Book 99, 2023
Motherducking Magic by Michelle Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
After reading the short story/prequel, I went right for the first official book in the "Bad Magic Bounty Hunter" series, which was Motherducking Magic, by Michelle Fox. Ironically, it turns out that what I read as a short story was chapter one of this book. Huh.
Bounty hunter Sylvie is on the trail of a shifter who skipped out on bail. Since her magic is weak, she must rely on charms she's purchased, a tracking spell, and her own grit and determination. In this instance, however, things quickly go off the rails. A vampire, who's also searching for the missing shifter, throws his hat in with Sylvie's search. As if having a tag-along isn't annoying enough, Sylvie soon learns the shifter has stolen a powerful magic relic that the High Priestess of the Witch Council will literally kill to get back. When the shifter's trail grows cold, Sylvie is accused of being in cahoots with him. Now she has the Council guards on her own tail, and she's having to rethink just who the villains are in this drama.
The story started out lighthearted and humorous. I enjoyed Sylvie's sarcastic wit and her ability to get things done with the limited amount of magic she has. However, as the story progressed, things took a darker turn. And then...it ended. WTF? The author had a "please don't hate me for the cliffie" note at the end, but yeah. I'm not feeling too charitable at the moment.
Favorite lines:
♦ The whole outfit was overkill. My job never got as exciting as my outfit could handle.
♦ She was in a pickle of shit.
♦ All fun and games until someone gets dumped in a ditch.
I was ready to give this a solid four, but I'm annoyed enough at the ending to bump it down to a three.