WITCH BLOOD – Anya Bast
Elemental Witches, Book 2
Berkley Sensation
ISBN-10: 0425220435
ISBN-13: 978-0425220436
March 2008
Contemporary Paranormal Romance

Chicago, Illinois – the Present

WITCH BLOOD picks up where WITCH FIRE (June 2007) left off. After completely changing her look to become the epitome of the type of woman Stefan wants, Isabelle moves in for the kill. After all, Stefan is the leader of the Duskoff Cabal, a group of warlock witches who killed her sister to conjure a demon. Isabelle, a powerful water witch, calls upon the powers inside of her to stimulate the water molecules in his body to cause them to freeze. Before she can completely squeeze the life from Stefan, Thomas Monahan, the head of the Coven of witches, stops her. Thomas offers Isabelle the chance to avenge her sister’s death another way: to join the Coven in their search for the demon conjured by the Duskoff Cabal. Normally, when they complete whatever is requested by those who summons them, demons immediately return to their own dimension. But, Thomas has reason to believe that this demon they are searching for has killed at least thirty-five other witches during the twenty years he has been on earth.

Isabelle decides to work with the Coven to track the demon that is more powerful than anyone ever imagined. This demon can mask his powers and appear to be anyone he wants. Their first few confrontations with the demon are disastrous failures as they just can’t seem to find his Achilles heal. How can you destroy something that is seemingly invincible and determined to continue killing witches to gain their powers? Why is the demon still in this dimension after so long? What method is he using to pick the next witch to kill? Who will be next?

The Coven has their hands full with this one. Thomas is a strong character who feels personally responsible for those under his protection. He is completely dedicated to finding and killing the demon that has caused so much pain. His feelings for Isabelle are unexpected and develop quickly. He sees her as a strong and independent woman who needs someone to take care of her but doesn’t know it. When Thomas decides that Isabelle is the one for him, he hides his feelings at first so he won’t scare her off. Isabelle is a free spirit who is used to moving from place to place. She has never had a real home and is terrified of starting a relationship with Thomas. After all, her mother left her when she was a small child and her only sister was killed. So, it is somehow plain to her that Thomas will just fall into that same routine of leaving her. In the meantime, her plan is to just enjoy the comforts Thomas offers while he is still around and leave her feelings and heart out of the equation. Of course, she fails terribly!

I had mixed emotions about WITCH BLOOD. There were parts of the book that I absolutely loved and wanted more of. Isabelle and Thomas’s hunt for the demon was extremely exciting, and I just devoured the pages of those scenes. On the other hand, I found myself skimming by the sex scenes and I grew tired of Isabelle’s constant inner struggles. I didn’t connect to Isabelle until mid-way through the story, and I didn’t connect with Thomas until the very end. WITCH BLOOD is just one of those stories where the beginning is just so-so, the middle leaves much to be desired, but the ending is so powerful that you can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Anthonette Dotson