I haven;t read R.L. Naquin's Monster Haven series so I was a little lost in this one. But Kam is a great heroine and makes the story very interesting.

To Seize a Wayward Spirit picks up where the last book left off with Kam, Ash and Tahm on a mission to hunt down the souls that they accidentally freed from Pete's Soul Stone. Kam is the most experienced Reaper amongst them and it's her job to train the others so they can get the job done as quickly as possible. Of course nothing ever goes quite to plan and they are derailed from their task when the stumble across a murdered banshee whose spirit leads them into investigating a spate of mysterious Hidden deaths. It all seems to link back to a Hidden cosplay group but why are all the members slowly being killed off?

One of the things I love most about books set in this world is the amount of humour that R.L. Naquin packs into these stories. Nothing is ever quite what it seems and Kam is always thrown in at the deep end while she tries to figure out exactly what is happening. I'll admit I was hoping we might see a bit of Zoey and the other characters from the original series but I'm enjoying getting to know Kam and seeing the camaraderie building between her and Ash. Things are much more complicated between her and Tahm considering they're technically engaged even though they've been apart for the last 100 years, Kam isn't too sure what she wants to do about that but it seems like Tahm is determined to win her around. I'm enjoying the banter between them along with the hints that they're both attracted to each other so I'm looking forward to seeing their relationship develop as the series continues.

The whole cosplay element added a fun dimension to this story and allowed loads of fun characters to be introduced. I'm not sure how many (if any) we'll see of them in the next book but they all had a fun part to play in this story. If you want an urban fantasy series that's really light hearted, full of humour and just plain fun to read then you can't go wrong with the Djinn Haven series or the original Monster Haven books. I've been reading these books since 2014 and there's a reason I keep coming back for more!

After a their last mission turned into chaos, Hidden Government chaser Kam and her friends must hunt and recapture souls. Seventeen, to be precise. But by the time they chase down the a goblin soul, a banshee gets assassinated, leaving their progress at negative one. The connection between the goblin and her banshee? A cosplay club. Because sometimes monsters like to pretend to be humans dressing up as monsters. As the body count rises and the Hidden cosplayers point fingers at each other, it’s up to Kam and her team to stop the insanity. One costumed faction has a secret they’re not sharing—even with each other—and if the bad seed isn’t found soon, the others are likely to be murdered…or worse.



First things first is that I didn't realise this was a second book when I requested it from NetGalley. Yes I know I do this a lot. But luckily, Naquin writes well enough that you get pulled into the story and caught up with the characters pretty fast. The only thing I found it was missing was an explanation of how the magic systems works for Djinns like Kam. We probably got 2 or 3 sentences about it, but I felt like I was missing some facts which were probably explained in the first book. And if it wasn't explained then it should have been.

I found the rest of the world building to be great. We learnt there's more than just the human world, you have djinn worlds, demon worlds etc. I'd love for other books in this series to explore away from the human world a bit. We also got to meet multiple types of creatures throughout the investigation. First of all, there's djinn which I rarely find in books, there's centaurs, small fey and also human sized elves. We even have leprechauns. So there's a lot going on and as you can tell, I love a good mix of magical creatures.

The mystery off the book is also really good. I was really intrigued as to who was killing these cosplayers. At one point you think 'oh yes I know who did it' but you still don't quite know who this person is. The biggest problem with this book is that it's not exactly memorable. I'm writing this review about two weeks after reading, and I had to reread the synopsis to remember what happened in the book. This isn't great as I'm assuming they'll be more in the series? Overall, it isn't a bad book and one of my negatives may just be because I started the second in the series. It's a highly recommended book for those who enjoy urban fantasy.

Positives
+ World building was good

+ Good mystery

Negatives
- Un-memorable

- Magic system unexplained

I received To Seize a Wayward Spirit* by R.L. Naquin from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.

OK, admittedly I have been kind of spotty about reading this author’s books. I dive in at one point, I get distracted by shiny things, then I dive back in a few books later, etc. This book is no different for me. I missed the first book of the spinoff series here, but ended up picking this one up because I love Kam.

Do you know who Kam is? Even if you don’t, you can probably get along just fine starting from here. Kam is a djinn. She is anything but normal, but is trying to be a relatively normal job-holding citizen of this world. This world, though, is a little quirky itself. There are a bunch of “hidden” that can now roam the world without fear of being found out just by looking at them. These disguises can only be seen through by other hidden with a little squinting and magic. There’s also a whole support system dedicated to the hidden, just like there is for normal humans. Kam’s job is to hunt down some missing souls and recapture them is sweet gems. That’s where it starts, at least.

As usual, things rapidly grow bigger and bigger as time progresses. Kam’s traveling companions (or partners to varying degrees) are a related hitchhiker she picked up probably in the last book, and her ex-arranged-marriage-fiancé-current-crush. There’s drama there, for sure, but not nearly as much as exists in this town’s hidden population. There’s virtually nobody in charge here, which gives Kam and company a great deal of work to do, all in this pretty short book!

