Raven Cursed by Faith Hunter

The only downside to this Jane Yellowrock novel is that it's the last currently written for this series, so there's going to be a wait for the next one. I think I'll have to check out Hunter's other series.

After the mess at the summit between the witches and vampires in New Orleans, Jane decides to get out of town, so she heads for Asheville, North Carolina to get away from it all...but not really. Her boyfriend, Rick LaFleur, was bitten by a were panther, and is anticipating turning furry at the next full moon, so he's also hiding out near Asheville, in the woods, with the head of the African were cat delegation, Kemnebi, who has agreed to help him through the transition, but who secretly hates Rick, and intends to kill him when he's helpless.

Jane's witch friend, Molly, and the rest of her family are also living near Asheville, and when Master of New Orleans and most of the southern U.S.A., Leo Pellisier needs to have a high level audience between his delegate and a powerful vampire from Asheville, he requests and requires Jane's participation as head of security. Jane recruits the ex-military group headed by Derek to help out, so, aside from a change of scenery, the gang's all here for a wild and , crazy brawl.

Oh, I forgot to mention that two of the werewolves whose pack Jane and her friends wiped out in Mercy Blade, while Jane thought they were safely tucked away in jail, have gotten out and headed for the wilderness nearby, where they are attacking campers, hoping to infect some females, to rebuild the pack. Did I fail to note that the grindylow, whose race is responsible for catching and killing rogue weres, is also marking territory in the woods of NC?

Jane must use all of her powers to help local law enforcement track down and kill or capture the renegade werewolves, rescue Molly and her younger sisters and the rest of the family from a spell cast by their coven leader and elder sister, Evangelina, banish a demon, execute a rogue vamp, help Rick through his transition, and somehow or other - survive.

There's a couple of brief appearances from another vampire faction, either attempting to take control of some of Leo's territory, or disrupt the negotiations for some other reason, we never know just why - probably fodder for a sequel.

Molly's daughter, Angie, who has come into her witch powers far earlier than the usual puberty-based awakening, turns out to have some surprisingly strong powers and allies, which makes it fun.

Jane learns more, perhaps, than she bargained for about her own and her people's past from the demon, and only her connection to Beast keeps her from being overwhelmed by this evil monster. In the end, to defeat it, she sacrifices almost more than she can bear.

Lots of action, plenty of fun!