I knew when I received this book for review that I was in for a treat. What I didn’t know is that this latest series revisits the world of Justin Herne, the hero from If Wishes Were Horses, a long time resident of my keeper shelf. Once again Ms. Hill takes the reader on a delicious exploration of BDSM, Wicca, mysticism, and New Age philosophy. The “hawt” part quickly became secondary in this exciting, emotionally wrenching, wonderful book.

There is no gentle lead-in. The book opens on the heroine watching the man she kicked to the curb three years ago approach her gun shop, wondering whether she should shoot him. Ruby Night Devine not only kicked Derek Stormwind, the guardian of Light and the love of her life, to the curb, she used a dark spell to make sure he stayed away. She left her coven and her job, moving far away and opening the least likely business for a witch. Now Derek has found her again, not to renew their relationship but to request Ruby’s help in containing a magical rift under attack by demons. Ruby is the best practitioner to teach the coven that lives on the magical rift how to maintain the rift borders, and although she’s extremely reluctant to involve herself with Derek again she agrees to take on the project.

Derek and Ruby have loved each other since she was a small child (not in a pervert way, Derek is quick to say), and their schism is difficult for him to understand. He knows something horrible happened to Ruby while he was away for months due to time dilation in the Fae realm, but Ruby shut him out thoroughly, and seeking the truth has never seemed all that urgent. Upon seeing Ruby again all the feelings for his soul mate come rushing back and Derek soon realizes that his apathy was due to her magical attack. Now that he’s aware of the curse he can counteract it and attempt to rebuild their relationship. But he has to get past all the tremendous barriers Ruby has built against him first, find out what trauma caused her to build them in the first place, and heal the damage to her soul. Ruby is obviously teetering on the edge of light and dark, fighting a constant battle within herself that her soul not be lost to darkness forever.

Ms. Hill’s writing is (ahem) bewitching. I’ve long admired her descriptive ability, which makes beautiful everything from the mundane to the sublime. Something as simple as breakfast is described as “the most aromatic of meals”, so vividly written that I could smell the coffee brewing. When Derek is so emotionally messed up by his dealings with Ruby that he has to go to a remote mountaintop to release a tremendous amount of light energy – he feels ready to crash the moon into the earth and burn the stars from existence – he refrains because, simply, Ruby likes the moon and the stars. His release of the energy also sends a warning to Heaven, to quit messing with his woman, and when angels appear to inquire what Derek thinks he’s doing, Derek says baldly, “woman trouble.” These are only a couple of the many examples why I find her writing irresistible.

While I enjoyed them well enough, I found something lacking in the Vampire Queen series with its FemDom relationship. The Daughters of Arianne series was a little more to my liking. But this book returns to the male dominant relations that made If Wishes Were Horses so incredibly titillating. The love scenes are moving and compelling and just fascinating. The emotional and psychological reasons for Ruby’s predilection for submission are made clear, giving the love scenes a mature quality that goes far beyond the usual light bondage scene in mainstream romance. This book is hot – very hot.

Another pleasing aspect of this book is the characters, main and secondary. The coven that Ruby joins in protecting the rift is comprised of strong, giving, women, centered and secure in their femininity. Their ministering to Ruby plays a large part in helping her to heal her soul. When it seems that the rift will be compromised, they fight almost insurmountable odds and even come to Derek’s rescue when he needs it. Ruby has a very dark lover, Mikhael, whom she sought in Derek’s absence whenever her emotional pain overwhelmed her. Mikhael’s an extremely complex character whom I’m looking forward to getting to know better in the next book in the series. Derek and Ruby are just awesome. I loved them and will definitely remember them when it comes time to vote for “best couple” in next year’s poll.

When the reader reaches the part where Ruby finally confides in Derek, I can guarantee tears. Your heart will break for both of them. It’s difficult to decide whom to feel the most sorry for, Derek for the emotional bomb that explodes all over him, or Ruby for having to maintain the devastating secret alone and in pain for years. The last few chapters I read through a haze. I cried, read some more, cried again, read some more, cried again…etc. The ending is such a roller coaster of emotion, so horrible, so tense, so warm and tender by turns that when you put the book down it’s not with a sigh, but with a “Phew!”

I can’t recommend Something About Witches highly enough.