Crux by Moira Rogers

Mackenzie Brooks finds herself running for her life after a mad man named Marcus shows up at her front door claiming that they were destined for each other and that they would have and raise magical babies.  Mackenzie only sees him as a crazy stalker and fears for her life with all of his talk of shape shifters and magic. Marcus is very intent on making her his, and after leaving her home and dreams of becoming a dancer and running for over a month Mackenzie finally finds some space to breathe. Workings as a bartender in a small bar in New Orleans, she finds herself drawn to the people around her and debates whether or not she can make a new life for herself there but fear of being found despite ditching all of her earthly possessions still stands strong in her.

Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn’t crack…until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn’t explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past—and her destiny.

Warning: This book contains devious schemes, epic battles, forbidden love between a shapeshifter and a spellcaster, nosy secondary characters, furniture-endangering sex and a woman fighting to choose her own destiny.

Jumping at every creak of a door and constantly looking over her shoulder, her new boss Nicole Peyton asks her friend and Private Investigator Jackson Holt to follow Mackenzie home to assure her that Mackenzie has a safe place to sleep. Discovering that her home is a rat infested motel, he is unable to leave her and quickly realizes just looking at Mackenzie makes his heart beat faster. After helping her to find a safe place to live, Jackson decides that he wants to know more about her. Determined to win her trust, Jackson begins to get Mackenzie to open up about her troubles and soon a very hot and heavy romance blossoms between the two. Not wanting to spook her Jackson takes things slowly resulting in a lot of sexual frustration. Just as it seems life is getting better for Mackenzie things take a turn for the worse.

On the stairs to her new apartment Jackson and Mackenzie come face-to-face with two of Marcus’ goons sent to retrieve her and bring her back to him at all cost. To Mackenzie’s’ surprise, Marcus was right about one thing… magic does exist! She and Jackson find themselves fighting for their lives against a huge wolf shifter and a caster.  As magic fills the air, Mackenzie realized that the bad guys aren’t the only ones equipped with magic as Jackson, also a caster, manages to get them out of the sticky situation.

With the help of Jackson, her boss wolf shifter Nicole, Alec (Jacksons  partner and also a wolf shifter), Kat (Jackson’s assistant), a cougar named Steven, Nicole’s sister Michelle who is a seer and a magical mentor Mahalia, Mackenzie goes on one heck of a crash course in the paranormal. Scared for her sanity Mackenzie fights the realization that she isn’t at all what she thought she was.

Not letting anyone, even family, stand in the way of getting what he wants the villain in Crux is a very powerful and frightening person. Having spent his entire life working toward a solution to save the cougar shifters from extinction and thinking that he had lost his only chance years before to a fire, he now believes that Mackenzie is the answer to all his problems and will stop at nothing to use her with or without consent. The threats of bodily harm, mind control and rape are enough to give you chills as you read the insane thinking of this creative villain.

As the ghosts from her past appear and threaten to shatter everything she has ever believed in, Mackenzie struggles to put the people she now calls friends and Jackson, the one person she thinks she may be able to love in danger, she debates sacrificing her self in order to save them all. Crux takes an interesting twist that gives the bad guys the advantage (no I’m not going to give it away). There is a crazy amount of adrenaline pumping moments where you don’t know if there will be a happy ending to Crux or not.

Focusing heavily on the shifter society Crux takes it in a different direction. Hidden from the human world, the shifters are governed by a group known as the Conclave. You really don’t learn much about them but I suspect you will in the books to come. The easy banter between the characters is a nice change, not only is it quality dialogue but a look into their individual personalities that I hope to learn more on as the series continues.  The writing team known as Moira Rogers gives you a view into some of their supporting characters lives in a way that impels you to want more, hidden love,  a questionable friendship, and a “nope you shouldn’t go there” romance! The action in Crux is fast paced and intense, the romance between Mackenzie and Jackson is immediate yet because of the situation it creates so much sexual tension you can cut it with a knife! As with a lot of supernatural books you get shifters, magicians, and vampires but guess what… NO VAMPIRES in New Orleans this time but what you do get is a yummy cast of Wolves, Cougars and Casters! Trust me its enough! Crux: Southern Arcana, Book 1 by Moira Rogers is the start to a series that I will gladly be putting toward the top of my To-Be-Read pile and look forward to reading Book 2 of the Southern Arcana series, Crossroads.