Bewitching the Enemy Review!

Title: Bewitching The Enemy (Vieux Carré Witch Sister, #1)
Author: Dawn Chartier
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 240 pages
Release Date: October 2014
ISBN: 978-1-63375-101-9
Imprint: Covet
 

Rebuilding New Orleans… one witch at a time

Contractor Storm Morgeaux is trying to keep her business afloat and not sleep with the hot-‘n’-sexy new client, Dr. Nathan Davis. Adding to her troubles is the fact she accidentally released a series of dark spells. Now evil warlocks are after her family, and she has no idea who she can trust.

Nathan’s biggest concern is getting his pediatric surgery center up and running. Still, his stunning new contractor provides plenty of distraction―until she sets off his Paladin medallion. A warlock is near. Nathan’s first responsibility is eliminating the woman who wields new and dangerous magic. But something about Storm calls to him. She’s mysterious, sexy, and downright irresistible, but most surprisingly, his.
Without the spells, Storm must learn to trust her new abilities. But can she trust the man who’s torn between loving her…and killing her?

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“Dawn Chartier has ‘Bewitched’ me from page one.You will not want to put this one down!”
– Sherrilyn Kenyon #1 NYT Bestselling Author of the Dark-Hunter Series

Excerpt from  Bewitching The Enemy
by Dawn Chartier

Copyright © 2014 by Dawn Chartier. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Chapter One

Storm Morgeaux hated being late more than anything.

She dashed through the museum’s grand wooden doors, heart pounding, and plowed past the interior’s massive Roman columns, whipping around the corner toward the stairs. Her dirty construction boots thumped loudly, sounding out of place on the pristine marble tile as she hurried up the staircase and rushed down the corridor.

Crap. They’d moved her grandmother’s painting out of the small room it hung in last year. Damn it. The museum staff was always rearranging the rooms. She turned on her heel and stalked down the hall, peeking into each room as she went. That’s when she heard them.

“Bless thee…”

She followed the sound and entered a small room. Her three sisters and mother stood in a semi-circle, chanting and holding hands as the four of them faced the oil painting of grandma. And in typical Morgeaux fashion, they’d started
without her.

Storm slid into place next to Rose. “Couldn’t y’all wait another—”

Cold air blasted through the room.

Momma’s legs buckled, then she bent and slid to the floor. Storm ran behind her, catching the brunt of her mother’s weight. They both fell against the unforgiving marble. “Mom!”

She maneuvered to her knees and held her mother’s head in her lap. “Mom? Can you hear me?”

No response.

Storm’s sister, Brye’s gaze met hers, dark with worry. Beside them, Dusti dialed 9-1-1, while Rose rushed out of the room calling for help.

They’d never started the prayer without one another before. Why now? Why couldn’t they have waited a few minutes longer? Momma’s chest rose steadily. “Mom, can you hear me?” A beat. “Mom?”

Thunder cracked outside like a whip. Not one snap, but four quick ones in a row.

Her mother still didn’t respond.

“Why were you late?” Rose’s sad voice cut off her thoughts. “You know how she gets about the ritual.” She paused. “I left you a dozen messages.”

Storm rocked, in an attempt to soothe her mother. “I came as fast as I could.” She had promised she would be there. “I…I uh…ran to the jobsite to go over the revised surgery center contract and—” She should have postponed the meeting. But the weight of the entire family construction business weighed heavy on her shoulders.

Entirely her shoulders.

Shit. Her neck muscles tightened. Mom always warned them something terrible might happen if they didn’t show up. She’d never believed her. None of them had. She’d always chalked it up as one of her mom’s crazy philosophies. It’s just a weird coincidence is all. Wasn’t it?

“Where’s the damn ambulance?” She leaned over. “Mom. C’mon. Wake up.”

The youngest sister, Rose, touched Storm’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay, Sis.”

Pressure built behind her eyes at her sister’s kindness. Storm clutched her mother’s hand. “She has to be.” Tears threatened, but she held them back. She had always been the strong one.

