My Initial Reaction...

Would-Be Witch was really cute and fun - reminded me a bit of Molly Harper's PNR though it wasn't quite as funny.

The Narration...

Mandy Seigfried was a really fun narrator. She did a great job bringing out the humor and personalities in each character. Although she's completely different from Amanda Ronconi, she reminded me of her because of how well she brought to life all these small town personalities, particularly Tammy Jo (the main character). She's definitely added to my go-to narrators list.

The Characters...

OMG, I freaking loved Tammy Jo (Tamara). She was country through-and-through, complete with these ridiculous sayings that just made me LMAO. She reminded me of a friend I have who says the craziest things and you don't know what he means but you go with it anyway. For example, Tammy Jo says at one point "like fish in a bathtub" and my response was to laugh and go, "huh?" I used context clues to understand what she meant, and it was totally fun. Tammy Jo is a baker and witch with limited power (hence, the title, Would-Be Witch). She comes from a long line of witches but for some reason her powers really never came to her - until now. Of course, her mom and aunt are gallivanting around and MIA so Tammy Jo has to figure out how to cast spells on her own and that provided some great laughs.

If you were Facebook friends with Tammy Jo, I imagine her relationship status would say "It's Complicated." See, Tammy Jo is in an on-again off-again relationship with her childhood sweetheart and ex-husband, Zach Sutton. I loved their interaction and it was another source of humour, for the most part. He says some of the sweetest (despite being ridiculous) things to Tammy Jo and you can't help but like him. But I also can totally see while Tammy Jo isn't 100% committed to him. Zachary is sweet - but he doesn't believe in the supernatural - something that's a bit problematic when you're a witch who frequently has conversations with your dead ancestor. He also can be a bit bossy and over protective - comes from a good place, but annoying!

So it's not surprising that Tammy Jo has an attraction to Bryn Lyons. First of all, his family is on this list of 9 families that her mother told her she had to steer clear of. Best way to make me interested in someone? Tell me I have to stay away! Tammy Jo tries way harder than I would, but she's in trouble and Bryn's a witch & can help her. So what's a girl to do? Plus her chemistry with him is undeniable. I felt kinda shitty about her potential relationship with him, though, because Zach is such a sweet guy. I hope that Tammy Jo and Zach are able to get to a friends-only place that they're BOTH happy with if things progress any more between Tammy Jo and Bryn.

And I would be amiss if I didn't mention the cat, Merc. Bryn gives Tammy Jo Merc for her protection and since he turns out to be an Ocelot, it's no wonder that he's a good protector, kitten or not. I LOVED the way Tammy Jo would talk to Merc and discuss her plans with him. It was just too fun!

The Story...

The story isn't all that complex - this is humorous and fun, not suspenseful and mysterious. Basically, Tammy Jo's locket, which houses her dead Aunt Edie's soul, gets stolen and Tammy Jo has to get it back. This results in her getting into loads of trouble as she tries to use her witchy powers, especially since she doesn't actually know how to use them. What probably could have been simple gets more and more complicated because she's clueless, but since she never paid attention to what her mom and aunt did, it made sense.

There were some neat twists in the magic and creature mythology for Would-Be Witch that I enjoyed. And I loved the small-town setting (even if it did rest a bit on stereotypes - I though they were well used, not offensively) and the mystery even managed to surprise me a bit, so that was fun.

Concluding Sentiments...

Would-Be Witch was loads of fun, with a decent story and likeable characters. I'm looking forward to continuing the series!

Listening to audiobook.

I thought this would be a light-hearted and funny story. I did not find it as such. I found that most of the characters a little on the stupid side.

I thought that this book made everyone in the southern Texas town out to be morons. I thought Tammy Jo was weak for allowing her ex-husband to continue to control her life even after a divorce. Very much the Southern, small-minded stereotype at work throughout the entire story. The only characters that seemed to have any sense to them were Bryn and Lenox Lyons, who were from out-of-town. This heroine is probably one of the most ignorant characters I’ve ever read.

There is a difference between a heroine who seems to constantly get herself into trouble, but is still strong and smart. Rachel Morgan in the Hollows series is a great example. She constantly makes some decisions that are not always the best, and forced to choose between a bad decision and a worse decision.

In this book, Tammy Jo, just seems like a dumb character who can’t seem to get out of her way and has to turn to her cat to make decisions. You know, I talk to my animals, but I truly believe that this character expected the cat to make decisions for her.

The narration for this book was okay and felt like it went well with the book. The narrator did make the character sound a little on the dumb side, but to me that fit really well with this character. I would be willing to try a different series with this narrator, but I really have no intention of continuing with this series.

Originally posted at Hotlistens.com

Would-Be Witch (A Southern Witch Novel, #1)

by Kimberly Frost

Mindy Seigfried (Translator)