To make things even more awesome, the link tying a set of murders together (that they also have to solve) is a cosplay group! This book hit on everything I love about Kam and her amazing character. The author’s writing continues to be witty and brilliant, sucking me in quickly and never letting me go. I really should go back and hit all the books along the way that I missed since I have yet to be let down in any capacity by this world. I can’t wait to see what happens next for our costume-wearing, stranger waving, sightseeing djinn!

After pretty much setting seventeen souls free -- though cannot be counted as totally her fault -- Kam and her team which consist of her apprentice Ash and her trainee (also her fiancé) Tahm are tasked to get them back.

First stop is Oklahoma, to catch a goblin soul en-route there. Before they are successful in getting the soul back, they stumble into a banshee soul (recently victim of hit and run) and guess what, the soul manages to escape as well. Then the team finds out that there might be serial killer who targets Hidden monsters. So maybe they need to solve this case first before catching the souls back....

Another adventure with Kam and the gang! I had good time with this book. First off, the case of the murdered monsters and their probably connection to cosplay convention. I thought Kam, Ash, and Tahm were doing well in investigating it while also helped reinstating local OGRE (Oversight and General Rules Enforcement) squad that had been led by a very incompetent satyr.

As the main character, Kam is likable; she's friendly, a little bit snarky, but all heart when it comes to wanting to help the murdered souls. It'll be easy to think of her as your friend.

In the ending of the previous book, we are introduced to Tahm, Kam's fiancé, their marriage is arranged by both family in their djinn universe. Kam has crush for Tahm for years, being a good friend of Kam's older brother. But Kam doesn't want Tahm to see her only as someone he is going to be shackled with. She also doesn't want him to think of her as the "baby" sister he knows all his life.

I liked how that created rather awkward situation and tension between Kam and Tahm. Especially now that Tahm is part of the team, and Kam is the leader (because she has more experience). I enjoyed the two learning about each other bit by bit -- since they had been separated for more than a century!

What I missed was Kam and Ash's interaction. I liked their 'sisterhood' vibe in the first book. But because now Tahm is present, I feel that Kam and Ash time together is slightly reduced even if Ash is still part of the team. However, there is a HUGE information about Ash in the end of this book and I wonder how the dynamic is going to play in the next one.

Hope there'll be book #3 soon!

Review goes live on the blog on Dec 22 at 00.00 am gmt+2 and will show up on Goodreads sometime later.

In a Flutter: Fun!
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: Lovely Oklahoma setting with diverse paranormal and fantastic elements – djinns, reapers, soul chasers, soul stones, goblins, banshees, centaurs, gorgons, magic, the Hidden and the world-shift.
Characters: This baby features an interesting trio: Kam, Ash, and Tahm. Our MC, Kam, is funny and has a nice adventurous personality. Her love-issues make her easy to relate to and her mischievous nature certainly makes her attention-grabbing and exciting. There’s a deeper layer to her, that comes through now and then. She has a loaded past, but it’s not too heavily-focused on so it doesn’t go into dramagirl zone at all and I loved that – it seemed authentic and truly made me love her.
Plot: The story is also nicely layered with action, mystery, and some slow burn juicy romance. I loved the tempo.
Writing: First person, past tense narrative, Kam’s POV. I liked the writing style because it flows really well. Kam had a great sense of humor and I really enjoyed her voice.
Curb Appeal: Beautiful cover, hooking blurb – impulsive buy material for my UF cravings.

I recommend To Seize a Wayward Spirit to fans of funny and adventurous heroines and diverse Urban Fantasy worlds with hints of slow burn romantic elements that unfold over a series and not one novel.

It's my own fault, I didn't realize this was book 2, so I was playing catchup. In fact this is my first book by this author. So while I enjoyed it, I think had I read either the previous series or book, I would have liked,it a lot more. That being said it was still a fun read, full of interesting characters, a cool world, and a solid mystery. I am planning on going back and reading the previous book so I will be ready for book 3!

I liked it.. I really liked it.
Explosions.
Turning into stones.
Banshees
And oh goodness what not!
It had so many elements, made my head spin but it was such a good story.
The thing is that me being a romantic at heart just kept concentrating on the romance factor that wasn't blatantly out there.. But there.

I was a bet sceptic when I started reading this book. I thought about a paranormal romance but it turned out to be a very good urban fantasy good. Nice characters, well written, fast paced with an interesting plot.
This is a very good book for both lover of paranormal romance and urban fantasy.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Carina Press

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fast, and the characters were funny. I tend to be a bit snarky, and I love matching wits with other people. The author did such a great job creating these characters, especially the main character; I see myself hanging out with the main character. The combination of different paranormal creatures works well to drive the plot forward and keep the reader turning the pages to find out what happens next. I thought the author did a great job of creating tension between the main character and her intended without making it awkward and all about their love story. I can't wait to read more about these people and their story.

Reviewed by Terri of the GothicMoms Review Team