Entice by Carrie Jones

Publisher’s Summary: Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not exactly how things have worked out. Nick is dead-supposedly taken to some mythic place for warriors called Valhalla, where Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. Bedford needs its warriors more than ever, since a group of evil pixies is devastating the place. But even if Zara and her friends can reach Valhalla, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. Will Nick even want to return with her? Especially since she's not just any pixie . . . She's Astley's queen.

My Take: Entice again reminds me why I love this series. I love the world Carrie Jones has created that’s inhabited by all kinds of exotic “weres” (all kinds of were-animals!) and, most importantly, evil pixies. But are all of these evil pixies really evil? I hope not, since Zara (the heroine and main character) is now a pixie queen!

In my previous review of Captivate, I mentioned my biggest irritation with Zara, but luckily this irritating character trait didn’t play a very big part in Entice, and I was relieved!

Nick is missing and Zara is doing everything in her power to save him. She even accepted getting turned into an evil pixie at the end of Entice (the one thing she was most terrified to become) in hopes this will help save him. I loved how, in the beginning of the book, Zara is still not quite comfortable in her new pixie skin, so when she’s put in a situation where she must fight another pixie, she still has trouble being comfortable with committing violence. But throughout Entice, she grows into a strong and confident pixie queen while still holding on to her human personality and goodness. There is one especially kick-butt scene that had me dumbfounded…because Zara, the ultra-dependent girl who always had to be protected and rescued in Need, has now become this super, kick-butt heroine in Entice!

There’s a lot of destruction, war and death in this book. Because of this, Zara has some pretty devastating and heartbreaking losses. I caught myself several times getting all choked up!

A lot of the characters in this book have to learn to accept Zara as a pixie. They have always feared and hated pixies, so accepting Zara as a pixie is hard for all of them! In particularly, it’s Zara’s mother who pisses me off the most. I wanted to reach through the book and slap her silly for treating her own daughter the way she’s now treating her in Entice. I think I will have a hard time liking her mother in future books. Hmm…but I guess she wasn’t really all that great of a mom anyway, since she just pawned Zara off to her mother-in-law. Zara is better off with her grandma and her friends!

And then there is Astley! Ahhhhh…I love Astley! This is one of those dang books where I’m totally torn between what “Team” I’m on. I’ve always had love and the hots for Lucas, but now I have this totally hotpixie king (Astley) to choose from?! Grrrrr! I think I will be sad if she chooses either! I want her to have them both!

Each book in the Need series is a quick read, with action, suspense and very likable characters.