Really.
Go do it.
So, have you ever had a character in a book that you've just wanted to shake really hard and maybe even give a good slap with a "Suck it up, Buttercup!" added for good measure? That's how I felt about Jade through much of Witches of Bourbon Street.
Twelve years ago her mother (a witch) disappeared during a coven gathering and ever since Jade has shunned all witchcraft. She's an empath but didn't know until the end of the first book in the series that she, too, was born with the craft in her blood. She's a white witch and , potentially, a very powerful one. And she fights it. And she whines about it. And she complains about the fact that it would be best for everyone around her if she actually learns how to use it. Her good friend and mentor, Bea, was badly damaged in the previous story. It's now three months later and Jade is the only one who can save her -- whining and complaining be damned.
Whining and complaining be damned? Oh, there's a lot more than that being damned this time around!
She finally finds her magic and saves Bea but, as it turns out, there are a lot more lives and souls at stake this time around than just Bea's.
There are witches trapped inside of portraits and voodoo dolls. Those "three ugly witches" that the strip club uses in their slogan? Yeah. Them ... and quite possibly Jade's missing mother, as well.
Her ex-boyfriend, Dan, appears to be possessed by something evil.
Her current boyfriend, Kane, has been making out with an evil angel.
Yeah, you read that right. An evil angel.
Through all of the turmoil and evil and men trouble, Jade still has her support system of Pyper, Kat, Bea and ghost hunter Ian ... and even Aunt Gwen has arrived from Idaho! (She got to be friends with Bea on Facebook and the two discovered they were at witch camp together years ago. Cute, huh?) With all of the crap she's dealing with she needs as much support as she can get!
The steaminess from the first book is still present but not as much (not much steaminess, after all, when your boyfriend is getting busy with someone else). Instead there's a lot more tension and anxiety and I may have actually caught myself holding my breath more than a couple of times while reading. I do it watching horror movies, too -- as though holding my breath will make the evil not be able to get to me through the screen/page/whatever. Believe me, the evil here you want to avoid coming into personal contact with.
Unfortunately for Jade she doesn't have much of a choice. Not if she wants to save those that she cares about. She comes to realize (much to her dismay) that in order to deal with the evil she needs her witchcraftiness (is that even a word? It must be since I just used it.).
Spells, potions, dreamwalks, general witchcraftiness and evil encounters (including some in Purgatory) take up much of the second half of the book making it for a quick-paced read. A little confusing at times, but it clears itself up. Of course, not everything gets cleared up ... there are more books in the series to read, after all.
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