Digital List Price:	$9.99
Kindle Price:	$9.49 Save $0.50 (5%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Jenn Bennett

+ Follow

More books from this author

Kindling the Moon: An Arcadia Bell Novel (The Arcadia Bell Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Jenn Bennett (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 504 ratings

Book 1 of 4: The Arcadia Bell

See all formats and editions

Meet Arcadia Bell: bartender, renegade magician, fugitive from the law. . . .

Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn’t easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia “Cady” Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she’s carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.

But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can’t clear her family name soon, she’ll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A great off-beat debut novel with a likeable heroine and a fun, original storyline.” (Karen Chance, New York Times bestselling author )

“Kindling the Moon rocks like AC/DC on Saturday night. This book has it all: great writing, action, romance, a strong heroine, a unique hero, and the best teenager ever. I can’t wait for the next one.” (Ann Aguirre, national bestselling author )

“Kindling the Moon engaged me from page one. I loved it! I immediately adored the heroine, Arcadia Bell. This book is packed from cover to cover with unpredictable twists, heart-pounding action, and heated sexual tension." (Anya Bast, New York Times bestselling author )

“Debut author Jenn Bennett takes the familiar ideas of magic, demons, and mythology, and she gives us something sexy, fun, and genuinely unique in Kindling the Moon. Arcadia Bell is a sassy, whip-smart addition to the growing pantheon of urban fantasy heroines, and Bennett an author to watch!”
(Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead )

"The talent pool for the urban fantasy genre just expanded with Bennett's arrival. This is an impressive debut, which opens the door for a series that promises to be exceedingly entertaining." --Jill Smith, Romantic Times (4 stars)

"A great off-beat debut novel with a likeable heroine and a fun, original storyline." --Karen Chance, NYT bestselling author

"Debut author Jenn Bennett takes the familiar ideas of magic, demons, and mythology, and she gives us something sexy, fun, and genuinely unique in Kindling the Moon." --Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead

"Kindling the Moon engaged me from page one. I loved it!" --Anya Bast, NYT bestselling author

"Delicious characters, fun twists, and fiendish risks. . . . This smart, stylish debut really delivers. Loved, loved, loved it!" --Carolyn Crane, author of Double Cross

About the Author

Jenn Bennett is an award-winning author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series (KINDLING THE MOON), the Roaring Twenties romance series (BITTER SPIRITS), and the young adult contemporary romances THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART (aka NIGHT OWLS in the U.K.) and ALEX, APPROXIMATELY. Her books have earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA® Award, received two Reviewers' Choice awards and a Seal of Excellence from RT Book Reviews, and been included on Publishers Weekly Best Books annual list. She lives near Atlanta with one husband and two pugs. Visit her at jennbennett.net.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004G8QSEE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books; Reprint edition (June 28, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 28, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2584 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 386 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #530,873 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #734 in Ghost Paranormal Romance
- #1,829 in Contemporary Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #3,362 in Urban Fantasy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 504 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jenn Bennett

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jenn Bennett is an award-winning author of young adult books, including: ALEX, APPROXIMATELY; STARRY EYES; and SERIOUS MOONLIGHT. She also writes romance and fantasy for adults. Her books have earned multiple starred reviews, won the Romance Writers of America's RITA® Award, and been included on Publishers Weekly annual Best Books list. In addition to being a writer, she’s also an artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. She was born in Germany, lived in several U.S. states, and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. She currently lives near Atlanta with one husband and two dogs.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

504 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Mithrendiel

Fantastic debut novel - A mystery story with great characters and swoon-worthy romance

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2011

Verified Purchase

Kindling the Moon has been on my radar for months now, after it stormed the blog world, getting tons of praise from reviewers I trust. So why did I put off reading it? The amazon blurb for one thing - Magician (are we talking cape and rabbits in hats here?) investigates murders with sex-spell specialist? Blarg. This blurb doesn't come close to doing the book justice. Then there's the description of the male lead - Lon. I'm not proud to say one of my reasons for avoiding this novel was the description of his glorious mustache. For me sexy and mustache do not belong in the same sentence together. Shallow much? Maybe, but, hey one of the reasons we read urban fantasy is for the smexy men, right?

After reading this novel I now want to smack myself for waiting so long to pick it up. All those bloggers were right! It really is fantastic.

The world building is the first thing that jumped out at me. More specifically, the author put a lot of work into creating a unique magic system. Magician is such a passé moniker for the magic users of this novel. They use classic magical ritual (circles, symbols, etc) and then call on some sort of energy to "kindle" (or activate) the magic. Pretty awesome. Okay so maybe I'm the only one that really geeks out on unique magic systems, but I give Ms. Bennett an A+ for creating a feasible, creative magical system.

