New York Time’s Best selling author Yasmine Galenorn’s new dark urban fantasy series, The Indigo Court, hits bookstores, today, with the release of Night Myst. Readers will immediately be drawn into New Forest, Galenorn’s fictional small town in Washington, when Cicely Waters returns home under a cloud of mystery and loss. Cicely is born into magic, and the death of New Forest’s town witch, Marta, forces her to return, and face the demons of her past. She quickly becomes embroiled in the dangerous vampiric machinations of the local branch of the Vampire Nation and the mystery surrounding the disappearances of several other magic born locals. Throw a long lost, first lover; a newly risen breed of vampiric fae that use sex and fae glamours to control or kill their victims, and family members coming to terms with their own powers and personal demons into the mix, and you have the literary version of a molotov cocktail.

On the surface, Night Myst may feel very familiar to long time readers of Ms. Galenorn’s work. As with her popular Otherworld Series, she has created more of her trademark spell-slinging, ass kicking alpha females; Cicely and her cousin, Rhiannon are both cut from this cloth. The responsibilities of family duty also act as motivations in this book, as is the case with the D’Artigo sisters. The “big bad,” Myst, escapes from a prison thought to be permanent; and Cicely even reunites with a past love, Grieve, despite family disapproval, while discovering a new sexual chemistry with an enigmatic Asian who is more than meets the eye.

The sexuality and carnal pursuits in Night Myst are more heightened than in the Otherworld books. If very explicit sexual scenes are not to your taste, you may find yourself skimming over, or skipping, a few sections of story. However, while explicit, it is not gratuitous; the sensuality and sexuality of the vampires – both types – is integral to the story. Unlike the D’Artigo books, the Indigo Court Series is entirely from Cicely’s point of view. One of the keenest differences between the old work, and this new series, is the infusion of magic into everything in this fictional town. There is not an issue of “educating” the “mundanes” (or to use terminology from the D’Artigo stories – FBHs – full blooded humans) about magic and magical creatures. The magic just IS; the vampires are out of the coffin and the werewolves howl openly. New Forest is actually home to an exclusive school for the magically inclined – the New Forest Conservatory.

The pacing is not as smooth as the last couple of releases from Ms. Galenorn. This seems to be more due to the fact that she’s setting up a new world, with a very intricate mythology, and establishing several core characters, while clipping through a lot of plot. Many “first books” in a series suffer from this; but it seems to be a fair trade off in this case. Cicely and her cousin, Rhia, are both quite engaging and you find yourself rooting for them very early on in the story, not just because they’re the “good guys,” but because they’re likable, accessible characters. The vampires are also fascinating and the political maneuvering amongst the higher echelon of the Vampire Nation, contrasting with the more brutal, elemental vampiric fae, will suck you into their world.

Overall, Night Myst proves to be a highly enjoyable read, and The Indigo Court shows the potential for becoming an even more addictive series than the Otherworld books. I look forward to seeing where Ms. Galenorn takes Cicely and her readers, next June, when Night Veil is released.