Book Review: Wishcraft by Lanie Kincaid

Wishcraft

by Lanie Kincaid

(Publication year: 2011)

Delilah Goodman has spent the past year doing what she does best: casting simple spells and trying to get over the heartbreaking betrayal that left her husband and her younger sister dead. Raised as a witch, there’s a lot she can do, and a lot she can’t, so she spends her time working as a pastry chef. She’s trying to heal, but in the meantime she’s become a regular at a bar down the street. And Brandon is just another night that she’ll remember and he won’t.

Brandon Stewart literally doesn’t know what hit him. He knows he went into the bar with his friends and after that . . . he just can’t recall. He does have a vague recollection of a hot blonde and a craving for pumpkin cake. With spiced whipped cream. And chocolate. Neither of them can fight the force that pulls them back together. As Brandon becomes more important to her, Delilah realizes that what she’s done is so very wrong. Her own sister altered her memories, and Delilah knows how it feels to be played. She has to come clean to Brandon


What I thought


This was a pure romance novel, with a whole lot of witchcraft thrown into the mix.
If I'd judged the book purely by the cover- I'd have never picked this book up- it screams amateur and isn't one bit creative. But, I decided to read it when I got a net galley email about it, the blurb sounded interesting enough and like something I'd enjoy- and I'm glad I did.

Wishcraft isn't terribly original or particularly earth shattering.
But it is a good, well developed romance with MAGIC!
Its also funny, sweet and yeah- magical, with a whole bit of mystery thrown in- a good rainy-day read.

So first of we have a killer protag, Delilah who loves to cook (and is so super awesome at it!) and is kinda, totally messed up because of some heavy stuff that happened to her in the past.
Then we have Brandon, a really sweet and funny guy who fall in love with the wrong bi- I mean- witch. *cough*

I really like how the romance of the novel was built and executed.
The relationship between Brandon and Delilah was sweet and built up over time, instead of the instant-love stuff that's written about so much in novels.
The love story was really sweet and didn't paint Brandon as a knight-who-could-do-no-wrong, but a human guy who had his low moments too, but despite it all, was a positively adorable/hot/sexy and a GOOD, DECENT guy.

In a lot of romances you find the guy to be all about the looks. Here we had Brandon, who was obviously good looking with his beautiful green eyes and whatnot, but I was glad that the author didn't keep going on about his killer bod and other manly physical features as a lot of other romance authors do.

Delilah was also not your typical romance-novel girl. She did not swoon and die and over analyze in the beginning of the relationship. Through it all, one can see her always handling everything maturely, without being dramatic and crazy. But she isn't painted as super-woman either- shes properly balanced, with her own personal breakdowns and stuff.
The point I'm trying to make here is, both Brandon and Delilah were made into proper, believable, likable characters and through it all, you couldn't help, but root for them.
The witchcraft arc, was also, surprisingly quite believable, and had a bit of depth to it. It seemed to be a part of the book, instead of just being there to look pretty and fun.

All that being said, Wishcraft wasn't quite lighthearted, even with all its romance.
The slight twists and turns were enough to get a reader hooked and interested for more, and the mystery about Delilah's life was unraveled slowly, bit by bit and managed quite well.
I wasn't dying of suspense, but I really wanted to find out what REALLY went down with Jules and David, and what Delilah's role was, in it all.

Overall, Wishcraft was an entertaining book, with some dark undertones and an overall lovely love story, with  a sprinkling of occasional humor and a ton of magic.

It gets three out of five stars. (= a good read)

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with the review galley!

Note on the cover: It sucks. I'm sorry, but it does. A nice sparkly cover please!

xx
CLG