The Hidden Goddess, by M.K. Hobson

The Hidden Goddess, by M.K. Hobson.  Ballantine Books, 2011.  374 pp.  978-0-553-59266-5.

... in which Emily and Dreadnought continue their adventures by battling high society, Russians, and vengeful Aztec goddesses.

The Hidden Goddess continues the story that was started in The Native Star.  Picking up only a few weeks after the first book left off, we start the story by getting an idea of how much Emily and Dreadnought's lives have changed since the events in The Native Star.  Emily is trying to make the transition from rural small town witch to the world of high-society New York City ladies.  Her fiance, Dreadnought Stanton, is being groomed to take over the leadership of one of the most influential magical institutes in the world.  Unfortunately for the two of them, several mysterious rival factions have plans of their own.  A group of fanatics in South America are preparing to resurrect an Aztec goddess, and a group of fanatics from Russia are trying to prevent the goddess's resurrection by putting a stop to all magic.  Caught in the middle, and constrained by the rules of New York's elite socialites, Emily has to find a way to prevent both the Aztecs and the Russians from succeeding in their plans, but she also has to find a way to help Dreadnought keep his new institute from falling to pieces.

The Native Star, by M.K. Hobson

The Native Star, by M.K. Hobson.  Ballantine Books, 2010.  387 pp.  978-0-553-59265-8.

... in which a small town witch gets caught up with warlocks, dark magic, zombies and a mysterious artifact.

The Native Star is set in an alternate history of post-Civil War America (1876, to be exact).  Ulysses S. Grant is president.  The country is still recovering from the war, which was partially won through use of magic.  The tides of industry and progress are starting to sweep across the country, and the changes are being felt in a small mining town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.  The town witch, Emily Edwards, finds that she is going out of business because people are increasingly turning to factory produced charms and potions and spells, instead of coming to her.  Emily makes the decision to cast a love spell on the most eligible bachelor in town, hoping that he'll marry her and her money woes will be over.  The spell backfires, but before Emily can fix it, she gets swept up in a zombie battle that results in her acquiring a rare, powerful artifact that hinders her ability to do magic.  Finding that more powerful forces will do anything to get the artifact, Emily is forced to flee her home.  Dreadnought Stanton (a deliberately pompous name) is a warlock visiting from New York City, and he agrees to accompany her to San Francisco, where magical scholars will hopefully be able to unlock the mystery of the artifact, called the Native Star.  Unfortunately, things do not go as planned, and Emily and Dreadnought are forced to flee across the country to New York.