Gwen’s review of Witch Heart (Elemental Witches, Book 3) by Anya Bast
Contemporary paranormal romance released byBerkley 6 Jan 09

There is one thing I have come to depend on with these Elemental Witches novels from Bast: I will always be entertained.  There is always something unique, something that is more than meets the eye, and something that is just plain fun to read.  Total escapist entertainment. Love that when it happens. 

Our heroine, Claire, was introduced to us in the second novel – she’s the human who helped Thomas free himself when he was held captive by demons in their plane of existence (a.k.a. Eudae).  Claire is very powerful in all four elemental magics: earth, air, fire, and water.  She’s forced to Earth because of some internal uprising in Eudae, but not before her “captor” forces a ball of demon magic into her genetically manipulated body.  A magic that can be used as an ultimate weapon on Eudae by any of the demon castes – if they can catch her, that is.

Our hero, Adam, is a fire-witch bad boy with a wickedly irreverant sense of humor and a wickedly well-earned reputation with the ladies. All covering for a heartbreaking loss before he joined the Coven. Adam is sent to retrieve Claire when she finds herself locked up in a mental hospital once she’s forced to Earth.  Adam is attracted to the heroine, Claire, despite himself – she’s totally not his normal type.  But she is brave, honest, and unvarnished – all qualities he has come to miss in people.

Bast does a good job developing the emotional side of this relationship. There’s some paranormal attraction going on, but these two characters also seem to really like each other.   The love scenes, when they finally do happen, are smokin’ hot.  I sincerely believed in the relationship and was very glad to see things evolve the way they did.   I really liked these characters by the end of the book and that isn’t something I can always say, sadly.

There is some really terrific action in this book.  It’s a pursuit novel – when Claire was forced to Earth, two of the really bad warrior caste demons managed to follow her.  These two bad guys, Kai and Tevan, are some seriously bad bad guys and chase our hero and heroine all over the upper Midwest US – mayhem and murder following them like a bad diaper rash.  Handsome, huge, and evil.  Too much fun, really.  And I actually found myself sympathizing with them there at the end – just a li’l bit.

Through Claire, her pursuers, and her captor/father (a.k.a. Rue), we learn quite a bit about demon culture on Eudae.  I expect this to take us to even more interesting places in future books.  It’s KILLIN’ me that we have to wait about a year in between these books, but I can wait if the storytelling remains as good as we have had in the first three books in the series.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good pursuit novel, paranormal romance, or folks that are simply fans of Anya Bast.  It’s another winner.
Grade: B

Read more reviews and information of this and other books in the series by following the series’ tag.

Summary:

With the immense powers of an earth witch, Claire isn’t destined to be a demon’s handmaiden. Yet this has been her fate since she was six, when her warlock mother brought her to Eudae. Now as an adult, she’s about to discover her true power-and how far others are willing to go to take it away…

As part of a mission with the Coven, Adam Tyrell rescues Claire from her enslavement-and finds himself immediately taken with the beautiful witch. But this charming playboy soon learns that it’s easier to steal Claire from demons than win her heart, for her life as a servant has ravaged her spirit. But with Adam determined to protect her from the warlocks who want to harness her magick for evil, Claire’s resistance starts to give way-and they find themselves in the heat of danger, surrendering to the lure of their deepest desires…

Read an excerpt.

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