Showing posts with label Witch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Witch. Show all posts

Thursday, 5 September 2019

SPIRIT WITCH

Spirit Witch by Helen Harper
Book 3 of the The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook


About Spirit Witch:
If anyone appreciates what it means to be dead to the world, it's Ivy Wilde.

Barely recovered from her brush with necromancy, Ivy is flung once more into a world of intrigue, adventure and potential death and disaster. It's not her fault - it just so turns out that she's now the only person in the entire world who can communicate with the dead. And they're a chatty bunch with a list of demands.

When the ghosts offer information about a witch-hating mass murderer in return for Ivy's help, she has no choice but to get involved. She might be getting herself into more trouble than she realises though - and that's even before she's dragged to Sunday dinner so she can meet Winter's family...
Source: Info in the About Spirit Witch was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35489715-spirit-witch on 04/09/2017.

My Thoughts:
Now innocent little Brutus... I also like the fact that this cat familiar is displaying more and more cannily intelligent behaviour... A cat who can ring Ivy on her mobile?!?... Oohh... I wonder what else the author is going to make Brutus do to torture Ivy??... now, there's a thought!

By the way, what's with the wand? Ivy never uses a wand. She's too lazy for that. Anyways, this book has the best cover yet in the entire series thus far! Hopefully it will be uphill from here on with the arts department for this series rather than downhill... **fingers crossed**

Another good thing going for The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic series, is that, it always ends the book nicely. Sure, it leaves hints that there are more books to come, this is a series after all. However, it never leaves a book with a big gaping cliffhanger that you want to smack the author with the book upside the head. Authors like that tends to be unfollowed by me unless they have a really really masterful voice. So for the mediocre ones, they get even less chance of being read, never mind bought.

This series seems to be, not only "growing" on me, but also "addictive". So be warned!


Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4.5
Plot = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic:


Meet The Author

About Helen Harper:
After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time although she still fits in creative writing workshops with schools along with volunteering to teach reading to a group of young Myanmar refugees. That’s not to mention the procession of stray cats which seem to find their way to her door! Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.


FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Thursday, 12 April 2018

STAR WITCH

Star Witch by Helen Harper
Book 2 of the The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic series
Read by Tanya Eby
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook


About Star Witch:
Lights. Camera. Inaction.

Ivy Wilde, the laziest witch in the West, is still entangled with the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. That's not a bad thing, however, because it gives her plenty of excuses to spend more time with sapphire eyed Raphael Winter, her supposed nemesis. And when he comes knocking because he needs her to spy on the latest series of Enchantment, she jumps at the chance. Hanging around a film set can't be hard ... or dangerous ... right?
Source: Info in the About Star Witch was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35123171-star-witch on 03/09/2017.

My Thoughts:
Why in god's name did Ivy suddenly look like a drag queen in the cover of this book? Sure, the over-glittered barbie look is not my favourite, but it was preferable to the drag queen!!! Anyway, Brutus is getting a bit of action in this book and for the first time ever, I get to read him talk in real sentences and hold a conversation! How's that for fun! Ok, ok... I so need to get a life... on the other hand... nah, I'll just read a book :) ..So, I wondered why the title of this book is Star Witch, then it made sense as I read on. The cover might not be the best, but, one thing you can say about this series is that the titles are always apropos! And as usual, the narration is wonderful!


Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = (8 hours & 9 minutes)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic:


Meet The Author

About Helen Harper:
After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time although she still fits in creative writing workshops with schools along with volunteering to teach reading to a group of young Myanmar refugees. That’s not to mention the procession of stray cats which seem to find their way to her door! Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.


Meet The Narrator

Tanya Eby
About Tanya Eby:
Tanya is a starving artist without the starving part. Maybe, then, she's a snacking artist. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her two kids and tiki-obssessed husband and writes quirky fiction.

In 2009, she published her romantic comedy "Easy Does It" available on Amazon.

Champagne Books published her second romantic comedy "Blunder Woman" in July 2010 with ebook versions on Amazon and Allromanceebooks.com as well as http://www.champagnebooks.com.

In February 2011, Champagne Books released her romantic comedy mystery "Pepper Wellington and the Case of the Missing Sausage".

Tanya is currently working on a historical gothic suspense. She likes to keep things interesting.


FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Monday, 5 March 2018

SLOUCH WITCH

Slouch Witch by Helen Harper
Book 1 of the The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic series
Read by Tanya Eby
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook


About Slouch Witch:
Let's get one thing straight — Ivy Wilde is not a heroine. In fact, she's probably the last witch in the world who you'd call if you needed a magical helping hand, regardless of her actual abilities. If it were down to Ivy, she'd spend all day every day on her sofa where she could watch TV, munch junk food and talk to her feline familiar to her heart's content.

