Review of Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson

.5

Blurb:

And you think beauty pageants are scary?

Persephone Alcmedi has been persuaded to compete for the position of High Priestess of the Cleveland, Ohio, coven -- now that the former priestess, Vivian Diamond, has strangely gone missing. Unfortunately, there are a few small problems with the idea. Not only does Seph know rather more about Vivian's disappearance than the other witches realize, but the epic struggle she's just survived has left her with some highly unusual powers -- ones that could be dangerous to reveal. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to participate, if only to prevent snooty Hunter Hopewell, an obnoxious but talented witch, from ending up in the winner's circle. Can Seph hide her secrets -- including her connection to the master vampire-wizard Menessos -- from the terrifyingly wise judges? Plus, there's her rock 'n' roll werewolf boyfriend, Johnny, and some angry fairies to deal with....

Once the competition begins, a finalist turns up dead. It looks as if one of the contestants is willing to do anything -- including murder -- to win. Suddenly Seph has even more on her plate than she thought: from solving a murder to working out what her new powers really are...and exactly why they're creating so much havoc in her love life.

I love the way Robertson has blended many elements of the witchy world into her series. She has the old images of witches in pointed hats riding on broomsticks (which many modern witches hate) but she's put a new spin on them and made it hip and sassy and completely non-insulting plus she's thrown in aspects of wicca, old world witchcraft, mythology and mixed it all together to create something unique.

I just have one question: what's the answer to the test question on page 155?

Seriously I want to know, Persephone never gives us the answer and I curious to know if there is a correct answer.

This book was great. I was instantly pulled in by the descriptive writing that put me right there on the page. I could "see" everything- it was amazing, great descriptions that fit right in with the story without being intrusive or overdone put me in that world like I was walking around inside a movie in my head.

And the complications...Persephone has a kinda sorta werewolf boyfriend and ties to a master vampire and she's coming into her own powers as the Lustrata- the witch who dishes out justice. Persephone's grandmother lives with her and she's adopted a young girl who recently lost her werewolf mother.

This series has all the makings of a good PNR/UF series- a detailed alternate world that knows witches, weres and vamps walk among them, a witch coming into her own torn between a vampire and werewolf. Then add in everything else life throws at her.

Wonderful.

It's another series I'll be adding to my must read pile. Book 3 is already on my wish list and book one is in my current to-read pile since I started with this book, which is actually book 2. The first book is Vicious Circle which I am going to read to get the whole story about how all of it started and I really want to know more about the mysterious vampire who only plays a minor role in Hallowed Circle. Fatal Circle, book 3, comes out in June.