The Witch is Back

by HP Mallory

Published by: Random House

My Rating: 2 of 5 

The witching hour has arrived in bestselling author H. P. Mallory’s captivating and sexy new novel, starring the most dazzling denizen of the undead, Jolie Wilkins. 
 
Funny and feisty witch Jolie Wilkins is back—or rather, she’s back to her humble beginnings. Propelled into the past to her old Los Angeles fortune-telling shop, Jolie has no idea she possesses extraordinary powers, and she definitely doesn’t remember becoming Queen of the Underworld. But at least she has two incredibly sexy men vying for her affection: Rand Balfour, who looks very familiar, though Jolie can’t place his gorgeous face, and Sinjin Sinclair, who is tall, dark, and perfect . . . except for the fangs.

Yet despite her steamy love life, Jolie can’t shake the sense that something is not quite right—like she’s stuck in a déjà vu gone terribly awry. As both men race against time—and each other—to win Jolie’s heart, the fate of the Underworld hangs in the balance. And Jolie’s decision can either restore order or create an absolute, drop-dead disaster.

My Review:

I have procrastinated writing this review for awhile now.  I love HP Mallory, I have been a fan of the Jolie Wilkins series, but with the last two books, I have been a bit let down.

In the first 2 books of the Jolie Wilkins series, Jolie learns that she is a witch, she develops her powers, learns about the supernatural world, fights a war, falls in love, and becomes Queen of the Underworld.  Then in book 3, the series stalls.  Jolie barely ascends to the thrown which she doesn’t really want to do, she bemoans her on-again/off-again relationship with Rand, and she complains to pretty much everyone.  So, that brings us to book 4.  Sinjin is the vampire who has sworn to protect Jolie, he defintiely has some hot feelings for her buried under his tough-guy exterior, and he convinces the Prophetess to send them back in time, to the point when Jolie first begins to learn of the underworld.  Sinjin does his best to meet her first and to keep Rand out of her life, but his choices are questionable and he definitely makes mistakes.

After finishing this book, I have to wonder, what was the point?  The plot went no-where.  Jolie went back to being an insecure human in denial of her abilities and her appeal.  She fell hard for Sinjin, bought into his lies, and goes ballistic once the truth finally comes to light.  Yet after all that, the series plot hasn’t gone anywhere.  The lurkers are still after the supernaturals, Jolie is still a reluctant Queen, and the love triangle between Jolie, Rand, and Sinjin is more complicated than ever.

I will admit that I had some expectations for this book, I was very excited to see what would happen when Sinjin met Jolie first.  In the end, I was just sad for Sinjin, Jolie, and even Rand.  I did like that Rand finally decides to fight for what he wants, he fights to get Jolie back.  They key here is that he FINALLY fights for her.  To me, it felt like this fight is coming pretty late in the game.  Anyhow, the whole situation brought up more questions than stability for the characters.  At this point, I just hope that HP Mallory will bring the series back and move forward with it.  I hope that my questions will be answered, that the trip back in time will have served a purpose.  Even though I was not very pleased with The Witch is Back, I am still invested in this series, and I like the characters.  I will be reading the next book in the series, Something Witchy This Way Comes.

The Witch is Back releases tomorrow, July 31, 2012.