Publisher: Random House
Date published: February 2012
ISBN: 9780345531452
Paranormal Romance
Paperback
Obtained by publisher
Reviewed by T.Barringer
In the third book in H.P. Mallory’s Jolie Wilkins series, WITCHFUL THINKING, Jolie, to her surprise, has been crowned queen of the underworld. Though she has a rare gift for reanimating the dead, she is completely lost when it comes to governing. And though she takes her new job seriously, she is also struggling with her love life. The warlock Rand is the love of her life, but she is keeping secrets from him. Her sworn protector, the vampire Sinjin, is also showing a carnal interest in Tori, but she is pretty sure he has ulterior motives in pursuing her. Now, if she could just make up her mind about what to do with the underworld and her love life and just stick to it.
WITCHFUL THINKING is the first of H.P. Mallory’s Jolie Wilkins stories this reader has picked up, so it is possible that the enjoyment factor was reduced simply because of lack of back story. However, the similarities between Jolie and MaryJanice Davidson’s Betsy Taylor, Vampire Queen, from her Undead series, were simply too strong to get past. Jolie, like Betsy, is a modern, slightly ditzy young woman who finds herself queen of the undead with no idea how to rule. Unfortunately, Jolie’s antics throughout the story aren’t quite as humorous as Betsy’s. Rand, Jolie’s vampire honey is also quite similar in character to Betsy’s vampire king Sinclair. They are both the straight guy to Jolie/Betsy’s ditz and the real power behind the thrones. Perhaps if Ms. Davidson hadn’t already penned almost a dozen well publicized and strong selling Betsy books, the incredible similarities would not have been quite so glaring. But she has and they are.
On the other hand, the story moves along at a fairly clip pace, the secondary characters show promise and the surprise ending is one readers will never see coming.
WITCHFUL THINKING was entertaining and a quick read. The lack of original characters and humor, however, did dampen the enjoyment for this reader. However, if somehow you had missed reading MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead books, this WITCHFUL THINKING could be an enjoyable read for a day at the beach.
THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW
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