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Writer's picturechristinerainswrit

Review of Realms of Ghosts and Magic (Fae Witch Chronicles #1)


Blurb: When the fae beckon, very few resist. Even fewer return.


As a veil witch, I’m used to taking out the supernatural trash. Everything from poltergeists to vampires, you name it and I’ve dealt with it. So opening a paranormal cleanup business just seemed to make sense. If I’m already dealing with the pests, why not get paid?


But when I accidentally breach the faerie realm to encounter a girl recently reported missing, start seeing the ghost of a witch whose disappearance has never been solved, and discover a Book of Shadows that opens only for me, I can't just go back to business as usual. Especially when I also gain the interest of a sexy and mysterious mage. Timing is everything, and even as my desire grows, a little voice inside keeps reminding me to step carefully. I know all too well that, in the supernatural world, opening doors means facing consequences. In this case, those consequences might just mean never being heard from again.


Review: Cassie has recently been returned to her own body, which is a long story in itself. She's also a veil witch who is used to taking out supernatural baddies. Cassie starts her own business in the paranormal cleaning industry and a gorgeous mage tries to coax her to join a strange and ancient order. Yet when she starts seeing strange ghosts that might not be ghosts, she realizes she has a bigger mystery to solve. And the answers might just get her killed.


This is the first book in the urban fantasy series, Fae Witch Chronicles. Though I would highly recommend reading the Realm Watchers series first, because there are many references I didn't understand from that series in this one. Yet I did get a handle on the magic system and Cassie's world fairly quickly. I love the idea of young adult witches living in a "dorm" with magic to hide them and all their magical explorations and experiments from the rest of the world. I can only imagine what craziness has happened in there over the years! Cassie is a tough witch and has incredibly strong ties with her sister Autumn, their mother, and the young woman Julia who she inhabited while her body had been snatched for several years. I like seeing the heroine having a good support system in urban fantasy when so many books in the genre have her struggling on her own. When children start to go missing, Cassie thinks it's the same body snatchers that ejected her from her body all those years ago, but there's something more. Perhaps she'll find some help from the hot Greyson who is all sort of mystery himself. Great sizzling tension there!


The book is easy and fun to read, but yes, read the Realm Watchers first. Also, be forewarned, the book leaves on a huge cliffhanger. I know many books these days leave on cliffhangers (to sell more books), but this one resolves nothing. It's not an episode with that day's mystery being solved and the overarching story continued. It just cuts off right in the middle of an important part. The second book in the series does the same thing.


You can find J.S. Malcolm on her site and buy the book here.

2 Comments


Elizabeth Hartman Seckman
Elizabeth Hartman Seckman
Mar 13, 2023

I don't read much paranormal stories unless they're yours. :)

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christinerainswrit
christinerainswrit
Mar 13, 2023
Replying to

You're so sweet!

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