This Wicked Magic by PNR author Michele Hauf is both touching and romantic, taking the lighter side into the darkness of a paranormal world.
Plot:
His destined mate…
Certainly Jones has pushed it too far this time. Gnawing and clawing at his soul are the demons he unknowingly carried back from his quest into their land. Weak and exhausted, the dark witch gazes down the dim, cobbled street at his only hope—a lone vehicle with blazing headlights. Desperate, he makes a mad dash for the light, and the striking woman illuminated in its wake.
Vika senses him before she sees him. The good witch with emerald eyes and fiery red hair has never dabbled in dark magic. But one look at CJ turns her life upside down. Soon Vika is lured into his dangerous world…and his powerful arms. A few sultry kisses are not enough to save CJ from his demons—it's going to take some seriously potent sorcery. And they're running out of time.
In a world filled with witches immersed in the light and dark magics, we find a pair of sisters out to clean up the messy business of death. While most stories never really address the issue of clean up, Hauf takes her readers into the life of the crew that tidies up all the gibbley bits. Vika and her sister are these gals and while order and cleanliness may be there MO these two have a wild streak that takes on a life of it's own as the story picks up steam. They may seem neat and tidy on the outside, but folks let me tell you- witches know how to part-ay!
While out on a routine clean up call, the gals run into Certainly, the dark and handsome witch whos got a big problem going on with this soul. With demons of the worst order plauging his body, he's forced to live in permeant light or become consumed by the darkness forever. As we soon find out, Vika loves to clean up more then roadside messes. She sets out to fix Certainly to rights and this young gal wont stop until the job is complete.
I typically enjoy a bit more action packed butt kicking adventure in my PNR stories, that being said it was refreshing to take in a tale that held a bit more warmth and tenderness from it's leading pair. Our main squeeze male is not your typical alpha-leader-of-the-pack. He's got more depth to his emotions and the author was not afraid to show the soft side to her leading man. With passion between our couple and a plethora of dialog that was both witty and realistic at times, I wanted to take a ride on the broomstick side!
With a big tone of caring and kindess, I found this story entertaining and alomst eandering to read. There's light to every dark and that balancing point is clear in the tale before you. With some nicely planned plot twists and turns there's an added level of drama and intrigue that kept me turning the pages until the very end. Some fascinating side characters leave plenty of room for this saga to continue.
I'm eager to read more in this witchy series and absolutely enjoyed the romantic tale for what it was.
Getting 3 and 1/2 'shiny bright' Sheep
KD
