“Nick saunters into the gym and my heart basically stops. He just tilts his head down, moves his fingers into my hair, and his lips touch mine in a forever kiss. Stretching out my spine so my lips are nearly touching his I say, “And will you press yourself against me and we’ll move really close together and then your hand will stretch out across the back of my head and your fingers will wrap into my hair and then. His bottom lip turns in toward his mouth for a second, just disappears and then comes back. Something inside my chest warms up like a nice kind of heartburn and I say, “And will we slow dance?” I move forward so my hands are flat on the towel and my face is much closer to his face. Julia Whelan continues to carry a variety of characters in this series, and I can easily tell from tone and inflection who is speaking without getting lost.“So there’s this annual dance in a couple of weeks.”

However, Jones is definitely laying the ground work for an epic battle later in the series if she stays on course. I have to say this was a typical sophomore title, it developed the storyline and introduced a lot of new characters, but besides one main fight scene there is not much action.

Only heroes who are not human can get into Vahalla, and Zara has a plan to turn into a pixie, become a hero, and save Nick. Instead of curling up and giving in Zara decides to take the ultimate step to save Nick. Zara saves Astley from being taken, which could be a good or bad, the vote is still out on that one.Ĭut to a second rival king who shows up and frees the trapped pixies, which has some dire consequences for Zara and Nick-who do not end up on the winning end of the battle-as Zara is left alone to fend for herself after Nick is taken by the valkyrie. On top of the influx of pixies, there is also a valkyrie in the area that is swooping in and taking dying heroes to Valhalla to prepare for an upcoming war. Zara stumbles across one of these pixie kings-Astley-and feels an immediate attraction, one she doesn’t want to feel and one she cannot hide, since she turns a vivid blue from head to toe any time she is near him. But with the pixie king locked up and losing control, up and coming pixie kings are sending scouts and showing up themselves to try and take over his land, his people, and to claim Zara for themselves. The second book in the Need series picks up right after the first, Zara, Nick, Grandma Betty, Issie, and Devyn are taking turns keeping the pixies locked up in the woods.

Captivate by Carrie Jones