The Goodbye Witch (A Wishcrafter Mystery, Book 4)
by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When Starla runs into Darcy's house frantic, she knows something is up, and what is up is Starla's ex Kyle. He might be on the run from the law, but he is making his presence known to Starla. Problem is that only Starla can see him. But of course Darcy is going to investigate, only now she has the backing of the elder as the town snoop of craft matters.
When Kyle turns up dead on Starla's couch, his family and Glinda are ready to convict Starla, but Nick isn't so sure and Darcy knows that Starla is innocent. Together they work to find out what is going on and why Kyle is dead and by whose hand.
This installemt of the wishcrafters mysteries has a lot of twists and Nick has to learn more and more about the craft to understand this one.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy (A Wishcrafter Mystery, Book 3)
by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A birthday party for an eighty-year old, this Darcy can do, except for the stripper, really? Is that appropriate? Nothing can go wrong with this, right. Wrong. This is the Enchanted Village and for some reason Darcy seems to be finding all the dead bodies in town, so when she goes outside looking for the cake, she stumbles over the body of the delivery guy. Only this time, the spirit of the dead stays witch Darcy and helps her figure out this mystery.
Things heat up between Darcy and Nick - of course there are issues, in the person of Glinda, who has her sights set on Nick herself, or at least his position as police chief.
Another installment in the life of Darcy and her adjustment to being a witch and the town of enchanted Village.
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A Witch Before Dying (A Wishcrafters Mystery, Book 2)
by Heather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Darcy is starting to adjust to her new life in Enchanted Village and the fact that she is a witch, or crafter as they are known in the village, in fact she is a wishcrafter, which means that she can grant wishes, if certain rules are followed.
Eloide is a Geocrafter and owns the gem store in the village which is beautiful, but she has hired Darcy and As You Wish to clean out her mothers house so that she can sell it, of course that upsets some people. Poor Patrice has been missing for almost two years, she just vanished, and of course people don't do that in normal life.
When Darcy visits the house, the neighbor Yvonne tags along and makes the wish to know what happened to Patrice - oops, the next step finds Patrice stuffed in a suitcase! That is more than anyone expected. Now Nick and the police are involved and of course Darcy can't help but investigate, which leads to her working to secure a PI license.
This series is really cute. You have Darcy, who is really gun-shy around guys, then there is single dad Nick, and they are attracted but everything in the Village and other people are always in their way and making things difficult, so it turns out they are taking things extremely slow. The characters are awesome and they are so much fun to follow and learn more about, as well as learning about the whole idea of the craft, or magic. Its all done just a little at a time which makes it feel like real life.
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It Takes a Witch (Wishcrafter Mystery, Book 1)
by Heather Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Just last month Darcy's world was falling apart, her father had dies, she was jobless and still reeling from her divorce and then there was Harper's activism that lead to shoplifting. She had no idea what she was going to do, or how to pull it all together when Aunt Velma arrived. Now Harper and Darcy have moved to Enchanted Village and learned they are witches - well wishcrafters, meaning they can grant wishes, if certain rules have bene followed.
Darcy is just trying to settle in and then there is a murder. Darcy is naïve enough to think the police can handle it, Harper wants to investigate and that sets off Darcy's mother instinct. Then again, Darcy is the only mom that Harper has known since their mother died having Harper. Harper just wants Darcy to lighten up and live life.
This is cute series, a village of witches yet it is marketed as a tourist spot, so no one knows if the witches are real or fakes. so many rules for Darcy to learn, and she just wants to fit in and relax.
Definitely a cute, fun book to read.
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Kiss My Witch (Bless Your Witch series, book 2)
by Amy Boyles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dylan is finally getting a grips on the fact that she is a witch, and she is adjusting to life, even with Roman staying in town to be the new police chief. That is until the witch queen shows up and "invites" her to a convention of witches at the local hotel. Of course someone dies and Dylan is a basket case with her magic and ends up getting called in by the council.
