Witch It Real Good (Witchless in Seattle, #10)

by Dakota Cassidy

[EBookObsessed]

A little more of my literary Twinkie break.

Spoilers from previous stories.
This story had a big dose of good and bad. Let’s start with the good. The continuing plot of this series is focused on two points, the first is deceased warlock, Adam Westfield, who slapped the magic out of Stevie before he died, and he keeps trying to kill Stevie from the great beyond. The second point is who killed MI6 superspy Crispin Alistair Winterbottom?

In Witch it Real Good, Stevie and Win still haven’t figured out what they are going to tell people about Win and who he is. Win, the spy, is officially dead and Balthazar, Win’s twin brother who’s body he snatched, was a criminal with a long, long rap sheet and possible warrants for his arrest. Time is no longer on their side as Officer “By the Book” Dana, who has become a good friend of Stevie, is starting to ask questions.

Just as they are starting to panic, a knock on the door introduces a half-sister to Stevie who lives in Marshmallow Cove, Maine, where it is Christmas time 24/7 365 days a year. Since there is nothing Stevie loves more than Christmas decorations, they decide a trip is in order. Hall is also a witch, and one who actually has magic, so she snaps her fingers and Win, Stevie and all their pets pop over to Maine.

Of course, the first thing that happens is that someone tries to kill Win and then Stevie comes face to face with a woman who has to be Win’s former girlfriend, possible murderer, spy girl Miranda. (All the gin joints in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine.) Really, imagine the chances of that? Okay, snark aside, we will finally get answers to what happened to Win on the night he was murdered? While Stevie is consumed by the green-eyed monster wondering the more important question of if Miranda wasn’t responsible for his death, will Win leave her for his first love?

Yay!! It was great to finally get get some answers, especially when Amazon has this noted as Book 10 of 11. Only one more? Wah! Now the bad part of this story wasn’t so much bad, as annoying. This is not the first time that part of a Witchless in Seattle story was an introduction to a spinoff series, and I did find that Stevie’s sister, Hall, and her town of Marshmallow Cove will be the focus on a new series later this year. The bigger problem I have is that Dakota Cassidy obviously has a formula for her stories which include an awkward romantic lead, a talking familiar and a mystery to be solved. They even both live in a big house on a cliff overlooking water. What are the chances? And if you don’t like paranormal, her Lemon Layne Mystery series just had regular people and a pet monkey (no talking, but he was super clever). I don’t mind a good spinoff but the only thing different from what we are reading now is location and her awkward guy friend isn’t dead at the beginning of the story. I tried the Lemon Layne series but found that I was too distracted by the sameness of that series to this one.

I am still annoyed by the fact that these two love birds are sleeping in separate bedrooms even though they are getting shot at again. Again, I don’t need to watch them have sex if we want to keep it PG but not so much as a passionate kiss or a little snuggling for warmth after two years wait just seems wrong. This ain’t a Jane Austin novel. If we need to keep it family friendly, put a ring on it and let’s get to the alter. These are two people who should not be taking their time. They had two years of get to know each other. What the hell?

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