This is book one of the Magic After Midnight and is an offshoot of another series by the author, with twin sisters Avery and Allison Whitfield, exiled to a supernatural farm to learn safely about their new vampire traits. One of them had Huntington’s disease, which was genetic and didn’t want her sister to have it also, so they decided to drink some of their brother Luke’s blood to be healed, as they thought. But because of Luke’s bond with his mate, his blood is very strong, and it meant they were both turned into vampires, without any permission from the Vampire Council. So yet again, members of their family have been called in front of the Vampire Council, this time one that has new members, even their own sister Hailey and her mate Jax. That doesn’t mean they will get special treatment, but at least this newer Council will not mean they get a death sentence like Hailey was threatened with, but instead they must spend a year on a special prison farm run by a Fae warden, Blanche White, who is a lot more than just a simple fae. The Farm is a last chance reformatory for vampires and Blanche is rather busy with preparations for the Renaissance Faire to be held in two days and wasn’t expecting any new guests for the Farm. She is facing a load of new permits required for the vendors at the Faire, by a human councilman who is holding a grudge and insisting on last minute inspections! She has a trusted handyman in reformed vampire Philip, who used to be a monster no one thought could be reformed, who decided to stay on when his sentence ended, as well as the help of his girlfriend, fae Sam/Zam. Dominic, the head of the vampire council, rings Blanche just as she finishes dealing with vendor issues, to announce three new arrivals, sisters Avery and Allison, and Arric Smith, who was actually a member of the council! If Arric did not complete his sentence, then he would be executed.
They have been sent to the Farm to learn vampire rules and to learn to respect them, with a year to reflect on the consequences of their actions! Going through a portal to the Farm ends with a shock as bright sunshine is deadly to them all. Thankfully, the whole farm is protected, and vampires can work in the daytime and be out in the sun there without burning up. Arric tries to break out of the farm almost as soon as he arrives and even messing with the minds of the twins and trying on Blanche as well. Shame she is far stronger than Arric and will make sure he regrets trying that on anyone again. She is the only one to decide how they must spend their time on the farm and what they must do to atone for their crimes, so her word is law! Something Arric will find difficult to deal with. After settling in, after Avery saw the real Blanche, apparently a new vampiric power of hers, and got quite a shock. The first job the twins are given is to find the escaped fae pygmy goats, who have eaten their way out of the pen they were in which should have made sure they were kept out of the Faire and so wouldn’t eat all the goods. As they look for the goats, Allison has a small snake like fox fall into her arms as they walk on the edges of the dark forest at one edge of the farm, then find its dead parent, who has been stabbed! They race out with the kit and run into Sam and Philip, who accuse them of dangerous behaviour until they get told what actually happened. The creature is called a nathua and its mother and other kits from the family should have also been nearby. They all search for its mother and siblings, but only Allison can see it, stuck under a metal and rope net. Avery’s new power seems to be her affinity to animals. What the girls don’t know is that any nathua that loses its mate in a violent manner, will go berserk and kill anything it can! They cannot live without their mate and live together until one dies and the other would normally kill itself. Allison is pulled out of the way, just as Arric and Blanche arrive. They all get to see Blanche use her deadly powers on the mother nathua and Philip rushes them away before she hurts them also, without meaning to.
Something strange is happening in the area, with other strange disappearances and the faewoods are acting oddly, even turning Blanche around. The farm and the faire grounds are warded, with a portal the only access to the fae woods themselves, to keep human out where needed and to allow the vampires to be safe in the sun. Arric continues to test the bounds of the farm and especially Blanche’s authority, but even he will be shocked at what’s happening and offers her his assistance. There seems to be some strange forces around, especially within the faewoods, with the baby nathua siblings having been stolen, as well as they mother, whilst the father was killed. Whether whoever took them actually knew much about these fae creatures is unclear, as the kits would need very specific food to survive. Whilst the sisters are sent to look for the goats, Avery continues to carry the kit in a pouch, to keep it comfortable, but the faewoods start to mess with them until they are rescued by a handsome man who says he is Blanche’s brother Keir. After finding the goats far from the farm, they call Blanche, but she is worried about one of her trusted staff who hasn’t been seen since the twins left them near a nest for one of the nathua’s food sources. It is a mystery that turns out to have a deadly outcome and leaves all of them wanting to catch whoever was behind it. But someone clearly has secrets and is determined to keep them hidden, whether this is to do with the nathua, or something else inside the faewoods! I look forward to finding out what happens next and discovering more of the secrets behind the farm and those who live and work there.
I received an ARC copy of this book, and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.