Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

by H P Mallory

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



Jolie Wilkins is just your average girl next door...except she can see auras and has the occasional vision. Even though she hasn't had a date in 6 months, she enjoys her life. Jolie owns a shop in Los Angeles where she conducts tarot readings and her best friend Christa acts as her secretary.

All of that changes the day that Rand walks through the shop door. Rand is British, good looking and a warlock. turns out Jolie is a very powerful witch but they didn't know how powerful until she accidentally brings a man back from the dead.

Jolie gets a crash course with the creatures of the Underworld. Not only are there witches and warlocks, but there are also faeries, vampires, demons and werewolves. A very powerful witch, Bella, wants to dominate all creatures of the Underworld as their queen. With Jolie on her side, Bella's goals will be met much faster than she anticipated. Rand blocks that avenue when he claims rights over Jolie and fights Bella for those rights.

This is the first book in a series and the plot is not concluded by the end. Instead it will continue into the next book. This also isn't a typical romance as the romantic elements of the plot are not resolved by the end of the book. Much of the reminder of the book is spent with both sides building up their armies.

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble is a light and funny read. Jolie is a fun and spunky heroine. She has a sarcastic sense of humor so we got along. Rand is a proper kind of hero who would never do anything out of line or inappropriate.

For the most part I enjoyed this book but there were a few problems that had me stumbling a little. Once everyone finds out about Jolie's powers, every male character wants a piece of the Jolie pie. While this would happen in real life, I find the efforts of the amorous males distracting from the plot line. Then there's the relationship between Rand and Jolie. Rand acknowledges his feelings for Jolie but insists on keeping a proper working relationship. When Rand is ready to take their relationship to the next level, Jolie isn't. There's this back-and-forth relationship through the book that, while creating conflict, also gets frustrating.

With that being said, I like this book enough that I look forward to reading the next chapter in Mallory's Jolie Wilkins series. I can't wait to see how it plays out!