When the devil comes a calling, a daughter begins her falling…

The women of Golden Hills seem to be owned by a man hidden beneath a devilish grin, and they are.

Twenty-First birthdays ruined her life, stole her family, and now Lana Stone wants revenge. The evil house that was demolished at her parents’ hands is calling out to her in her dreams, rebuilding itself every year. Stone Manor wants her. Jack Red is coming for her. Her fate is sealed on her 21st birthday…in her dreams.

When she decides to answer the call after her parents’ death five years later, Jack is ready and waiting. Being caught between this world and the other side, Lana rises and claims the power she was born with, opening her heart to a man who could destroy it, and a dark need to bring Jack to his immortal knees.

Watch out for your daughters.
The man is coming.
He’ll promise you the world.
But if you accept, there’s no turning back.
Watch out for your daughters.
Because here comes Jack.

When I first read Black 21, the first book of this series, I was extremely appreciative of Nancy Glynn’s ability to push the boundaries and lack of fear in introducing darker elements to her story. As I finished this second book of my series, I find myself in awe of her ability to provide a range of characters. Everything her mother Daisy was, Lana is distinctively different. She views her parents as good and religious, while convinced she is not worthy of such a title. While her mother refused to embrace life in Golden Hills, Lana is determined to make it all hers. She’s highly ambitious, self-confident to the point of being annoying egotistical and extremely clueless about anything going on in the town. Her knowledge stems from her parent’s recollections and what she doesn’t realize is that by seeking revenge, she is playing right into Jack’s hands as well as to her own predestined fate.

One would assume Lana would experience the same things her mother did, but thankfully that is the case. She’s a complicated character and for the first third of the story, I really didn’t like her. Her arrogance and sense of entitlement was nauseating and yet, the story itself was intoxicating. I couldn’t put it down. Thankfully, Lana begins to mellow out to some extent and you get to see that she truly wants to bring a positive change to Golden Hills. Though she’s full of anger and wants revenge for the death of her parents and older sister, it’s not her entire motivation for trying to take over the town. Which I am thankful for, because initially her sense of entitlement and determination to rule over Golden Hills seemed so greedy and arrogant that I was beginning to think she was perfect for Jack.

Despite my initial reaction to Lana, I feel this book is proof of how an author can really create an excellent sequel. In fact, I would dare say this book is better than the first, because Lana is not weak. Her determination allows her to experience more of what is truly going on within the town and she even gets a better understanding to Jack and how he works. The first book was about building the shell to this world and this book really begins to breathe life into it as it fills in a lot of the blanks. Not only that, but with Lana’s lack of religion, it didn’t hold such heavy handed and obvious uses of light and dark as being representative of good and evil. Lana is not the stereotypical holier-than-thou heroine. Perhaps my enjoyment from this book stems from Lana’s claim of being anything but good. It made her more realistic and even more likable. Add to that, Nancy’s fearlessness to include sex, manipulation, violence and occult aspects and you’ve got a phenomenal book.

Reviewer’s note: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

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