Dirty magic (The Prospero’s War 1) by Jaye Wells

Hello to all!

 It's not that often that i can read a recent release so when i win one i'm really delighted....Dirty Magic's blurb really caught my interest so when i finally could hold it i was jumping everywhere.  I should learn to be more patient but the Ides of March read-a-thon was the perfect excuse to start reading it  without more wait.

Another reason i didn't wait any longer to satify my curiosity is that this book fit perfectly the witches and witchcrafts challenge so it was simply fitting even if it wasn't the expected result i hoped for.

Happy Reading

Publisher: Orbit

Publication: 2014

ISBN:  316228435

Genre: urban fantasy, paranormal, magic
Violence: strong
Language: strong
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: won

Short description from goodreads :

The first in an all-new urban fantasy series by USA Today bestseller Jaye Wells.

The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn't expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.

The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she's convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she's been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she'd never use dirty magic again.


Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never.

My opinion:

          This book has some potential but it wasn’t as good as I hoped it could be. The beginning is quite slow and really confusing, at first I really couldn’t imagine the setting and thus it was hard to get immersed in the story. Same, Kate Prospero is a cop taking care of her brother and she has magic (so she is what is called an Adept in that universe) but because of her past she is quite against everything magical…said like that is seems simple but for the first chapters you don’t understand well her reluctance to magic use as you don’t really understand the difference between the different “brand” of magic…. All you can grasp is that magic is a really important element in that world and found everywhere… I admit I felt lost and thus rapidly bored.

Now if you manage to read past those first chapters, things improve, we finally get more information, not  on everything for example I’m still hesitant about the “covens” since I really don’t know how they works but since it‘s not a major part in this story it can be put aside. Kate is showing more nerves and we finally can understand her stand and view on magic and on the city. I loved how protective of her sibling she was it should how responsible she is. I did regret she only had Pen as a friend and that she couldn’t even tell her everything.

The MEA team is really funny and I really liked Morales and Mez both are really attentive to their team mates and Kate needs this feeling of belonging more than she admit it…. It’s also one of the reason I’m disappointed….Kate can’t fully trust them and I really regret that, romance between Morales and her aside (would be great and only sparks of it so far), I believe in trust and honesty… fort the team to be at it best they need to trust each other and it’s not the case..; could happen because it takes time but I would have liked if at least one had her back. She has some talents but can’t use them worse she is forbidden too even if it could save life that part I don’t understand and I hope it will change.

I wasn’t fond of her brother Danny and to be honest all that part with him was far too predictable in my opinion … I guess I can understand him a little but I find him way too ungrateful. Next we have the ex lover…  John Volos… I don’t trust him at all…during a few pages I thought that could change that I would perhaps like him at least a little but what he did at the end destroyed that completely. He is too arrogant and loves using others as puppet, threatening and Kate fell for it once again like she never grew up ….

So lot of negative elements but some positive as well and the universe could really become one really interesting and intriguing thus I’m definitively planning to try the second book when it release later this year and I hope it will only get better. For an urban fantasy series it’s promising but can be improved.

Score:   Between 2,5 and 3/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges: