Invocation

This ride has just begun and I'm really excited for more

First of a new Series spun off within a greater existing world. You can read without prior knowledge, but with mentions of past events and appearances from characters from the previous books, I would be surprised if you don't want to learn more and decide to dive in to the Alpha Girls while waiting for book two of this series. I know I'm ready for a re-read of the whole world now that I've been reminded how awesome they all are.

While Aileen's Alpha Girl's world (that this is spun off of) was full of werewolves, witches and fae with antagonists in all categories as well as Vampires and Demons, this one focuses on the battle against demonic activity. All the other paranormals exist and we see several of them as part of the story, but they are definitely supporting the character growth, not part of the action (yet?). So while it's the same world it is a very different focus within that world.

Because of the demonic focus, we have to delve a little into the source of the conflict and their natural combatants. This has been set up as more of a Spiritual war constantly happening between Angels and Demons with the humans (and other supernaturals) in the middle. And while there is a spiritual focus to the battle (we have a priest as a side character, there are prayers for help and Angels/Archons in the mix) I didn't find the story to be preachy or heavy handed at all. It's just a layer of the world that Sam has to work in and it blends with the supernatural world in a slightly different way. I feel like we will probably learn more depth into the history over time in this saga as we build to a big final conflict.

This specific story is a like a primer for Samantha's journey. We get some intro to her, we get a sense of the problems she faces on a day to day basis (at the most extreme end of her spectrum for sure) and a hint of what she will have to face moving forward through the over arching story to come. As with other Alpha Girl world books, when the stuff hits the fan, things happen quickly and the bulk of the story happens within about 2-3 days.

While not specifically a romance, this book has some romance elements (I'm expecting more to develop in the rest of the series so it builds over time). The main focus in this one is on the fact that Sam doesn't have anyone and that while she sees and works with so many fated/true mates, she doesn't feel like she will ever find someone who can manage her life and calling. This is definitely a thread that runs through because with an epic level found family like Sam has in the Alpha Girl crew (all fated mates whose stories are available to read when you're ready to gobble them down) they all want her to be happy and not lonely. We get some personal embarrassment from Sam over her past crushing on Phoenix, we get some conversations, hints of strength of character from Phoenix that lets us know he might be able to handle all that Sam has to live with. There some simmering interest, some hand holding and my favourite the "I'm not leaving" moments.

This will be a continuing saga of a story, so while not officially a cliffhanger, there are a LOT of loose threads dangling after the climax of this specific set of moments. I am very much looking forward to finding out what happens next in the saga and how Samantha deals with the fallout from the climactic events of this one.

There are moments of humour, some world building, action and lot of tension this story. And while it's not the full rollercoaster, it is a taste of what is to come. This ride has just begun and I'm really excited to see where Aileen takes us.

I requested and was provided an advanced copy of the ebook. These are my honest opinions.