Witch Fire

This was a fast, enjoyable escape for fans of paranormal romance, and the world-building/magic system especially impressed me as being really well thought out for this genre. There were moments where the actual chemistry between the characters, as well as the explicit scenes, began to feel a little bit repetitive, but Bast's writing combined with the magic system and the believable characters made up for that to the extent that I'm planning on reading the next book in the series. There's nothing truly surprising here for fans of paranormal romance--it's exactly what you'd expect from the blurb--but the writing and the story are both so strong as to make the read a real escape and fully engaging, despite the lack of surprises around the show more plot. I will say that the ending and the final resolution felt a bit rushed, but all things considered, I enjoyed the book as a whole and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fans of the genre. show less

Witch Fire
4 Stars

Newly divorced and working as a waitress to save up for college, Mira Hoskins is completely unaware of the fact that she is about to play a pivotal role in the ongoing conflict between witches and warlocks. Not only is Mira a rare air witch with the potential for tremendous power, but she is also the target for warlocks who seek to use her in a demon summoning ritual. The only person standing between Mira and a certain death is Jack McAllister, a fire witch who will do anything to protect Mira for reasons that are becoming more and more personal.

It has been a while since I read Anya Bast’s excellent Dark Magick series and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy her writing. Bast’s world building is engrossing and her show more characters have depth and intensity.

Not only do Mira and Jack have explosive chemistry in and out of the bedroom, but each has a well-fleshed out background that makes them all the more appealing. My one small nitpick regarding their romance is the annoying keeping secrets trope. Thankfully, it doesn’t overshadow the relationship too much and is resolved quite easily without the equally detestable silly misunderstanding stemming from a lack of communication.

The plot is secondary to the romance, which is understandable given the nature of the genre and the relatively short length. Nevertheless, what there is to the story is very intriguing and the set up for the next book has potential.

In short, a fast, fun read recommended for lovers of steamy paranormal romance. show less

**Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques**

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 show more 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! show less

I really, really enjoyed this book. It is incredibly sexy, with a lot of very well-written sex scenes that don't feel at all gratuitous. The plot kept my interest until the very end, and the romance developed at a very nice pace; it started off with sex and attraction and grew into something more. I appreciate that kind of romance a lot more than the love-at-first-sight or soulmates clichés. The characters are nicely-developed (though I would like to have seen a bit more about Jack, the main male character), and Mira is very likable and believably flawed. The system of magick in this world is nicely original, too.

I really wanted to like this book. Bast was a new author to me and witches seemed a nice break from the pile of vampires, shifters and demons in my TBR list. Unfortunately I will have to go elsewhere for my witch fix.

The main problem I had with the book is lack of plot. I mean it's in there somewhere. Jack needs to keep Mira safe from the evil witches who want to sacrifice her to summon a demon. That is basically all the plot we're given. The rest of the book's 288 pages was devoted to Mira and Jack getting it on. Well I can't say what happened in the last 60 pages. I gave up after page 220 or so. Now I love some good smut. I have a GR shelf dedicated to smutty goodness. I like seeing the hero and heroine lust after each other and get show more it on and get it on often. Bast writes good smut. The scenes between Jack and Mira were very hot and I really didn't get tired of them hooking up. I just wish something else happened. I wish there was more development of both main and secondary characters. I wish there was more worldbuilding. It seemed the paranormal element was just tacked on and not really explored. I just wish there was more. And coming in under 300 pages I feel it would've been easy to add more. If Bast had replaced a sex scene or two with some more action or character development this would've been a solid three star read.

Usually I give a series at least two books to get it's legs. Even if the first book falls flat there's always interesting secondary characters or a unique world to get me to read more. Unfortunately, this book didn't give enough to keep me interested in finishing it, much less reading the next one. show less

Mira Hoskins finds herself daydreaming about the new hunk of a customer at the diner where she works, however she has vowed to avoid men after recently divorcing her two timing ex. Up until now her life has been very uneventful, her parents died when she was young and she was raised by her aunt, so it comes as a big surprise when that night a couple of strange men smash her apartment door to smithereens and knock her out. When Mira wakes up the hunky customer that she has been mooning over claims he is rescuing her and taking her to a safe house and her two attackers are now unconscious on her floor. It turns out Mr Hunk is called Jack and he claims he is a Fire Witch and that Mira is a very powerful Air Witch. Because Air Witches are show more rare, she is being hunted by an evil band of witches, the Duskoff Cabal, who had killed her parents. Jack belongs to The Coven; the good witches. Of course Mira just thinks Jack is utterly insane as he explains it all to her – but a phone call to her aunt confirms that it is all true. Jack has to train Mira up in her powers real quick so she can protect herself from the Cabal when they track her down as they need her to close a magic circle and raise a demon. Trouble is the only way to fire up her power is by intimate interaction between Jack and Mira.

A little too much explicit sex for my liking, but I just flipped through those pages and got on with the story. In fact there was a lot of sex – I don’t mind a bit if it is well written – but these witches really seem to like their rumpy pumpy! Other than this I enjoyed Anya Bast’s version of the world of witches. Mira grows as a character starting out afraid about being a witch and then rising to meet the challenges and learns how to save herself and contribute to saving others. There is a clear line between the goodies and baddies – in some books the lines merge at times – not so here all very clear cut. The main characters were well portrayed and interesting, and even the badies had character. Fans of romantic paranormal with a bit of a bite will like this one. show less

Quite disappointing! I'm not a prude and I enjoy reading erotica but from this book I was expecting more than a bunch of sexual escapades: of the 278pages I had to read in fact, probably only 30 or so were dedicated to the actual plot of this story!
Moreover I found Jack's angst about the decision to reveal his past to Mira pretty unnecessary, even more so since all his overreacting clashed miserably with the anticlimactic way the whole (big secret revealed-heroine's angst/anger-heroine's forgiveness) scenario was portrayed in the end.