Following The Beautiful (2019), Bastien and Celine struggle with the consequences of her deal with Nicodemus.After Celine traded her memories of them in exchange for his powerful vampire uncle Nico's turning him, Bastien's reborn as a vampire-and he's not happy about it. Volatile, he embraces vices until his uncle, having given up on molding Bastien as a human legacy, decides on even higher aspirations for Bastien, ambitions in the Otherworld that the vampires had been banished from. The mythologies hinted at before (the Fallen, the Brotherhood, the Otherworld, the Sylvan Wyld's Winter Court, and the Summer Court of the Sylvan Vale) are unveiled in expansive worldbuilding. On top of that, multiple members of the Saint Germains' vampire family gain greater prominence in third-person point-of-view chapters that frequently reveal their backstories. Meanwhile, Celine recovers from residual traumas from experiences that she can't remember-because of a head injury, or so she's been told. Handsome detective Michael is patient with her every step of the way; she wishes she could return his feelings, but nagging flashes of memory have her looking for someone else. But those returning bits of memory shouldn't be possible, not with how powerful Nico is. Eventually, the romantic storyline gets quite steamy. Historical, multicultural New Orleans is depicted with all its racism-Bastien is multiracial (quadroon and Taíno) and Celine's French father was always secretive about her Asian mother.Decadent escapism. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult)

Gr 9 Up-Forbidden love, sultry romance, and clashing immortal factions fill this sequel to The Beautiful . Sébastien Saint Germain has been cursed to live forever as a vampire. The love of his life, Celine, saved him from certain death at the end of the first book by sacrificing all her memories of him in exchange for his immortality. Now Sébastien must learn to accept his fate, obey the rules of his kind, and forget the mortal Celine. Yet watching her from afar on the streets of New Orleans as another courts her, he can't forgive or forget. Celine herself remembers nothing about the night she was attacked and left brutally scarred, but she's haunted by strange dreams and mysterious recollections. Then she encounters Sébastien, and knows him only as a hedonistic man she feels disturbingly connected to. Meanwhile, their reunion becomes a catalyst for the warring immortals around them. Heavily laden with callbacks to events from the first book, this installment suffers from slow pacing. The secondary characters are intriguing with unique backstories (i.e., a prizefighter who's half-man, half-cat), but they make few appearances. VERDICT Where the first book circulates well, this sequel will keep readers engaged. But with main characters who spend most of their time delving into their own emotions and inner conflicts, this is more for fans of vampire love stories than those seeking action or mysteries. Sandi Jones, Wynne H.S., AR