I loved the first book, "Playing Hooky", but somehow missed the next one, a novella, "Breaking Angelina". When the opportunity came up to be part of the tour for the third book, "Taking Chances" I jumped at it and got my hands on both it and "Breaking Angelina". I was in for a surprise! "Taking Chances" and Breaking Angelina" are both darker than "Playing Hooky" was. It took me a bit to adjust me expectations but once I did, I found myself caught up in the story.
"Taking Chances" starts several months after the end of "Playing Hooky". Emma is back home at her parents' house. Her sister Angelina is still missing (that happened in "Breaking Angelina") and their mother is not coping well. Adding to her father's stress is the fact that a dozen young girls, mostly teens, have gone missing. He's the Chief of Police so it's up to him and his police force to find them. What they don't know is that magical beings are responsible; humans in this world are mostly unaware of the supernatural world.
A portal to another dimension where the supernaturals come from has opened up and our human world is in danger. Emma and her friend Jason get involved due to their worry about the missing girls and damage done to Jason's shop by an unknown supernatural. Jason is not an ordinary human though he's only recently discovered what exactly he is. He has a lot to learn about who and what he is and he has to learn in a hurry. He's known for years that he's not normal so at least that's not news to him.
"Taking Chances" alternates between Jason's point of view and Emma's. Best friends for years, Emma is just starting to see Jason as a man while Jason has see her as a woman for some time now. That's one of several events to which the title refers; additionally, both Emma and Jason have to take a chance on some of the supernaturals they encounter; Emma's father has to take a chance on trusting Jason, whose involvement in events make him suspicious; and many of the other supernaturals we meet have to take a chance on Jason and Emma. Jason is part of a powerful and dangerous race while Emma is a human just learning about the supernaturals.
Dark, sexy, and action packed, "Taking Chances" up the stakes in this series and kept me reading, needing to know what would happen. I do strongly suggest reading "Breaking Angelina" before picking up this one.