• Author: Meghan Ciana Doidge
• Genre: Paranormal Romance
• Pages: 280

This book was my book club’s selection for February.  Usually, I wouldn’t read a book like this since it’s Paranormal Romance, but it was free on Amazon at the time, so I thought, “Why not?”

I did not DNF Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic because it’s Paranormal Romance.  Even though it’s not a genre I read much of, I figured this would be a nice, light-hearted read for around Valentine’s Day.  The reason I quit reading is because the MC deliberately did things she knew would get her into trouble and then didn’t understand why things spun out of control.  As with, The Magic Shop by Justin Swapp, another book I DNF’d for the same reason, I was beyond annoyed at the constant “I know I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to do it anyway.”  On top of that, the plot seemed to be heading towards Jade falling in lust with the overly alpha male vampire who is just on the other side of being a controlling, abusive stalker.  I could be wrong about that, but since this is a Paranormal Romance, I could see that happening, and if there’s any Romance I despise, it’s the kind that involves the female lead hooking up with the A-hole for no good reason.  Besides, is there ever a good reason to do that?  The only example I can think of is when Buffy hooked up with Spike, but she never let him pull any of that supposed creepy “alpha” crap with her, at least not that I remember.

If you’re the type of person who fantasizes about being in a relationship with a possessive, violent stalker, then by all means, check to see if the book is still free on Amazon.  Otherwise, I recommend checking out a considerably better Paranormal Romance series.  Perhaps the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead.