Time to walk softly and carry a big stake… I had it all. A powerful coven. A charming Victorian mansion. A sexy car. A couture closet. Credit cards up the wazoo, and an endearing familiar. Actually, scratch that, Hellcat would never be described as ‘endearing’. More like: the bane of my existence. So, I almost had it all. Then a vampire came along and ruined it when he turned me into a Blood Witch. Now, I’ve been kicked out of my coven, kicked out of the mansion, I have no credit to speak of, the Lexus is a thing of the past and, not only am I driving something from the 80s, but it’s also unapologetically yellow. And rusted. But the biggest kicker of all? I’m still stuck with Hellcat. Even though my luck has too much in common with a toilet, if Wanda Depraysie is anything… it’s determined. Determined to make a go of things all by myself—determined to start over. So, I pack up the few items I can actually call my own and I move to the only place that doesn’t fall under coven ownership—a little town in Oregon called Haven Hollow. Imagine my surprise when I find out a gypsy has already taken up residence in this afterthought of a town. Well, no worries, witch magic trumps gypsy magic and I’ll make short work of her. After all, Haven Hollow is way too small for the two of us. No, the gypsy won’t be an issue. It’s my new landlord who’s going to be the death of me… possibly quite literally. Why? Because he’s none other than the vampire who turned me into a Blood Witch in the first place, thereby ruining my life. Lorcan Rowe is the most infuriatingly smug, irritatingly determined and offensively nosy person I’ve ever met and if my magic were functioning correctly, I’d hex him into oblivion. But, that’s just it—my magic is on the fritz. And that won’t do—especially when I need to open my enchanted clothing store, Wanda’s Witchery, yesterday. When my fabrics go missing at the same time that my magic stops working, I can only blame one person: Lorcan. Well, that vampire is about to learn a very valuable lesson—you don’t mess with a witch, blood or otherwise, because when the going gets tough, the tough get a really sharp stake.

I’m what’s known as a Blood Witch—a witch who was half-turned by a vampire. I’m still in the process of learning how to reverse my condition by returning his ‘kiss’ to the vampire who blooded me, Lorcan Rowe. But every time we attempt the spell, it goes awry. Now it’s become a race against time; if Lorcan’s powers aren’t returned to him through a reversal spell, he’ll eventually lose his mind and there’s a very good chance he’ll kill me in the process. As if that weren’t bad enough, through a misfiring of my unpredictable magic, I manage to inundate my house with bubbling mold spores. When the spores start whispering about murder, I know something wicked this way comes. Between ghosts suddenly coming back to life, bodies found buried in the backyard, and vampires demanding my full blooding, my life is going from bad to worse. I can only hope that the bane of my existence, who also happens to be my familiar, Hellcat, doesn’t breathe a word of this to my mother. If he does, I’ll have to add ‘burning at the stake’ to the list of things already going very wrong…

Lorcan and I continue to attempt a spell that will return his vampire “kiss” and return me to the witch I once was, but the spell keeps failing. To make matters worse, Lorcan is getting heat from the head vampire of his line, Rupert. Rupert wants Lorcan to either fully blood me or kill me. And while I’m not a fan of growing fangs, I’m really not a fan of growing worms. When a stranger, who introduces himself as ‘Dev’, walks into my shop, and I suddenly start acting like a lovesick schoolgirl, I’m fairly sure magic is to blame. Dev is definitely something supernatural, but I’m not sure what. All I do know is that he makes me feel alive in a very...carnal way. Soon, I’m having dreams that become a reality and I find myself getting more and more confused as to what’s real life and what isn’t. One thing I do know is that I have to get to the bottom of Dev’s appearance in Haven Hollow and, more specifically, what he wants from me. Because it’s becoming pretty apparent that if he doesn’t want something from me, then he definitely just wants me…

So, this whole returning Lorcan’s vampire “kiss” (which would also allow me to shed my Blood Witch status) isn’t turning out the way I’d hoped. First, no matter how many times we attempt it, the spell fails. Not only that, but I’m starting to develop… ahem… extremely sensual feelings towards the incorrigible man, which doesn’t exactly float my boat or power my broom, as the case may be. But, the worst side effect of our blood bond is that now whenever Lorcan leaves, my body goes into panic mode—it actually feels like a piece of me is being ripped away. Not only is my personal life one big, chaotic mess, but my business looks like it’s headed there too. Someone or something keeps breaking into my store, which should be impossible, owing to all the wards and hexes I’ve got protecting the place (enough to give Area 51 a run for their money). Yet, breaking in is exactly what they keep doing—why? I have no clue. It’s not like anything has been stolen, destroyed, or otherwise missing. Instead, the intruder keeps leaving strange scratch marks on my wood floors... Thinking things can’t get much worse, enter wedding journalist Gemma McClain. Gemma, the bridezilla to end all bridezillas, has come to my store for a custom and enchanted wedding dress. Even though Gemma is human, she has lots in common with demons from the ninth level of hell. Harpy customers aren’t such a big surprise, but what is a surprise is the maid of honor’s mother, who I could swear is something supernatural… and the fact that she seems to have interest in me is off-putting, to say the least. With my professional and personal lives plummeting, I need some good news pronto. But, unfortunately, when I find myself facing the fight of my life, that good news is nowhere to be found.

When Lorcan and I fail to dissolve the blood bond yet again (this time quite an embarrassing one), I’m at my wit’s end. The last thing I need is my cantankerous cat delivering a wax-sealed letter that I’m worried might be from my mother. But once I open the letter, I realize it’s an invitation to a witch assembly sent from High Witch, Scarlett Velardi. The only snag? In order to attend, I’ll need to form my own coven. Forming my own coven aside, I quickly realize the only reason Scarlett’s invited me to this assembly is to allow me the chance to take on my mother, who has me on her hit list. As I learn more about the situation between my mother and Scarlett, I soon realize there’s a truth even I don’t know—something so big and horrible, everyone who knows it has been bound by Mother never to speak a word of it. Now, if there’s one thing Wanda Depraysie dislikes, it’s a secret I’m not in on. So, I’ll do everything in my power to unravel my mother’s mystery in the hopes that I’ll be able to bring her down. Once and for good.

Something is up with Lorcan. And I’m fairly sure I’m not just imagining things—he’s been distracted, working later than usual, appears exhausted, and was that vanilla perfume I smelled on him? Regardless of what’s going on with the undead nuisance, I’ve got my own problems to deal with. Namely, I’ve been pinpointed as the main suspect in a murder! I know—as if I have the time or the interest to kill someone. Ridiculous. Anyway, before this situation gets any worse, I need to prove my innocence, stat. Just how am I going to do that? Stick around and find out…