Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Quickening Vol. 1 
SERIES: Little Goddess #5
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 316 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 2nd, 2017
BLURB:
Cory thought she’d found balance on Green’s hill—sorceress, student, queen of the vampires, wife to three men—she had it down! But establishing her right to risk herself with Green and Bracken had more than one consequence, and now she’s facing the world’s scariest job title: mother.
But getting the news that she’s knocked up takes a backseat when a half-elf hunts them down for help. Her arrival brings news that the werewolf threat, which has been haunting them for over a year, has finally arrived on their doorstep—and it’s bigger and more frightening than they’d ever imagined.
Cory throws herself into this new battle with everything she’s got—and her men let her do it. Because they all know that whether they defeat this enemy now or later, the thing she’s most afraid of is arriving on a set schedule, and not even Cory can avoid it. The trick is getting her to acknowledge she’s pregnant before she gives birth—or kills herself in denial.
REVIEW:
Yes! Seems like we’ve been waiting 10 years for this one!
I’m not even sure how to start this!
Ok. So when we last saw Cory, at the end of Rampant, things were sort of calm. The big bad shit storm was over, and the folks on the hill were recovering from the latest battle. Cory managed to override the elven trick of controlling fertilization, and has gotten herself knocked up with TWO babies! One by Green, one by Bracken.
I need to back up a bit though. There is the main four, now five books in the Little Goddess series. There are also several short stories and novellas that follow concurrently with the main series. There is a series of novellas, the Green’s Hill Werewolves, that are the story of Teague and Jack mostly, as they sort their shit out and eventually bond with a girl werewolf named Katy. At the end of the last novella in that series, Teague is in Monterey recovering from the bad shit that happened in Redding that we read about in Rampant. The hill folks know there is some funky werewolf shit happening, but not the source of it. Jack and Katy run in to a freaking clusterfuck of bad werewolves, and Cory and crew save them. This brings the funky werewolf shit to the forefront.
Still with me?
Now we get to Quickening vol. 1….
There is lots going on in this book, as seems to be the case for all of the books in this series! Cory is pregnant and not really accepting that fact, even though she’s more barfy than usual. She and a few of the others are starting back to school, which is hard on her physically. There is some drama with Adrian’s ghost, and Green is hiding something from his lovers. There is the usual drama around the hill, part of which is lingering from the mess they all dealt with in Redding.
Then there is the funky werewolf shit. A new girl comes around, who appears to be part elf, asking for help rescuing her part elf friend who has been arrested. Cory and Green start to work through what is happening, and begin to see that the boy in jail is tied in to the werewolf issue. A rescue is staged, shit goes down, and we have a new big enemy to deal with!
Interpersonal things are eventually sorted out between everyone, mostly. I loved seeing more of Green’s past in a couple of scenes. The battle with the werewolves progresses, and we are left waiting for more in the next book! I’m keeping is vague due to spoilers, and mostly because there is just a lot going on!
I am a big fan of this series, and have been waiting a really long time for this book. I can say that I absolutely loved it. My only issue was a lot of what happens in this book refers back to what happened in Monterey, but it had been so long since I read the werewolf novellas that I couldn’t remember what happened. I actually stopped half way through Quickening vol 1, and read the werewolf books. I felt up to date after that little detour! It was driving me crazy, Cory and crew kept referring to Monterey all the time, and I didn’t know what had happened! There are also other characters in this book that are from other short stories, Whim and Charlie, and the two angels we met with Adrian in a little story. Basically this is a really complex world, with lots of characters, and they all have their own books, novellas and short stories. It can be a challenge to keep track of who is who, and what happened.
I will say these books all have a similar feel. There is always a conflict of some sort for Cory and the hill folks to deal with. Bad vampires, bad bird shifters, bad elves, bad werewolves, etc. There is always drama between Cory, Green, Bracken, and Nicky of some sort. Caused by internal issues, or external issues. There is always drama around the hill in general, someone is hurt, someone is fucking, someone is not fucking that should be. Sometimes it gets a tad bit repetitious… But there is also always growth. The characters are always moving forward, and improving. There are always new characters being introduced, even as we lose one now and then. I love that while all of this big bad shit is going on, Cory is still trying to go to school and get her freaking degree. I love that everyone hangs out in the living room and watches movies. I love the community of the hill. Even when they bicker and fight, they all love each other. Very commune like in some ways.
I love urban fantasy, and this series is a shining example. They follow fantastic characters, in what feels like such a realistic setting. There is sex of every sort, although not much explicit f/f goes on. But lots of explicit f/m/m, f/m, and a little m/m. It is an ongoing series with lots of short stories and novellas, so this book is in no way a stand alone. You have got to read all of the others, including the short stories, before you tackle this one. But oh…. it’s so very worth it!
Amy Lane is a Goddess, and I love her! The creativity of her world building astounds me continuously.
This book was well worth the long wait, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
RATING: 
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