With another death, this means Roman is around, but they are having to try to keep the witch police out of the picture, because the head still wants to arrest Roman. Even Grandma Hazels talk of the unicorn king turns out to be turn as Roman and Dylan are whisked away to his kingdom.
Author Amy Boyles has a way about witch stories that just make them readable and fun. You want to be involved in this town and these peoples lives, you want to know more and you want to help them all learn what it means to be a witch. Its a fun read, easy and quick.
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Southern Curses (Sweet Tea Witches, Book 5)
by Amy Boyles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Pepper is in for a shock when her "dead" Uncle Donavon crawls in through her back door. Turns out Uncle Donavon is alive, but maybe not well. He faked his own death to avoid a hit by the werewolf mafia. Oh man does this keep getting better and batter. Now he needs Pepper's help to discover what happened to Princess, the niece of the werewolf mafia boss.
Once again, such a cute story. I know its a mystery but there is something about the Sweet Tea witches that just make the whole story feel cute and fun. I love the relationships that are building between Pepper and her cousins. The relationship with Axel and the whole town in general, she is finally letting her guard down a little and not so afraid everyone is going to leave her.
Well written and worth the time. A great book to have around, especially on rainy day, It will lift you up.
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Born of Legend (The League, Book 9)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Dagger seems to be ready to die, he is mortally wounded when he see a young boy being bargained with by sex-slave traders, and if there is one thing that Dagger is not about to let happen, is anything to a young, innocent child. There may have never been anyone around to protect him when he was young and innocent, but he won't let the same happen to someone else.
What Dagger ultimately finds in his actions is redemption, or maybe salvation. He finally finds someone to trust and love, despite his background and up bringing.
This is a long saga book - in that there are parts of the past that are brought up, things that happened to him as a child, and then throughout the years growing up. This book is a look into the twisted and deranged mind of Erdine, the grandmother of Nyk and Jullian who tired to have Nyk killed as a toddler and who inflicted unspeakable torture on jullian. Although there is a lot of the past, there is also a lot of present - and that would be the time period after Nyk has taken over and his grandmother exiled. She is not about stand for that, and she is plotting to over through Nyk.
This book takes a character from the first books that we loved to hate, and gives them a past that no one could image and turns him into someone that we can understand and want to have a better life.
This story is so complex and the way it has built from the beginning, is amazing. I can actually image this world and it feels good to read again. Everyone in the Sentella has a sordid past, things happened to them that never should have, yet they each have risen from the destruction to become the people they are today, they are not without their scars - some more visable than others, but they all have scars and the way they have turned those scars and their past into a reason to move forward, I love it.
This series is still my hands down favorite series of all time, and I have read a LOT of books!
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Southern Sorcery (Sweet Tea Witches, Book 4)
by Amy Boyles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When the "evil" Rufus shows up in town, he isn't able to take Pepper away, thankfully, but he links his magic with hers, so that if she uses her magic, it feeds him and his power grows, but even worse it still builds in her, and she doesn't get the release from using her magic, and you know what happens to a witch that doesn't use their magic. Kaboom!
This will take not just magic, but some sorcery to figure out, only problem is that the sorcerer that they went to turns up dead, and this time Pepper isn't a suspect, but she still needs to find out what happened and find a way to unlink herself and Rufus.
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Southern Myths (Sweet Tea Witches, Book 3)
by Amy Boyles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When a baby Dragon arrives at the pet store, Pepper is in shock and wants nothing but to get rid of it. Having been raised in the human world, all she knows about dragons is that they are huge and breath fire and destroy things. It never occurs to her that she is living in the witch world and that having a dragon might be a good thing.
Too bad that Mysterio, the magician that she sold the dragon to turns up dead just as she is getting him back, and now she is on the suspect list once again. Good thing she has her cousins, Axel and Grandma Betty to help her figure out what is going on, as well as teach her a little about the dragon that is to be her familiar.
This is the third book in this series and I cam enjoying the cute nature of the book, the fun feeling of the story and the place. Magnolia Cove is where I want to live!
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Born of Defiance (The League: Nemesis Rising, Book 7)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
At this point in the series, we are going back in time and picking up some side characters that are tied to the original members of the Sentella in ways no one would have thought.
