Location: United States
Member Since:
Oct. 18, 2010
Kathy Martin
Smashwords book reviews by Kathy Martin
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The Trouble with Spells
on April 09, 2011
What a fun story! It made me long to be sixteen again. I was just swept into this story. Portia and Vance had a wonderful romance. I liked Portia and I really liked Vance. He is any girl's dream hero. He looks like a bad boy but has a rock-solid sense of ethics and values. He sees her and falls in love with her when she is only 14 but has to wait until she is 16 and learns that she is a witch before they can be together. Portia has had a crush on him since she met him and is very pleased to learn that he is one of the witches in the coven that she becomes a member of on her sixteenth birthday. While she is surprised to find out that her father and grandmother are powerful witches, she adjusts quickly to her own magical heritage. Her romance with Vance helps with her adjustment too. There romance is going smoothly until someone starts trying to hurt Portia and kidnap Vance. While I was swept into the story, every once in a while my cynical adult side popped up. It seems to me that Portia learned her magic very quickly and with none of the tedious studying or practice that most people have to do when they learn something new. It also seemed strange that the parents who wouldn't let her date until she was sixteen were so accepting of the relationship between Portia and Vance. They slept together - though chastely -- most nights and made vows that bound their souls together. Cynical old me thinks of all the relationships that I have seen between sixteen and eighteen year olds that have completely fallen apart by the time they are 21. I liked the relationship Portia has with her parents and grandmother. They were there to love and support her no matter what she did -- aside from the whole dating thing. They treat her as a responsible young adult and she doesn't hesitate to confide in her parents. I think teenagers will love this romantic story and will gobble up the sequels. I know I am eager to find out what happens next for Portia and Vance too.
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The Demon Kiss
on April 09, 2011
This second book in the Of Witches and Warlocks series has Portia and Vance, along with friends Shelley and Brad, tracking down Vance's evil father to a resort in Mexico. Vance is determined to destroy him before he can commit more evil acts. His father is kidnapping witches and warlocks and draining their powers because it increases his power and give him a high. Vance is also still dealing with the attempt to convert him to a demon. Portia healed him enough to stop the full conversion but he is still experiencing some symptoms. Portia is determined to stay with him, help him and love him. While they are in Mexico, Vance proposes and Portia accepts. When her parents and the rest of the coven arrive to help with defeating Vance's father, her parents give their permission for the two to wed when she turns 17. Meanwhile the couple is determined to be together with consumating their relationship until they are married. This book was both action packed as the team finds a way to defeat Vance's father and romantic as Portia and Vance explore their relationship. I think that teenagers will love both the romance and the adventure. I had the same problem as I had with the first book. My inner adult kept getting in the way and asking questions like "what responsible parent would let their child travel to a foreign country to track down an evil demon warlock who has already killed?" and "what parent would really be OK with a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old essentially living together especially if he could go demon at any time?"