Tracy’s review of Bayou Moon (The Edge #2) by Ilona Andrews.

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life. William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed … and survive.

William has been living in the Edge for two years. He’s quite content to live there with his big screen tv and his miniature super-heroes. Ok, maybe not all that content but he’s not all that sure, when Andrianglian secret service comes calling, that he wants to get involved. The secret service aka the Mirror, talks him into helping because he gets to hunt down and destroy a spy from the Weird called Spider. Spider and William had fought before and William was the only being known to A) actually hurt Spider in a fight and B) walk away. William’s up for anything that gives him the opportunity for his third chance.

William needs to get into the Mire though and makes his way to the Broken (our world) to get there. He ends up on a boat/river raft in the Edge with a girl who looks like a hobo. The hobo girl may stink and keep to herself but when danger comes calling she’s the first to jump in to try to save all of their hides. Cerise Mar is the hobo girl and is on her way back to her home in the Mire to try and save her grandparents home. But that’s just one step in the war that will be waged to get her kidnapped parents back.

Between getting to the Mire, going to court, fighting every beast imaginable, and even some you can’t imagine, William and Cerise find themselves falling in love. But William’s life has been hell and as confident in fighting as he is, he’s not one to think that he deserves love. For Cerise the thoughts veer toward a distrust of someone who she believes doesn’t really love her for herself – and only the land that her family can provide. The two are a pair but in the end a really good pair.

After reading On the Edge, the first book in The Edge series, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. I was excited to read it but since William wasn’t all that wonderful of a person in the first book I couldn’t see how he could carry his own as a romantic hero. Well let me just say that he did just fine – and that’s an understatement! lol He, as well as the book, were both incredible and one you have to read to believe.

I think what I liked about this books so much, besides the amazing writing, was the fact that this was a romance and it did have a happily ever after, but had all the trappings of a great urban fantasy as well. It had love story but it also had the fantasy aspect and the butt-kicking fighting that UF tends to have. Along with that the romance fit the people and the setting so well. The Edge is just one strange place, but William, even though he’s not originally from the Edge, fit right in. He didn’t try to fit in, he just did. Some folks might not like the fact that there wasn’t a ton of the typical romantic gestures, etc. in the book but really they would have been a fish out of water. The gestures and romantic moments worked perfectly for the people that Cerise and William were.

I can’t say enough about how much I loved this book. Bayou Moon is a great stand alone and not really a book that requires you to read On the Edge first – but why would you not? IMHO they’re both great books and well worth the time spent reading.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This book is available from Ace. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place .

The series: