I then added the whole series to my wishlist and bought the first 3 a little later but got caught up in other stuff and never started reading them until fairly recently. As soon as I started the 3rd book, I jumped onto Amazon and bought the rest of the series so I could continue as Karina wanted - all in a one-r. I then kicked myself very hard for leaving this series for so damn long - it's fab! But partway through book 4 or 5, I decided I'd make this a big joint review of all the books and the series as a whole rather than a review of each individual book.
Before the Witches
In America, they didn't care about witches. But all that was about to change.
Katya Zhuvova fled a country that feared her gifts, but her escape to Seattle left her at the mercy of a ruthless man. With no one left to turn to, Katya hatches a desperate escape plan. Undercover Detective Nigel Ferris is determined to bring down a prostitution ring, whatever the cost. In order to the get answers he needs, he attempts to win the trust of one of the prostitutes involved - but one look at the deceptively sultry Katya and the cool, objective cop disappears. Before either can put their plans into place, Mother Nature shrugs: a cataclysm rocks Seattle, and life is turned upside down.
Brought together by chance, Nigel and Katya are in the fight for their lives. Surrounded by death and fear, shattered by immeasurable loss, they have only a bond forged in fire to cling to as they struggle to survive in a world gone straight to hell.
Blood of the Wicked
When the world went straight to hell, humanity needed a scapegoat to judge, to blame ... to burn.
As an independent witch living off the grid, Jessie Leigh has spent her life running, trying to blend in among the faceless drudges in the rebuilt city. She thought she was finally safe, but now she's been found in a New Seattle strip club - by a hard-eyed man on a mission to destroy her kind.
A soldier of the Holy Order, Silas Smith believes in the cause: trawling the fringes of society for the murderous witches who threaten what's left of the world. Forced into a twisting web of half-truths and lies, he has to stay close to the most sensuous and electrifying woman he has ever seen and manipulate her into leading him to the he witch he has to kill: her brother. Silas doesn't know that Jessie's his enemy, only that he wants her, needs her, even as he lies to her ... and must protect her until his final breath.
Lure of the Wicked
Naomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke - the most seductive man Naomi has ever met - may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning - and dangerous - secrets. Whatever the cost.
No Rest for the Witches
New Seattle is changing. Witches and witch hunters have become allies, and the Order's grip on the city is slipping. But they won't go down without a fight ...
After the disastrous end to their last mission, Jessie, Silas, and Naomi regroup at their sanctuary far beneath New Seattle. But their brief rest is shattered when Jessie "sees" two of their own attacked topside. Dodging bullets and black magic, they risk it all on a treacherous rescue mission. Already stretched to the limit, danger waits in unexpected corners. If the Holy Order finds them, the team is as good as dead. But they can't hide forever ...
All Things Wicked
Juliet Carpenter thought of the coven as family, but when she falls for a man who betrays them all, she's left alone and desperately searching for a reason why. Caleb Leigh has spent the past year in hiding, unable to escape his demons. When Juliet finds him again, her need for vengeance clashes with the hunger still burning between them.
It's a fight born from the embers of a half-forgotten attraction and the wounds of a past too raw to ignore. With enemies circling and secrets threatening to consume them, Caleb has no choice but to fulfill a promise made long ago - protect her, save her. Even if it costs him his blood, his body ... and what's left of his mind.
Sacrifice the Wicked
Parker Adams has always done what’s expected of her ... until a double agent with nothing to lose ignites a passion she doesn't dare give in to.
Mission Agent Simon Wells is everything Parker Adams has been trained to fight: manipulator, murderer, spy ... witch. But for her, what makes Simon most dangerous is his mesmerising sexual magnetism, powerful enough to tempt even the famed ice queen of the Mission. Though she knows better, each encounter with the deceptive agent leaves her craving more.
Simon isn't a man to let go of what's his, and his pursuit forces Parker, a woman he can't get out from under his skin, to make a stand that could destroy her. If they can work together, they might survive the politics that have enslaved their devastated world - or fall victim to the pitfalls of desperation, bone-deep mistrust, and a hunger that threatens to consume them.
Wicked Lies
In this Dark Mission novella, Jonas Stone emerges from the shadows into his own story, and finally allows himself to have the same shot at love he's given his friends.
Jonas Stone has been given his first independent operation: rescue the insurrection leader's imprisoned grandson from the Mission. Getting the job done means more than getting Danny Granger out - it means staying with him while he heals. Staying too close, for way too long.
Danny is everything Jonas isn't: confident, optimistic, honest - a man to be reckoned with. If only it didn't mean going against everything Jonas has planned. He's kept his secrets for years, hid behind a mask no one could see through ... until now. Danny isn't the kind of man Jonas deserves. But he might be exactly the man he needs ...
One for the Wicked
Dr. Kayleigh Lauderdale possesses the only cure for what's killing the city's witches. Desperate to acquire it, the resistance sends their best agent, but Shawn Lowe has his own agenda, and it doesn't include saving anyone - least of all, the daughter of his sworn enemy. He has to ignore the blistering attraction he feels the instant they meet, because he can't give in until he gets what he wants. He just never counted on wanting her ...
Kayleigh can't believe how out of control Shawn makes her feel. He lies to her with one breath and excites her beyond reason the next. A reckless encounter could steal her heart, while the danger hovering over the city may prove too much for either of them to handle. When the world turns upside down, it will take everything Kayleigh and Shawn have to hold on ... to life, to hope, to each other.
I've already said it in the review for Before the Witches but I'm going to say it again - I love this world. I love that Karina ripped our world apart and broke us down, she took the human race back to the times of witch fearing and burning. To a time of the Inquisition where people just needed to blame someone and witches were too against the "word of god" or whatever.
The Mission take orphans and raise them to be missionaries - witch hunters. The witches keep hidden and try to survive. Each book in the series brings us a relationship that's against the odds, a couple that shouldn't be coming together under difficult situations.
I highly recommend this series. In a way, I'm glad I waited until the last book was out before I read it because it meant I didn't have that agonising wait between releases. But I'm still sad the series is done, it was a good series and I feel like there still might be story to tell - hopefully Karina Cooper may bring us future novellas from the world. In the meantime, I'll be trying out her St. Croix Chronicles series.
Book Depository:
Before the Witches
Blood of the Wicked
Lure of the Wicked
No Rest for the Witches
All Things Wicked
Sacrifice the Wicked
Wicked Lies
One for the Wicked
Amazon UK:
Before the Witches
Blood of the Wicked
Lure of the Wicked
No Rest for the Witches
All Things Wicked
Sacrifice the Wicked
Wicked Lies
One for the Wicked
