Review: Crosssroads by Moira Rogers

Crossroads is the follow-up to Crux, and is the 2nd book in Moira Roger's Southern Arcana series. I thoroughly enjoyed Crux (my review here), and and have been looking forward to this book.

Nicole Peyton (Nick) is a bar owner in New Orleans. She's also a werewolf - not just any shapeshifter but the daughter of the New York Alpha. She's made her home in New Orleans to escape the politics of werewolf society in New York. Derek Gabriel was a regular guy with supernatural relatives until he was turned into a werewolf two years ago. He was attracted to Nick before he was turned, but since he was turned hasn't acted on those feelings because he's not sure he can control his "wolfy" urges and is afraid he'll hurt her. There's also the problem of who her father is - in this Southern Arcana world, the werewolf heirachy is very defined: natural-born werewolves consider "made" werewolves to be second-class citizens, and the governing body (Conclave) is like royalty. So naturally Derek's a bit intimidated because he's a nobody and Nick is "royalty". Nick is frustrated because she thinks Derek doesn't like her and doesn't understand Derek's reasons for not acting on his feelings for her.

As Derek and Nick finally start to act on their feelings towards each other, Nick's twin-sister Michelle and her guardian/boyfriend Aaron literally show up on her doorstep. Michelle and Aaron are in trouble with the Conclave; Nick knows the Conclave will send someone to hunt for them and knows she must do anything she can to help her twin. Nick gets her sister into hiding and decides she has to go to New York to try to save her sister and Aaron. She and Derek are also dealing with their feelings and urges for each other. The interactions between Nick and Derek were so sweet (and sexy!), and the scenes between the two of them when Nick went to New York were heartbreaking. The ending had a twist or two I didn't see coming, but was satisfying and made me smile.

This book was fast paced right up until the end - there was a lot going on. My only problem was that I couldn't keep all the secondary characters straight as far as supernatural/human and friend/relative/coworker. That was my difficulty with Crux as well, but I think it's probably just a reflection on the fact that I can't keep names straight in real life either.

I give Crossroads 4.5/5 stars - it was an enjoyable read and I'm hoping there will be more books in this series; several of the secondary characters have stories I'd love to read about. Crossroads goes on sale February 9, 2010.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.