Did you catch Julia’s review yesterday of Adrian Phoenix’s BLACK HEART LOA, Hoodoo #2?  You can read the full review HERE.  The book will be published on June 28th from Pocket books, but in the meantime, you can follow this very cool chapter hunt that will reveal exclusive parts of the first chapter on four different sites:

Part 1: RT Book Reviews on June 20th

Part 2: Adrian Phoenix’s website on June 21st

*TODAY* Part 3: All Things Urban Fantasy on June 22nd

Part 4: Pocket After Dark on June 23rd

To see the chapter hunt in full size click HERE

*This title will be released on June 28, 2011*

Title: Black Heart Loa Author: Adrian Phoenix  Series: Hoodoo #2 Cover Art: Steve Stone  Genre: urban fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Pocket; June 28, 2011 ISBN-10: 1439167923 ISBN-13: 978-1439167922 Sexual Content: References to sex, one explicit sex scene. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

“An eye for an eye is never enough.”

Kallie Rivière, a Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a bent for trouble, learned the meaning of those ominous words when hoodoo bogeyman Doctor Heron targeted her family for revenge. Now, while searching for her still-missing bayou pirate cousin, Kallie finds out the hard way that someone is undoing powerful gris gris, which means that working magic has become as unpredictable as rolling a handful of dice. The wards woven to protect the Gulf coast are unraveling, leaving New Orleans and the surrounding bayous vulnerable just as an unnatural storm—the deadliest in a century—is born. As the hurricane powers toward the heart of all she loves, Kallie desperately searches for the cause of the disturbing randomness, only to learn a deeply unsettling truth: the culprit may be herself. To protect her family and friends, including the sexy nomad Layne Vallin, Kallie steps into the jaws of danger . . . and finds a loup garou designed to steal her heart—literally.

Review

While I knew BLACK DUST MAMBO was going to be a hard act to follow, my surprises in reading BLACK HEART LOA had nothing to do with those high expectations. LOA was a different breed of book all together, as the story line changes from the human villains of BLACK DUST MAMBO to the more amorphous magical threats. It took me a few chapters to change gears, but despite that slow start I devoured the last two thirds of this book.

One of the changes that took me a bit to adjust to was the lack of a human villain to drive the action. Despite the time constraint of a hurricane about to make landfall, I felt that the obstacles in this book had less forward momentum than those in BLACK DUST MAMBO. The magical issues in LOA were more difficult to keep track of and predict, which meant that the dangers Kallie and her companions faced were less compelling to me as a reader.

Luckily, though I was less interested in the plot, Phoenix once again wrote tantalizing and messy love lives. Fantasies, realities, old loves and new... that was the fuel that kept this book moving for me. LOA teases with just enough heat to keep you glued to the page, but not so much that a Happily Ever After is assured. Kallie and Layne share some hot moments, but Phoenix structured their interactions in a way that still leaves lots of seductive possibilities.

One such possibility was Devlin Daniels (am I the only person who read "demon wolf of the bayou" and thought "Yum"?), who has me at the edge of my seat to read more of his story. Kallie and Belladonna have lots of wonderful page time, and Kallie’s cousin Jackson vies for center stage with his Robin Hood antics and complicated history. While BLACK HEART LOA fell one bat short of BLACK DUST MAMBO in my affections, it definitely sets the stage for sequels that I can’t wait to pre-order.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Black Dust Mambo – 5/5	Gail at Goodreads Fresh Fiction

Title: Black Dust Mambo Author: Adrian Phoenix Series: Hoodoo #1 Cover Art: Steve Stone  Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Julia Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Pocket, June 29, 2010 ISBN-10: 1439167877 ISBN-13: 978-1439167878 Sexual Content: Kissing, explicit fantasies, and discussions of sex. Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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Description

"There will be times, girl, when all your magic ain't going to be enough, times when it will seem to dry up like mud under the noonday sun, or even make matters worse . . ."

Kallie Riviere, a fiery Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a talent for trouble, finds herself smack-dab in the middle of one of those times her mentor warned her about when she visits New Orleans to attend the Hecatean Alliance's annual carnival: her hard-bodied conjurer hookup ends up dead in her blood-drenched bed. And he was killed by something that Kallie would never dream of touching -- the darkest of dark juju, soul-eating juju -- a black dust hex that may have been meant to kill her.

Now Kallie has to use every bit of hoodoo knowledge and bayou-bred mojo she possesses to clear her own name and find the killer -- even as that dark sorcerer hunts Kallie and her friends. But Kallie's search for the truth soon leads her in a direction she never anticipated -- back home to Bayou Cypres Noir, and to Gabrielle LaRue, Kallie's aunt, protector, and hoodoo mentor . . . who is looking more and more like she just might be the one who wants Kallie dead.

Review

Hexes and poppets and bayou magic abound in BLACK DUST MAMBO, creating a vivid, detailed world that unfolds as naturally as breathing.  It's been a long time since I've read an Urban Fantasy novel that swept me away quite like this one (The Guild Hunters series comes to mind), and though BLACK DUST MAMBO is just the first of it’s series, it has already raised my expectations very, very high.

The action moves lightening fast from page one.  Kallie puts on a bathrobe, opens her door to a knock, and doesn’t have time to pull on a pair of pants until almost halfway through the book.  This rapid fire plot doesn’t skimp on character development, however, and even with the quick introductions I felt emotionally involved in the characters.  I was particularly impressed with how Phoenix handled Kallie and Layne.  From the moment they meet over the body of Layne’s best friend and Kallie’s one night stand, Phoenix creates a powerfully charged blend of guilt, obligation, and sexual chemistry between them.

Phoenix is not afraid to keep relationships complex, messy, and hot in this book, and Kallie and Layne are by no means the only relationship that has my attention.  All of the characters planted many false trails and tantalizing sexual possibilities, which has me salivating to see which fantasies will become reality in book 2. BLACK DUST MAMBO was great, this series has the potential to be amazing, and I can’t wait to pick up BLACK HEART LOA in June.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Patricia at Patricia’s Vampire Notes Elixirelevent at Cabinet of Curiosities Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books