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Pawsitively Poisonous: A Witch of Edgehill Mystery #1
Pawsitively Poisonous: A Witch of Edgehill Mystery #1
Melissa Erin Jackson | 2019 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
For Fans of of cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist, this one is definitely for you!
I had actually read the 2nd book in the series first for review and enjoyed it so much that Melissa sent this one to me also.

The cover alone would have been an instant buy for me, the silhouetted witch against the bright green is so eye catching it literally screams out to you pick me up and read me (You know you want too)!

With Melissa being a professional pet sitter you just know that this would have a nod to pets, and she certainly did not disappoint. Edgehill is a small quirky town whose identity revolves around cats. With everything from the business names to the town fair having a cat related theme and name.

The characters are spot on and you cant help but fall in love with the main Protagonist Amber Blackwood and yes, she is a witch, from a long line of witches who keep their identity secret, for good reason!

Being a cozy mystery you are dragged into a plot line that keeps you on the edge of your seat and has you invested in the characters right through to the end. This leaves you wanting more and I can guarantee that you will move straight on to the second book in the series as you are left with so many unaswered questions about Amber and her family.

So if you are looking for a quick, quirky, fun read you should definitely go and grab yourself a copy!

Melissa sent me my copy of Pawsitively Poisonous for free in exchange for an honest review
  
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Growing up I didn't have an older brother, so all my music was formed by my mother and father. The latter would play old Irish folk songs and outlaw music by Johnny Cash and the only thing my mother would play was heavy melancholy orchestral movements like Night On Bald Mountain. What my mother would make me do is sit on the floor and tell my father to tell a story while putting on this record. This was big for me. I was probably four years old at the time. It sounded eerie, spooky and epic. My dad would make up these ghost stories but what he was really doing was recreating these children's story soundtracks that I'd listened to! I was too young to understand what he was doing at the time, but he was just making his personalised version of The Little Prince or Tales of Witches, Ghosts And Goblins. So he'd be like [eerie voice]: ""The ghosts would move up the Catskill Mountains..."" and I'd just sit there freezing in fear of these ghost stories! It was like having a musical campfire in your living room. Also, this song featured on the film Fantasia, which was my whole life up until the age of ten. It stuck with me and it was embedded in there now you're mixing visuals. I wasn't into the Mickey Mouse aspect of it, but when you watch the eerie castle and spooky ghosts, this is just feeding a young boy's imagination and this is the world he's going to confront when he grows up. These were all the ingredients going into my soup."

Source
  
HM
Hidden Magic ( Harper Shadow Academy 1)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
53 of 235
Kindle
Hidden Magic ( Harper Shadow Academy 1)
By Luna Pierce
⭐️⭐️⭐️

A cursed witch, four sexy men, and a shadow realm hidden within their academy.

My name is Willow Oliver, and I’m descended from a bloodline of powerful yet cursed witches. At least, that’s what my mother claims. Most people think she’s crazy.

I never put too much thought into it—the whole being a witch thing—I assumed my strange quirks were something everyone else had.

Flowers don’t glow when you look at them?

When others my age go off to faraway colleges and escape our sleepy town, I stay close to home so I can continue to keep an eye on my mother.

My new academy buzzes with a familiar energy. One that half the student body doesn’t seem to notice. The others simply disappear through hazy shadows, vanishing into thin air. Three of the four men I’m magnetically drawn to have skin that feels like electric when we touch, something magical hidden under the surface of each of them.

The more I uncover, the more I doubt my sanity, making me consider one of two things: I’m going crazy, too, or maybe my mom was right after all.

And if what she said of our lineage was true, will I be strong enough to face the ancient curse that is stealing our power? Or will I succumb to it while risking the lives of the ones I can’t help but care for?

It was good. Good story, decent characters and pretty much what I was expecting. Didn’t blow me away but was a decent read.
  
