Darynda has hit it out of the park again!!! I love her snarky characters! ( )

I heard about this one from a fellow reviewer, and being a big fan of Darynda Jones' other work in paranormal stories, I bent so far as to buy the ebook, I was so eager to read it.

This is an easy to read, fun, well-written story of no immense depth, full of the wonderful narrative snark that Jones is brilliant at. If you've read her before and didn't care for the snark, this one won't endear her to you, but it's a lot of fun to read.

At its heart is the friendship between the main character Defiance and her BFF, Annette. And, of course, the romantic interest that is Roane. Jones tries really hard to make Roane not be Reyes from glorious Grim Reaper series, but while she succeeds at making him look different, a rose by any other name would still be Reyes. The author definitely has a type. Fortunately it works.

While book one is light on plot, focusing mostly on world and character building, I didn't feel the lack. These are characters I genuinely enjoyed reading about and their new life was interesting in itself. The only complaint I had was the dangling storyline of the Ex. His brief re-appearance was unnecessary, made more so by the complete lack of follow up. It feels like something an editor forgot to take out.

The book ends on a definitely lead in to the next book; not a cliffhanger, but definitely a dangling carrot of sorts. If you find yourself enjoying this book, you'll likely want to jump right into the next one. ( )

This is a great start to an urban fantasy series packed with humor and quirky characters.

Defiance Dayne is forty-four, divorced, destitute and cheated out of all her finances by her ex-mother-in-law. When she learns that she has inherited a house in Salem, Massachusetts, she leaves Phoenix to see who gave her a house.

She arrives in Salem to find a real estate agent eager for Defiance to sign the papers so that she can get away from the very spooky house. On the other hand, Defiance falls in love with every quirky inch. But she is surprised and distressed to find that the house was left to her by her grandmother, a grandmother this adopted child never knew about. She also finds out that her grandmother was a witch who had talked up Defiance's witchy abilities.

Defiance doesn't believe that she has witchy abilities but strange things keep happening. First of all, her grandmother has done a spell that lets her speak to Defiance through Defiance's laptop. Second, people keep knocking on her door asking her to find missing people and things.

Defiance's best friend Annette arrives to keep her company and is also intrigued by the house - which is haunted by Defiance's grandfather. Annette is sure that she has psychic powers but Defiance is skeptical.

Then there is the hot guy who always shows up to fix things in the old house. Roane Wilde is a man of great mystery and great hotness. But Defiance doesn't have time to ferret out his secrets since she needs to relearn her magical powers because she is in great danger from other witches and warlocks. And the clock is ticking on finding the missing people.

I love the cast of characters in this story. They are all quirky and entertaining. The chapter headings are great fun too! The worldbuilding was excellent and Defiance's skepticism added a realistic note to all the explanations her grandmother tried to give her. I really like Defiance's snark and humor.

The cliffhanger ending has me eager to read the second book in this series. ( )

I really liked this book. It was fun and had some very funny moments. That ending was a crazy cliffhanger and that cover is to die for. I will be continuing the series. ( )

Jumping up and down with GLEE!!

Absolutely LOVED every single moment of this book! Already pre ordered the next two in this glorious series. Filled with extremely witty dialogue, and just plain awesome females.... It centers around love. Love of family. Love of two hysterical, lifelong best friends. The end of love through divorce. The possibility of new love, and the love of a new town and it's inhabitants. All combine into one incredibly poignant, funny and magical read. After a horrid divorce leaving her with NOTHING to her name, the last thing she ever expected was to inherit an amazingly moody house from a woman she'd never met. Not to mention in a town she'd never been to. Convinced it's a scam, yet desperate for it to be real as shows up to find out. This starting the change of her life. Not only did she indeed gain this glorious home at the most needed moment of her life, it seems she's gained a FAMILY of sorts...and a few magical extras *wink*. Take a chance and enjoy this epically, magical ride!!! ( )