This is the story of Talyn - who has been raised without a father in a society that values family lines above all else, in other words his life has been hell - not as bad as Nyk's but close. This story actually goes back to the time before Nyk was discovered to be alive and took over the ruling of the society from his grandmother, who plotted to have him killed as a toddler. That in and of itself is awesome, that the author can go back and add in detail to the original story without destroying it.
We follow Talyn's life as an adult who is just trying to make his way in the world, to be better and prove that he deserves what he has - of course that is not to be because he doesn't have a father, that makes him as low as a slave in the eyes of the people, but he is determined to move from his past. He has anger issues, but there are secrets about his past that will soon come out. For now though he is starting to find the right people to make a difference.
I love that this book goes back to before Nyk took power and adds to the story in a different way, this is life on his home planet and what is happening while he is thought to be dead, and how the people there are acting. It gives more of a glimpse into the people that wanting Nyk dead and it gives glimpses into how willing they were to do anything and hurt anyone and everyone to get and keep their power.
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Pudding Up With Murder (Undercover Dish Mystery, Book 3)
by Julia Buckley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Pudding Up With Murder is the third book in the Undercover Dish Mystery Series.
Lilah Drake has a booming business of undercover catering. Lilah creates and makes wonderful casseroles and pot luck types dishes for her clients, who order them in secret and then pass them off as their own. She is also working at a local catering company, and recently she has started appearing on her ex-boyfriends television cooking show once a week. Life is good.
Recently, Lilah and Detective Jay Parker have started dating, but once again another murder is going to make things difficult for them. Jay Parker is a very upstanding police officer and has a pretty rigid set of ideals. The thing is Lilah is probably not the best girlfriend, she is a little clingy and not understanding, yet she expects complete understanding from Jay.
This story was really good in regards to the mystery and who did it and the characters involved, but the story fell flat for me in regards to the relationship between Lilah and Jay. She expects honesty from Jay, yet she tells him half truths all the time and expects him to accept them. There are always certain things that you don't always want to talk about at the time in a relationship, and Lilah refuses to get that. At one point her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend have lunch as they both care about Lilah and want to work out any issues between them that might be causing problems. Lilah flies off the handle at this - instead of seeing that they both care and want to make things better, to have them not fighting with each other so that her career can blossom - she gets mad at them for meeting behind her back and not talking to her. It was stupid, and I really felt I couldn't understand her anymore.
For the third book in the series, it was ok, but if the author ever published a fourth in this series, I am not sure that I would read it at this point.
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Cheddar Off Dead (Undercover Dish Mystery, Book 2)
by Julia Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cheddar Off Dead is the second book in the cozy mystery series Undercover Dish.
Lilah Drake has created a side business for herself. She creates and makes pot-luck or casserole type dishes for her growing list of clients, then she delivers them to her clients in secret and the client passes off the dish as their own cooking. This has become a lucrative business for Lilah and she loves it, but her dream has always been her own catering company, and now she is finally working part-time for the best catering company in Pine Haven. Life on the business side is going well for Lilah, even if the budding relationship with Detective Jay Parker took a terrible nosedive just as it was beginning.
Now Lilah finds herself face to face with Jay again when she inadverntly finds herself at the scene of another murder. While delivering food to her best friend Jenny at school, she talks to the school Santa for the day and as she is leaving the parking lot, a car drives in and shots the santa. Not exactly how she planned to spend the day.
This story takes even more twists and turns when the local Chicago, supposedly mob family is connected to the shooting. Lilah is in danger, and trust becomes an issue with Jay and Lilah again, even when he doesn't realize that her lie to him before was exactly the same as the lie he told her.
This second book in the series was well written and even more enjoyable. The characters became more in focus and we really learn more about each character. At this point I have high hopes for the third book.
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Knit, Purl, Die (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery, Book 2)
by Anne Canadeo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Knit, Purl, Die is the second book in the Black Sheep Knitting series....
