REVIEW: "No Rest For the Wicca" by Toni LoTempio

Morgan Hawkes is a ghost whisperer. She uses her paranormal skills to help talk ghosts and daemons into moving to a different plane; sheʻs a true "ghostbuster." Nothingʻs run of the mill in this job, and sometimes she finds herself up against some formidable ghosts. Still, itʻs a cushier job than her old job in homicide....and not nearly as satisfying. Morgan longs for the excitement and adventure she found working homicide. When full-blooded witches start turning up dead in an apparent plot that combines voodoo and Wiccan magick to unleash terrifying forces, Morganʻs mixed Wiccan and voodoo heritage lands her a role in an undercover plot. Morgan is compelled to save her friends and relatives, and, in doing so, to banish the ghosts of her own past.  Working with Cole St. John, a sexy, captivating Inheritor Vampire, Morgan has to keep her wits about her in order to play her role to perfection.

Toni LoTempio does a nice job introducing characters and giving background information pertinent to the main character without stopping the flow of the storyline. Morganʻs character has some depth and a back story that rounds out her character and makes her interesting. Cole, on the other hand, is much more two-dimensional, playing the role of stud and sex god to perfection, but not quite the well-rounded character I would have liked to see. We are given hints of his background, and that helps us to understand him a bit more, but it still felt lacking in characterization. Similarly, I would have liked more depth to Xiaʻs character as well. In spite of the wish for more character development, I did find the full range of characters in this story to be interesting and distinct, and they added interest to the overall story. The actual plot is readable, engaging, and quite entertaining. Although predictable, there are a few nice twists that added to the storyline and kept me reading. 

The level of romance in the story was predictable and secondary to the storyline, but it seemed to take too much attention at one point, and that detracted from the storyline. I also have to admit to having trouble taking sex scenes seriously that use words like "staff" and "round globes" as euphemisms for body parts. While I did want Morgan and Cole to get together (and it was obvious from the get-go that it was going to happen), it almost felt like "too much" when it did happen. Although I could immerse myself in most of the story, there were a few moments when the characters did something that seemed out of character and didnʻt quite fit what I knew of them. For example, Dru suddenly deciding to share the book with Morgan seemed out-of-place. It was necessary to further the plot, but perhaps could have been written in a way that would have seemed more in line with the relationship between those two characters. This book could also use another thorough editing pass, catching those last few pesky errors. 

Overall, a good bet for anyone who enjoys books in this genre. A fun and engaging read!

3.5 /5 stars

Available at Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble