Crux (Southern Arcana #1) by Moira Rogers
21 Mar 2010 3 Comments
in Paranormal Romance, Reviews Tags: Magic, Paranormal Romance, Shifters, Werewolves, Witches
From barnesandnoble.com: Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn’t crack…until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire. New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn’t explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs. When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating. With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past—and her destiny.
Mackenzie Brooks is on the run from what she thinks is a crazy stalker. When she ends up at Nicole Peyton’s bar in New Orleans, she makes a whole lot of new friends. It doesn’t take long for Nicole and her PI best friend Jackson Holt to figure out Mackenzie is in serious trouble. A crazy old Cougar, Charles is desperate to keep his species alive and is determined to make Mackenzie have all kinds of little cougar cubs whether she likes it or not. Nation-wide shenanigans ensue as Jackson and his friends try to stop Charles and find Mackenzie before its too late.
The Good: As with any new series, there were a whole slew of potentially interesting characters introduced in Crux. I am really interested to hear more about the Nicole and Derek star-crossed lovers’ storyline. Oh, and I reaalllyyy curious about Wesley. Anyone who says stuff like this: “Jesus Fuck, Holt. It takes an act of God to get you on the phone,” is my kind of man. And while shifters, weres, and witches are nothing new, I liked the concept of combining magic and shifting with the Seers. As for the plot, I was kinda shocked that what I thought should have been the climax happened so early, while the actual climax happened much later and was sort of lackluster. I appreciated the deviation from the standard story arc, but I am not sure it worked in this case. As for Mackenzie and Jackson (I love that name, its sooo Steel Magnolias), I was so pleasantly surprised that they weren’t declaring their undying love for each other and/or married after a few days. So refreshing. I felt like they were more in lust than love, which is exactly what should happen when you meet some dude in a bar. And neither of them wore leather pants!! In fact, there was no leather anywhere in the book! Hooray for jeans!
The Bad: Well, the first sentence…”Nicole Peyton as I live and breath,’ and all the mama’s and darlin’s afterwards really made me cringe. ::Rant Alert:: See, I am from Georgia, so southern stereotypes really irk me. No one actually says darlin’ anymore unless they are my 84 year-old extremely sassy grandmother, and she only pulls it off because of said sass. Unless you are from Backwoodsville, (insert southern state), you don’t say mama, or even worse “mama en em.” So Jackson Holt being from Georgia and somewhere around my age should have maybe had a slight twang, an affinity for sweet tea, and used the term ‘y’all’ but not ‘mama’ ::Rant complete:: . Anywho, my only other real complaint is that the witty banter and charm seemed exclusive to Mackenzie and Jackson. I really didn’t get a feel for anyone else’s personalities, except for maybe Alec, who is just bitter. Because of this, the fact that all these other people would be willing to risk their lives for a girl they met three days ago felt a little contrived. Hopefully, the upcoming books will give us a better feel for the rest of the characters and their motives.
The Bumpin’ Uglies: I can honestly say this is the first time I didn’t want everyone to shut up during the sex scenes. Jackson and Mackenzie’s pillow talk was HOT. I especially like this line: “God damn it Jackson, if you tell me you’re not going to violate me in about ten different ways, I’m going to use my newly discovered super strength to kick your ass.” Rob and Big would call Mackenzie a “chacha sucia.” Hehe…yeah, I couldn’t really even remember what Mackenzie and Jackson looked like, but those sex scenes were STEAMY.
The Morning After: I think this series has a lot of potential. Hell, the pillow talk alone will keep me coming back. And if you are even shallower than me and will read a book for just the sex scenes, then you should definitely check out Crux. Rating: 7.5