However, when a bureaucratic disaster ends up with Ivy as the victim of a case of mistaken identity, she's yanked very unwillingly into Arcane Branch, the investigative department of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Her problems are quadrupled when a valuable object is stolen right from under the Order's noses. It doesn't exactly help that she's been magically bound to Adeptus Exemptus Raphael Winter. He might have piercing sapphire eyes and a body which a cover model would be proud of but, as far as Ivy's concerned, he's a walking advertisement for the joyless perils of too much witch-work.

And if he makes her go to the gym again, she's definitely going to turn him into a frog.
Source: Info in the About Slouch Witch was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34670747-slouch-witch on 31/08/2017.

My Thoughts:
A promising start to a new-to-me series.

I like the sassy and spontaneous heroine. Sure, she tends to be stupid sometimes but it is in line with her character so it didn't annoy me, as opposed to a stark deviation from the character that some authors tend to do to create a dilemma in their plot. Now that really annoys me! And I also like that the hero is the opposite of the heroine. He's a stickler for propriety and rules. That formula is usually a sure fire way to yield sparks. And it did! It was just a bit formulaic though... However, I think it is more about how the story is told than just the formula itself and this author kinda did pull it off. And the book turned out to be a fun read! Maybe if I wasn't a bit too jaded, I would enjoy the book more...

This is not the first Tanya Eby book that I've listened to, but this one is the most enjoyable thus far. Kudos to this book!


Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = (8 hours & 9 minutes)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic:


Meet The Author

About Helen Harper:
After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time although she still fits in creative writing workshops with schools along with volunteering to teach reading to a group of young Myanmar refugees. That’s not to mention the procession of stray cats which seem to find their way to her door! Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.


Meet The Narrator

Tanya Eby
About Tanya Eby:
Tanya is a starving artist without the starving part. Maybe, then, she's a snacking artist. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her two kids and tiki-obssessed husband and writes quirky fiction.

In 2009, she published her romantic comedy "Easy Does It" available on Amazon.

Champagne Books published her second romantic comedy "Blunder Woman" in July 2010 with ebook versions on Amazon and Allromanceebooks.com as well as http://www.champagnebooks.com.

In February 2011, Champagne Books released her romantic comedy mystery "Pepper Wellington and the Case of the Missing Sausage".

Tanya is currently working on a historical gothic suspense. She likes to keep things interesting.


FTC Disclosure:
This book was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Friday, 2 May 2014

Review: WOULD-BE WITCH

Southern Witch #1: WOULD-BE WITCH
Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost
Book 1 of the Southern Witch series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback

About Would-Be Witch:
The promising debut of a hot new voice in paranormal romance — and the first of the Southern Witch novels.

The family magic seems to have skipped over Tammy Jo Trask. All she gets are a few untimely visits from long-dead, smart-mouthed family ghost Edie. But when her locket — an heirloom that happens to hold Edie's soul — is stolen in the midst of a town-wide crime spree, it's time for Tammy to find her inner witch.

After a few experiences with her dysfunctional magic, Tammy turns to the only person in small-town Duval, Texas, who can help: the very rich and highly magical Bryn Lyons. He might have all the answers — and a 007 savoir faire to boot — but the locket isn't the only heirloom passed down in Tammy's family. She also inherited a warning: stay away from Lyons.
Source: Info in the About Would-Be Witch was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4703905-would-be-witch on 14/09/2013.
Mercutio

My Thoughts:
First off, I love the world building! There are vampires, werewolves and witches. The cover art might be cartoonish but it triggered my book buying radar so as a marketing tool, it has done it's job. The plot... what plot? There wasn't much of a plot. It's fluffy at best. Like cotton candy. Not much of a substance but delicious non-the-less. And the story telling quality is compelling enough for me to read the book in a reasonable pace. What helds up the pace slow, is my need to have breaks from the "stupidity" of the heroine. I mean, she's as stupid as Sookie! The very quality which finally made me stop reading the Southern Vampires series even before Dead Ever After (the finale) came out, no matter how good a story teller Charlaine Harris is. Now I like my heroine kick-ass and not stupid. Like Kate Daniels for example, of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Not all the characters in this book is stupid however, take for example Mercutio. He got his head screwed on right! It's only the main protagonist who is stupid. And I find that really annoying! The pace of this book is inversely proportional to it's annoying-ness. The book therefore is not a fast-paced one even though the story telling quality is good. And that is also the main reason why I probably won't be reading any more books in this series or of this author.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 2.5
Story itself = 2
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 1
Plot = 1.5

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Southern Witch Series: