Playing the Witch’s Game by Zoe Forward
Series: Keepers of the Veil, #3
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
Released: March 21, 2016
Entangled Publishing Reviewed by Sheena
Pleiades witch Jennifer Marcos is certain that the host of Extreme Survivor is her soulmate. All she has to do is find a fake boyfriend, get on the show, and voila! She’ll have her destiny. Unfortunately, she has to rely on ex-Russian spy Nikolai Jovec’s six-foot-something of gorgeous, infuriating hotness. To make matters worse, the electric attraction between Jen and Nikolai is hotter than ever. But the only way Nikolai can protect Jen is by hiding the identity of her true Destined…him.
Fated lovers. Magic, feisty witches and sexy covert agents. It kind of, should have worked. The winning elements were all there. Unfortunately, I had to suspend way too much reality to remain grounded in this story. The premise was just too much. Jen is a funny little witch, approaching thirty and looking for her intended. Likeable and entertaining, she was also woefully immature and naive. It made zero sense for her to want to go on the show with another man- to land the man she was ensnared by. No matter how idiotic the idea was exposed to be, no matter the influence, she was relentless. Everything stemmed from her terrible idea and though there were some good jealous mate inner dialogue here and there. It was never a cohesive story. The plot twist, climax and resolution were visible from miles away. It was so elementary that I spent most of the novel in a bit of a snit, annoyed that Jen and Nikolai both took as long as they did to get wise.
Most of Nikolai’s background is shrouded in weird, convoluted shadowy detail, His lineage and identity were far too much of a heavy lift to try to square away, so I gave up and took to referring to him as “the paranormal hero” which is a shame because I rather liked him in general. In actuality, I rather liked the writing and I would read another book in the series if it had a better plot. This is the third book of the series so perhaps it should not have been a stand alone venture. I don’t know, I am not into making excuses for books that miss the mark so I’ll leave it at that. I honestly believe that there is great potential here. With a tighter focus on who and what these magical characters are and how their lives affect the fabric of the universe (I kept reading how important they all were but never got the “why” of it all), this series could be something special. There is definitely an audience for the sexy, snarky appealing voice that new-to-me author Zoe Forward possesses. P
laying the Witch’s Game has that romance/fiction-cat nip quality, you know the books that come out and you just have to read them because they are escapist and a little cracky, flaws and all. Ultimately, the funny voice and sexual tension saved this from being a DNF. I was completely checked out of the plot, but I wanted Jen and Nik to win in the end so I stuck it out for the snark, sex and light humor. Sue me.
Grade: C-
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