Review: What’s a Witch to Do? (Midnight Magic, #1) by Jennifer Harlow

What’s a Witch to Do? (Midnight Magic #1) by Jennifer Harlow Genre: Paranormal Romance Excerpt: No | Book Trailer: No Reviewed by: Kristina | Source: Author, NetGalley Format: Paperback Publisher: midnight ink on March 8, 2013 Pages: 336 pages Rating + Sexual Content Some mild sex scenes

Description

A suspenseful brew with a dash of passion

High Priestess might sound like an ’80s hair band, but its Mona McGregor’s life. She runs the Midnight Magic shop in Goodnight, Virginia, and leads a large coven. She’s also raising two nieces and hasn’t been with a man for fifteen years…until a handsome doctor takes an interest in her. But Mona’s life really heats up when Adam Blue, a sexy werewolf, arrives at her door. Adam informs her that someone wants her dead and he is there to protect her. Hell’s bells! When a demon begins stalking her, Mona has to suspect her coven members, and even her family.

With two handsome men and a determined demon after her, Mona teams up with Adam to find out who really wants her dead . . . and who really wants her.

Review

WHAT’S A WITCH TO DO? is a fun paranormal mystery with a lot of humor and a steamy romance. The mystery of who wants Mona dead was well plotted and I had fun analyzing everyone’s motives along with Mona. I liked the small town of Goodnight where everyone knows everyone else’s business which presented a lot of amusing gossip for Mona to wade through to find her would be killer.

Mona was an interesting character who has to take care of her two young nieces, a coven to run, and a never ending to-do list. It was interesting seeing a character with small children to care for as it really affected her decision making and helped make Mona feel very relatable. While I enjoy a heroine I can relate to who has self-doubts, Mona’s constant jabs at herself and self-image issues started to grate and I began to wish for a more self-confident character. Is it too much to ask for a normal heroine who isn’t super thin and strong without having to endure continuing references to her weight and her ‘less than average’ appearance by Mona and other characters? This was the one really annoying aspect of WHAT’S A WITCH TO DO?, and unfortunately, the references at times dominated the story.

Another thing that bothered me was Mona’s To-Do list which is featured at the beginning of each chapter. It was cute to see that list with some things crossed out but it just highlighted for me the fact that Mona refuses to ask for help and no one around her even offers to help though everyone knows she has a full plate.  I was miffed at the lack of support Mona seemed to have and was glad when Adam came along to ease some of her stress.

Continuing with the almost too real characterization, the relationship between Mona and Adam grows very organically as they start out as friends helping each other out and slowly build to a steamy romance over the course of the story. I like that there was some attraction that turned into something more with no magical instant connection I’ve seen so frequently in romances with werewolves. I also liked that Adam was a beta wolf who is not driven by any aggressive alpha wolf instincts. He comes off as kind, helpful, and a great partner to stabilize Mona’s hectic life.

WHAT’S A WITCH TO DO? is a fun, light mystery taking place is a small town with a plethora of eccentric characters. While I was annoyed at Mona’s characterization I enjoyed the overall story and look forward to any future books to come in this series.

---

Would you like to be reviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? Request a Review