ummm...no thank you ( )

I love the concept of this book. Almost like a new age version of the old witch trial days. I mean, I hate the concept of persecuted witches, innocent or not, but the idea is pretty cool. I also can't wait to see what this story has in store as it progresses. This book defines a pretty good baseline and most like Gena Showalter's Lord of the Underworld series I see this series building by book in pairs.

There were two things that set me off about this book. One was the fact that the main characters have sex everywhere, every which way, a million different times yet, it always felt the same for me. Each time didn't seem different in my eyes...and (I can't believe I am saying this) but it felt like a bit too much. I also had a problem keeping my head in this book. I read it, I enjoyed it, it was entertaining but I wasn't totally 100% engrossed the whole time.

As I siad, I enjoy the concept, I love the mating marks for the characters. Shea was a pretty cool, keep it together, kind of girl. I wasn't really feeling the villain though because...I think the author is trying to keep her redeemable and this book needed a non-redeemable villain and the pitch-fork mob wasn't cutting it.

I think this series has the potential to be amazing and I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next! ( )

An ok paranormal romance, with stilted dialog. Saved by an interesting mythology, some steamy scenes, and a shout out to my Ohio hometown, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had been looking for romance unleavened by any other concerns. As is, I was hoping for more out of these characters and their relationship. ( )

Visions of Magic is the first book in a new series about witches. Shea has been on the run ever since her aunt was burned at the stake. Shea doesn't stay in one location for long because she fears that she will be accused of being a witch. Shea is living her life as a 6th grade teacher when she accidentally sets a man on fire. Shea has had visions of fire. She's in denial about herself and her powers. Enters Torin who rescues Shea from a mob of witch haters and the Magic Police. He claims to be her Eternal; her mate. The Eternal's power compliments the witch's power. He was watched over Shea through each incarnation of her life, waiting for her powers to awaken. Now that he's found her, he's horny and ready to mate.

It was difficult to like Shea in the beginning. I understand that finding out that you're a witch is a shock, especially when witches (innocents who are accused witches and actual witches) are being hunted, imprisoned and persecuted. I couldn't believe how much she was in denial when she's had inklings that she may be a witch. She has spent her life on the run, not staying in one location for more than a couple of years, so that she could live her life in anonymity. She had to suspect that there was a possibility that she's a witch. Shea did have some TSTL (too stupid to live) moments that ended up getting her caught and jailed by the Magic Police. Luckily, that incident seemed to finally knock some sense into her. She's ready to embrace being a witch and ready to do whatever it takes to prevent history from repeating itself.

Visions of Magic is also a very sexy read. In order for Shea's powers to Awaken, she must have sex with her Eternal. That means lots and lots of sex. Through the mating ritual, Torin and Shea both develop a tattoo that grows until the mating is complete. The more you mate with your Eternal, the more you want it. If that's the case, how are you supposed to save the world if you're sexing it up all the time? At one point, the mating did become redundant and seem to take over the plot.

We are introduced to another Eternal, Rune, which I think is supposed to set up the second book. Rune was kinda meh in Visions of Magic. Hopefully, he'll have more spice and personality in his own book. The story wraps up neatly but does not answer all the questions. The biggest question I have is what's up with The President of the United States? She's the first female President and her agenda is to stop the persecution of witches. But I think there is more to her story and look forward to reading about it in future books.

Visions of Magic is a great start to a new series. I love how the story takes place in a modern day Salem Witch trial. The world-building is fantastic. The first half of the book kept me engrossed and I could not put it down. The second half kind of lagged and the plot stalls. But all in all, it was a great read and I am looking forward to reading Book 2. ( )

Regan Hastings (a.k.a. Maureen Child) makes me sad. I was quite excited to read Visions of Magic since it sounded like it would be a fun paranormal romance with a gorgeous cover. Unfortunately, I found it to be rather disappointing. The lead characters, Torin and Shea, are fairly one-dimensional despite their centuries of history and all they seem to do is have sex, even though they have a very important mission to accomplish. It got to the point that I would skip over many pages of sex looking for the storyline, which is what I was more interested in.

Sadly, the plot wasn’t thrilling. Basically, Shea’s a witch whose coven cursed themselves to spend 810 years without magic, with their powers set to Awaken after this point their reincarnated selves would have 30 days to find the piece of the Artifact that they hid and to form a mating bond with their Eternal, which involves a great deal of sex and results in a mating tattoo that spreads from the left breast around the back (like on the cover). It really felt like everything in the story was geared towards sexytime, which isn’t what I look for in a romance. I like having a sensual aspect but for me, it’s really all about the connection between the two protagonists and I just couldn’t invest in the “connection” between Shea and Torin since it lacked nuance and depth. Furthermore, the villain of the piece, Kellyn, also lacked any true dimension, though perhaps that was the author’s attempt to make her seem more mysterious. There are still questions about Kellyn to be answered, presumably in later installments in the series, but I doubt that I’ll be along for the ride.

On the positive side, the world that Regan Hastings has created is quite nice. I like the basic mythology she’s crafted and the idea that witches are reviled and hunted creates a lot of danger and potential for interesting plot twists. Having the lawful groups in charge of rounding up and incarcerating witches, and also the more fanatical group, the Seekers, adds a lot of detail to the world that I really enjoyed. There’s also a Dr. Mengele in this world, except his name is Dr. Fender and he experiments on witches, not concentration camp victims, which I found a little rote; however, he’s not featured heavily in this novel so perhaps he will become more interesting later on. Oh, and having a female president is a nice touch.

Overall, I found this to be a disappointing book. I think there are some people out there who might enjoy it but it’s not for me since I prefer an emphasis on characterization and layered plots over a lot of sex in my novels.

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