The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee, #1)
The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee, #1)
Tony Hillerman | 1970 | Mystery
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting Debut
Anthropology professor Bergen McKee is going to spend the summer on the Navajo Reservation working on his book on witches in the Navajo culture. That means reconnecting with his college friend Joe Leaphorn, who is a Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant. Leaphorn is trying to track down a young man who is hiding on the reservation, and he uses taking McKee around to try to learn the man’s location. Then the young man turns up dead miles from here Leaphorn thought he was. Meanwhile, McKee finds danger he never imagined while conducting his research. Is everything connected?

I’d been interested in starting this series for a while, and I’m glad I finally did. It took a bit to get fully immersed in the book, especially since it didn’t unfold like I thought it would. McKee is more of the main character and the better developed of the two, although I did like Leaphorn and want to learn more about him. The plot also seemed a little disjointed at first, although it came into focus before too much time had passed. Once I did get invested, I was truly hooked with plenty of suspense to keep me interested. I enjoyed learning a bit more about Navajo culture. While definitely a cross between a police procedural and a thriller, it still doesn’t have much of the content I would associate with the genres. The book came out in 1970, so keep that in mind when you go to start it. I’m glad I finally started the series, and I’m looking forward to getting to know Leaphorn better as the series goes along.
  
Evil Thing: A Villains Novel (Villains #7)
Evil Thing: A Villains Novel (Villains #7)
Serena Valentino | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I absolutely adore the Villains series. They are such good, quick reads and give an insight into how circumstances in someone’s life can make them into a villain. Evil Thing is no different.
Evil Thing is Cruella De Vil’s story, but not the story that we all think we know. It is styled as a memoir starting with Cruella’s childhood, or the childhood she remembers with rose tinted glasses from the age of eleven onwards. We see how she knew Anita Darling (before she married Roger) and how they were childhood friends who even went to finishing school together for a while. We see how Anita came to have Perdita. And we see exactly how Cruella ended up descending into madness in Hell Hall.
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have anymore of the Odd Sisters story in this book, but I suppose it was left on a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I can only hope that Serena Valentino will revisit them in the future. But I also realise that it wouldn’t make sense to have them in this book, with Cruella’s life being in London and not in the realm of fairies and witches. It is however referenced as Cruella and Anita’s favourite fairytale book, where they follow Circe and Princess Tulip, which did make me smile.
While this isn’t my favourite of the Villains series (Mistress of All Evil takes that title!) I do like how it is just that little bit different from the others. I wonder if Cold Hearted will be written in the same style or another different style? It will be interesting to find out.
  
Kiss of Darkness (Curse of the Guardians #1) by Taylor Aston White
Kiss of Darkness (Curse of the Guardians #1) by Taylor Aston White
Taylor Aston White | 2022 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am now fully invested is this group of Guardians, and them finding their mates!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Oh I liked this, a LOT! It sort of grabs you, and doesn't let go, runs you through a wringer and spits you out again! And then you gotta wait Lord know how long til the fun starts again!

Kyra is a witch, and is bound to serve in exchange for her life. But when that threatens the lives of ordinary people, she know she has to stop it, somehow. Xander is forced to protect her while things settle but Xander hates black witches, with good reason. Given as they are both keeping secrets, things are bound to boil over. And when they do, sparks fly.

Like I said, I liked this. It's dark and deadly, it's keeping things from you, it's smexy in places, and downright blood thirsty in others. There is much going on and you gotta concentrate while running through that wringer, let me tell ya! It's been a long time since I had a book that did that!

Both Kyra and Xander have a say, and I loved that. I loved all of Xander's Guardian team, and there was a pairing I saw here, with Kyra's friend, that might just be as explosive as Kyra and Xander are.

I can't wait, cos I am now fully invested is this group of Guardians, and them finding their mates!

I wrote 4 stars at the top of the page, but nah, upgrading to the full

5 stars!

*same worded review will appear elsewhere