OctobeRec Fest Review #1 ~ Betwixt ~ Darynda Jones

A Paranormal Women's Fiction with a bit of class, and a lot of sass, for anyone who feels like age is just a number!

Divorced, desperate, and destitute, former restaurateur Defiance Dayne finds out she has been bequeathed a house by a complete stranger. She is surprised, to say the least, and her curiosity gets the better of her. She leaves her beloved Phoenix and heads to one of the most infamous towns in America: Salem, Massachusetts.

She’s only there to find out why a woman she’s never met would leave her a house. A veritable castle that has seen better days. She couldn’t possibly accept it, but the lawyer assigned to the case practically begs her to take it off her hands, mostly because she’s scared of it. The house. The inanimate structure that, as far as Dephne can tell, has never hurt a fly.

Though it does come with some baggage. A pesky neighbor who wants her gone. A scruffy cat who’s a bit of a jerk. And a handyman bathed in ink who could moonlight as a supermodel for GQ.

She decides to give it three days, and not because of the model. She feels at home in Salem. Safe. But even that comes to a screeching halt when people begin knocking on her door day and night, begging for her help to locate their lost objects.

Come to find out, they think she’s a witch. And after a few mysterious mishaps, Dephne is beginning to wonder if they’re right.

• Characters
  Dephne (Defiance) is a character you can’t help but like. She’s 40ish and a bit down on her luck. She’s just inherited a house but doesn’t understand the why’s and how’s of the inheritance yet. The other characters introduced – Dephne’s best friend, Nan, and Dephne’s grandmother just to name a few – are so lovable and zany. I was flying through the book to see what everyone would do next.
• Plot
  I was enthralled by Deph’s life – her history and the special attributes she’s only discovering she has. The surface has only been scratched about the things Deph is capable of but she has her family, best friend, and one super hot guy in a kilt, taking her back no matter what takes aim at her. Oh, and a bedraggled cat! 🙂 There’s lots of mystery, magic, and action – all witchy related – and I’m so excited for the next installment.
• Humor
  DJones magically (ha!) weaves in plenty of humor. That kept my adrenaline under control so it was appreciated.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2020 New Release Challenge

About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.

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