RavenStorm Witches: A Coven of Bitches by Misha McKenzie
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 3½/5 stars
My Review:

Just a little word of advice: if you KNOW someone is a witch don’t piss her off!! While this sounds like common sense to most of us, the dumba%^#s who choose to run afoul of the RavenStorm coven don’t have a lot in the way of common sense and holy Hannah, do they pay for it. In this collection of short stories, Misha McKenzie introduces us to the RavenStorm coven and the havoc they can rain down on one’s life if crossed.

Maeve: When her best friend, Grayson is wronged by a gold digger, Maeve vows the revenge is going to be both swift and sweet. While she is perfectly capable of exacting that revenge on her own, calling on her coven will produce a far stronger and far more effective spell. Within just a few days, the women have cast their spell and Grayson’s ex is a humiliated gold digger whose ways are going to have to change if she has any hope of breaking the spell.

Hildie: As far as Hildie is concerned working as a taste tester for a brewery is just about the best job out there and she simply can’t imagine working anywhere else. Unfortunately, Hildie’s boss can imagine her working somewhere else the morning he fires her for corporate espionage. Completely at a loss and sure someone has set her up, Hildie sets out to expose the person responsible for her unfair firing. With the help of the coven, Hildie casts a spell and within 24 hours, the rat bastard is knee-deep in guilt and a raging case of genital herpes. Yet again, the coven earns their title, A Coven of Bitches and leaves the culprit with no choice other than to come clean and clear Hildie’s good name.

Malise: Even witches don’t always make the best choices when it comes to men and Malise, unfortunately has gone back to the same womanizing a$%*)$e one too many times. This last event, smiling and winking at another woman while on a date with Malise was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and Malise is ready to exact her revenge. With the help of the coven, Malise’s ex gets a first-hand experience in what it is like to not only be a woman but be a woman during that really special time of the month. After a few truly awful experiences, Trevor learns what is like to be on the receiving end of well, him and it isn’t at all a pleasant experience.

Tatiana: In addition to her “standard” witch gifts, Tatiana also has the gift of speaking with animals. She capitalizes on her gift by working as a dog groomer and absolutely loves what she does until the day she learns of the dog fighting ring led by one truly nasty human. Determined to shut the man down and rescue the dogs under his “care,” Tatiana calls on the coven to remedy the situation. In a truly inspired bit of witchcraft, the women not only spell the rat bastard but ensure he feels every single bit of cruelty he heaps on his animals. Not surprisingly, when the coven comes a callin’ the dogs are relinquished to their care and waste no time claiming a witch for their very own.

Sheva: Likely the coolest of the coven, Sheva is one of the elder members of the group and the one who needs to be watched a little more closely than the others. Oh, Sheva won’t get too crazy with her spells but if ever there is a bottle missing from the “better off dead” shelf, you can be sure Sheva has been up to some mischief. Mischief is exactly what Sheva is up to when she calls on the coven to shut down the woman who drove a wedge between Sheva, her sisters and their late father. Determined to keep evil Evelyn from splitting up another family, Sheva and the coven go to work exposing the woman for what she is, a horrible human with no interest in anything but herself. Over the next week, Evelyn’s plans to infiltrate and destroy another family are wrecked when only the ugly truth spews out of her mouth and loads of weapons-grade gas spews out her butt. In the end, Sheva’s mischief is magnificent and an unsuspecting is saved thanks to the Coven of Bitches.

The Bottom Line: I can’t say I disliked this read because I didn’t but I do have some issues with it. First, there is the way the book is put together as a collection of short stories rather than a single cohesive read. Sure, the women of the coven connect each story but that could have been done in a single story with several subplots rather than individual stories. Next, there is the miraculous change that happens in each of the coven’s targets. While I appreciate each individual is experiencing some pretty awful stuff at the hands of the witches, I just don’t buy their miraculous change of heart. A leopard doesn’t change its spots and I just kept thinking “this change is temporary and once the spell is broken, he/she is going to go back to their old ways.” With the negative out of the way, let me end with the positive. I enjoyed the RavenStorm coven and the very creative ways they conjured up to right some really awful wrongs. Sheva is by far the best of the bunch and her mischief had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Overall, this is a decent read that will certainly entertain the reader but don’t go looking for anything too deep here. This is light and fun and certainly doesn’t pretend to be anything else. ( )