For her mother’s sake, being strong was more important now than it ever had been. She prayed she’d have the chance to make this right.

For her.

“Was she feeling bad earlier?” Storm glanced at Brye.

Brye faced the portrait and chewed on her lip for a second. “She seemed fine. But then she started mumbling about not letting them loose.” Storm followed her sister’s stare, a sour taste filling her mouth. “Not letting what loose?”

“I’ve no idea.”

She touched her mother’s cheek. The annual gatherings had never made sense to Storm. She had no clue why her grandmother had requested they visit the painting each year after she died. Today, Storm had almost broken that vow. You were only a few minutes late. Give yourself a break. Surely being late hadn’t caused this? Had it?

A pair of paramedics rushed into the room, pushing her
aside, and swarming around her mother.

“Storm? Hey. Did you hear me?” Brye touched her arm.

She blinked at her sister. She’d been so caught up in watching her mom’s face for a sign of consciousness that she’d blocked everything out except the strange tingling in her head. “No. What?”

“I’ll go with Mom in the ambulance. Dusti and Rose will take Mom’s car. Follow us in your truck.”

“Let’s go.” Storm loosened her ponytail, hoping to relieve the pain in her head…didn’t work.

The medics lowered her mother onto the gurney, and as they began to push it forward, Brye stopped them. “Wait. Where’s her necklace?”

Mom never left home without that necklace.

Rose’s eyes widened. “I saw her fiddling with it before she passed out.

“Go. I’ll stay here and then catch up with you at the hospital.” Storm hurried back into the other room, praying she’d find the one piece of jewelry her mother never took off.

It didn’t take long to search the small room. Nothing. Her heart sank.

The necklace and the damned portrait—both were so important to her mother. Storm moved closer to the painting, searching for a clue, something that would be vital.

A black tome sat frozen above her grandmother’s left hand and an ivory one sat above the right. Like the Libra horoscope sign.

The balancing scales of Justice.

Without thinking, Storm raised her hands and imitated her grandmother’s pose. A cold breeze rushed through the room, and a shudder ran through her. She forced her hands down. A current started beneath her skin, humming stronger with each second, burning like fire.

Seized by a powerful urge to touch the floating tomes, Storm raised her hand toward the closest hardback—the black one. Her fingers hovered mere inches from contact when the ivory volume grabbed her attention and shifted her fingers to its direction.

Her hand shot back toward the black book. Run! A voice screamed in the back of her mind. Now! Her body refused to listen while her fingers moved ever closer to the dark book. Coldness wrapped around her like a wet blanket.

The room tilted, and her head spun. Black dancing spots blurred her vision. What the…?

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Sweat rolled down her temples and between her breasts, stopping at the waist of her faded work jeans. Wrapping her arms around her waist, Storm wondered what the floating books were supposed to signify, if anything. Strange how she’d never thought about them before.

She’d never liked this painting. Damn, she liked it even less now.

A slamming door resonated down the hall, and she flinched, her pulse skyrocketing.

She tried to turn and leave, but her legs refused to cooperate. Her gaze shot to the painting once more. It toyed with her, demanding her attention.

Grandma’s auburn hair hung long and wavy, exactly like hers.

The urge to touch the black tome returned, stronger than before. She focused on the blue and white veins lining the edges of the books, and then she saw it. Each book had a golden clasp lock.

Except one detail was off.

The black book’s clasp was cracked. “You weren’t there before—were you?” The lock had now spread farther apart as though it had been painted that way. “Impossible.” She hesitated, and then slid her fingers across the ridges of dried paint.

Blinding light surged from beneath her fingertips. “What the—?”

She jerked her hand back, and the burst of light disappeared.

Shoulders squared, she raised her finger to the clasp. “What do you want?”

No reaction of course.

She snorted with relief. “I’m losing it.” Stress had simply caused her to see things that weren’t real. It happened.

