"Chains of Ice" by Christina Dodd

This is not my favorite so far of The Chosen Ones series. Part of it is because the Chosen Ones group from the first two books is not in the first two-thirds of this book. John Powell and Genny Valente are completely new characters. Both have roots in the Gypsy Travel Agency and John had once been part of the Chosen Ones team.


Genny is not my ideal heroine because she lets others, her father in particular, bully or persuade her into doing things she doesn't want. Rather than follow her interests, she lets her father convince her to study pre-law undergrad, go to business school and take a job with a brokerage account firm. Her education is paid for under a contract that requires her to do a favor for her benefactors. For graduation her father gives her a dream trip to observe the Ural lynx but there is a catch. She is supposed to meet John Powell and convince him to come back to New York.

The largest part of the book takes place in Russia, the habitat of the lynx and where John Powell has come to hide since he left the Gypsy Travel Agency. I liked the way the romance started and developed. But after John believes Genny has lied to him, it got a little uncomfortable. There was a sex scene that started out in anger and with Genny unwilling and I just don't like those at all. And John used his gift to influence Genny re sex so that felt like sexual manipulation. That one small part was enough to reduce my enjoyment of the book. Ms. Dodd, this is the 21st century -- forced sex, even sex where the woman doesn't want it but the man pushes it until she is aroused, is not romantic.

The last third of the book takes place in New York with the whole Chosen One team. For people who haven't read the first two books ("Storm of Visions (Chosen Ones, Book 1)" and "Storm of Shadows (Chosen Ones, Book 2)"), the author includes a description of the Chosen Ones and their friends and enemies. So you don't need to have read the first two books to understand this one. I like the group aspect of the Chosen Ones series so the last third was my favorite part. The next book in the series ("Chains of Fire: The Chosen Ones") goes back to some of the familiar Chosen Ones and I am looking forward to that one.

I got this book from the library.  Support your local library!

"Blonde With a Wand: A Babes on Brooms Novel" by Vicki Lewis Thompson

This is the first of the Babes on Brooms series from Vicki Lewis Thompson and it is charming and funny with lots of romance (and some hot sex scenes for those who want that) and not too much "woo woo" for a paranormal romance.

This book starts out with the two main characters heavy into lust with each other. Anica is a witch dating a nonmagic man, Jasper. She has not yet told him what she is and this date is looking like it might be "the" night so she has to make sure to tell him before they end up in bed. But before that happens, Anica and Jasper get into an argument. Jasper pushes Anica too far and in her anger she uses a spell that turns him into a cat. The problem is that this breaks one of the laws of her magic and she loses her powers and can't change him back. Not to mention that Jasper is furious and plans his revenge on Anica once he gets back to his real body. Although she feels terrible for what she did, Anica is still angry at Jasper over the reason for their argument and wants nothing to do with him after he returns to his human form.

Anica enlists her younger sister Lily to help her return Jasper to his normal self. They try various things that work temporarily and Jasper gets his human body back for short periods every evening. (It would be too creepy to have a romance where the hero is a cat the whole time, not to mention sex scenes with a cat would put this into a zoophilia or bestiality speciality category!) When Lily is unable to undo the spell, they call Ambrose and Dorcas from the author's earlier books Over Hexed (The Hex Series, Book 1), Wild & Hexy (The Hex Series, Book 2) and Casual Hex.

The romance in this book is really nice as Anica and Jasper develop feelings for each other stronger than the lust they had when the book started. The ending is particularly romantic.

If you are concerned about too much witchy spell casting stuff, this book is fairly light on that. There are a few spells cast (mostly goofy rhymes by Lily) and a potion made, but this is a romance primarily with not that much emphasis on the witchcraft. It is light and fluffy and not one of the paranormal romances that is heavy on the woo woo.

The next book in the series will be Chick with a Charm: A Babes On Brooms Novel (Babes-on-Brooms), which is about Anica's sister Lily. I'm definitely going to read that book.

I checked this book out from the library.  Support your local library!