Back in September, I had the pleasure of reviewing The Athena Effect, the first book in a brand new series by the very talented Derrolyn Anderson. As soon as I finished that book, I began the anxious wait for the sequel. Calvin and Caledonia sucked me in as much as the characters in Anderson’s Marina’s Tales did, and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. Thankfully, the wait has come to an end with The Mackenzie Legacy!

The Mackenzie Legacy picks up pretty much exactly where the Athena Effect left off, with very little gap in between. Anderson doesn’t waste much time catching the reader up on Cal and Cali’s activities in the short space between. Nor does she rehash the entire first book. While she does give enough information to allow you to follow along if you didn’t read the first one, these books are meant to be read in order and you’ll lose so much if you skip ahead!

 Cal and Cal: On the Road

I don’t want to give away too much of the first book for those who haven’t had a chance to read it yet (what are you waiting for?), but The Mackenzie Legacy begins with the two Cals on the road, trying to survive on very little money as far off the grid as possible. When Cal discovers that Cali’s unique talents can help them survive a little more comfortably, he pushes her into using them to get ahead. Cali is never quite comfortable with this, but she goes along with it to make life easier.

Inheriting a Legacy

Along their journeys, Cali makes a rather shocking discovery about the so-called Athena effect and her own family history. I won’t ruin it for you, but I was actually pretty surprised! While Cal and Cali are on the run, the twins that they met at the end of the first book- Michael and Layla- are dealing with some troubles of their own. Michael seems to have adjusted well to a life of deceit and debauchery, but Layla wants out. She devises an escape plan, aided by the two Cals, but it doesn’t exactly go off without a hitch.

Like all of Anderson’s books so far, The Mackenzie Legacy is beautifully written with rich descriptive text and realistic dialogue. The characters are all flawed in some way, and those flaws drive both the main plot and the back-stories. I love how Anderson balances the conflict and climatic points with gentle moments between characters and a vibrant overall picture of their lives. When she needs to put you at the edge of your seat, she does. She also gives you down time to recover from the knuckle-biting suspense of what’s going to happen to our beloved characters next.

The Mackenzie Legacy  answers questions left over from the first book and introduces a few new ones that will leave you waiting for the next book in the series. I know I can’t wait to find out what happens to the two Cals and the twins next!

A Charming Bracelet for a Charming Story

Derrolyn is doing something really fun with this series by creating jewelry to go along with each book. For the Mackenzie Legacy, she tracked down absolutely perfect charms to create a fun bracelet. Come back tomorrow for the Showers of Books giveaway hop to enter to win the bracelet and ebook copies of both books.