Jade Calhoun is a powerful empath, and witches she knows tell her that she's a powerful white witch, too. She steadfastly denies it, because she blames witchcraft for the loss of her mother when she was just twelve years old. Jade has a point; her mother vanished during a coven ritual. The head of her mother's coven then gave the extremely distressed Jade a spelled herbal drink that sent her to sleep for two days. She woke up in a hospital, where this was diagnosed as a psychological reaction, not a result of a drug.

But Jade is now living in New Orleans, and has a boyfriend (Kane) who's a sleepwalker, a friend (Ian) who's a ghost hunter, an acquaintance (Lailah) who's a minor angel, and of course Ian's Aunt Bea, who is the leader of the local coven. When Bea and Lailah tell her she's a powerful white witch, it's harder to ignore. Yet she still blames witchcraft for her mother's loss, and is determined to have no part of it.

Except now Bea is ill due to a magical attack in this group's previous adventure. Jade's ex-boyfriend, Dan, is acting odd even for Dan, more actively dangerous than he's ever been. Some strange portraits have turned up in Kane's nightclub, Wicked, that contained the trapped spirits of two witches and an angel--and the angel is Fallen, and now a demon.

At every turn, there are problems for which the solution lies through the powers Jade would rather deny, and has always refused to be trained.

As Jade reluctantly learns to use her powers, she's confronting powerful enemies, and facing confusing and infuriating events--such as Lailah sleepwalking into her and Kane's dreams, and leading him away.

Whose side is Lailah on?

And when Jade learns it may be possible to rescue her mother from where she has been imprisoned in another dimension, she starts taking some dangerous risks.

The character development is good, and satisfying, even if some of the plot development is a bit shaky and repetitive.

Enjoyable.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

Good plot, clear and engaging characters, interesting premise. The book was good, but just not what I wanted at this time. I loved the first one, though. Glad I bought it on sale. ( )

I really don't know exactly how to express my disappointment in this book. I loved the first book in the series and was so excited for this one -- maybe my expectations were too high.

I spent most of the book thinking "When did Jade turn into such an annoying bitch" and "Bea, please for the love of my sanity give some more instruction to Jade other than just telling her to do something." I was also expecting some more explanation about a few things from the last book.

Pros: I continue to love all the supporting characters especially Pyper and Kat. The storyline was very engaging and interesting.
Cons: Jade's character seemed to actually regress in this series and the story seemed to really drag at the end - thought I would never finish the story. And honestly -- how much torture can one character take -- poor Dan.

I'm very skeptical to read/continue this series after this book. I will probably take a break from this series for awhile.
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[b:Witches of Bourbon Street|19521039|Witches of Bourbon Street|Deanna Chase|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391647041s/19521039.jpg|19015672] is a new (to me) series I stumbled across while surfing Amazon. Jade Calhoun is a reluctant witch with empathetic powers. After coming across three possessed paintings the people in her life start acting oddly. As things turn to chaos, she must work with the local coven to fix things. I really enjoyed Chase's take on empathetic powers and how they could be seen as a burden. However, the characters didn't really draw me in. I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series or not. ( )

Fun fiction. A reluctant white witch, a shady angel, demonic possession, strippers and voodoo dolls. I liked this book. It may be a bit far fetched but it was an enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next book in fall. ( )