Sunday, November 25, 2018

Thrown to the Wolves (Hedgewood Sisters #4), by Ruby Blaylock

Ruby Loren, 2018

The Hedgewood sisters have a problem. Well, several problems.

People are disappearing in Frog Hollow, and most of them are supes. In fact, most of them are shifters. Twyla's boyfriend Hank has the advantage of being a police officer and seeing the reports as they come in--and the disadvantage that the sheriff, Leland Talbot, hates supes, and is looking for any excuse to fire Hank. With problems affecting the supes in town, the Hedgewoods need to be a first line of defense, not backup.

Joe, the sisters' father, is once again back on the Other Side, working on behalf of the Summer King, trying to negotiate a peace with the Winter King. The conflict means no one can pass freely back and forth, and now Napoleon is over there, carrying messages to family on the Other Side, and hoping to bring back messages from them to this the human realm.

And then Amaara, the Autumn Queen, a.k.a. the Winter King's consort, shows up in the Hedgewoods' back yard, planning to stay for some undetermined period of time, and reminding the sisters that, with one fae parent, they and even Twyla's daughter Ivey are her subjects, and subject to fae law.

As more and more residents of Frog Hollow disappear, Hank comes to the frightening conclusion that someone is running a "blood ring," where supes, especially shifters, are being forced to fight each other to the death. Local demon (and somewhat ominous businessman) Lucien unexpectedly approaches them with a cautious offer of help. Whatever's going on alarms him, too, and that's very bad news.

The sisters are finally learning to work together, and discovering their powers are greater than they had suspected. But will it be enough? The impulse to protect each other from danger and to take on all the risk individually is a problem for each of the sisters, for Hank, and for their other friends. Relationships advance, and we learn more about the fae realm and the connections between fae, humans, and supes.

It's fun. Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

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