Many books these days portray witchcraft the exact same way as Hollywood does: people who can conjure flames with a thought and who can move objects around the room without touching them. I hate to tell you, but that is simply not done. Thankfully, Ms. Bandruid was not one of the many writers who do that. She showed magic/paganism as something that is not about what you can do, but how you do it. Good and bad, everything reflects back upon you in the end, and she shows that beautifully.

Raina Lightfoot is the owner of The Kestrel's Loft, a popular business in San Diego, California. At twenty-nine, she is unsure if she will ever find the One for her--the man that will complete her in every way. She thought she'd found him, but he disappeared from her bed one-night years ago and she's yet to feel the same connection she had with him, with anyone else. On Beltane night, after drinking quite a bit of her Aunt Lula's personal concoction Black Water, she casts a spell to make her mate burn for her. Flinging the spell to the four winds, she waits.

Aidan McGrath is a Vampire, and very happy in the way his life is lived. When the drunken spell cast by Raina sets his blood and body on fire, he has more than one thing to say about a woman trying to get her proverbial claws into him. And none of them is very nice. However, when he lays eyes on her, those thoughts flee and leave him simply wanting to claim her as his.

Jagur is the head of the local werewolf pack, having proved himself not only physically, but mentally as well. And Raina's spell also calls to him.

What is a woman to do when presented with such bounty in the form of two men who are almost too beautiful to be real? Especially when something is killing off the Vampires and Shape shifters. The taint is slowly creeping up the ranks so that they are all feeling the squeeze.

Ms. Bandruid has written a page turning super novel that sank sensual teeth into me and would not let me go. I will be the first to admit, one of the things that kept me reading was her very real portrayal of magic. And, of course, a cast of characters that had me laughing so hard at times that my sides ached doesn't hurt either!

Reviewed By Marissa
© March 2005