Hex, Love, and Rock & Roll Coven Daughters, Book 1
City Owl Press
September 15, 2020
288
With a business skidding toward bankruptcy and bone-dry bank account, Helen Schrader is willing to do the unthinkable. But what will happen when she hires a witch to cast a money spell?
When the spell sets in motion her own latent magic and her inexperience causes her to accidentally hex her celebrity crush, rocker Brian Shepherd, all that good fortune she hoped for flies out of the window.
Now, Helen and Brian struggle to break the curse and tackle their growing feelings for each other. Problem is, the harder they fall for each other, the deadlier the curse becomes.
But as a dark magic cult with an unquenchable thirst for power closes in on them, the couple will have to face more than just their inconvenient desire. With time running out and danger mounting, can they beat the hex before Brian becomes its next victim?
Available at Amazon.
Reviewed by Xanthe
Member of The Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This is kind of a hard review to write as there were good parts to the story and
writing but then a fair amount that I struggled with as well. I love a good
supernatural romance and am happy to dive into a story full of magic and
redemption but this book has so much going on that it feels a little overwhelming in
places and hard to keep up with what is going on.
When we start, Helen is seriously down on her luck and trying to save her business so
she ends up visiting a witch. Things do not go according to plan when she is told that
she is the one with the power and can save herself but only if she goes about things
correctly. As soon as she steps out of the door, things go downhill and when she
meets her teenage crush, Rocker Brian Sheppard, it goes from bad to worse. Soon
they’re trying to solve what is happening, where the threat is coming from and how to
save the situation.
Helen’s relationship with magic has a bad history as does her childhood and most of
her adult life. She has definitely survived a lot and is trying to stand strong on her
own two feet, though has recently faltered in that regard. There is chemistry between
Brian and Helen from the start and they work well together when on the same page
but I was surprised with how quickly Brian accepted the things that Helen was telling
him about herself and what was happening, I would definitely be questioning her
sanity! Both put themselves down quite a lot but Brian is lucky in that he has his
band mates to keep him sane. Helen has just one friend who she is at odds with when
we start the story and no family to raise her spirits or support her. In that regard,
they are very good for each other and see something that draws them together.
Her magic seems to have a few rules that she has to follow for it to accept her and
work to her will. I found it strange that the witch she hired claims to want to mentor
her and then just leaves her with some crystals and a grimier before basically
leaving Helen to her own device which definitely has mixed results. It takes a while
but Helen eventually gets to grips with something she initially claimed to not want
and through trial and error gets the required results. The finale of the book actually
being the best part of the book as everything comes together, Helen comes into her
0wn with her magic and her sense of self. The action and drama all comes to a head
with a satisfying ending.
The plot of what they are up against is full of twists, dark magic and creepy evil direct
doers but is something that you really have to pay attention to. Demons,
doppelgangers, witches and wannabes keep you guessing as to who, what and why
and, at its core it's a really good story line but I felt that, at points, it got bogged down
with how much the author was trying to incorporate into the story. It is a constant
thing throughout the book that sentences are overwritten and filled with unnecessary
words. This may have been to pad out the story to make the characters seem more
intelligent but it detracted from the story for me, making it harder to concentrate on
what was trying to be said.
There are a few side characters that help to move the story along, good and bad. The
villains and monsters of the story are very well written and brought to life the darker
side of the story. Brian's band mates all have their own quirks as men who have lived
the rock and roll lifestyle for so long but are solidly behind Brian and you can feel
their thirty-year friendships. Nerissa is an odd one as the witch Helen goes to, very
hands off for a supposed mentor.
Overall, I'm torn as it's a story that I wanted to enjoy as it has many elements that I
love in a story but together it didn’t quite work for me.