First off, a pet peeve - the proofreading was lacking on this book! Don't know if it was a rush to get the second book out or what but there were are number of storyline errors. First off was the synopsis on the back cover, Gloria is listed as being on husband number four when throughout the story, he is actually husband number three. On the back cover her husband is identified as Daniel Wexler and where that comes from is anyone's guess because in the book he is Jamie. Now inside the story itself, early in the book Suzanne's daughter is called Natalie, but in book one and again later in this story she is Alexis. Also early in the book Brian is mentioned as either Suzanne or Dana's husband, when we know from book one and the rest of book two that Dana's husband is jack and Suzanne's is Kevin. Names need to be consistent throughout the series, and this is something that is easy to check and keep straight. This is a huge pet peeve of mine, it makes you question what you are reading.
On to the story itself - we add new character into the Black Sheep Knitting Club in the person of Gloria, but she is not to stay around too long. Again, Lucy seems to take the lead in questioning things with Maggie dragging her feet the most. We see more of Dana and Suzanne in this story than in Book one.
The story itself is well written and easy to follow, but I got caught up in the errors and couldn't enjoy it the way I wanted.
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While My Pretty One Knits (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery, Book 1)
by Anne Canadeo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Aww, a cozy mystery. It's been so long since I have read one of these, but I got into the cozy mystery genre long before I started reading the paranormal - and so I know that it seems paranormal is all that has been on my reviews in a long time, it has - it is just what has come up, it seems to be a more popular genre than the cozy mystery at this point in time, so it just is more visable.
This book combines knitting and mystery! I love it. I am a novice knitter, meaning that I can do a basic stitch and make a blanket or scarf, or even a few other more complex items - but I can't read a pattern to save my life! So everything I knit is from my looking at something and trying to replicate it, no patterns, nothing like that.
The story also surrounds a small group of knitters that have become good friends and that meet at the shop and knit and talk, and I love that! What I wouldn't give to have a small group of people like that in my life that I could knit with and enjoy their company.
Rival yarn shop owner Amanda is murdered and of course Maggie, the owner of the shop is the top of the police list, when we all know that she didn't do it. Of course the group is set to figure it out themselves.
Normally in a cozy mystery I expected the yarn shop owner to take the lead in the story, but that wasn't the case in this book. Lucy the recently divorced and now unsure of herself graphic designer is the lead in the book, she is the one most of the conversations are from and it is her that takes the lead in figuring things out as to what really happened.
This was a great start to a series, and I hope to read more of it.
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Switch of Fate Book 1
by Lisa Ladew and Grace Quillen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was recommend by Kindle based on other books that I have read, and actually - one look at the guy on the cover and I was sold - I figured even if the book wasn't good I could enjoy looking at him for awhile!!
Turns out the story was pretty good - it started out a little slow, the first fourth of the book maybe was laying some background sorta, but it was a fuzzy background, and that went a little slow, but once you got into the meat of the story it was a lot better.
Jameson is The Keeper - but he never got the chance to learn what that meant, he was to start his training when he turned 12, but on his 11th birthday his world was shattered by the deaths of his family and the former Keeper. He was lost and alone in the world, and he had no idea what he was suppose to be doing. For years he blamed himself for not knowing, when in reality with wasn't his fault.
Coraline, or Cora to most has always had a fascination with vampires, in fact she did her Literature thesis on vampires in literature, but what she didn't know was that she was one of the lost switches of the world, a breed of women born to hunt and kill vampires.
This first book in the Switch of Fate series tells the story as Cora and Jameson fumble together to discover their history and knowledge and be the guardians they were destined to be.
This is well written and is unlike most shifter novels that I have read. It plays on a completely different aspect of the relationship and buts them in more of a heroic although unseen and shadowed role - humans are unaware of shifters, vampires or switches.
Lots of adult themes and intimate interactions, so definitely an adult book - not for the faint of heart.
