Wednesday Night Witches (Red Dress Ink Novels) [Paperback]

Lee Nichols (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red Dress Ink Novels | Publication Date: August 1, 2007

They don't believe in magic, but the Wednesday Night Witches cast a mighty spell!

On the outs with her live-in boyfriend, Eve Crenshaw flees Manhattan for a different kind of island life off the coast of Maine. With the help of her college roommate, Natasha, and her friend Kim, she rents a seaside cottage and waits for her boyfriend to beg her to return.

Instead, he gets a new girlfriend.

Now Eve's stuck on an island with no cable TV, no Starbucks and no eligible men. Desperate for diversion, the women meet every week for drinks, dubbing themselves the Wednesday Night Witches.

One stormy evening, the Witches raid Kim's cellar and find a strange bottle of liqueur. Getting into the spirit, they each make a wish, lift their glasses and . . . well, no one can quite recall what happens next. But suddenly their wishes start coming true!

Only, as life gets better and better for the Wednesday Night Witches, everything else on the island goes to hell . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nichols (True Lies of a Drama Queen) takes a Charmed-inspired ride on a broomstick, smartly mixing magic with chick lit cheer. Manhattan teacher Eve Crenshaw escapes to Broome Isle, Maine, after a nasty break-up to visit her former NYU classmate, Natasha Kent. Natasha, a starving artist, introduces Eve to her childhood pal Kim Gray, an "Earth Mama" type and direct descendant of a Salem-era witch. They tag themselves "Wednesday Night Witches" after participating in a local bar's trivia contest, but the witchery truly begins when they share a potent wine that grants each woman a wish, transforming their lives but endangering the island when they unwittingly release an ancient demon. The arrival of yummy Jack, Garrison and Johnny distracts them while the demon's power grows, leading to a major showdown. These accidental witches lack the depth of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic spellcasters, but they're still appealing. Nichols fills her cauldron with a very Maine stew and injects the proceedings with a breezy style well suited to escapist summer romances.
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From Booklist

New York City teacher Eve Crenshaw has had it with both her pompous boyfriend and her critical boss, so she leaves New York for Broome Island, where her college roommate Natasha lives. Natasha, a reclusive artist, introduces Eve to her former sister-in-law, Kim, who also happens to be her closest friend on the island. Eve quickly finds a job and, through Kim, a place to live, and finds herself taking to the island, despite its stark contrast to busy, bustling New York. She also finds herself curious about the mythology of the island and Kim's ancestors, who were labeled witches. The three women get together one evening and makes wishes, and they're surprised to find those wishes suddenly coming true. But there's a sinister force afoot, and the women start to worry that Eve's and Kim's new relationships and Natasha's shot at artistic success may prove too good to be true. Readers who enjoy a bit of magic in their chick lit will enjoy Nichols' clever and fun fourth novel. Huntley, Kristine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 297 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373895542
• ISBN-13: 978-0373895540
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,360,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Nichols is the author of five novels for adults, including the bestselling TALES OF A DRAMA QUEEN and HAND-ME-DOWN. She currently writes the HAUNTING EMMA series for young adults. www.LeeNicholsBooks.com
Check out the Haunting Emma video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKrWmQFk9G0

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cute, but ultimately lame, October 24, 2007

By 

A. Walls "Gwen Walls" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wednesday Night Witches (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

I picked this up with no grand ideas that this book would be anything more than a charming, light read that would entertain me. I wasn't expecting Jane Austen, Neil Gaiman, or even Dan Brown. I wanted fluffy romance and predictability. Sometimes, we really need some candy like these books. However, I found the narrative so distracting with the constant switch from first to third-person narrative to be a poorly formed creation. How could any editor worth her salt allow a writer to trip so badly? Why not just make the entire story third-person, allow the characters to grow through the lense of an outside narrator?
Poorly written.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Full of Bewitching Excitement...., August 16, 2007

By 

C. Crockett "Domino713" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wednesday Night Witches (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

Pour yourself a pink cosmopolitan, and curl up with this fun combination of chick lit with a supernatural twist!

Follow 3 friends as they each experience some crazy times. Eve is a Kindergarten teacher who has just moved to Broome Island, just off the coast of Maine, after an embarrassing break-up with her Lawyer boyfriend. Natasha is a struggling artist, searching for appreciation and acceptance of her art. Kim is a cook with a witchy heritage, and a troubled past. These three friends come together to share their misery, and toast to their friendship -- eventually becoming a tightly bonded group, they dubbed themselves the "Wednesday Night Witches" after they decide to meet for drinks every Wednesday night. However, trouble gets stirred up after these three "witches" find a mysterious bottle of liquour in the basment, and use it to toast each other and make a wish. When the wishes start coming true, the real fun begins...

This book is just a lot of fun. I love all the magical and witchy aspects of it. It takes a traditional chick lit story, and turns it into something new and exciting. More and more we are seeing supernatural chick lit novels introduced into this particular genre, and most of them are really entertaining. "Wednesday Night Witches" is no exception.

The characters are each unique and fun, and I think most people will be able to find something relatable about each of them, whether it's relating to Eve's romantic pursuits, and her desire to prove herself through her career -- or maybe relating to Natasha's frustration with her art, and her desire to be appreciated for her talents (in addition to finally attracting a man). Or, perhaps you will relate more to Kim, and her lonliness, and desire to overcome her past difficulties, and have a child of her very own. One of the things I liked about this book was that although (as usual with chick lit) a large emphasis is given to these women's romantic lives (all three want to find the man of their dreams, of course), they are also more indepth characters, and have other dreams, pursuits, and wishes that have nothing to do with snagging a man!

Bottom line, this is an easy read, and a great book for a lazy afternoon.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of RDI's best, August 6, 2007

By 

blondie "booklover" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wednesday Night Witches (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

After a fight with her rich, live in boyfried, eve crenshaw hops on a plane to stay in maine with her college room mate Natasha. Eve assumes her BF will come to his senses and beg her to come home, but instead he calls her to ask where to send her things. So eve is stuck in Maine and has only Natasha and a new fried Kim to lean on. The 3 dub themselves "The wendesday night witches" and of couse end up unleashing an evil spirit (by accident, oops!). Their wishes start coming true, but on the island they live things start going wrong.
The main problem I had with this book is that it was too predictable. There were no suprises in this book. Also the ending is very rushed, they wrap it up in only a few pages. The story itself is a light, easy read, but there isn't much substance.