The Devil and the Muse by Mandy Beverly-Jackson

The Devil and the Muse by Mandy Jackson-Beverly is the second book in the Creatives Series. I did not read the first book in the series, while I would have liked to, I found it not necessary. The author did a good job of catching the reader up to date. It helped that a description of the characters was included in the very beginning of the book. I referred to it several times until I got caught up on the cast and their roles in the story.

The Allegiance is a group of individuals headed by immortals under the protection of the goddess The Lady and the Rose. Their purpose is to protect and nurture Creatives and other magical beings from those who would do them harm. Creatives are those individual that have a unique gift of being able to see events that lie hidden underneath a painting. In the past, Creatives have been hunted down and killed as witches. Now the Creatives are using their power to help a group of girls who have been kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed by the soldiers of an evil vampire named Kenan who is the devil incarnate. The Allegiance must work quickly if they are to save these young girls. 

The book is the classic tale of good versus evil. Yet, the plot and characters are unique. I have read a lot of fantasy and paranormal books and cannot recall anything like it. The author gets lots of kudos for originality. The plot moves rapidly and the sittings change quickly form Washington D. C. to Italy and other places, and time periods, several times which will keep the reader on their toes. This is a book you can’t skim over or you will miss an important action sequence that is critical to the plot.

Overall, it a good story and will appeal to readers of paranormal, vampires and fantasy.  As I stated already, it is not necessary to read the first book in the series but I recommend you do. If I had read the first book, I suspect I would have gotten more from the story. Also, when I start a series in the middle and like it, I always find myself going back and reading the book(s) that I skipped over. Therefore, I am going to add book one to my TBR list and I hope you do too. It is worth a read.

I received a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.