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Time and Blood: Evening Bower, Book 1
by Sherry Rentschler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers Favorite
Rhea is the last of her kind, a phoenix from Atlantis and before, she has lived over and over through the ages, but lately she is suffering from nightmares and a call for her to come somewhere unknown, but why and where. Who or what is calling her, and is it good or evil that awaits her?Viseral, the angel of Death, has watched over Rhea from a distant this whole time, but now he finds himself needing to stay away, to allow the prophecy to finish. Along with a cast of characters that readers meet in the prequel, The Gypsy Thorn, the fulfillment of the ages old prophecy begins in Time and Blood. Author Sherry Rentschler tells the happenings from the view of the main players in the story. Rhea, Jean-Louis and Franklin each have their own chapters to tell the events from their view, also side players such as Nathan, Rasand, Echo, and even Drayohmira have parts t o tell. This is the coming of a prophecy, but what does that prophecy really mean? Good or evil? Can anything be that straight-forward and cut and dried, or is there good in everything depending on your view?
Time and Blood is labeled as the first book in the Evening Bower series, although The Gypsy Thorn is the prequel to this book. For myself as a reader, I have to read books in order, so I went out of my way to find and read the prequel before reading this story, but I have to say that you don't need to read it first. As the reader, you meet most of the characters from the prequel, but you just aren't sure why they are on the sides that they have chosen in Time and Blood. The prequel gives you some of the answers as to why certain characters choose the sides they did, but at the same time, not knowing is almost more fun. The reader meets all the characters in The Gypsy Thorn but you don't need to really know them going into this story. Time and Blood is really about Rhea, her long dead mate, and the prophecy. It is her story of the prophecy, and it is her life that you are reading, not her whole history, but this one brief period in time when she has the chance to succeed, where the meaning of the prophecy is actually understood and everything changes. The prequel gave you information about each character, and maybe reading it after reading the first book in the series would serve the reader better, as knowing the characters doesn't effect this story, but after this point it might help. At the same time,this book is only the first, and so the story stops, but doesn't end, there are still so many questions that the reader is left begging for the next book.
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Captivity: Hollow Rock Shifters Book 1
by Brenda Trim and Tami Julka
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So I am on the Kindle the other night, and in my list of "books for you" I find this book, another series by my favorite authors Brenda Trim and Tami Julka. I don't even think twice, I download it immediately!!
Liv is a little naïve, but an amazing researcher, coming in most weekends to get more work done. This weekend when she comes in the air conditioning is on the fritz and it is like a sauna. In her quest to find out what is going on, Liv sees a door open that she has never seen open before in the lab, thinking it is a mechanical room since it is near the breakroom, she walks through only to find a completely separate lab and what she sees in the rooms terrifies her. A dirty mattress, chains on the walls, door window incredibly high, what is this place. Then in the last room she is treated to a gorgeous specimen of a man, a shifter to be precise, who is chained to the wall and being beaten by a guard. Liv can't control herself and steps in to stop the guard, which causes even more trouble.
Lawson has been in the lab for three years, being repeatedly beaten and yelled out, but so far he still hasn't given up his will to live, but he is close, when a vision of red hair wanders into the room. He knows he will protect her, and given her spunk, he is tested on that resolve soon.
The Hollow Rock Shifters is a new series by my favorite authors, and this series revolves around shifters. At this time period, the human population knows about shifters, but for the most part they are either scared or dubious of them. Mostly because they have been told they are savages and criminals, when in reality we all know that they are just like anyone else.
This story follows Liv as she decides what to do now that she knows there is a shifter in the lab, and because she is appalled at his treatment, she is bound to make thing better, even if that means helping him escape.
This is a fast moving and page turning story. In fact I was finished with it before I realized it and wanted more. This is what I have come to expect from the authors, the team of Brenda Trim and Tami Julka have created some of the best books I have ever read in the Dark Warrior Alliance Series, and so I was expecting the same quality from this series, and so far they have not disappointed.
Great series set around the shifters, with a different world view. Something any fan of the authors or of shifter novels could enjoy.
