Most witches don’t work for police departments, but Michelle isn’t your average witch. She’s clanless, looking for a warlock who isn’t offended by her lack of family connections, and in danger of losing her job if she can’t find the escaped trolls before they start eating the local residents.

Trolls, angry police, and misbehaving spells are the least of her problems. Statues attacking homeowners might be problematic for your average witch, but to Michelle it’s another day at the office. Her real concern is the wizard suddenly interested in dating her and an old elf set on pestering her. When her happy family is rocked by a long kept secret her stable life falls apart faster than she can pick up the pieces.

And she still hasn’t found those trolls.

This book opens with Michelle being called to the mayor’s house to contain a couple of new magical creatures disturbing the peace. The Hedge witch Jerry was injured trying to contain these Chihuahuas with wings and magic. It’s the middle of the night and it’s going to cost them double for this.

Michelle is a pure blood witch who works a lot of hours as a consultant for the police. She handles magical things their Hedge witch humans can’t. If it’s something she can’t handle, then they call in clan witches. Clan witches work together and as such are more powerful, but also much more expensive.

Michelle lives in a boarding house. She has a lovely little suite on the first floor since she is a full-time resident. The gardens outside her room are lovely and perfect to connect with nature and for her rituals. She’s going to meditate to relax when she first meets Elron, an Elf who is going to annoy her no matter what.

This is just one of my favorite scenes.

Realizing I would reach a more informed decision after the interview, I stood up and let my eyes soak in one last view of the garden for the evening. Behind me a door clicked open, quickly clicking shut again. I pivoted to see who it was, pleasantly surprised to see a young woman with wavy brown hair swirling just below her shoulders. She had an athletic build and lovely curves. Walking, she studied the path in front of her feet. A fraction of a second before she would have hit me, I grabbed her shoulders.

“Slow down.”

The woman jerked backward, gasping.

“No reason to fear, darling. I’m just keeping you from colliding with me.” Her eyes were the most striking green, accenting her small nose, perfectly sized mouth, and curving brows.

She stumbled back, fumbling for words. “My apologies. I didn’t realize anyone else was here.” She rubbed her hands down her hips and thighs. “I’m Michelle. Are you just here for a few days or are you leasing?”

“Don’t worry. You didn’t do any harm. I only plan to be here a few days.” I smiled at her.

“If you will excuse me, mister…?”

I didn’t answer. “I would like to go to the altar.” She pointed behind me.

“You’re the witch?” I wanted to know who had influenced this piece of the earth.

“Yes.” She sounded tentative.

“What clan are you from?” Witch clans were funny. Some of them were very open and friendly to other races. Others were more traditional.

“It’s not important.” Michelle started to edge around me.

“It was just a simple question. What clan are you from?” Most witches loved to brag about their clans.

“What’s your name? It’s just a simple question.” She glared at me as she asked.

“You may call me Elron. Now you can answer my question.” I was amused; few questioned me this way.

She stiffened. “I don’t have a clan.”

Michelle tried to dodge past me, and I let her slide by. “How did you come to be without a clan?”

“That, Elron, is none of your business.” She turned her back to me and settled in front of the altar.

“I’ll see you at dinner,” I called out behind me as I returned to the lodge. Reaching my room, I realized I was whistling. I didn’t know the last time I had whistled.
Conneely, N. E.. Witch for Hire (A Witch’s Path Book 1) Kindle Locations (268-286). Kindle Edition.

While Elron is more of a distraction than anything else, Michelle has things to do. The biggest becomes finding trolls that escaped from their preserve.

Something or someone is hiding them, and they are dangerous. With one murdered human, a dead troll, and a deputy chief police officer threatening her business. Michelle partners up with her friend Jones to find answers.

I love the way things are slowly revealed in this book, from the personal to the professional it kept me guessing until the end. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

5 Contented Purrs for N.E.!

N.E. Conneely

N.E. Conneely lives in northern Georgia with her dog and a mountain of books. They sweat through the summer and freeze through the winter, and life as they know it comes to an end when so much as a single snowflake falls out of the sky.

For fun, N.E. plays with her dog, reads, knits, crochets, paints, and does tie-dyeing and origami. She makes a great pizza and is currently negotiating with her husband about sea monkeys and growing a vegetable garden.