MY WICKED ENEMY

Author: Carolyn Jewel ISBN: 0446178233 8/2008 PARANORMAL/CONTEMPORARY Publisher: GRAND CENTRAL

A desire that can't be controlled... Carson Philips is a witch on the run. For years, the notorious mage, Alvaro Magellan, has held her as his psychological prisoner. But once Carson gets a glimpse of the true extent of his evil, she flees Magellan's mansion—stealing a stone talisman of unimaginable power on the way. Her only hope for survival is a demon who ignites a voracious hunger in her she can't deny, a longing she can't resist... A hunger that can't be sated... Nikodemus is a warlord with a mission: Kill Magellan and his green-eyed witch at any cost. But when he meets the desperate Carson, the pull of her magic takes his breathe away. He's not sure he can trust this tantalizing woman—she is his enemy—and less sure he can keep his hands off her. But Magellan will stop at nothing to reclaim what belongs to him. Can Nikodemus stop him before his desire for Carson destroys them both?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Carolyn Jewel sets her paranormal romance, MY WICKED ENEMY, in present day San Francisco where a battle is brewing between magekind and fiends. Carson Philips gets caught in the crossfire and she may have to give herself up in order to survive. She's a celebrity in the mage and fiend world, totally clueless about her status. She was raised by her guardian, Alvaro Magellan, from a young age and has been almost castrated from her witchly magic. It's still within her, but she has no idea it is there, or that it is being siphoned off by one of the most powerful mages to enhance his own magic. She runs away after witnessing the mage perform an horrific ritual killing and unbeknownst to her, falls prey to one of the most powerful fiend warlords, Nikodemus, who has killing Carson Philips on his top ten things to do list. Once he gets to know her, will the demon be able to do her in? Could the stone talisman holding a trapped fiend she stole from Magellan's ritual be the key to her salvation?

Jewel carefully crafts a whole society overlaid on the human experience with it's own hierarchy, strictures and rewards. I admit I had to keep asking myself was one each side, but eventually I got it. The magekind, or mages and witches, had been enslaving the demon fiends for centuries, and the few fiends out there who aren't enslaved are itching for a turn of the tables. When they find that not only can Carson break the bonds of enslavement on fiends, but she's very willing to betray the evil mages (mostly because of her own guilt feelings), the fiends have a tough time believing that she'd help and are certain that she's just waiting to spring some trap and ensnare them all for herself. Carson is nearly debilitated by what she thinks are migraine headaches, but Nikodemus realizes they are just episodes of her power being at its peak—it just ebbs and flows in her at random and she has no control over it. Magellan really did a number on her, but as she spends more time apart from him and binds herself to Nikodemus, the better she gets.

MY WICKED ENEMY is just one long chase scene with interludes of battle or wild sex. This would make a great action movie. Tons of wicked fighting and some interesting shape shifting to augment the already hot lovemaking between Carson and Nikodemus. Readers will need to make sure they eat and drink before delving into this book because once started, it can't be put down. I even had to remind myself to breathe on occasion!

Susan Barton