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Callie (The Bayou Hauntings, Volume 1)
by Bill Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers Favorite
All her life Callie has felt like a failure, not worthy of the affection of her grandmother or anyone else for that matter, part of that came from the fact that her father took off the minute he found out her mother was pregnant, and part was the way the extended family treated her. Her misguided attempt to "grown up" and make something of herself found her estranged from her grandmother for the last decade. Now her grandmother was dead and Callie still found herself feeling like a failure. When her Uncle Willard calls to tell her that she must be in Louisiana for the reading of her grandmothers will, she found herself at his mercy as he had to wire her the money to get there. There is no love lost between Callie and her Uncle Willard, and once the will is read and what she inherits is discovered, it becomes clear that Uncle Willard wants what she got, and will do anything to get it. Callie, The Bayou Hauntings is the story of Callie's discovery of her family history and in turn of herself. Author Bill Thompson delivers a southern story high on suspense and family.
Callie is titled as the first Volume in The Bayou Hauntings, which gives the impress of a series, but not necessary following just the one character. Author Bill Thompson gives the reader a book high in suspense and supernatural or paranormal in the form of a friendly visitor that seems real but just might be a ghost. The key to the story is the discover of the family history, how everything that happened in the past actually came to be, and that history unlocks the secrets of the plantation mansion that Callie inherited and also allows Callie to come into her own. This book is clean in that there is no sex, although there are the mention on illegitimate children and there is only a few curse words spread throughout the story, they are appropriate when they come into play. Therefore I have no problem recommending this book to readers of all ages.
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The House on Serpent Lake
by Brenda Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers Favorite
Lindsay and Eric met and married later in life, it was a second marriage for the both of them, each having a child from the previous relationship, but they were good together and very happy, well at least they had been but recently Eric had seemed to be pulling away. Lindsay hoped that it was just work and the passing of his aunt, but now that they were in Crosby to look at the house on the lake that Eric inherited, Lindsay felt strange. It started with the knowledge of how the house had looked in the past, of where things were even though she had never been here before or even seen pictures of the house. Then there was the strange smell of Bay Rum aftershave, only she seemed to be able to smell. Was she going crazy or was it something else? The House on Serpent Lake is the story of two couples in love, a past live and regrets. Author Brenda Hill has created a compelling story that felt natural.
The House on Serpent Lake is a bit supernatural in the ghost that inhabits the house, a bit paranormal in that Lindsay can interact in some ways with the ghost, and a bit romance or love story. There is the history of the house and the family that Lindsay needs to uncover to help her to understand what is going on, and then there is Eric's disbelief and his leaving her alone in the house. This was a well written book and an enjoyable read that I liked. It is reasonably clean and would be fine for most readers of any age. Although I couldn't help be feel like I had read this story or something like it before, and maybe I have in a past life, it wasn't enough to stop me from reading, in fact it made me want to read more to find out if I had read it before.
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Bitch Witch
by S.R. Karfelt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers favorite
Sarah Archer is trying everything in her power to be a good person and not to use witchcraft to benefit herself, which is what her mother and her aunt did all their lives. Unfortunately a late night run to Target in the middle of PMS and a rude woman honking at her in the parking lot was more than Sarah could take. When she allowed her inner bitch to come out the aftershock of the spell was way bigger than Sarah expected, and an innocent man is swept up into the mix. Bitch Witch is a tell of good vs evil, well really more like dark vs light instead of true evil. It is the story of Sarah trying to live her life but without following in the footsteps of her mother and her aunt. Author S.R. Karfelt creates a fun, easy and almost comedic at time story of life and love.
Bitch Witch is the story of a woman who doesn't want to be the same as her family before her, but has no real idea how to go about it. She works a clerk job to keep her mind occupied and keep herself from using the dark magic that courses through her veins. Author S.R. Karfelt has taken a modern story, a woman with a desire to be something different than her ancestors, but making clumsy attempts at it. When Paul is swept into the afterschock of her spell, he becomes a friend and confidenate that allows Sarah to find her way in the world. This is aqq reasonably clean book with no real sex or bad language, I defientely would recommend it to all readers. I found the idea of a woman breaking away from her past and trying to forge her own life away from what she has always saw her mother and aunt do as a refreashing plot line.
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