Review: SERPENT'S KISS by Melissa de la Cruz

  3.5 of 5 stars

Joanna Beauchamp along with her daughters Ingrid and Freya are happily practicing magic once again. The Restriction Against Magic has been lifted after a centuries-long ban, but practicing magic does not solve all the problems they encounter in SERPENT'S KISS. A long-dead spirit from the 1600s is haunting Joanna, desperate for her help to right a terrible wrong. Ingrid is in love for the first time, but her inexperience causes problems with her boyfriend, Matt Noble, and Freya is dealing with the secret that her twin, Freddie, has escaped Limbo and now accuses her love, Killian, of being the one who set him up for a terrible crime in the first place.

I was looking forward to reading this book. I had thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, WITCHES OF EAST END and was eagerly awaiting what the tiny town of North Hampton would do with three practicing witches casting spells and mixing potions. While this book was entertaining in spots, I was disappointed with it especially how the author portrayed Ingrid and her actions with her cop boyfriend. Granted, Ingrid is a virgin, but her reactions in some of the romantic scenes was way over the top and unbelievable.  I also didn't understand the proposed connection between Joanna and her would-be suitor, Harold Atkins. While Harold did come into play later in the storyline involving Freddie, he did not know that Freddie was back from Limbo when he began calling on Joanna. It seemed like he was thrown in with Joanna as an easy way to create tension between Joanna and her long-lost husband. The addition of the pixies though added quite a comical twist to things.

SERPENT'S KISS is a quick and easy read, but it mostly seems like this book was used as the set-up for the next book in the series, THE WINDS OF SALEM. There are two major cliff-hangers to solve, both of them essential to the well-being of Beauchamp family and I'm looking forward to see what happens next.

This book was provided by Goldberg McDuffie Communications, NYC and Hyperion Books.
Disclosure policy: http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html