Customer Reviews

Witch Fire (Elemental Witches, Book 1)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was disappointed in this novel. I found it difficult to get into and kept putting it down. The writing was rather...Blah. Not awful, but sort of boring. The story seemed just filler for sex scenes. I thought the sex scenes were pretty good though a trifle repetitive. I probably would've culled them down to three scenes. Jack and Mira (our witch couple) were bland. I didn't care what happened to them... They had sex, trained, fought evil, had sex.... Hmmm....


2 Stars. Perhaps if the storyline had been stronger I might've been more into what happened in the book. As it was, this couple could be any generic romance couple.

Unsuspecting Mira Hoskins is one of the most powerful elemental witches, an Air Witch, born to two Air Witches who met their fate when she was still a young child. Raised by her godmother, she has no idea of her true legacy, much less the fact that witches and magic really exist.

She is even less prepared to meet Jack, the Fire Witch to whom she finds herself irresistibly drawn. Thrown together when Jack is assigned as her bodyguard to protect her from a group of evil witches intent on sacrificing Mira for their own nefarious purposes, desire burns hot between these two. Sure, Fire and Air Elementals are naturally drawn to one another, but the attraction she feels for Jack appear to go uncomfortably further for that. After surviving one bad relationship and broken marriage, Mira isn't in the market for another and is determined to keep this thing with Jack purely physical. Easier said than done.

But Jack has issues of his own - secrets he can't share with Mira, and those secrets threaten to destroy her feelings for him forever.

Bravo! I was already a fan of author Anya Bast after reading some of her eBooks from another publisher, but her new print release through Berkley moves her up my list of favorite authors and cements her as an auto buy! Witch Fire is a bewitching start to what promises to be a fascinating new series - Elemental Witches.

Mira is a perfect romantic heroine - a little broken from a bad marriage, but still warm and caring and ready to love again, even when she does not think so herself. She has a forgiving nature, which proves a balm to Jack's long tortured soul and mind when she discovers the secrets he has hidden from her. Although she was not raised with knowledge of her powers, she quickly accepts her new role and the responsibility her powers bring her.

Jack is strong and heart-breaking as he punishes himself for a past that was beyond his control. Watching him penalize himself for a wrong he believes he perpetrated on Mira's family long ago tore me up, especially as he denied both himself and Mira the love both so desperately needed in each other's arms. But by the same token, this made the happy ending so much sweeter when Jack finally discovers redemption in the arms of his soul mate.

I loved this Elemental Witches, Book 1: Witch Fire, and cannot tell you how excited I was when I read on Bast's blog that she is pretty much done with its sequel, Witch Blood! I will be counting the days until Book 2 of this exciting paranormal series is ready for review... But having read Witch Fire, I learned I cannot begin reading one of Anya Bast's books too close to bedtime, as I will be up all night until I finish it!

Series Order:
Witch Fire (Elemental Witches, Book 1)
Witch Blood

Disclaimer: I know Anya Bast and we've been friends for several years. In addition to being one of the kindest, sweetest people I know, she's also an amazing writer. I'm even fortunate enough to be her crit partner so I got to watch Witch Fire grow and polish into what I believe is an excellent book.

In Witch Fire, Bast gives us the first in what I hope to be a many book series in which witches (say that three times fast) are governed by The Coven but there are rogue witches out there who remain a threat to all the Coven witches hold sacred.

She also gives us Jack McAllister - a fire witch and one of The Coven's men sent to find Mira Hoskins, an air witch who has no real idea of her power because she's grown up outside The Coven. She's under threat now from the Duskoff - the rogue witches who want to take her so they can drain her power - the same way they did her parents.

Bast gives readers two very complex characters in Jack and Mira. They're instantly drawn to one another but Jack has a secret he's convinced will drive Mira away should she find out and Mira can't understand why Jack wants to push her away when they have something so good between them. It's paced quite skillfully and the tension is delicious as is the sexual and romantic tension between these two. The ending between them is a happy one of course, this is a romance, but Bast makes them both work for it. It's a believable twist that makes Witch Fire stand out in yet another way.

I love Jack, he's a really sexy man, smart, strong, courageous and yet, he's got a blind spot about his past.

Mira is such a wonderful romance heroine! My favorite kind - real, flawed, she's got her insecurities but she's strong too. A survivor. Mira doesn't go into the basement alone when there's a serial killer about but she faces a heck of a lot of scary stuff but never gives up.

The worldbuilding is wonderfully inventive and original. Bast has created witches and magick with believable rules and boundaries. The action and mystery elements are well drawn and interesting and the secondary characters are really fabulous - especially Thomas (who gets his story in Bast's next book, Witch Blood) and the delicious villian Stefan.

Anya's Winter Pleasures was the first EC book I ever bought and I've loved her ever since. She has continued to grow and improve, giving her readers new worlds and characters to lose themselves in. In Witch Fire, her talent shines and I can heartily recommend it!

