Release Day Review: Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1) by Sam Argent

All recovering drug addict and witch Jeremy Ragsdale wants is to shamble on to the next job without any disasters. Instead, the temp agency saddles him with a fellow witch who hates him, an Amazon one violent outburst away from deportation, and a knight from another world as his boss. Even worse, their jack-of-all-trades magic business stumbles upon a conspiracy to kill Desmond the Great, Atlanta’s sexy star magician. Jeremy must prevent it without letting his colleagues know that he not only has ties to the energy vampires behind the plot, but that his past misdeeds might have instigated the attacks.

Despite Jeremy sporting a suit and tie like a good witch, his lies snowball to bite him in the ass. The lack of trust brewing between him and his teammates could cost Desmond his life and Jeremy his progress on the straight and narrow path if his secrets are revealed. Because no matter how much Jeremy has reformed, there’s still enough bad witch in him to kill anyone who messes with him or the people he cares about.

This is gonna be a quick and dirty review ‘cause there’s nothing I can say about it without spoiling the book.

I’ll just come out and say… I. Loved. This. Book.  I loved the characters, the action, the plot, the romance, the world building, the angst and the humor.  But most of all I loved the writing.  Oh, the writing!  If ever there was something to debate about this story, it’s the writing.  There will be some that don’t like the author’s style.  In fact, I think most people will be frustrated by it and potentially abandon it before they reach the halfway point.  Not me.  I was so attuned to it I felt it deep in my soul.

There’s not one single bit of telling in this book.  Everything is show, show, show.  And what a show it is!  The world building is extremely organic.  You’re viewing the world as if you are expected to already know how it works.  The story unfolds in bits and pieces and seemingly unnecessary offshoots, giving you absolutely no clue as to what is going on and feeling like maybe you missed something.  You’re left to discover the secrets on your own.  Once I got about a third of the way in, it all started coming together and suddenly I was riveted.  I could not put the book down!  And the way everything culminated in the end left me breathless.  I was in absolute awe. 

It’s like Sam Argent has direct access to my brain and fine-tuned the words to align perfectly with my patterns.  The story is chaotic and goes back and forth between four or five different points of view.  One minute you’ll feel like you’re getting somewhere with a plot point and then you turn the page and she’s gone off in a different direction.  This is where I feel a lot people will abandon the book because they just can’t wrap their mind around what is going on.  For me, though, my brain is already chaotic; my mind works in this exact way so I was ecstatic to say the least.  Can I just tell you how freaking amazing it feels to find a book that speaks to you in your own personal language?  I mean, just knowing there is someone else out there in the world that thinks the exact same way I do is exhilarating.  I don’t feel so alone in the world any more.

This book is quirky.  So, so, so damned quirky.  Between Jeremy’s snark, the drugged out werewolf who thinks the trees look like angels and his witch mate (who really wears the pants in that family), the Amazon who kicks ass with glee, the absolutely swoon-worthy magician and the wizard who puts up with it all (he’s just trying to get his green card, people, c’mon!) there’s something in here for everyone.  The action is non-stop; you’ll hardly be able to catch your breath between chapters.  I highly, highly recommend this to those who maybe think a little differently than the norm.  If you loved her other book, Family of Lies: Sebastian, then I guarantee you’ll like this one too.

And if all this wasn’t enough to convince you to read this book, I’ll leave you with two words:

Ass goblins

*mic drop*

  

Audiobook Review: Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent

Sebastian Orwell did the only thing a smart wizard could do when he stumbled upon the wounded Crown Prince: he healed him and dumped him in a tavern where he could continue not being Sebastian's problem. Unfortunately, the prince isn’t content with being alive, and he hunts Sebastian down to thank him personally. Not only is Sebastian stuck with the prince's unwanted affections, he's also confronted by growing evidence linking the assassination attempt to someone from his father's past.

Lord Orwell is a lot of things: thief, liar, drunk, and all around horrible father, but Sebastian knows he's no murderer. In order to prove it, Sebastian has to keep the prince alive long enough to discover the truth—a task made considerably harder because the idiot prince prefers wooing Sebastian over securing his own survival. On top of everything, Sebastian needs to save the day without revealing his magical powers and the real reason he hides his appearance.

Sebastian had no intention of playing the hero, but whoever is stirring up shit in his country will pay for destroying his quiet life.

Narrator: Cornell Collins
Listening Length: Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

This audio version was brilliantly put together by narrator Cornell Collins. I found this to be a 5 star audio. His range of voices was top notch, and individual. I loved the pitch and clarity of each character. It really was a joy to listen to. I’m pretty sure this version enhanced the story and gave it layer of awesome.

Sebastian was a lovely character to get to know. His curse made this intriguing and entertaining both. His sarcastic wit and take no shit persona spoke directly to my heart. I understood his ‘I am an Island’ attitude. His family is completely dysfunctional but completely loyal, and I loved the parallel, from what I know, is the standard family dynamic (or maybe it’s just my family dynamic?!). His cantankerous relationship with his parents was both believable and understandable. From my experience, what parents try to avoid discussing with their kids is usually the missing piece that robs the kid of truly understanding the depth of devotion their parents have for them, and puts parents clearly in the “they fucked up my life” camp.

The adventure story was fun. There wasn’t a great mystery (it was a little mystery, but not overly complex), so it was easy to follow the direction of the plot. There was enough action in this story to carry it through, and the drama enhanced the relationship building between Sebastian and Prince Torren.

Prince Torren was adorable in his pursuit of Sebastian’s hand. It was pure and direct. He was going to get his man, no matter what, and it was fun to see the almost stalker level of romance he laid at Sebastian’s feet. Sebastian, of course was completely dubious of the whole thing, and had no intentions of encouraging the Prince, but of course his interactions with the Prince never seemed to pan out the way he planned it in his head. Every interaction carried his sarcasm, discouragement, and rebuff to the Prince, but Prince Torren would not be deterred.

I loved the fantasy element of this story. Medieval Sorcery, magic, deception, curses, and enchantments. It was clean in its world building, with familiar elements, slightly twisted, to ensure an easy grasp of the world building.

Most of the supporting cast of characters had clear personalities and were not carbon copies of each other. There were a lot of supporting cast so it’s impressive to see that there was a clearly defined personality for the majority of them.

I just have to praise the cover of this novel. Beautiful cover! And what’s even better, is that I would totally judge this book by it’s cover, and thankfully I would have been right.

There were some flaws but overall I was too busy enjoying the heck out of the characters, their constant ribbing of each other, and laughing at their reactions to each other to care about the minor issues.

A solid high fantasy read if ever I have read one. Comforting in it’s consistency; humourous and entertaining. My enjoyment of this was only slightly marred by the fact that there is not an entire series waiting for me to gobble up, once I finished this book.

Check out on Dreamspinner Press and Goodreads!