Publisher’s Description:

There’s an ill wind blowing in Santa Fe, and it’s touching every witch Adriel knows, including White Feather, who is far more important to Adriel than just any warlock. In search of answers, she delves into ancient magic, a family secret and dangerous religious rituals.

Whoever is manipulating the elements appears to be after the ultimate goal: forbidden power over life and death.

Adriel will go to the ends of the earth to keep those she loves safe, but if she lures the enemy away, will she be able to save herself? Her only hope is to use earth magic to hide from the very air she breathes as she hunts down an unseen and untenable evil.

What I Expected:  As a follow up to the excellent Under Witch Moon, I expected more interesting adventures of the witch Adriel, her friend the shifter, and her more than friend, White Feather.  I expected magical mishaps and people up to no good being taken down a notch by the clever witch and her companions.

What I Got:  More than I expected.  I found Under Witch Aura to have more depth, interest, and character interaction than the first.  Not only do we learn more about our characters, we also get much more interpersonal interaction as Adriel adapts her keep-to-herself mentality to a romantic relationship, a possible apprentice, and her sometime coworker Lynx.  There is still a lot of action to enjoy, which is good, as I like the fast pace action tends to give a narrative.  We also get to learn more of Adriel’s history and a touch of White Feather’s, too.

What I Enjoyed:  I love that the magic Adriel uses is so logical and isn’t as easy as snapping her fingers or twitching her nose, so that makes it much more real to me.  Adriel feels like someone I could be living next to, as well; she has foibles and good days and bad days just like the rest of us.  She isn’t a perfect leather-clad hourglass mannikin you might find in some urban fantasies, but she also isn’t obsessed with looks and clothes and fashion, either.

What I Did not Enjoy:  I have an aversion to spiders.  I gather I’m not alone in that.  Here there be creepy crawlies.  You have been warned!   I also would have liked to learn more of Adriel’s family and have more Lynx on screen, but that just means there will have to be a third in the series.

Cover Talk:  An excellent cover!  No scantily clad perfect bod, no miscellaneous weapons of dubious use, just a well-crafted piece of art that depicts what you might find in the story and gives you a face for Adriel.  Not to mention that I tend to gravitate toward the color blue, and I like dreamcatchers.  So this one was cleverly designed to appeal to my tastes; your mileage may vary.

Would I recommend this title?  Yes.  Anyone who has read Under Witch Moon will definitely like this one.  Fans of Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews might like to give this a try; Adriel and White Feather don’t have the laugh out loud dialogue you might find between Kate and Curran, and there aren’t as many sexy shifters as in Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, but the underlying mystery and story itself have a similar feel to those of Mercy and Kate.  You cold read this as a stand alone but I would recommend beginning with the first book so that you don’t miss anything.