Keira Kelly is now the Kelly heir. She's done several months of training and has been allowed to return to Rio Seco, Texas and join her lover and co-ruler of the area, Adam Walker. First order of business is to have a reception for all the other supernaturals in the area so they can meet the new rulers. Adam and Keira are more than willing to delegate the planning to their administrative assistants.

More by Maria Lima: Blood Lines: * Matters Of The Blood * Blood Bargain * Blood Kin * Blood Heat (Blood Lines)

Meanwhile, the local werewolf pack has contacted them about some missing members. It seems that several of the pack just disappeared after leaving to check out some new land the pack purchased. It also seems that the large neighboring town in which the werewolves live has gotten more religious and more intolerant of folks who may not be as Texan as they should be, and white supremacist icons are showing up in the area.

As Adam and Keira investigate the missing werewolves, they further refine their relationship -- working and personal. Keira manages to connect with her childhood friend and patch up their misunderstandings. However, that also brings Keira face to face with her community and what's happened to it while she's been preoccupied with her own personal problems.

This entry in the Blood Lines series continues several threads from the previous books while moving forward the relationships and growth of the main characters. While each novel grows out of what happened in the previous one, you could read them as a stand alone, but since Lima has added her own spin to some of the fantasy tropes, reading all the books will help you to understand this universe, which is so much like our own only with a hidden world of supernaturals living along side us.

Once more, just when you think things can't get any worse, they manage to pull themselves together and come out on top only to be broadsided by a totally unexpected (but fairly telegraphed) event that sets up the next book. Now, we just have to wait for the next installment to find out what happens next.