Review – Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Jolie Wilkins, Book 1) by H.P. Mallory (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 304 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date:  September 2, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1453812952
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Jolie Wilkins series
Source: e-book from author in exchange for honest review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the first book in Mallory’s Jolie Wilkins series.  I received this as an e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  Previous to this book I had read Mallory’s To Kill a Warlock and really enjoyed it.  Imagine my surprise when I enjoyed this book even more than To Kill a Warlock.  This was just an excellent book; well-written, fun to read, and great pacing.  It was so hard to put down and when I was finished I immediately wanted to read more!

Jolie is a true psychic, she makes a living doing readings for people.  When the drop-dead gorgeous Rand shows up on her doorstep she knows something is up.  Rand tries telling Jolie that she is a witch and, when she accidentally brings a ghost Rand was doing a job for back to life…well Jolie begins to believe him…maybe she does have powers that go beyond premonition.  When Jolie accepts an invitation to a party given by a fellow witch named Bella, she is thrust into a world she never knew existed.  Now everyone wants Jolie for her unique life-giving powers; she is constantly in danger and quickly trying to find out what she can do.   Rand and Jolie are drawn together, but Rand wants to keep things strictly business and it is killing them both.  Throw in some werewolves, vampires, fairies, and an impending war between the factions and you have a mess that will take some time to fix.

This book was just an excellent read.  It is easy to read and tons of fun.  Jolie is a complex character who is more of your plain everyday type of girl…with some extraordinary powers thrown in.  Rand is an absolutely wonderful male lead; he has just the right portions of concern, alpha maleness, and sensitivity thrown in and you can’t help but love him.  The writing is fantastic, Mallory is spot on with dialogue and had me laughing out loud a number of times.

This was one of those books that was very hard to put down, I would find myself reading and reading and not realizing how much time had passed.  Mallory has created a complex world and the pace is never boring, it was just perfect.  The book wraps up the main thread addressed, but leaves open a much larger over-arcing story line for upcoming books.

There is some action in this book but most of the story is intrigue and Jolie discovering her new powers.  There are some steamy scenes, but not a ton.  This book leans more toward paranormal romance than urban fantasy.  It reminded me a lot of Molly Harper’s Jane Jameson series in tone; but the world was more complex and the characters more varied.  I did wish that Mallory gave a better understanding of how the magic system in this world actually worked, that is never explained very well.  I also wished we got to spend some of our time watching Jolie train with her magic, but this is never addressed in detail.

Overall an excellent book.  Fans of light-hearted paranormal books will enjoy this one for sure.  If you like Molly Harper’s Jane Jameson series or Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Grey series this book should be right up your ally.  At some points it also reminded of the earlier books in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series.  I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge Book List
– The 100+ Book Reading Challenge