The story is so much better than what the blurb implies. Arcadia is a woman with a uniquely strong magical ability. She's also a fugitive. She's been hunted her whole life because of a nefarious series of magical murders her parents allegedly committed. She hasn't used her real name in years, and no one, not even her closest friends, knows her history. But the darkness of her past can't remain hidden forever. Her world is turned upside down when a news broadcast reveals her parents have emerged from hiding, and returned to the states. The hunters seeking them begin swarming, and Arcadia must begin unraveling the secrets of her parent's past, in order to protect them from their enemies. With the clock ticking, she has to find the real villain behind the brutal occult murders that occurred years before.

The story reads like a classic murder mystery, with serious paranormal elements. It's not predictable (thank goodness), and the end leaves you satisfied (no cliffhangers here).

The characters - ah yes - the most important thing to me. Arcadia is exceedingly likeable. She's strong, smart, independent, and loyal. She thankfully avoids ALL of the annoying urban fantasy chic stereo types. She engages her brain before taking action. She doesn't mouth off foolishly to powerful strangers. She's not overbearing, whiney, excessively stubborn, stupidly brave, yadda yadda. Basically she avoided annoying me in any way. She's also not perfect though - she has serious trust issues - but this makes her more real, and easier to identify with.

And yes, this book has romance aplenty. Mustache romance! Now, if you are like me you are probably cringing at the thought, but as another reviewer kindly pointed out - try to picture Captain Jack Sparrow's facial hair, and you'll get over your dislike fast. Pirates are sexy, right (especially when they look like Johnny Depp)? Well, Lon definitely is. He's exactly the kind of romance lead I look for in fiction. He's enigmatic, secretive, and powerful. A man with a dark past. He doesn't fall all over himself over Arcadia - their romance takes a while to unfold, but the suspense just makes it all the more delicious.

Kindling the Moon is a magnificent addition to the urban fantasy genre. It hit all the right points for me. Likeable, non-annoying characters? Check. Amazing sexy romance that makes me swoon like a teenage girl? Check. Interesting world building, and engaging, non-predictable plot? Also checks. If you are on the fence about reading this book for any reason, I strongly encourage you to hop right off and pick it up. It's well worth the read.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tracy

UF Series Debut Kindles Brightly

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2011

Verified Purchase

Two weeks. Fourteen days. That's how long Arcadia Bell has to live unless her parents turn themselves in to the rival occult order that holds them responsible for the brutal murders of several of their top occultists seven years ago, serial murders known as the Black Lodge slayings. Now that they've been caught on video surveillance, thus proving they're alive and their deaths had been staged, the Luxe Order is intent on bringing them to heel and making them pay. And her cover is blown right along with theirs.

Seven years spent hiding. Seven years spent away from her parents. Alone in a way that most people can't imagine. Arcadia Bell...though that's not her real name...managed as best any young magician could between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. She carved out a life, however transient, and even made friends (not that they know who she really is). She opened a demon-friendly bar with one of those friends, practicing her magic on patrons when necessary as she serves as both bartender and de facto bouncer. She dated - occasionally, ate, shopped, practiced her craft...lived.

Seven years of that life, gone in an instant...and strung out on an excruciating two-week deadline.

Difference is, now Arcadia is an adult, and she's always been a bit different than other magicians. The circumstances of her birth set her apart that way. She has no plans to go gentle into that good night without a healthy dose of raging against the dying of the light first. In short, she plans to prove that her parents were not responsible for the crimes they've been accused of committing. Even if she has to track down the murderous demon who was used as the weapon, summon him from the Æthyric plane, bind him, and force him to bear true witness to whomever actually wielded him as such all those years ago.

Of course, that plan could - and probably will - get her killed long before the deadline is up. Still...it's a plan.

~*~
Welcome to the wild world of Arcadia Bell, gifted magician, skilled bartender, and two-tone haired hedgehog owner. Settle back, kick your feet up, and prepare to be entertained as Cady, with the help of the delicious but taciturn Earthbound demonologist Lon Butler, works to piece together the clues from the mother of all cold cases and identify the demon who killed three people before Cady is sent to her death in her parents' stead. It's gonna be a heck of a ride.

Bennett has created an exciting new world of demons and occultist magicians, fleshed it out nicely and explained it in such a way that didn't make my head feel like it was going to explode! I can't sufficiently express just how wonderful and rare that is. I don't normally do too well with books that heavily feature the woo-woo magic. It's not that I dislike the books, it's just...no matter how "clearly" spells, incantations, and magical rules are explained, I struggle to understand/picture it. I swear, it's like I have a magic comprehension disability or something.

I can't say I got every bit of magical world building that Bennett explained here, but I got most of it, and felt comfortable with it. That's a nice change.