This book had way too much sex in it for me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against sex scenes,but this was page after page after page of sex. Once Mira started coming into her gift and using her powers it was great and I really got into the storyline, but I don't know if I'll buy book two of the series because it was a little hard core for me. Anya Bast is a great writer, but I definately think she would appeal to more readers if she would tone down the sex a little!

I picked this up at the library for fun. I'm not big on romance novels, so I gave it a three star (OK) rating, but overall it was enjoyable. If you like romance, with plenty of sex in the mix, and a decent story, then you'll likely enjoy this. It really works for what it is.

If you're looking for great story, deep characters, or are offended by sexuality and erotic literature, then you might want to put this down and try something else. Witch Fire was a fun read with several saucy passages. The characters were interesting without having much background, and the writing was compelling enough that I didn't just flip past the story for the saucy bits.

While I do appreciate the plot of the book, the characters, and what should be the love story, I do have a qualm about one thing. This book is written more like an erotic fiction than a romance/paranormal book. Sex is the predominant theme in the book. While sex in any book moves the story along that path, it's just too much in this case. It starts from when they introduce Jack and doesn't quit. Between sexual encounters and sexual overtones, there is a bit of a plot. However, to me the story was written around the sex scenes and not around the plot. Now, as a bit of a spoiler, it does say that fire and air witches are drawn to each other. I do believe this could have been achieved in a much more graceful manner. The heart of the book is good, that I will not discount. However, it does take some time to get to it. Sorry.

I agree with the couple of reviewers who said that there does seem to be a lot of sex in this book. It's not badly written sex or anything, or out-of-control porn like the Anita Blake series has degenerated to, but there is a LOT of sex in what is a rather small book...

As it was, the sex scenes didn't bother me nearly as much as some of the writing/editing. I must have read the word "fisted" 200 times in this book. Not a common word and the author uses it to describe anything from grabbing something to making a fist. It was very irritating. The constant "threading fingers through his/her hair" as well as grabbing (i.e "fisting") people's hair was annoying, too. This book could've benefited from better editing.

Other than this and the fact that the book was a trifle light on plot, it is not a bad first effort and I think we'll be seeing more of this author in the future!

This is what I call a 24 hour book. It's a book I started one night and finish it the next night. Really fast read and I couldn't stop once I started. Okay, I did stop, but not because I wanted to. I still have children living at home and my time isn't always my own. But if it was, I would have plowed though this book in one sitting.

As surprising as this might sound, I skimmed through the meaty part of the sex scenes. I didn't find a connection there - sorry. What I found irresistible was the story of The Coven, the witches and warlocks. It was Harry Potter for grown-ups, but with sex scenes.

My only problem with the book was at the end. This actually started prior to the ending and was the resolution of the story. I didn't like how Mira compared Jack with Ben. It was like comparing apples to oranges. I also feel that the author didn't stay true to Jack's character at the end. If it wasn't for the ending, it would have been a five star (or check) book.

In spite of my complaints, it was a great book, well worth seeking out the next in the series.

this book has a series of flaws and I regret that because the premise is nice. The writing is decent but she keeps going over and over the sexual aspects to the point when they become boring.

Sexual tension arises from unspoken things possibly even unwritten. Frankly she lost me on the romance aspect of teh book when she wrote 5 whole pages on how gorgegous Jack is. 5 pages. I get it. she is attracted. I get it that the intensity of that attraction is higher than usual possibly even higher than in a regular romance but GEEEE, 5 pages???

since when has repetition because an accepted way of filling pages. If she had just let go of that romance writing and instead told the story she'd still have had enough time to explore.

Is this book sexy? maybe if you have no experience in real life or writing or you are a very straightforward girl, which is good. BUt I like sensuality to build tension and a bit more complexity to the romance.

Overall this is a genre book. It could have been a great genre:urban fantasy because the universe and its premise sound promising instead it is a rather substandard romance. It is a shame because once she gets to telling her action plot and the storyline one can see that she can write.

I wish she had, sigh

Sombody let me know if she picked it up in the following books?

First off, there definitely could have been a PG or PG-13 version of this book. I'm not sure if that would have been as amusing though...

It does get fairly graphic fairly frequently. They do a lot of fantasizing at first but that doesn't last long. I would classify this as one of those books where their problems/issues could have been halved if they'd had less sex and more talking.

Miri is a waitress with very little family. Her godmother raised her since her parents died when she was very young and there's nothing much exciting about her life. Or at least there wasn't until some strange men try to bust down her apartment door and abduct her hitting her soundly on the head in the process.

They don't actually get to abduct her though because Mr. Gorgeous (her nickname for one of the customers at the diner where she worked) abducts her instead. It turns out that he - Jack - is actually a Fire Witch and he tries to explain to Miri that she is an Air Witch, rare and powerful. Of course Miri doesn't believe him at all even after he lights a flame in his own palm. He does eventually prove it to her but it is sort of a process.

Jack is protecting Miri from being used in a ritualistic circle of elemental witches to call forth a demon. Jack has to explain to her that that was how her parents died, how to use and manage her magick etc.

Of course nothing ever goes as smoothly as it is supposed to which is what makes the story amusing to read. There are some little plotholes and quick coverups but nothing too egregious.