellent job of creating an air tight innocent alibi for the main character, Claire, only to take you on a journey of uncovering the dirty little secrets sweep under the rug. This book was a shocker. Here I was thinking it was going to be glitter and fairy dust; yet it turned out to be more of a soap opera, complete with drama, sexual activity, murder, magic, minions, and other juicy diabolicalness. In the end we’re left on a cliff hanger that is sure to frustrate many.
Rating: 3.5 hearts

[April Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really did not care for this book. It is 135 pages and I should have read it in an evening. I had to force myself to finish it. I though it might get better. The characters have no depth to them. There is no background. How does Claire and Annie meet? Where does Marcus fit in? I realize that this book is a series and the author might give more info. on the characters later, but I would have rather had a longer book with more detail. I have no desire to read the other books in this series.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some really bad reviews on this book after I got it free on my Nook. But it really wasn't as bad as I had expected. The story was interesting enough. There was action and romance and all that good stuff. I can't really complain about anything (I'm letting the few spelling/grammar errors slide). I found the story fairly entertaining.

[Petula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivid characters and a well-paced story

I read the prequel to this and it intrigued me enough to read this/book 1. It is well written, has characters you become invested in, and dabbles in the world of magic just enough to keep fans wanting for more.

The only annoying thing about this book is the number and type of typos. Other than that, if you enjoy a journey onto the edge of the magical world and characters whose descriptions have you vividly imagining them then you'll enjoy Rest For The Wicked.

[Matt Cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read

I very much liked the four principle characters: Claire, Marcus, Annie, & Eric, and while I enjoyed Annie & Eric’s parts of the tale, I have to say I really hope that in future books, we’ll get a story that centers more around Claire & Marcus’ journey together.

There were definitely some higher blood pressure moments during the book that were well used to move the story forward, and there were tantalizing hints at deeper dives to come into who some of the characters were/are/will be. I look forward to more in book 2.

[M M Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who really knows the truths about the fallen? A good who, what, when, where, why and how to learn more about.

This was a good read. The characters were engaging. The storyline flowed smoothly, made me wonder about the “what if’s” which held my interest. Do they or can they live amongst us?
If this was a true story, these characters would be my kind of “others”. Who doesn’t need a little magic in their world? Enjoy

[Emily Maynard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is 150 page novella I ran across in the Paranormal 13 anthology. Claire Wiche runs a little Wicca shop with her friend Annie. Claire is on the face of it, just your normal everyday witch. Looks, as always, can be deceiving. From the very beginning you are given the sense that Claire is concealing something, starting with the fact that she seems to be getting sick and trying to hide it. I got the feeling by Claire's reactions to the young untrained Annie that Claire was much older than she appeared. Annie is a young witch, chock full of power and still unsure of how to use it. The relationship between them is much more than a employer/employee, though less than a mother/daughter type bond. Beloved auntie and young reckless niece describes it better. I enjoyed the way they related to each other.


Claire has trouble coming her way in the form of a young man named Eric. Eric’s sister was just tortured to death by a woman named Natasha. Eric was forced to watch, then was bespelled to blame Claire for his sister’s death. Eric is supposed to bring Claire to Natasha, for reasons unknown to us. A Jinn named Marcus shows up in Claire’s shop, saying that he is there to protect Claire. He’s right in time, because when Eric attacks it takes Marcus to subdue him. It takes all three of them - Claire, Annie and Marcus - to exorcise the demon possessing Eric. Freshly freed, Eric tells the group all of what he remembers of Katelyn’s death and Natasha. Claire recognizes Natasha, and tells them all that Natasha is her cousin.


Soon after, Natasha calls Claire. She knows that Eric has been dispossessed, and has another victim in hand to taunt Claire with. Claire hauls ass to where Natasha is to save the girl Natasha has taken. While they are fighting it is revealed that something is possessing Natasha as well, something that recognizes Claire and tells her:


“She (Natasha) certainly does hate, but she has no idea what you really are, hiding behind your pretty face and pretty life.”


The demon possessing Natasha tells Claire that she wants to go home, to return to hell, and that Claire is her “ticket in the door”, but first she needs as many souls as she can get her hands on. Natasha then disappears, leaving Claire another dead girl.


Claire returns home - cause what else could she do? She is not strong enough to face Natasha unless she breaks a vow she made years ago. Natasha is not stupid however, and her next move is to grab the person closest to Claire - Annie. Natasha leaves Annie’s earring (with Annie’s earlobe still attached) for her as a message. She demands that Claire meet her in her true form, and she would let Annie live. Here’s where Claire’s secret comes out. Claire is a demon herself, a fallen angel. She asks Eric to help her break the protective ward she placed on herself, as he is the only human there, and the only one that can do it. Her wards are in the form of tattoos, and Eric has to cut through them. He does, and Claire’s full powers rush back into her like a mighty wave.


Claire’s backstory comes out as they hurry to meet Natasha. She was once an angel, but joined with Lucifer in his revolt against heaven. She became one of the fallen, driven by hate and despair. She existed for centuries, possessing humans and using them up until their bodies gave out. One night she was hiding out, recovering from a fight with another demon. She heard screaming, a car crash in an icy river. The body of the the woman that she had possessed influenced the possessor, and she used the last of her strength to save the girl - the girl who was Claire Wiche. Claire died that night, and the demon that became Claire vowed to change her ways, to live as a human and do good with her powers and not evil. The demon took Claire’s body, and has lived as a human ever since.


They arrive where Annie is being held, and a knock down drag out fight ensues between Natasha and Claire. During the fight Natasha manages to open a gate to Hell. Natasha nearly manages to use a talisman to gather every soul within a mile, but Claire gets it away from her and throws it into the gate. Natasha stabs Claire, Claire grabs onto Natasha, and topples them both through the gate and into hell, sacrificing herself Buffy-style, to save her friends and you know, the world.


