Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

BOOK SYNOPSISNexi Jones—part witch, part guardian, and wannabe kick-ass warrior—can’t throw a punch or conjure the simplest magic. But that doesn’t stop her from hunting the werewolves who slaughtered her human family. She’ll have her revenge, but only if Kyden, the elite guardian, would get the hell out of her way.Kyden can’t decide if Nexi wants to get herself killed or if she just has no clue what she’s doing. But her father made it clear: keep Nexi safe…or else. Of course, the more Nexi runs toward revenge, the more she needs Kyden’s aid, and as she grows into her power and confidence, so does his desire to protect her. The only problem? She’d rather he dropped dead.But when a vampire paints a bull’s-eye on Nexi’s back, she’s hard-pressed to deny Kyden and the help he’s offering. Even if it means getting her revenge will be a little bit harder. At least it will still be as sweet.This story was previously published elsewhere under the title The Willow in 2010, and has been revised and expanded for Entangled Publishing.My ThoughtsBilled as Magic and Mayhem series #1 this book lives up to it's name as there is indeed abundant use of magic along with enough mayhem to delight the most discerning reader who loves non-stop action along with a well paced and easy to follow storyline. There is a bit of crossing genres with this read, it fits into urban fantasy as well as paranormal romance and even a bit of sci-fi fantasy as well. The fact that it also delivers a good mixture of supernatural beings that cavort across the pages of the book is also a point in the story's favor as well, especially uber-alpha male Kyden who ends up as a central character both to the story and to Nexi.Nexi Jones is a truly enjoyable character, she is thrust into a world and into a life that is totally confusing but rather than sitting down and giving up she digs in her heels to make the best of things and in the process finds out that what she is capable of is surprising even to herself.Kyden has to be the most patient male character that we have met in a long while, the mental as well as physical suffering that he is put through while trying to do his duty by Nexi would be enough to make any other man simply toss her out the window. Seeing how Nexi changes over the course of the story, as her relationships develop as her trust grows with those around her, watching her grow more confident in herself once she makes up her mind that she can learn how to fulfill her duties and that she can learn how to fight to achieve her goal of finding her families killers is at times amusing as well as full of revelations about the kind of person Nexi really is.The main change in her though is her attitude and relationship with Kyden, at the beginning she was very atagonistic as well as fighting the flare of attraction that he aroused within her, by the end of the story not only are the two a team but they are also a bonded couple whose mutual desire to keep the other from harm is beautifully illustrated when their lives hang in the balance when the final battle is fought against the vampire whose only thought is to steal the power in Nexi's blood to enhance his own.There is a lot going on in under 300 pages, the revelations that take place as to the how and why Nexi's human family is slaughtered as well as her own importance to the vampire who orchestrated the entire plan is revealed slowly culminating in some fast paced action that will leave you breathless and waiting anxiously to see how things turn out for Nexi and Kyden both. The fantasy elements of Otherworld as well as the familiar elements of Earth allow us to give our imaginations a good workout and all the other twists and turns this story takes will keep you on your toes as you never quite know what comes next.Whether this revised and expanded story holds true to the original I have no way of knowing, however for my taste this edition was a great find and one that fully engaged my interest from the first page until the last was turned at the end.Smooth, fast and easy read.[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]