ebooks are my thang

Originally posted at WickedLilPixie Reviews
This is a spoiler-free review but assumes you have read the first book, Kindling the Moon.

I am sure many of you know how much I loved Jenn Bennett's premier in the Arcadia Bell series from last year, Kindling the Moon. I'd been waiting and waiting for the follow-up, so when I finally received the ARC of this second Arcadia Bell book, Summoning the Night, I was really nervous to start it. But that was just silly. The minute I cracked it open and started reading, I was reminded why I loved this world so much the first go around.

All the things that made me fond of the characters in the first book were present and built upon. Cady is still adjusting to dating an older man with his loud-mouthed charismatic son as well as establishing the role she fills not only in Lon's life but in Jupe's too. We discover that she doesn't have to think much more on the subject, Jupe has most definitely welcomed her in to his heart and his life. There are so many touching scenes in this book that made me want to hug the book, if I hadn't been reading the ARC on my computer. That would have hurt. But seriously. I enjoyed this book not for one character or two, but for all three, the family unit Cady, Lon and Jupe are becoming.

The first thing that I think of when I look back on this book is Jupe and just how many times he made me go "awwwwww Juuuuupe". This is a truly abnormal phenomenon for me, I don't usually like kids in the types of books I read, I don't even read YA, but Jupe is just such a special character in his theatrical antics and pure acts of love that he has me completely enamored with him. Additionally, I don't usually like heroes with beards either, but Lon had me swooning and melting all over the place with his sexiness! The Arcadia Bell series takes things I don't normally like and makes me like them - how does Jenn Bennett doooo that? She just makes everything so .... realistic for me.

And lastly, I must discuss Cady, our heroine. She has experienced something I absolutely require in my UF heroines if I am going to continue with a series, and that is growth. She learned some pretty awful things about her parents in the previous book, but that has not knocked her off course. She is growing stronger in her newfound powers, and is growing in her responsibilities and never does she become crippled with self-doubt. She just keeps on being awesome, and I love her!

Summoning the Night has just the right amount of magic, mystery, violence, grossness, and yes, heart-warming moments that I demand in my Urban Fantasy books. If you haven't picked up this series yet, you need to smack yourself and start it right now. Seriously, you will find yourself smiling when you finish Summoning the Night, it's that good.