Wicked by Any Other Name
Grade : C-

I picked this book for review because I’ve previously been impressed with Sourcebooks, the publisher, since everything I’ve tried from them has been a bit edgy and non-formulaic. Until this one.

Apparently, Wicked By Any Other Name is a sequel to 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover. (And, oh, how I loathe those cutesy pun titles which would have been a clue to me if I'd known about it.) Stasi Romanov is part of a group of witches who were kicked out of the Witch Academy 700 years ago for reasons that have something to do with magical misuse. Of course, she's not really a magic abuser, she and her pals are just misunderstood by the Witchy PTB. Since the 1800s or so, Stasi has lived with her pal and fellow exiled witch Blair in a small town near a ski resort. As the book opens, she’s just been hit with a lawsuit from a mortal woman who blames her for using magic to alienate the affection of the husband who’s left her.

But we’re not talking ordinary lawsuit here, friends. This one is in Wizard’s Court – not to be confused with Witches’ Court, which is very easy to do, believe me, because this book features a whole hell of a lot of exposition in the form of internal monologues which are eye-glazing, to say the very least. The attorney for the plaintiff is none other than the greatest of all Wizard lawyers, one Trevor Barnes.

Trev shows up at Stasi’s lingerie shop (yep, that cliché is trotted out) and both he and Stasi immediately see red hearts revolving above each other’s heads, evidence that scamp Cupid is messin’ with them.

Much exposition in the form of internal monologues later, Trev and Stasi hook up (hello – can you say improper contact) – and it appears that the troubles in the town are bigger than the two imagined.

Honestly, this book felt like a mish-mash. The first three-quarters or so is decidedly wacky, what with those rotating hearts and all, while the last quarter is quite a bit grimmer as Stasi flashes back to her memories of living through the Salem witch trials. Problem is, neither part is done very well.

As for the characters, Stasi feels wacky and silly in the wacky and silly part of the book and decidedly faux in the rest. By the end of the book she remains as relentlessly cartoon-ish as the book’s horrible cover. Ditto for Trevor, who was about as real to me as a piece of plastic. There are also, of course, requisite appearances from characters past and undoubtedly characters yet to be. Paper-thin, each and every one.

Bottom line for me is that this is a forgettable, formulaic, cutesy paranormal that is just slightly below average when it comes to books of this sort. It would be nice to report better considering my optimism regarding the publisher, but I can’t.

Reviewed by Sandy Coleman
Grade : C-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : February 18, 2009

Publication Date: 2009/03

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