Review of The Devil Made Me Brew It by Sarah Piper

Synopsis:
Lucifer meets Practical Magic in this opposites attract witchy rom-com brimming with sass, spice, and small-town charm!

What’s a broke tea witch to do when she’s about to lose her beloved café?

No idea, but chugging magic mojitos and drunk-summoning the Devil was definitely the wrong call.

Now, I’m stuck with the house guest from Hell—literally—and we couldn’t be more opposite: a homebody who brews healing teas and reads romance novels to her cats versus a sexy-as-sin playboy with a pitchfork tattoo on his butt and a fondness for public day-drinking. In the nude. Ergo, the pitchfork discovery.

Infuriating!

I’ve tried to send the Dark Prince packing, but the spell won’t let him leave—not until he unlocks my so-called “heart’s desire.”

Well. My only desire is to clear my debt and save the café, which would be a lot easier if I wasn’t so distracted by his stupidly charming British accent.

Or the smile that keeps incinerating perfectly innocent panties.

Or the spellbinding, toe-curling, never-should’ve-happened kiss at the Wayward Bay Halloween Ball that has me believing in a different kind of magic:

Love.

So maybe the real question is… What’s a broke tea witch to do when she’s about to lose her café and her heart?

Review:
I absolutely adored this book from the beginning. It was a bit cheesy, and definitely a “witch and devil could be in a Hallmark movie”, but there was no pretending it was anything but–even the characters joke about how everything is falling together too well, too perfectly and that was exactly what I was in the mood for and needed when I read this book. This is a quick easy cozy romantasy with high stakes but showcasing a wonderful found family and love. There was a great, perfect amount of spice between the two main characters, and their relationship never really felt forced but growing gradually as they got to know each other. There were a few times that I wondered what, exactly, Devlin saw in his “mushroom” girl since she didn’t seem to have any self confidence. I think that, perhaps, a lot of it may have had to do with the fact she wasn’t instantly willing to throw herself at him, but that isn’t necessarily explicitly stated. I definitely hadn’t seen the twist ending of what was going on in the town, and that made this read all the better! This book very much had Lucifer vibes, but I as I haven’t read or watched Practical Magic (I know, a travesty!) I cannot comment on whether or not it was reminiscent of that.

All in all I loved this book, it was a cozy modern romantasy, that made me want to start brewing my own tea instead of just picking one of the dozens of blends in my cupboard. Kudos to my husband for trying my first attempted brew of honeysuckle and jasmine green tea–did you know you’re supposed to brew honeysuckle for 10 minutes?!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Soul Symmetry by J. L. Weil

Soul Symmetry
Book 3 in The Raven Series
By J. L. Weil

Star Rating: 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/YA Urban Fantasy
Number of Pages: 278

Date Started: May 18, 2017
Date Finished: May 20, 2017

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
A BANSHEE.
A DEATH REAPER.
LOVE TRANSCENDING.

War is coming. The veil between the living and the dead no longer exists. Evil is running rampant and the universe’s symmetry balances on my fingertips. No big deal. Of course, nobody knows how or when the hallows will strike, or who among us is a traitor.

Hordes of vengeful spirits are multiplying by the minute, closing in ranks. Zane is poised to strike, but it’s going to take more than his killer instincts, more than swords and shadows to vanquish the hallows back where they belong. Stakes are higher than ever, yet I am determined to protect those I care about—to save the world.

Restoring the veil isn’t as easy as a snap of my fingertips. Nothing worth fighting for ever is. Friendship and loyalties are tested to the limit, sacrifices of unimaginable proportions are made, but in the end, all that matters is whether I succeed or fail.

Review:
Worrying about personal relationships when the world as we know it might be completely in jeopardy is a very immature thing to do, yet our protagonists are quite young, and so it is believable.

I could not help but wonder, with all of the power that Piper had, why she wouldn’t have simply taken out the threat that seemed far too obvious in causing all the mischief in the first place. She could have called the person forward and fought BEFORE all of the vengeful spirits appeared.

While predictable, this book series is exactly the sort of series most teenagers will love to read. In the end, despite being foreseeable and cliched, the complete story was alright overall. I enjoyed the ending, although I thought that the timing was perhaps a bit rushed.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
USA TODAY Bestselling author J.L. Weil lives in Illinois where she writes Teen & New Adult Paranormal Romances about spunky, smart mouth girls who always wind up in dire situations. For every sassy girl, there is an equally mouthwatering, overprotective guy. Of course, there is lots of kissing. And stuff.

An admitted addict to Love Pink clothes, raspberry mochas from Starbucks, and Jensen Ackles. She loves gushing about books and Supernatural with her readers.

She is the author of the International Bestselling Raven & Divisa series.
http://www.jlweil.com

Review of Black Crow by J. L. Weil

Black Crow
Book 2 in The Raven Series
By J. L. Weil

Star Rating: 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/YA Urban Fantasy
Number of Pages: 285

Date Started: May 16, 2017
Date Finished: May 18, 2017

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
I’VE LOST SO MUCH.
FAMILY. MY HOME.
PRIDE. MY IDENTITY.

And I couldn’t help but feel it’s entirely my fault. There is no one else to blame.

I’ve quickly learned that being the White Raven isn’t easy. The dead are restless and angry, and I don’t know the first thing about being a banshee. Those around me will get hurt. To keep them safe, I must endure painful decisions.

Zane Hunter, the ultra-bad boy who stole my heart, is one of those difficult decisions. Our souls are synchronized, making us a compatible duo. Too bad I’m engaged to his brother.

My forbidden relationship with Zane is complicated. Deep down I want more than what my duty demands of me, what my family’s past has shaped for me.

Our problematic relationship only increases in tenfold when a surprise I never saw coming shows up in Raven Hallow, changing the game. I thought I had nothing left to lose…I was wrong.

Yeah, being a banshee isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Review:
Sacrifice. All heroes require sacrifice. Unfortunately, Piper seems to keep getting the short end of the stick in that regard.  Though mostly expected, it was still unpleasant dealing with all of the turmoil on top of the first book’s loss–perhaps something that should have been expected when the book is about ravens, which often symbolize death.

Unfortunately I found most of our star crossed lovers’ issues to be unoriginal and somewhat expected.

Despite the still odd phrases used at times, and my own insight about how the plot would turn out in the end, I still planned to read the the finale, which will be addressed in my next post.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
USA TODAY Bestselling author J.L. Weil lives in Illinois where she writes Teen & New Adult Paranormal Romances about spunky, smart mouth girls who always wind up in dire situations. For every sassy girl, there is an equally mouthwatering, overprotective guy. Of course, there is lots of kissing. And stuff.

An admitted addict to Love Pink clothes, raspberry mochas from Starbucks, and Jensen Ackles. She loves gushing about books and Supernatural with her readers.

She is the author of the International Bestselling Raven & Divisa series.
http://www.jlweil.com