Review of "No Rest for the Wicca" by Toni LoTempio

 I hope you all had a great weekend! Ready for another awesome Monday? Yeah, me either... But at least my weekend was filled with some great books - like "No Rest for the Wicca." On that note, let's begin!

Disclaimer: This book was given to me in exchange for a review. I was not given any monetary incentive for a good review. I am an Amazon.com affiliate (which means almost nothing).

Type: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Witches, Voodoo, Investigators, Special Agents, Hunky agents pretending to be equally hunky professors, College

Why this book?: Well, the awesome author of "No Rest for the Wicca" contacted me about reviewing her book - and after reading the synopsis, I couldn't pass it up. Frankly, it seemed like it was right up my alley - it was. =)
 Morgan Hawkes works as a paranormal investigator, one of the "ghostbusters" that cleans up daemons that just don't want to move to the next plane. It may not be her dream job, but after losing her partner, it's better than working in Homicide and having to relive that traumatic experience every day. But Special Agent Cole St. John has come to her with an interesting proposition. There's a serial killer on the lose, targeting local witches, and he needs Morgan's expertise. Originally, she passes on the deal, but when her cousin is attacked and almost becomes the next victim, Morgan jumps on board. But this case, and Cole, might be more than she is prepared to handle.


I like Morgan - she can be snarky. And she's not a wimpy female, she can dish out the sarcasm as well as a well aimed punch or kick, just as good as any man. Yeah, she had a traumatic experience, but she's working on coming to terms with her past, and does her best to prevent herself from ever being in that situation again. But she's also loyal, and if putting herself on the line is what it takes to save her cousin, she'll do it. She's willing to do anything, even offer herself as bait, if it means catching the bad guy. And that's where Cole St. John comes in. Confident, charming, and smart. He wants to solve this case just as much as anyone, but he keeps a level head enough to keep Morgan from doing anything rash - and it makes them a good team. And the two have great chemistry, and the perfect amount of humor and witty banter to keep this story from being too dark.

The author either really knew her Wicca and Voodoo history and practice, or she is great at making things up and having them sound like gospel truth. The scenes where Morgan was listening to the professors' lectures were interesting, the knowledge fascinating and useful (for later) enough that it was fascinating. The description in most scenes was well done, just the right amount to give the reader an idea of what was going on or where they were, but not so much that it was overbearing. And the close, hot moments between Cole and Morgan were quite steamy. The moments leading up to these scenes could have had a little more tension, maybe a heated look or a not-so-casual touch so it flowed a little smoother, but it was still very well done. And though a character or two's name was switch, always a character that wasn't in the scene, just being referred to, and occasionally a character would start somewhere in the beginning of the conversation and end up somewhere very different supposedly without moving by the end of it, it's never enough to pull the reader out of the story, and I only noticed it by chance.

I'm going to give "No Rest for the Wicca" a FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). I enjoyed the characters, I loved the story, and I thought it played out exceptionally well. The ending was quite satisfying, and was left open enough that a sequel is possible - I certainly hope! Be sure to check out "No Rest for the Wicca" by Toni LoTempio by purchasing this item at Amazon.com, or via the author's Smashwords page, here. Only $2.99 for what I assure you is a great read - I could barely put it down once I started reading.

Have a wonderful week, and make sure to check back tomorrow when author Russell Brooks drops by during his Virtual Blog Tour - enter to win a prize or an ecopy of his new release, "Pandora's Succession"

~!~ MG