Please note this is book 4 in the series, I didn't read book 3 FIREWORKS IN THE HAMPTONS, so I'm going into this a little behind the times.

Once again we return to the world of Willow Tate, graphic novelist by choice and Visualizer against her better judgment. Weird things are happening in the Hamptons and Paumanok Harbor in particular, as a string of crimes, rare bird sightings and dolphins giving the heave-ho to surfers. The locals blame Willow for it, despite the fact she doesn't have anything to do with it (which is surprising in and of itself), but that's hard to believe when the events seem to be chronicled in her latest book.

One of the reasons I originally enjoyed this series was because Willow seemed so...interesting. Even before she got a handle on her Visualizer powers, Willow was creative and chaotic. Stuff I can relate to and was happy to read about. As the series has progressed however much of Willow's creativity has been channeled into making sure things don't go haywire. When anything you draw can come to life, or more accurately in most case be drawn to you by magic, it’s hard to want to draw for fun you know?

I want to mention this because it’s partially why I didn't pick up book 3--Jerome has this odd penchant for ending the book with action half-finished. Not like a cliff-hanger per say, more like those old cartoons that would end with 'Stay tuned for the next thrilling adventure!'. For the casual reader this probably isn't a problem, but as a voracious reader it feels silly since if I like book I'll definitely pick up the next one.

As seems to be typical for this series Willow gets herself yet another love interest (or two) and she's surprised by this (though I don't know why since there's been at least half a dozen interested guys in this series), but the romance doesn't overshadow the plot. Jerome is a pseudonym for romance author Barbara Metzger, an author I admire greatly for her historical romances. However I've become less enchanted with her urban fantasy series.

Honestly while it’s refreshing to read a UF that doesn't involve vampires, shifters or the Fae being hunky warriors with long ears I've fallen less in love with Willow and her not always smart decision making skills. This was enjoyable, but nothing too exciting. ( )

(NOTE: For anyone keeping track of my read durations, I feel obliged to point out that this series is not as tough to get through as those long read times may make it seem. In fact, they're pretty quick "beach read" books; I've just been swamped with both work and doing some writing of my own, which has left much less brain space for reading.)

Anyway, this penultimate book in the series is really more like the first half of a double-length finale. While each book has built on the previous volumes and concluded a love story arc, this one leaves the romance unresolved - in much the same way the first book did, actually. I'm presently about a third of the way into the last book, and it's very much a continuation of this one in terms of plot and romance. The threat stems directly from the previous book's events, and the love interest is the same as before. (In fact, books 3-5 make sort of a trilogy in those respects, but book 3 is more "detachable" than books 4-5.) ( )