Annie is heartbroken. She reports Claire missing, closes the shop, and moves into Claire’s house. She tortures herself with the fact that Claire didn’t trust her enough to tell her what she really was. Annie and Eric had gotten together after his exorcism, and he stays with her through her grief. Two weeks later, Marcus reopens the shop, not being able to stand to see it sit empty. He convinces Annie to come back, if only to honor Claire’s memory. She accepts, but keeps this to herself….she is having dreams of Claire. She knows that Claire is still alive.


For a novella, the author sure did pack in an awful lot of action and drama . I was totally taken by surprise to find out that Claire was a demon - that was a unique twist!

The second book in this series is titled A Gathering of Angels. Currently, there are five books in this series. They are all fairly short, averaging between 120-150 pages apiece. So you can read the whole series in a weekend if you like…...just sayin’......

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book

I thought I was gonna love this book and there were parts I did love but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the other parts. This story was definitely what I thought it would be and was a little disappointed as I realized that as the story went on. Not an overall bad book if you like possession, demons and monsters.

[Leah Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The major downfall of self published works is, in my mind, lack of access to skilled editors for continuity and pacing issues. This had good grammar but read like a fanfic, because there are four main characters that are shallow and uninteresting, and the pacing and foreshadowing had serious issues.

[Amber Wilburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every minute

I am so glad I bought this series. After I read the prequel as part of a set I couldn't stop. Here we are. The characters are awesome. I love the story and how there was thought and actual lore brought into it. The use of stones and showing that magic isn't all bad and scary. I can't wait to read more.

[Jaye Sudar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

Some of these books start out with a good premises and then go down hill fast. This one while a little light on details was still a good book. God didn't break the clouds and save the world and the lead character. It ended well and makes you want to read the next one.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t bad, I just failed to connect with any of the characters, especially our main character Claire. Again she wasn’t unlikable or anything she just didn’t feel real. Annie (the BFF) was the most vibrant and likable character.

[Marta Scheiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart wrenching

I really really got to love Claire a whole lot. I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but to share the goodness that lives in Claire and to say, this is a book that will make you want to read the series.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good

While I didn't fall as deeply in love with this as I did with the prequel, it was still a good story. Maybe a little in the short side compared to books I generally read, but this is a good choice of book if you're looking for a quick paranormal read.

[Abigail Kisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was very well written. The plot line was a nail biting roller coaster.

[Jeanie's Kindle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spinetingling

This was such a thrill! Witches, white witches, demons all in one novel. Seeking souls, saving souls,buying ranks in hades. Falling in love, getting revenge. Whew!

[Bryan Zepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like books that use a bit of truth to create a fascinating new world. Though this takes place on our earth the story has elements of truth with fantasy.

[Jo Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I enjoyed it and I will be reading the second.

[Gypsy Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun read, though nothing spectacular that makes me need to continue the series. The most enjoyable character in this book had to be Marcus the Jinn, who seemed attached to Claire, though nothing actually happened between them in terms of romance. He was just totally fascinating with the exotic sand and mysterious abilities, though nothing about him seemed to be concretely talked about. I will say I loved Marcus and Annie's short date and the fallout afterward. There were things about this story that didn’t seem to hold together. Like Natasha sending Eric to get Claire for her. I don’t know why she would think Eric would simply capture Claire for her when she had be-spelled him to think Claire had killed his sister, which made him want to kill her outright (which would have wrecked her plans from the start. Doesn’t make sense). All the characters were likeable people, especially warm, sunny Annie. Claire herself seemed very Mary-Sue without too much in the way of personality. But all in all, it was a nice, light, magical read.

[Cicero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pain to read... just could not continue

[Shy The WidowMaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rest for the Wicked was a delightful read. Let me start off by saying the cover was breathtaking. I loved the picture of the woman who looked like she was up to some witchy things. It just seemed to fit so well with the story. It was a great tie into the story.



This book starts out action packed with us meeting Jack who we can tell is working for a dangerous person. We soon learn that the person Jack is after is Claire Wiche. Claire is an ordinary woman leading a normal life running her shop. We soon learn that Claire is nowhere near ordinary though. She is a powerful witch just trying to live her life. I liked Claire from the start. She just seemed so powerful but yet still humble.



Claire's friendship with Annie was heartwarming. They seemed to bond so well together and felt more like sisters than friends. I loved that Annie could stand up for herself too. We learn she is also a witch too but not on the same scale at Claire. I like how when she met Jack she didn't let him intimidate her. She stood up to him. I look foward to seeing their relationship blossom.



Claire learns as the story progresses that Jack is being controlled by someone out to get her. This is where the story really kicked off for me as we got to see more of the real Claire. She was a true hardcore heroine. She was not above using and doing whatever she had to for her friends. We start seeing what she is really made of and learn just what she really is.



The author does a good job of showing how much strength one can have when it comes to defending themselves and their friends. I felt Claire's pain and her resolve to become stronger and that's a testament to Cate Dean's amazing writing style.



The addition of the Jinn to the story was also a great addition. I found myself wondering if he and Claire would get together as I could see them having a great relationship. They had amazing chemistry and could balance each other out. As the story progressed we are left with a cliffhanger ending. I found myself saying really Im being left waiting on the rest of this story. Although I was left waiting it was a great way to end it.



Overall this was a great read. The characters were well developed and felt like such real people. The author's writing style left me wanting more. I was so enthralled with this book I finished it in a day. I could not put it down. I can't wait to read more by Cate Dean and to see how the rest of Claire's story plays out. Bravo Cate Dean for a great book.