Kith and Kin: The Last Kitsune Book 3
About
When I agreed to move to New Orleans, I thought of elegant plantations or colorful cottages in the French Quarter. I had not envisioned living in a carnivorous house in the swamp. I wasn’t even sure how Baba Yaga had managed to get it here. But it was still better than staying in Milwaukee and having to face my cheating ex, Ash. Plus, since my Strigoi powers were beginning to manifest, I deemed it wise to be near someone who could train me to use them properly.
The town itself is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered before. Parties that never end, ghosts that like to sneak up on you, and food that threatens to increase my waistline. Add in long-lost family and new friends, and I’m having the time of my life-until I’m not.
Join Tai, Nico, Xunie, and Magoo as they face gators, raptors, and the Big Easy.
Praise for this book
In J.S. Scheffel’s Kith and Kin: The Last Kitsune Book 3, Tai relocates from the Louisiana bayou to New Orleans under the supervision of Strigoi governor Benjamin Durand after a powerful artifact called the Key of Wealth becomes embedded in her tongue. The move puts her in the French Quarter, where supernatural houses watch her closely while she studies her emerging Kitsune abilities. Tai spends her days training, performing music, and working at Bayou Moon, a bar run by the Ohara family, whose daughter Cara becomes her closest companion. Attention surrounding the artifact intensifies when another relic known as the Key of Health begins destroying the life of a woman connected to the Harpyia house. Zephyra, determined to save her sister Zora, believes Tai has the answer and initiates a dangerous plan that draws Tai back toward the bayou for a confrontation that will decide the fate of everyone involved.
J.S. Scheffel’s Kith and Kin relates to Tai's fox spirit lineage, and her place among the final bearers of a Kitsune heritage. Tai is a powerhouse of a protagonist, intelligent and witty, and we get to know her by being directly in her head. She can steady a room with her voice and react with foxfire when necessary, moving past the stereotype of a male-dominated literary genre. I really like the character of Trace Malone, whose lengthy hidden life and rogue shapeshifting make him a bit of a wildcard. The bayous and Louisiana wetlands are so central to the story that the setting is almost a character in its own right. The Ohara swamp house with secrets beneath the floorboards and cypress shadows on the windows, and a night performance at Bayou Moon, where music fills a crowded, candlelit room, are spectacular. With excellent, sharp writing and heaps of contemporary supernatural elements rooted in folklore, this is a fabulous read. Very highly recommended.