Review: The Lovely and the Lost - Page Morgan

The Lovely and the Lost by Page Morgan, published by Hot Key Books on 1st May 2014

Goodreads synopsis:
Gabby and Ingrid may have saved their brother, but their journey is far from over. Ingrid must learn how to control her powers before they begin to control her. She wishes Luc would help her, but he's refusing... Meanwhile Gabby has thrown herself into the Alliance, despite the eye patch she now wears thanks to a hellhound. But there are major changes afoot. When Nolan returns from the trials of the traitorous Alliance members he brings his father and his cousin, whose first order is to remove Chelle, Ingrid, and Gabby from their duties - women are no longer welcome.

But Paris needs hunters, especially now murder is sweeping the city again. Whole families are being slaughtered in their sleep, at the dinner table - even while out in the family carriage. Just who or what is behind these slayings?

Review:
This is the sequel to 'The Beautiful and the Cursed' in Page Morgan's series about the Waverly sisters.  It feels like a long time ago since I read book one, so I was pleased that pivotal events were nicely recapped at the start.  This refreshed my memory of the characters and the plot so I was all set to read on and engross myself in the newest instalment. 

There is a lot going on in the story as we follow Ingrid, Gabby and their brother Grayson.  They find themselves becoming more and more embroiled in the actions of the Alliance, particularly Gabby and danger seems to be following at their heels.  There is plenty of mystery and action thrown in to keep the reader enthralled and there is also a generous dose of romance which I loved. 

Gabby is my favourite character in the series, so I enjoyed all the parts of the book which centred around her.  She desperately wants to be a member of the Alliance and she wants to learn to fight and defend herself and others.  She is stubborn and determined but also extremely brave which I admired.  Her budding romance with Nolan was one of my favourite things about the book.  They work so well together and I loved all of their interactions. 

The will they, won't they romance also continues between Ingrid and Luc, although adding Vander to the mix turns this into somewhat of a love triangle.  I can't wait to see how things will eventually be resolved between them. 

I found the middle part of the story a little slow at times, but the beginning and the ending were so good that they more than made up for this.  My absolute favourite thing about this series is still the wonderful setting of Paris in 1900 which lends a dark and moody atmosphere to events and lends itself nicely to the gothic and supernatural elements of the book. 

If you enjoyed the first book in this series then you will undoubtedly find yourself hooked on the sequel which left me with a lot of questions still about how Page Morgan plans to resolve things for all the characters.