*Book Review* Grave Matters by Lauren M. Roy

Series: Night Owls # 2
Published by Penguin/ACE
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Penguin
Format: Paperback, 304 pages

*Book Blurb*

Night Owls bookstore always keeps a light on and evil creatures out. But, as Lauren M. Roy's thrilling sequel continues, even its supernatural staff isn’t prepared for the dead to come back to life…

Elly grew up training to kill things that go bump in the night, so she’s still getting used to working alongside them. While she’s learned to trust the eclectic group of vampires, Renfields, and succubi at Night Owls bookstore, her new job guarding Boston’s most powerful vampire has her on edge—especially when she realizes something strange is going on with her employer, something even deadlier than usual…

Cavale isn’t thrilled that his sister works for vampires, but he’s determined to repair their relationship, and that means trusting her choices—until Elly’s job lands all of the Night Owls in deep trouble with a vengeful necromancer. And even their collective paranormal skills might not be enough to keep them from becoming part of the necromancer’s undead army…

Grave Matters, the second book in the Night Owl series, picks up a month after Night Owl ended. Events that happened in Night Owl, are IMPORTANT to understand before picking up Grave Matters. It matters because there is a lot of turmoil, sadness, and feelings that everything stared with the arrival of ONE person to Edgewood/Crow's Neck. It matters because it is the first time all the characters actually came together to fight evil side by side, even though there was a tough loss to swallow, and one of them died and was changed. It matters because everything in Edgewood is about to change, not just with relationships, but what happens next.

Grave Matters quickly becomes a deep dark mystery when Elly is approached by a little girl claiming a ghost is in her basement, while shortly thereafter, Chaz is attacked by a Ghoul, only to be saved by Jason. The connection? A sigil found on the ghost and ghoul. Grave Matters centers around a powerful Necromancer, a vampire (strigoi) war that puts one of our characters directly in harms way, and a powerful God who has a bit of a problem with said Necromancer.

Roy's cast of characters are now truly a family after everything that's happened to them since Elly arrived in town. But, they are also like kindling. One match or spark and the whole thing will go up in flames. Roy's characters include (2) vampires Val and Justin; (2) succubi Sunny and Lia; Elly and Cavale, humans that were trained by Father Value to hunt down and kill Creeps; and Chaz, a human who is Val's human assistant or Renfield but without any special skill set.

Grave Matters is probably one of the few stories that I can honestly say I didn't mind Roy using 7 different characters to tell her story. Otherwise, it would have been hard to understand each characters participation, their struggles to get passed a hard loss, and the choices that they have to be made in order to survive what's coming for them next.

The Night Owls series focuses on relationships, not just the troubles they face on a daily basis. For Val, Chaz, Elly, & Cavale, there is a long way to go before they can truly get past all the hurt and betrayal. I am eager to see how Roy ties up Lia and Sunny's storyline. We really don't know who they are hiding from. We do know that they can kick Reaper ass, and ran away to "play house" together. I am also eager to understand the effects Justin is now dealing with, and what makes him different from other Strigoi, and vampires.

Roy has left herself with interesting situations. Where does she take her characters from here? Will Val's decision come back to haunt her? Will Elly ever find her mother and father and find out why they abandoned her? Will Elly and Cavale ever put the past behind them and move on? Will Sunny and Lia's boss show up and start yet another fight to the death? And, finally, will Chaz finally get some respect after his actions in Grave Matters?

**I received this book for free from (Ace) via (NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!! This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**