Carnival of Shadows: A Teagan Blackwater Urban Fantasy Novel (Black Water Magic Book 2) Carnival of Shadows: A Teagan Blackwater Urban Fantasy Novel (Black Water Magic Book 2)
Paranormal Romance/Demons and Devils/Magical Realism
Independently Published
June 1, 2021
182
Come one. Come all.
Still reeling from the death of her grandmother and adjusting to her inheritance: the powers of the Swamp Witch, Teagan already has enough on her plate. Add in one demi-demon biker ex, one teenaged witch with more powers than brains, and maybe-dating the most dangerous guy she’s ever met (and considering her ex, that’s saying something!) — Teagan has more than enough going on.
Then the carnival comes to town.
Teagan is left to defend the residents of Firewater Springs against a literal freakshow full of paranormal beings, and a demon ringmaster who wields a power that, in the middle of battle, could turn her allies against her.
Unless Teagan manages to do it first, all by herself.
Reviewed by Xanthe
Member of The Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Carnival of Shadows is a great second book in the Black Water Magic series by Leslie Scott. I do recommend reading the first book, Black Water Magic, as a few plot points and relationships are established that develop and impact this story.
Teagan is still settling into her new powers and role of the Swamp Witch after her grandmother, Nola, was killed at the beginning of book one. Towards the end of that book the carnival was driving into town and giving off very creepy vibes. Now they’re here and all is not well as the circus folk are far from normal, or even human so it’s something that Teagan and Sean, the town Sheriff, investigate. Unfortunately, things are a lot darker and disturbing than they could have imagined with new and old Foes causing trouble.
Teagan is doing well with all the responsibilities that have fallen on her shoulders. Throughout this series she continues to learn about her new magic and it’s a wild ride for her, sometimes even learning in the heat of the moment. It’s clear that she struggles, which humanises her character and she has great support from Oliver, her best friend, and Shelly, another witch in their trailer park. Together they work to keep everyone safe and investigate what’s going on. She also has Sean’s back-up, and his very up close and personal attention too which she is not turning down. He’s definitely something more than I thought when we first met him! What neither could have seen coming, despite how attracted they are to each other, is the connection you can feel developing that goes a lot deeper than I think either of them know. Even though they don’t spend a lot of time together, they quickly form a bond both in and out of the bedroom.
One thing about her that occasionally irks me is that she doesn’t really communicate well, often thinking she must do things alone because of who she is now, but that way will only lose her people even as she strives to keep them safe.
The carnival itself hasn’t just brought the freak show to town, it ends up containing demons, fledglings and an old foe. One of my favourite scenes from the book takes up the last section of the book as Teagan and her team of merry men and women go and fight for the people of Firewater Springs. It gets intense and is really well written as we go from location to location and involve most people from the story, but it all flows well and I was gripped to the end, especially loving how things turned out for Teagan and the big bad enemy.
While the first book took me a little while to get into, I fell straight into this one and enjoyed it from the start. I found the characters engaging with a good mix of personalities as well as a range of supernatural beings. Teagan is really coming into her powers and building something with Sean. There is a brilliant balance between the drama and action, the plot developing well across the story and relationships either strengthening or weakening.
If this is just going to be a two-book series, then I think things have mostly been tied up for Teagan regarding Nola’s death and her mother but there’s also the possibility for more, especially with Sean and the group at the Crazy Eight Mobile Home Park.