Serpent's Kiss

Serpent's Kiss by Melissa de la Cruz, 2012 Hyperion Books

     After they've managed to save the world and gain their right to use magic, Joanna, Ingrid and Freya Beauchamp are back to living their lives in North Hampton on Long Island. Freya has been approached by her twin brother Freddie, and Freddie insists Killian was the one to commit the crime Freddie's been imprisoned in Limbo for. Ingrid's relationship with Matt Noble, the detective, is off to a rocky start. And Joanna has a spirit causing chaos trying to contact her for help.
     Freya is torn between her love affair with Killian her true love and fiance and the accusations of her twin brother Freddie. To top it off, Freddie wants her to keep his presence a secret from the rest of the family and her magic is failing. When she orchestrates Freddie's reappearance into the family fold Freya hopes it will ease some of the tension between herself and Killian.
     Though she and Matt have decided to try something more than a distant flirtation, Ingrid is having second thoughts. She is not the sexy seductress her sister is, but that shouldn't stop the eons-old virgin from having any relationship with a man. When Ingrid finally believes she might be able to have some relationship with Matt her life is turned topsy-turvy by a brood of child-like pixies.
     Joanna asks her estranged husband Norman for help with the persistent spirit, but her daughters' hopes for a family reunion is spoiled when she absentmindedly invites her gentleman-friend to Thanksgiving dinner. Life for the Beauchamp women seems to be thrown into tumult by the discovery of a traitor setting up Killian and Freddie for the collapse of the Bofrir and destruction of the gods' powers. With their family in danger the Beauchamps stand together to face whatever may challenge their lives and their home.
     In the second installment of their story, the Beauchamp women use their magic to fight for what they believe in--family, freedom, and fun. They've known someone has passed the blame for his nefarious deeds to Freddie, they assume it is Loki, the god of mischief. When life gets in the way each woman perseveres. Their story is more appropriate for more adult readers; each woman bends the rules in a different way to advance her cause for good.