Book 51, 2024

[chez_jae]

Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I brought my work book home with me on Friday and finished it Friday night. It was Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair, and it's the first in her "Triplet Witch" trilogy of paranormal romance. This story focuses on Harmony Cartwright.

Harmony and her sisters, Destiny and Storm, run a vintage shop owned by their older sister, Vickie. Harmony uses psychometry to read objects before deciding to buy and resell them. When she finds a vintage dress with a Celtic ring sewn into the hem, Harmony has visions of a castle and knows that something there is amiss...something only she can make right. She travels to Paxton Castle off the coast of Salem, MA and encounters the owner, King Paxton, who is attempting to renovate his family's home in hopes of selling it. However, work on the edifice has been slowed by accidents, in-fighting among the crew, and an unnerving wailing that emanates from within the walls. Everything quiets when Harmony arrives, prompting King to hire her to stick around, at least until the work is done. Although Harmony agrees, she has more important things on her mind, such as putting the wailing spirit to rest and removing that stick from King Paxton's uptight ass.

For the most part, this was cute and lite, but reading it annoyed me. I hate to say it, but there was too much sex. Steamy scenes should enhance the plot. Instead, the plot was propping up the sex. I suppose if I was still in the age range of a "Cosmo Girl" (18-35), I would have thought that was great. However, I'm old and jaded and find these young'uns going at it like oversexed rabbits to be tedious. LOL! I also didn't like how King treated Harmony. At first he thought she was a lookee-loo and he physically picked her up to remove her from the premises, twice! Then, when the two of them were in a rickety old elevator, he deliberately stopped it between floors so he could "cage" her against the back wall with his arms and intimidate her. I ask you, would he have done so if she was a fat old broad or a guy? No. I suppose for those who are young and filled with romantic ideals this would seem exciting, but I'm a grumpy old broad and I found it aggravating. Also, would it seem swoon worthy if he was a fat old fart? No? Newsflash: if it's not okay for a homely guy to treat a woman like that, it's not okay for a handsome guy to do it either. Bitching aside, the premise of the story was certainly interesting, and I liked that Harmony could stand up for herself. By the time all was said and done, Harmony's sisters had joined them at the castle, along with King's two BFFs. It doesn't take a genius to see where the other two books in the trilogy are going.

Favorite lines:
♦ She collected dolphins, too, although hers were made of silicone and required batteries.
♦ "Who do the fashion police monitor? Because I think you've been taken captive by the enemy."
♦ "In what religion were you raised?" // "A Methodist. What difference does that make?" // "Did you introduce yourself to me by saying, 'Hi, I'm King Paxton, and I'm a Methodist.'?" // "Of course not." // "Well, I don't say, 'Hi, I'm Harmony Cartwright, and I'm a witch.'"
♦ "Are you a hocus-pocus witch, with spells and stuff?" // "I can make your penis grow."
♦ "I'm sorry. I'm Morgan Jarvis." // "I'm sorry you're Morgan Jarvis, too."

A fun read overall, but I like my female leads to not lose all self-control and fall into bed with the male lead within a day or two. Slow burn is preferable, in my opinion. This probably deserves four stars, but I'm knocking one off for the ham-handed male lead and the swooning female lead. Three stars.