Review: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

OK. Nobody is as sexy as one of Kresley Cole’s Lykae.  (Those accents should be criminal!) And Bowen MacReive is no exception. We met Bowen back in A Hunger Like No Other. There he was a broken man, barely hanging on to a reason to live after the death of his mate. In No Rest for the Wicked, we learn that he is trying to win an ancient competition called the Talisman Hie, where the prize will allow the winner to go back in time. He wants to use it to prevent his mate’s death.  Then, we only saw Bowen as a competitor from Kaderin and Sebastian’s perspectives. Here, we see the Hie from Bowen’s side.

As the competition begins, Bowen is drawn the young witch Mariketa. He assumes she has put some kind of spell on him, as he has been loyal to the memory of his dead mate for centuries.  He fights the attraction.. even going so far as trapping Mari and some others  in a cave full of zombie incubi to keep her out of the competition. She fights back by putting a spell on him, making him mortal.

We already know from the last book that Bowen loses the Hie.  He goes back to rescue Mari and the others in the cave, to avoid the wrath of the other witches.  As he helps bring her back to civilization, Bowen is less and less able to fight his overwhelming attraction to Mari.  Beyond the guilt over letting go of his feelings for his dead mate, he must also fight his revulsion of witchcraft, just as Mari strengthens her magic.

Like all of the IAD, this book is SEXY.  The twist surrounding how Bowen can have more than one mate is interesting and unexpected.  And it’s a lot of fun watching Mari grow into her powers. I am in awe of how Kresley Cole manages to weave so many books together at the same time.  It's totally seamless.  Just amazing.

5 big stars.