Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic is book 3 in the fantastic Women of the Otherworld series. This is the story of Paige Winterborne, the young leader of the American Coven, and my absolute least favorite character from the previous book. In Stolen (book 2 of the series,) Paige loses her mother and gains a ward, a powerful young witch named Savannah. Dime Store Magic continues the story with both the usual struggles of raising a teenage girl, and the unusual issues you face when that emotionally volatile girl is also a witch coming into her real powers.

As I said before, Paige is not really my favorite character. Fortunately, raising Savannah has made her much more sympathetic. Although I'm still not in love with her, I don't dislike her anymore. Paige does the best she can for Savannah - protecting her from her father's Cabal and a nasty custody battle, while trying to instill good values in her. Her beloved Coven has all but abandoned her, believing that Savannah is more trouble than she is worth. Much to their dismay however, Paige will not give up on the girl - it's one of her best qualities as far as I am concerned.

As with the previous two books, Dime Store Magic is a well-written, fun piece of paranormal/fantasy fiction. I was sad not to see more of Elena Michaels in this book, but perhaps her story is over. I'd like to see where Paige and Savannah go in the future, and whether or not their sexy sorcerer lawyer, Lucas Cortez goes with them. I'll definitely be looking for the next book at the library. This is an excellent and complex series that is full of surprises and interesting characters. ( )

Slick as a "Angel" episode, Kelley Armstrong delves into the paranormal with a sure and steady hand. Dime Store Magic is strongly reminiscent of Cate Tiernan's "Sweep" novels utilizing verbiage and background into the elusive Wiccan culture mixed with the modern-day visage of "Buffy" and "Angel".

Here, in Armstrong's alternate-verse, Witches and Sorcerers are foes and are organized into corporate like entities called Cabals. For those witches who do not belong to the waning and outdated American Coven of Witches, they either are rogues or belong to the sorcerer run Cabals. Of course, this universe would not be complete without your requisite demons and vampires thrown in as well, with a pedigree and hierarchial structure to rival even the most organized mob.

This is the world Paige Winterbourne lives in, and one she must cut her teeth in. Swimming with sharks is an understatement as Paige finds herself ousted from the coven that has sheltered her.

Relying on a basic majick skill-set (albeit sanctioned by the ACOW)this heroine finds she must tap her powers with the help of a few stolen grimoires, (and a sexy sorcerer) in order to protect her gifted charge, Savannah whose penchant for black majick has come under the scrutiny of the Cabals. Ruthless Cabals who will stop at nothing to acquire her.

A sure-fire read that is not only believable, but highly enjoyable and written by an extremely capable author; whose delicate hand balances all the facets of good storytelling that leaves your readers wanting more.Copyright(c)Nicola Mattos Kudos! ( )

3.5 anyway. I really liked this book & the following one, "Industrial Magic". I'm giving one a 3 & one a 4, but both were good reading. ( )

A great follow up to Armstrong's last book 'Stolen'. This story felt a little different from the last two books, and that could possibly just be because it's told from a different point of view, but I was still completely drawn into the characters and the story, just like the previous books. Another great one by Armstrong! ( )

Dime Store Magic sets itself apart from the first two Women of the Otherworld novels, by having Paige the young witch we met in Stolen narrate the story rather than the Werewolf Elena who had been our point of view thus far. At first I found the switch a bit distracting and had a hard time adjusting to Paige as the narrator – especially when Paige and Elena were talking on the phone! But as the story progressed I grew to love Paige, and stopped feeling the absence of the werewolves.

While I’m still looking forward to returning to Elena’s stories, once I got into Paige’s world, I really enjoyed getting to know her and Savannah. As with the first two novels in the series, Armstrong creates layered and likeable characters, who are both flawed and endearing at the same time. While Paige comes across a little spoiled when we meet her in Stolen, it’s clear that she’s maturing quickly since she’s been charged with taking care of Savannah. Savannah is now the spoiled one, but as an adolescent girl, she’s supposed to be a bit of nightmare, and I felt that the portrayal was realistic. One character that I very much dislike is Leah, but considering she is the villain of the story, I think that’s the way it’s intended to be. New arrival Lucas Cortez on the other hand, is charming pretty much from the minute we met him. Even when we’re not sure which side he’s really on, I found I couldn’t help but like Lucas, and was rooting for him to be one of the good guys.

The overall plot to steal Savannah made for a great story, but I also found some of the other developments in this book intriguing as they allow for interesting new stories in the future. One of the ones I found most intriguing was the fact that Paige is has been exiled from the Coven. The Coven often felt old and antiquated, and I’d like to see how a new generation will attempt revolutionize old ways. I look forward to finding out if Paige will start a new Coven or attempt to over-throw the old one.

While always enjoyable, I haven’t found Kelley Armstrong’s novels to be overly emotional so far, but the scene where Paige impersonated Savannah’s mother Eve was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be a few errors in this book, which isn’t something that has occurred in the previous Women of the Otherworld novels. The worst occurrence was during a steamy scene where Paige took her shirt off twice. It’s not something that affects the story in any way, but as it’s a scene that is intended to get the reader… involved, the error really rips you out of the story. Another situation had some actions repeated (candles lit twice) and a few others just didn’t make sense. Again it wasn’t anything that really changed the story, but it is a little distracting.

While not quite as gripping as the Werewolf stories, Dime Store Magic was still a good read, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of Paige and Savannah’s stories in Industrial Magic, the fourth volume of the Women of the Otherworld series. ( )