She also created Cady Bell, series star. I liked her. Maybe she didn't wow me or instantly make me fall in love with her, but she was definitely a very nice blend of self-sufficient and competent magician, and quirky, sometimes emotionally awkward young woman. She's hip...with a pinch of nerd and a dollop of bad ass thrown into the mix. I think I'm really going to like seeing how her character progresses through this series.

Lon Butler was a bit of an enigma to me. Earthbound demon, single father, and a bit stoic and cautious by nature, he was an interesting character. It's weird, but I'm not completely sure how I feel for him as the romantic interest and Caty's partner in investigation. Famous photographer by trade, demonologist by design, he blew a little hot and cold for me, and like Cady, I had some trouble reading his intentions and emotions. I think that was on purpose, though, so I don't think I can really complain. I will say, the scene with Lon and Cady on the plane was one of my favorites in the book. I just loved him expounding on the instances he had thought he'd made his feelings and intentions for Cady known.

Okay...I'm going to damn myself but good here, but I have to admit I feel a little odd about the difference in their ages. Sure, give me a 2,000 year-old vampire and a twenty-something young thing finding their forever love and I'm fine and dandy, but a forty-two-year-old man (Earthbound, whatever) dating a twenty-five-year-old woman gives me a bit of a squig? Seriously? I'm disappointed in myself on this one, trust me. You'd think age difference would matter not at all to a PNR/UF lover - hell, that's what I thought, myself. Still, something about the difference in their ages and experiences (which reminds me...I'm a little tired of the ubiquitous demon/vampire/werewolf sex club, thanks) and a few of Lon's life choices (concerning aforementioned sex club) didn't sit completely comfortably with me.

I intend to get over it, though, because I love, love, LOVE Lon's son Jupe and I want him to be a part of the series for a long, long time.

Kindling the Moon is definitely one of the more exciting and entertaining urban fantasy series debuts I've read recently. Bennett writes an easily readable narrative (even for someone suffering from MCD - magical comprehension disability) and has a strong grasp on her characters. The world is fresh, the plot was meaty and had quite a few surprises (one in particular was a real doozy), and the characters are likable, with an aura of character longevity that bodes well for future books. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for them all.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Good enough read

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

Probably a 3.5 in stars, I didn't think it was worth a 4. I read Bitter Spirits first & really loved it. So I thought, try another Jenn Bennett & I did. It wasn't the same & the characters weren't as fun.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Jeannie Zelos

terrific start to the series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

Kindling the Moon, (Arcadia Bell 1) ,Jenn Bennett
Review from jeannie zelos book reviews
I love a good paranormal mystery, especially when there's a romantic angle to it. I'd had this one on my list of To Be Read for a while – you know, that list of books you want to read at some point...when there's time..and money! Then the fourth one came up on Netgalley for review and I had that and loved it. I knew from the quality ot the writing and plots that this would be a long time favourite series for my keepers file, and when I was offered the earlier novels for review I jumped at the chance.

So, the story starts with us being introduced to the major character Aracdia ( Cady) busy at work in her part owned Tiki bar...busy as always, serving drinks and keeping the peace between humans and earthbounds. Earthbounds being descendants of demons from generations back. To humans they look like humans, and many marry and never let their demon side be known – but its there, and Cady's bar is one of the few where all are welcome. Cady herself doesn't have demon blood but does have some special magical abilities. Then comes the shocking news her parents aren't dead after all, and the FBI – among others – are looking for them in connection with a gruesome series of murders. Cady knows they're not dead, for the past seven years she's been in hiding too, under a false name and background and had little to no contact with them. Now she needs to prove their innocence to one of the main magical societies or face giving her own life up. She teams up with Lon, an earthbound. He seems surly when they first meet but when we learn more about him, and his teen son Jupe, we see he's not like that at all. He and Cady dance around their attraction for a while but then...sparks fly and they're a great team.
Lots of “first” novels suffer from trying too hard to introduce characters and plots, and it gets overcomplicated and difficult to follow the story, but Jenn has done this perfectly – the characters are fairly limited – just the main ones focussed on, and the secondary ones there but kept back, and that allowed me to really get to know Cady, Lon and Jupe. I feel they're a great trio, and work really well together. The plots were perfect, one major one but lots of minor detours along the way keeping the story fresh and interesting, and allowing Lon and Cady to showcase their talents. So many books have just one simplistic plot and then fluff out the story with irrelevancies just to add content, but this one – it's one of those that has so much detail, keeps the reader rivetted to the page ( or screen!) and doesn't need to add superfluous padding. Every plot and little incident is relevant, and I love the challenge of trying to spot when things will turn out to be of major importance even though at first sight they seem innocous.
It's a great read, a terrific first in series and I'm really looking forward to the rest, even though I've already read the final ( fourth) book. I'm one of those readers who love to re read favourite books, and especially when I've a whole series to go through.
Stars: Five – a fabulous book.

