Review of A Game of Cat and Witch

Blurb: Avery Alarch has always been the worst witch at Caerwyn University. Now she’s got twenty-four hours to conjure a familiar or get kicked out for good—a fate that means losing her magic forever and being stuck on a dreary island with nothing but regrets.

Desperate times call for desperate spells. So when Avery stumbles on a forbidden grimoire, she decides to risk it all. One little summoning later, she’s expecting a cute magical cat. Instead? She gets Felix, a six-foot-six cat shifter with a bad attitude and a knack for trouble. He’s her mortal enemy, magically bound to her by an illegal spell, and very much not purring.

He wants her dead. She wants him gone. Neither of them gets a choice.

The only way out? Solve a string of enchanted riddles before their magical link destroys them both. Of course, that’s easier said than done when Felix keeps tying Avery up in shadows, and their bickering is starting to feel a little less hostile and a lot more heated.

As they unravel puzzles and secrets, Avery and Felix find themselves at the heart of a conspiracy that could upend the supernatural world. And despite every rule and reason, sparks are flying in all the wrong (or right?) ways.

Review: Avery Alarch has only 24 hours to conjure a familiar or get expelled from Caerwyn University. That means no magic, no future, nothing. So when she comes across a forbidden blood ritual, she takes a chance because everything rides on her obtaining a familiar. Instead, she bonds a cat shifter, and Felix is furious about it. Witches and shifters have been enemies for hundreds of years. He wants her dead and she only wants to have magic, but they must work together to find a way to break the bond. Except the more time they spend together, the more their attraction and something else grows. Will they still break the bond in the end or will they destroy one another?

This is the first book in the NA paranormal romance series, Monstrous Shifters. The world building is fantastic. I always like worlds where the supernatural beings are known to humans, but there are different rules. Witches are segregated from normal society and live on an island off the coast of the UK. Shifters mingle with humans and are more well liked. If there are other types of beings, we don't know that yet, but this is just the first book. The witch society is regimental, ruled by a harsh council, and any witch not living up to their high standards, is discarded. That's Avery's future. There's even more pressure since her mother is the High Councilor and her older sister an enforcer. Both are powerful witches.

I wasn't a fan of Avery. She's juvenile and whiny and not at all appropriate for what is advertised as a smutty book. She refers to her parts as the "hole" and Felix's as a "thing." She is university age, but she makes me feel this is a YA (young adult) rather than NA (new adult) story. She has no magic until she bonds with Felix, and then it's a strange shadow magic. He's very much what you'd think a hero/love interest in a smutty book would be. Sex on the mind all the time. I didn't feel any sizzle between them.

With the goddess' guidance, they must solve riddles and endure challenges. I'm a big fan of the dust bunny helpers! So adorable. Felix is a small cat shifter, so not a monster, and even his shadowy monster side which we see little of isn't very scary. The marketing for this book was HUGE. It was advertised as monster smut, and there is zero of it. Felix is a gorgeous guy with cat ears and tail. Not a monster. There are mentions of other shifters each with their own monsters that could deliver on that aspect, but not in this book. There's an evil plot happening, which I won't give away, but I bet only the first layer was revealed.

You can find Ruby Rune on her site, and buy the book here.