I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Trouble With Witches
by
Kristen Painter
paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Sugar Skull Books on May 13, 2019 and has 378 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Blood Rights, Flesh and Blood, Bad Blood, Out for Blood, Last Blood, House of the Rising Sun, City of Eternal Night, Garden of Dreams and Desires, Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, All Fired Up, "Prologue to The Vampire's Mail Order Bride", The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, The Werewolf Meets His Match, The Gargoyle Gets His Girl, The Professor Woos the Witch, The Vampire's Fake Fiancée, The Shifter Romances the Writer, "The Witch's Halloween Hero", The Dragon Finds Forever, The Vampire's Accidental Wife, The Reaper Rescues the Genie, The Detective Wins The Witch, The Vampire's Priceless Treasure, The Werewolf Dates the Deputy, "When Birdie Babysat Spider", Miss Frost Ices the Imp, Miss Frost Saves the Sandman, Miss Frost Cracks a Caper, Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard, "The Werewolf's Christmas Wish", The Vampire's Cursed Kiss, Her First Taste of Fire, Moody and the Beast, The Vampire's Sunny Sweetheart, Miss Frost Chills the Cheater, Lost in Las Vegas, Wrapped Up in Christmas, Mystified in Music City, Sucks To Be Me, A Sky Full of Stars, Suck It Up Buttercup, The Forgettable Miss French, Sucker Punch, The Suck Stops Here, Nixed in New Orleans
First in the Shadowvale paranormal romance series and revolving around a small town that is a refuge for cursed supernaturals. The focus is on Deacon Evermore and Emeranth Greer.
My Take
It’s about finding a safe place where a person can be happy with Painter using a third person global subjective point-of-view from the perspectives of a number of characters, particularly Emeranth, Deacon, and Amelia.
A dramatic place where you can be yourself, Shadowvale is salvation for many of the residents, and it would be truly lovely if more towns were like this. Then again, once you’re in, you can’t get out. Sort of.
Ooh, nasty. Emeranth has to be scared out of town, and if she isn’t, Deacon ain’t getting out. And that boy is desperate to leave!
I do like Deacon and his siblings. They have such a cozy relationship. That Beckett is certainly interesting. Wait’ll you read what his real job is!
There are some interesting conflicts . . . for a fictional town, they do have some realistic issues with killer bugs, evil forests. Hey, don’t tell me you don’t hate mosquitoes . . . ! The characters worry about and support each other.
The Trouble With Witches is particularly useful for introducing us to Shadowvale, its reason for existence, and the characters. It’s definitely an easy read with characters who drive the story. Most of the action is around Emeranth and her great-aunt and the Evermores — there has to be a focal point. But Painter does fill it out with colorful detail as other citizens of Shadowvale interact with the town’s peacekeeper.
It is a fun read and at very reasonable price, lol!
The Story
Deacon Evermore wants out. Out of Shadowvale. To be free of his curse . . . and the same for his sister.
All he has to do is drive Emeranth out. Then he discovers the real reason Em is here. It isn’t good.
The Characters
Emeranth Greer is the great-niece of Amelia Marchand and badly in need of a fresh start. Her mother, Manda Greer, is a con artist.
Deacon Evermore, a raven shifter and the town peacekeeper, has two other brothers — Bishop (has a tree trimming service) and Shepherd (he’s in charge of the fire department) — and a sister, Gracie Evermore, an accountant who has just turned twenty-five. Tinkerbelle is Gracie’s little white dog. The Evermores have been caretakers in Shadowvale for generations.
Shadowvale, an. . .
. . .an untypical small town America that is open 24/7 and has mountains, a swamp, lake, river, bayous, and an enchanted forest. Amelia funds most everything in town with production from the local gem mines. The sun never shines (which attracts a lot of vampires), the gates decide who enters, magic abounds, and every resident bears some kind of curse.
Countess Amelia Marie Antoinette Marchand is the witch who created Shadowvale seventy-five years ago. Indigo House is her home. Pasqual had been the vampire who betrayed her. Beckett is both majordomo and warden. Thoreau is the resident tiger. Grandmama Pavani is/was Amelia’s inspiration. Vivian is the chef with a specialty in French cuisine. Other employees include gardeners; housekeepers (Helen is the live-in housekeeper); a handyman; the pool service; and, the mechanic, George.
Mrs Fitzwilliams lives on Sorrows Lane and her hair sets itself ablaze when she gets upset. Fred Chimes, the butcher at the Green Grocer, goes invisible when he’s nervous. Carmela Westin had been an early love. Brutus is a behemoth of a gator. Lucy Smothers sneezes and lightning strikes. Jason is a minotaur. Frieda Ruhday breaks out in venomous spines (and is half mermaid who can’t shift). Brianna is Frieda’s immune daughter. Henry, a.k.a. Dr Hendrick Jekyll, is also known as Edgar Hyde in his other form. No, he’s not the original Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Maggie Thorpe. Skeet Lander keeps chickens. Medalina is Medusa’s younger sister. Robin Gallow is the deposed goblin king and the mine foreman. Oluf Erikson is a Viking berserker with time-traveling issues. Rico Martinez is the alpha of the local wolf pack; Zeke is part of his pack. Jerry Washington. Lola is a waitress. Bianca Wynters is actually a vampiric Snow White, and she runs the Red Apple Bed and Breakfast. The seven dwarves are miners. The Brothers Grimm live in Dark Acres.
The Thibodeauxs are a vampire family: Josephine is the matriarch; Valentino is the eldest son and runs the jazz club, Club 42; Constantin is second-oldest and runs the Gilded Page; Daniella is the oldest daughter and grows orchids and other exotic plants; and, Juliette is the youngest, a painter. Isabelle Lagasse sings at Club 42 and is a Thibodeaux cousin.
Nasha Black runs the Black Horse Bakery with its free goodies; Clara and Brighton are her employees. Her father is Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and is a mortician who runs the funeral parlor. Bewitched Broomsticks; Varina’s Potions and Spells; Professor Durant’s Impossible Tech; Deja Brew is where Joaquin is the barista; Mr Applegate owns the Sunshine Diner, which provides Vitamin D as part of the atmosphere (Carter is their moody son); the Five Bells Pub where Maisie Sweeney is one of the bartenders; and, Stella’s Bargain Bin is run by Stella Kittridge.
A meowl is a cat with wings who prefers to live in the cemetery. Droxes are winged foxes. Lylianna is one of the grove nymphs. Officer Baker gives Emeranth a warning.
The Cover and Title
The cover makes the colors neon bright with its deep, dark blue background lightened with buzzing yellow fireflies. At the very top is an info blurb in lilac. The author’s name is below this in white. Below this is the gates of Shadowvale in a royal blue that gradiates down to turquoise with a black raven centered on that gate. The gate provides the series info. Beneath this is the title in lilac and outlined in white.
The title is more about Manda Greer than anyone else, for she’s the epitome of The Trouble With Witches.
