*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of KINDLE Ebook Star Witch – Book 2 of The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic by Helen Harper

Himself spotted the first book in this series Slouch Witch – see my review here – which I loved, and was delighted when he told me the next book in the series would be shortly released. Right now, I could really do with an amusing, snappy urban fantasy series to dive into…

Ivy Wilde, the laziest witch in the West, is still entangled with the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. That’s not a bad thing, however, because it gives her plenty of excuses to spend more time with sapphire eyed Raphael Winter, her supposed nemesis. And when he comes knocking because he needs her to spy on the latest series of Enchantment, she jumps at the chance. Hanging around a film set can’t be hard … or dangerous … right?

One of the reasons why I enjoy this series so much is that it is set in the UK and draws on Brit humour. I particularly liked the fact that Ivy gets involved in a reality show about magic which ends up being on location in Scotland – think of The Great British Bake-Off with magic instead of muffins and an over made-up announcer called Belinda instead of Sue Perkins and a wannabe magician wafting around in a purple robe called Terry instead of Paul Hollywood. And rather than working in a marquee with the rain lashing down – the contestants are thigh-deep in heather on the edge of a small Scottish village miles from anywhere…

While there were moments when I laughed aloud, there is still danger and bloody mayhem to deal with as a gruesome murder takes place – and no one quite knows whodunit. Or even if the murderer is human… In the meantime, Ivy opts to become a contestant to get out of the exhausting job of being a runner on the TV set, thinking it must be less tiring. Until she is faced with a muddy obstacle course and a hike up a mountain. The farce and rising tension in the story is really well handled – Harper manages to ensure that the humour doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the crime as the stakes are raised ever higher. It would have been only too easy to have turned this into a knockabout comedy, which doesn’t happen.

The emerging romance between Ivy and Rafe is also well done. I’m not a huge fan of romantic fiction and yet I found myself rooting for this couple, despite their very different attitudes to Life. Any niggles? Nope – not a one. The climactic final scene works brilliantly, wrapping up the mystery satisfactorily yet leaving us with a huge cliff-hanger regarding our main protagonists. However that hasn’t wound me up – because the very good news is that the next book in this series, Spirit Witch, is due out in August.
9/10

Teaser Tuesday – 18th July, 2017

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Chocolate Chocolate Moons by Jackie Kingon
45% When I look up my jaw drops. I think there is no ceiling, only infinite black sky. I think it’s more convincing than the real black sky that I saw when I first came to the Moon with Drew. My sweaty hand grabs Cortland’s sweaty hand.
A robotic porter approaches. “Happy anniversary, Mr and Mrs Summers. Welcome to Nirgal Palace.”

BLURB: If you struggle with your weight, and was offered an opportunity to become light, fit and have a wonderful life without dieting, would you accept?

Molly Marbles wins a scholarship to Armstrong University on the Moon, a haven for the plus sized set and is delighted to discover that 287 Earth pounds instantly become 47.6, without so much as passing up a piece of pie.

But when her boyfriend Drew Barron dumps her, then jumps at a job at Congress Drugs, a company that makes low calorie food supplements, Molly’s weight is the least of her woes especially when the popular candy, Chocolate Moons is found poisoned.

I recently read and reviewed Kingon’s quirky space-based cosy mystery Sherlock Mars – see my review here – and was delighted when author asked if I would like to read the prequel.

Ostensibly, this is a story about some nefarious double-dealing where unscrupulous characters try to get richer quicker at the expense of hapless chocolate lovers. In reality, it’s an examination of our relationship with food. Kingon’s bouncy prose and quickfire one-liners uncover our issues with what we love over what is good for us – or is it? I’m really enjoying the nonsense, along with the underlying message that many of us are really, really messed up now that food has become something more than mere fuel to keep us alive.