The Water Witch (Fairwick Chronicles #2) by Juliet Dark

After casting out a dark spirit, Callie McFay, a professor of gothic literature, has at last restored a semblance of calm to her rambling Victorian house. But in the nearby thicket of the Honeysuckle Forest, and in the currents of the rushing Undine River, more trouble is stirring... 

The enchanted town of Fairwick’s dazzling mix of mythical creatures has come under siege from the Grove: a sinister group of witches determined to banish the fey back to their ancestral land. With factions turning on one another, all are cruelly forced to take sides. Callie’s grandmother, a prominent Grove member, demands her granddaughter’s compliance, but half-witch/half-fey Callie can hardly betray her friends and colleagues at the college.

To stave off disaster, Callie enlists Duncan Laird, an alluring seductive academic who cultivates her vast magical potential, but to what end? Deeply conflicted, Callie struggles to save her beloved Fairwick, dangerously pushing her extraordinary powers to the limit—risking all, even the needs of her own passionate heart.

Those that have worried about me, wanting to start a series from the beginning... rejoice! Guess what? I haven't read the first book in this series. Yep, I jumped into the second book. :D Luckily for me, I didn't need to read the first book to understand what was going on. I did get a sense that I had missed some interesting things that had happened in the last book, but connecting to the characters in this story wasn't hard at all.

Now, even though I didn't have a hard time connecting to Callie, I did feel that if I had started the series from the beginning, I would have had a better feel for Liam. Even so, this was more about Callie so my lack of preparation for this book did not make me suffer. And as much as I did like Callie, I have to say she quite often frustrated me with her seemingly inability to think things through. She blundered through quite a bit of messed up magic and it still didn't seem to teach her to stop and think before plodding through. Still, she did care so much for her friends that it helped balance out all the frustrating parts.

This story, despite some of the plot holes, was fun. Not all my questions were answered and some of the twists were a bit predictable. However, it had some quite steamy smexy scenes and a few interesting secondary characters. I would like to know more about this world and I may have to pick up that first book to see if it fills in some of the holes. I also have to warn those, like me, who hate cliffies... yep there is one here but I admit (grudgingly) that it has made me want that next book to see what happens to these characters next.

I give this book 3 stars. It's a fun PNR book that you don't need to read the first book to get into the world. However, you might want to start with book 1 to get a solid feel of Callie and Liam.

I received this eARC from the publisher and NetGalley and no compensation for my review was given.