Catherine Kean

Fun book with romance and a battle between good and evil. The book opens with a prologue telling how Lucian and his cat, Galahad, ended up in the position they are in. Lucian is a reincarnated knight whose mission is to track down objects with dark magic and contain them. He is in Cat's Paw Cove helping his grandfather with his antique shop after getting in trouble with his bosses for revealing his magical abilities to his non-magical girlfriend. The revelation did not save the relationship, show more so he's off relationships for the time being.

Molly is a third-grade teacher who is in Cat's Paw Cove to clear out her late mother's home before selling it. Her self-esteem took a hit when her fiancé broke off their engagement, and her mother's death added to her unhappiness. When she finds an unusual necklace and tries it on, it changes the way she sees herself.

I liked the first meeting between Molly and Lucian. He and Galahad first notice her as she stood in front of the shop. Lucian is attracted to her from the moment he sees her, a fact that isn't lost on Galahad. Galahad, who was formerly Lucian's squire, is a fourteen-year-old boy in a cat's body. It was fun to see Galahad stir up Lucian during Molly's first visit. Molly is just as attracted as Lucian and has a hard time concentrating around him.

Things start to get crazy when Molly takes some jewelry to Lucian but keeps the necklace for herself. On the professional side, Lucian's dark magic alarms go crazy every time Molly takes the necklace out of its special box, but because Molly puts it away quickly, Lucian has a hard time locating the source of the magic. Every time that Molly puts the necklace on, she feels sexier and more confident, and more determined to have Lucian. It quickly becomes clear that the dark magic has a personal connection to Lucian after a hair-raising confrontation at his shop. I ached for Lucian when instructions from his bosses made it look like his relationship with Molly would be over before it began. The final confrontation was intense and terrifying as Lucian battled to save Molly from the evil that followed him through the ages.

This was the darkest of the Cat's Paw Cove stories so far. The intensity of the danger Molly was in kept me glued to the pages until it was done. The evil was balanced by the depth of the love that Lucian and Molly felt for each other. That love played a huge part in the resolution of the final conflict. There was also an unexpected twist in the aftermath of the confrontation that had a big impact on Lucian and Molly's future.

On the lighter side, the cats were an essential part of the story. I loved Galahad and his relationship with Lucian. It was fun to see him rile Lucian up, especially when it came to Molly. He was also Lucian's biggest supporter and backup when danger came calling. The four Sherwood cats that belonged to Molly's mother turned out to be more than just pets. Their protectiveness of Molly was fun to see when Lucian came calling, and I loved the interactions between them and Lucian. show less

Fun start to a new series. Luna is a twenty-first-century witch, baker, and cat rescuer. She also has terrible luck with men. This year, for Founders Day, she is determined to avoid repeating past mistakes. But when she stumbles across a man who is a dead ringer for the one who has haunted her dreams, her good intentions go right out the window.

Colin is very confused. The last thing he remembers is being on a ship bound for Barbados, along with his pregnant wife. He's looking to start a new show more life and get away from the troubles he inherited. A freak storm washed him overboard, and now he's in a world he doesn't recognize. If not for the blue-haired angel who comes to his rescue he would be in even deeper trouble.

I liked both Luna and Colin. Colin is an honorable man who wants to make a good life for himself and his pregnant wife. Even when tossed overboard, he attempts to save others before being sucked underwater. He's understandably confused when he stumbles out of the water into a strange new world. His reactions are fun to see. Luna is a talented baker and also runs a cat rescue. She's a bit tired of dealing with the weirdos that come out for Founders Day, but she'll deal with it. I liked how she thought Colin was just another of them and wanted to help anyway.

It was fun to watch the relationship develop between Colin and Luna. There were sparks between them from the start, but Colin was determined to get back to his own time. I liked seeing the two together as they were drawn to each other. Colin was surprised by his unexpected jealousy and wondered what it indicated about his relationship with his wife. As they worked together to get Colin onto the Ship Museum, the connection between them grew. There are some surprising twists in store that will affect Colin's plans for the future.

There is also a bit of suspense as there are rumors that there is a treasure aboard the museum ship. Colin wants to see if the item he hid on board is still there. They run into unexpected trouble, and the confrontation is pretty intense. The identity of the culprit is a surprise. I liked Colin's decision about the item he found. The epilogue was great, and I loved the surprise he added to his latest invention.

This was an entertaining read, and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. show less

A Witch in Time by Catherine Kean
Cat’s Paw book 1. Paranormal romance novella.
Colin goes overboard in a violent storm in 1635. He wakes up in the 21st century where he searches for help and answers to his past.

A complex storyline for this novella length story, but that means that is a lot going on in this time traveling pirate, small town, witch and magical cat mystery romance.
I thought the pirate got over his lost wife too quickly but that’s explained as part of their investigation show more into the ship and survivors all those hundreds of years ago.
A little too much description/ graphic images of the storm intro and the seasick woman. So glad I live in current times.
Overall enjoyed the romantic sleuthing and magic touches. show less

I love having an opportunity to partake in a smorgasbord. Who doesn’t?

Smorgasbords at weddings are simply divine to eat. You’re able to savor delicacies you seldom have a chance to eat; or delicacies you’ve never tried before, and now will love eating more of any chance you get. But along with them comes the, heaven forbid, dreaded weight gain.

Those of us who are aficionadas of the romance genres love to devour anything and everything thing written by our favorite authors. However, show more at the same time we’re hesitant at times in buying something written by someone we haven’t read before. This is not because the stories aren’t well written; it’s usually because we might not like that particular author’s style of writing.

This is why I love jumping at an opportunity to read a smorgasbord of multi-genre romance novellas and novelettes written by some of the bestselling authors here in the US and internationally. I love being able to see how these various authors deal with a specific theme, as is the case here. The theme in this LIMITED EDITION, which is a get it while you can situation, is the Kissing Bough, otherwise known as the mistletoe.

What’s more fun than kissing someone under under the mistletoe. It’s kissing them under their nose.[LOL]

But seriously, how many women who haven’t found their HEA yet, each year are looking forward to this holiday season so they can grab their desired hunk and kiss him under the mistletoe, even it means having a friend nearby with a sprig of this mythical bough dangling on a string attached to a stick.

In each of the 15 wonderful stories contained in this collection, the female protagonist is counting on her kissing her guy under the mistletoe before the last berry has been removed. Will each of these women obtain what she desires, or will she be disappointed only to wait until next year for her next opportunity to have the HEA she desires?

With the low price for this collection, how can you go wrong in downloading a copy? This is why I’m not hesitating in giving this collection the 5 STARS it so richly deserves. show less