[REVIEW] Wicked Circle by Linda Robertson

Title: Wicked Circle
Author: Linda Robertson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Persephone Alcmedi #5

Mass Market Paperback, 432 Pages

Publication: December 27, 2011 by Pocket Books 

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Source: Publisher 

|SUMMARY|
Persephone Alcmedi has helped her waerewolf lover Johnny unlock his powers. Now she must come to the aid of Menessos, the vampire overlord she has secretly marked. Beset by a trio of truth-seeking vampire sisters so dangerous their own kind keep them confined in stone, he now needs her more than ever...and she realizes her need for him. Seph has magical promises to fulfill for the waeres, multiple mundane family challenges to meet, vampire politics to confront, both the supernatural males in her life to balance, a dragon to deal with...and then a government investigator shows up to complicate matters.

In the previous book Heldrige, one of the vampire lord sired by Menessos was on his way to VEIN to report a crime against Menessos. At the start of Wicked Circle, Heldrige succeeds in obtaining an audience with the big vampire honcho, Excelsior. Heldrige reports that the Quarterlord Menessos was mastered by his EV witch, and not the other way around like many believed. The Excelsior sends his father Mero and a trio of of truth-seeking vampire witches (more like harpies/owls…they can change their appearance from beautiful women to grotesque owl-bat with wings) to question Menessos, and to see if Seph is really a threat.  A lot of new characters are introduced again (like the previous book) but this time they’re vampires, and poor Seph…she never catches a break.

The author mixes things up in this installment by writing from multiple view-points, unlike the previous four books which were all told from Seph’s POV. In the beginning the multiple view points were a little confusing but after awhile I got in the rhythm of things. The multiple view points were all written in third-person and it switches back and forth to first person with Seph. Johnny and Seph’s relationship takes its toll in Wicked Circle as being Domn Lup takes most of Johnny’s time. To make matter worst, whenever they found the time for one another…Johnny’s inner beast rears its head, dominating his man-mind. In one scene after performing a ritual for Johnny and his pack…Johnny’s beast takes over and tries to kill Seph. While that is a red flag in all/any relationship, ever since Johnny unlocked his power ...his attitude sucks! He is cocky and arrogant, two qualities no one likes…thankfully we don’t have to add cheater to the list. And talking about cheaters, the whole Seph-Menessos-Johnny being bound to one another was already...ehh. I was happy that the relationship between Seph and Menessos stayed the way it was, just flirtatious. Nope, everything changes in this book and toward the end we have a love-triangle going on…WHY GOSH, WHY?! I don’t know if people count kissing as ‘cheating’ but I do…especially when it isn’t a peck on the cheek!

While there were some obvious downer scenes, there were also some highlights of the book! Readers finally get to learn about what happened to Johnny 8 ½ years ago, the life he had before he was inked and turned. I found this part of the story fascinating/heart-breaking at the same time. There was a twist involving his past that I didn’t expect, and it will definitely impact him in the next book.  We also got to learn more about Menessos and his involvement with the truth-seeking vampire witches. 

Regardless of all the things I didn’t really like in this installment, it was still a well-written addition to the series. I like Seph for most of the series, but making out with Menessos is a big no-no, and Johnny’s attitude for most of the book didn’t make him endearing either. It’s like the two most important characters did 180….well except Menessos but I was always whatever about him. Overall I did enjoy this book, it didn’t suffer from middle book syndrome like book #2-#3…I just wasn’t happy with the choices the characters made. I hope things will fare better in Shattered Circle, and I can’t wait to see how things play out for Johnny and that twist I mentioned earlier.