sandrine

serie arcadia bell

Reviewed in France on October 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

Arcadia a 15 jours pour prouver l'innocence de ses parents ou elle devra les livrer à l'ordre Luxe. Enfant de la lune, certains prétendent qu'elle a desouvoirs magiques extraordinaires mais elle n'en a jamais eu la preuve. Lon, un démon l'aidera à accomplir sa mission.
Tome 1 de la série, l'auteur nous invite dans un monde où magiciens et démons cohabitent. Je ne suis pas très sensible aux héroïnes magiciennes qui s'en tirent avec quelques formules incompréhensibles. Je ne pense pas lire la suite où alors le tome 2 en attendant mieux.

2 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

TiLi

first one and does not disapoint

Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

I really like this books because it is interresting and has many up and downs that leads the main character to point where it has to go. Sometimes you got the feeling that something is not right in the story line but come on who needs a 100% logic. At least it is very funny read.

J. L. aylett

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

good

javelinx

Ideenreicher Beginn einer neuen Serie

Reviewed in Germany on December 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

Arcadia Bell betreibt mit ihrer Partnerin Kar Yee die dämonenfreundliche Bar Tambuku Tiki Lounge in Morella, California. Was nicht einmal ihre engsten Freunde wissen - Arcadia ist nicht ihr richtiger Name, ihre Eltern sind berüchtigte Serienmörder und Okkultisten, die Cady vor Jahren sich selbst überlassen haben und untergetaucht sind. Als sie plötzlich wieder in Erscheinung treten und Arcadia von einer verfeindeten okkulten Organisation ein Ultimatum erhält, deren Unschuld zu beweisen, beginnt für Arcadia eine Dämonenjagd und ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit...

Der Auftakt der ACADIA BELL-Serie bietet einige willkommene erfrischende neue Ideen. Die Hauptfigur ist eine waschechte Magierin - Hexe wäre für sie eine Beleidigung - die Magie entfachen ("kindling") kann, indem sie die umgebenden Stromleitungen anzapft, außerdem erfindet sie kreativ neue Magie aus alten Symbolen und Ritualen. Anstatt eines Familiars hat sie einen persönlichen Hermeneus-Schutzgeist, ihr Haustier ist ein unternehmungslustiges Stachelschwein. Mit ihren Kampfkünsten ist es nicht weit her, statt dessen hat sie gelernt, unter dem Radar zu bleiben, um ihre wenigen Freunde nicht in Gefahr zu bringen; auch eine große Klappe zu schwingen kann sie sich in ihrer Situation nicht leisten.
In Acadias Welt gibt es weder Vampire, noch Werwölfe oder Fae; stattdessen leben um sie herum alle möglichen Klassen von Dämonen - Jinn, Akeba, Kerub, Albinos, Erdgebundene und Faerie-Dämonen, die von den meisten Menschen, den Savages, nicht erkannt werden; nur Arcadia kann deren Halo, eine Art Aura, erkennen. Moralische oder religiöse Motive fehlen ebenso wie Götter oder Verdammnis, die Welt ist modern, neben dem FBI und der Polizei existieren verschiedene okkulte Organisationen, die der Öffentlichkeit bekannt sind.

Neben diesem originellen Weltentwurf und der erfrischend normal agierenden Heldin gibt es eine männliche Hauptfigur, die ebenfalls vom gängigen Schema absticht - Lon Butler ist ein Ex-Priester, der als Dämon geoutet wurde, geschieden von seiner Frau, einem Supermodel, lebt, und einen lebhaften 12-jährigen Sohn alleine großzieht. Anfangs können er und Arcadia sich herzlich wenig ausstehen, es gibt einige eher peinliche (und für den Leser sehr lustige) Momente zwischen den beiden, und die romantischen Elemente halten sich über weite Strecken im Hintergrund. Manchmal läuft Lons Sohn Jupiter ihm glatt den Rang ab, er schafft es auch, Arcadia vor seinem Vater zu einem Date zu überreden. Dafür gibt es sonst keine anderen gutaussehenden gequälten Helden, die um Arcadias Gunst werben würden; das läßt das Augenmerk auf dem Plot, der mit einer überraschenden Aufklärung der Morde und einer nicht alltäglichen Gut-Böse-Interpretation aufwartet.

Mir hat dieses Debut mit seinen neuen Ideen, dem Weltentwurf, den Hauptfiguren und dem Plot - bis hin zum Cover - sehr gut gefallen, und ich werde die im Frühjahr 2012 erscheinende Fortsetzung auf jeden Fall lesen.

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

Kindling the Moon: An Arcadia Bell Novel (The Arcadia Bell Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Jenn Bennett

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries