Stevie‘s review of Fury’s Choice (Afterlife, Inc, Book 2) by Brey Willows
Lesbian Paranormal Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 12 Sep 17
The gods have revealed themselves to mortals, beginning some months after the events covered by the first book in this series; now they’re appearing on chat shows, and their joint headquarters, Afterlife Inc. is officially on the map. There are still administrative issues to be smoothed out and not all humans – whether atheist or believer – can be said to be happy with the new status quo. It’s hard to continue a religious war when it turns out that your deity and that of your greatest enemies are actually the best of friends. Likewise, those who didn’t follow a religion before are now determined not to let their lives be run, no matter how remotely, by any one or more of the immortal beings. Dark forces, outside the corporate body of Afterlife Inc., are as troublesome as ever, and plenty of humans are still determined to do wrong by their fellow men and women, no matter what the consequences might be. And in a world in which the Furies and other agents of vengeance operate, those consequences can be very severe indeed.
Tisera Graves is one of the three sister furies we met in the previous book. While she’d love to settle down to a normal life amongst humans, with an ordinary girlfriend, there’s still more work than her sisters can handle without her input. Helping out on one such job, Tis is worried by the discovery that the perpetrators of a serious crime appear to have been taken over by forces she can’t quite recognise. She doesn’t have much spare time to ponder this mystery, however, since the gods back at HQ need a level-headed insider to help them draw up a new set of rules as to how they go about recruiting new followers – gods fade away if their pool of worshippers diminishes below a certain level – when all their potential congregations have a much wider range of choices at their fingertips.
Meanwhile, Tis has another distraction, in the form of the mortal woman, Kera Espinosa, whose path she keeps crossing. Kera has made a considerable fortune from her scientific discoveries and a series of sound investments, but now devotes her life to helping others in disadvantaged and war-torn parts of the world. Raised in the voodoo religion, Kera is unfazed by Tis and her colleagues, but has little time for faith herself. The pair are thrown together by circumstances, when it becomes clear that an old enemy of Kera’s has resurfaced, and that Afterlife Inc. is facing threats from an unlikely alliance of disgruntled followers whose prayers have not been answered to their satisfaction and militant atheists who aren’t happy at being proven wrong. Not to mention that the mysterious force Tis encountered has been showing up around a number of mass murders and other atrocities, yet she and her allies still can’t figure it out.
I liked this book better than the first, although it is very much the middle one of a trilogy. The setup is more developed and we get to see wider aspects of the influence and limitations of the various deities and other immortals. I can even forgive the cliffhanger that we’re left at, although some readers may wish to wait until the third book comes out in order not to have too long a wait for its resolution. I’m really looking forward to seeing that, and learning more about the third of the furies too.
Grade: B
Summary:
Fury Tisera Graves needs a break. She wants a normal life, but she can’t see a way out of Afterlife. When the gods begin running marketing campaigns in an effort to woo followers, she steps in to keep them in line, although she really just wants to get away from it all.
Playgirl philanthropist Kera Espinosa made a nearly fatal mistake, and now she’s trying to make up for it by doing good work around the world. She’s got no time for the gods, who don’t do nearly enough. And she’s still searching for the people who nearly destroyed her. When she finds them, she’s prepared to sacrifice it all to make them pay.
When it comes time for both women to choose, will they find love or destruction?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
