About the BookSamuel Roberts, a lawyer in Champaign, Illinois, has just moved to a new home to escape the memories of his old place—the stray body parts left by evil entities as well as traces of his relationship with Susan, who left him because he couldn’t stop risking both their lives trying to save the world. That leaves Sam free to fall in love again. Sam falls hard, suspiciously hard, for Bridget Gillis, a beautiful fortune teller who also happens to be a witch and a member of a coven. The village that encompasses the coven was founded by Bridget’s great-great aunt, also named Bridget and a dead ringer for her descendant. The new relationship quickly gets complicated. It is two days before Halloween, and Bridget is about to be tried by her fellow witches for the crime of practicing dark magic involving the blood of children. The punishment is to be burned at the stake. Bridget needs an advocate, and Sam is the perfect man for the job.
Sam brings in Bob, who is suspicious of his best buddy’s sudden passion. The two of them have until the Witching Hour on Halloween to clear Bridget’s name and find out who is killing the local children. As they comb the area for clues, quiz the locals, and take a crash course in witchcraft and Wiccan customs, Sam and Bob can’t shake the question: is Bridget a good witch or a bad witch?
The Wiccan Witch of the Midwest is the fourth book in the Samuel Roberts Thriller series, which began with Cocaine Zombies and continued with Ruler of Demons and The Fraternity of the Soul Eater.
My Review
Sam is definitely NOT looking for love.
After breaking up with his longtime girlfriend, he can't even stand to live in the same house anymore.
"I could feel her presence there, as if she were a ghost haunting the place."
He makes a fresh start in the country, moving into a new home whose backyard is ten feet away from a bustling pumpkin patch. However, he adamantly refuses to start dating again, and his best friend, Bob, is starting to get really frustrated with him.
"If you are as picky about potential dates as you are about pumpkins, then you will never find true love."
So Bob takes matters into his own hands, bringing Sam to get his Tarot cards read by a sexy fortune teller named Bridget. Sam's jaw just about hits the floor when he sees how insanely beautiful she is, thinking it's love at first sight—but Bridget seems to know better.
"For men it is often difficult to separate beauty from anything else."
Being around her, Sam admits, at least to himself, that Bridget clearly intimidates him. He can't picture himself, for instance, sitting around, watching a movie with her. Yet he has no problem admitting to the one and only thought that's been running through his head the whole time he's with her.
"I could imagine having sex with her."
Even though they just met.
But when Bridget finds out that Sam's a lawyer, that changes everything. She appeals to his sense of duty, begging him to help her fight a murder charge that the other witches and warlocks of her community are bringing against her. And his lust for her body overrides his common sense. In the back of his mind, he knows she may just be using him to get her off, but he doesn't care. He wants her, and he takes her, when she offers herself to him.
"The parts of my body that did not have direct contact with her were jealous of the ones that did."
When Bob finds out that Sam has already gone well beyond the fortune teller/client relationship, he goes ballistic, fearing that Sam's foolishly put himself in danger by going against his better judgement.
"When it comes to relationships you are one of the most cautious people I know."
And as the details of Bridget's case emerge, Sam begins to wonder if his friend's right. Bridget's being charged with sacrificing innocent children through black magic. She vehemently denies the accusation, but as Sam delves deeper and deeper into the investigation, he's no longer all that sure about her innocence when the evidence starts mounting against her.
"I was in love with Bridget yet hated her at the same time."
When Bridget also doesn't take him into her bed again, and withholds the physical affection that he's craving, Sam gets perturbed, hating that she's treating him more like her pet than her lover. The final straw occurs when Sam uncovers a portrait of a witch, sprawled out naked in the middle of a pentagram, a witch known for practicing the dark arts, and he's thrown by its eerie resemblance to Bridget.
Love is not always what it seems, and Sam is terrified that no matter what he does, Bridget's going to have the upper hand on him—just like she has from day one.
***
The Wiccan Witch of the Midwest can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Formats/Prices: $4.99 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Genre: Paranormal, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 230
Release: October 31, 2015
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812917
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About the AuthorAuthor and attorney Scott A. Lerner resides in Champaign, Illinois. He obtained his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and went on to obtain his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. He is currently a sole practitioner in Champaign, Illinois. The majority of his law practice focuses on the fields of criminal law and family law. Lerner’s first novel and the first Samuel Roberts Thriller, Cocaine Zombies, won a bronze medal in the mystery/cozy/noir category of the 2013 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards. The second book in the series is Ruler of Demons. The Fraternity of the Soul Eater is book 3. Book 4, The Wiccan Witch of the Midwest, will be released on Halloween, 2015.
Links to connect with Scott:
Web Site
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site
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