But then, her headache exploded into a full-on migraine, and she leaned against the picture frame, fingers gripping the wood. A splinter pierced her skin, and she jerked back. Blood oozed, and trickled down her hand, but not before she’d accidentally smeared it across the portrait. “Good going, dumb-ass.”

Storm wiped the blood off the picture.

A bright glare shone like a spotlight from beneath her splayed fingers. Blinded and too terrified to move, she tried to yell for help, but nothing came out.

A jolt of blistering electricity zapped her, and searing heat spread through her like lightning.

Thump. Thump.

The room spun, then slowly faded.

Thump. Thump.

Storm hit the floor like a sack of bricks. The whack to the back of her head was nothing compared to the acid burn eating away her insides.

“Are you okay, Ma’am?” A short, middle-aged woman stood over her, eyes full of concern. The lady helped Storm up and settled her onto the bench. “I’ll get you a glass of water.” She turned, and stopped in front of the painting. She bent over and picked something up and rushed back to her. “Um…Did you drop these?”

Storm stared at the papers in the woman’s hand. She didn’t drop them, but somehow they appeared as though they belonged to her. “T-thank you.” Without thinking, Storm reached out and took the papers. The women hurried off.

Storm studied the yellowed parchment that appeared to be torn from an ancient book, then flipped the pages over. All of them were blank. How odd.

Slowly, she raised her gaze to the book she’d touched in the painting. The lock was gone.

On the floor below the painting, the gold clasp now lay completely shattered and right next to it was her mother’s broken necklace.

My Review

I liked this one, especially being in NOLA because I live down the road LOL. This one is about 4 sisters who don't know they are witches and one accidentally unleashes some evil spells into the world. All the while real life is also piling up on her plate and there's a HAWT doctor on her trail. It's definitely a fun one and I look forward to more. 

Storm is our main lady, though we meet her sisters, she's leading a contract on building a new surgical center when her mom gets knocked into a coma, her sister gets kidnapped, she's having strange things happen around her, and oh wait, she's a witch now too. Plus, the hot doctor who's building she's doing is either trying to kill her or seduce her. LOL Seriously, she's having a rough time. I liked her, she's spunky, but hard working and she loves her family. She's also meeting some cool new people while trying to stay alive and away from the bad guys so she can save everyone else. Plus I love her sarcastic-ness. And then storms Dr Nate. 

Dr. Nathan is a pediatric surgeon and a Paladin. He hunts the bad guys and protects witches. He can't figure out if his new interest is a witch, or a bad guy. He's so attracted to her, but he might need to kill her. He has some flaws, but he also cares and is such a big, kind hearted guy. I wanted to slap him a few times but he redeems himself. ;) He has a rough past, like make me wanna cry, and he's trying to save kids from having to go through what he did. It's sweet. And his relationship with Storm is definitely... Stormy. :) 

This is a mysterious, steamy paranormal read. Things are unraveling and Storm is learning to cope with her new status while Nate is trying to make sure he keeps Storm alive and gets the bad guys. I liked Nate's partner though he comes off gruff. And Storms sisters are interesting and I look forward to more of them soon. Also is witch Hazel and our little Bandit. Yeah no giveaways with them. LOL I do wish there was a little more explanation and maybe some past events to explain a few things but I have a feeling that there will be more to come in the future books. ;) 4.5 MAGICAL PAWS!! 

About the Author

Dawn might occasionally have a gator parked in her front yard there on the bayou, but it's the snakes that really scare the bejeezus out of her. So instead, she tends to hole herself up with a good romance book, chocolate by the pound, or marathon tv viewing of Game of Thrones, Hell On Wheels, various home renovation shows and Supernatural---oh Dean. *swoons*

FIND THE AUTHOR HERE:   @dawnchartier     Facebook      Website     Good Reads     Pinterest     Linked In     Instagram     

I hope you guys check this one out! Happy reading and later gators!