[Book Review] Smoke On The Water By Lori Handeland & Boca Java Tropical Kiss Coffee

Title: Smoke On The Water
Series/Universe: Sisters Of The Craft, Vol 3
Author: Lori Handeland
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: August 4th 2015
Page Count: 352 pages
Age Rating: Adult (language, violence, and semi-to-explicit sexual scenes)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received an ARC to review
Publisher’s page: Smoke On The Water

Reunited after four hundred years, three sisters join together to vanquish the power that tore them apart…and embrace the sorcery that is their birthright.

Abandoned as an infant, Willow Black spent her childhood in foster care, the object of whispers and pity…and rumors about being certifiably crazy. Telling your young friends that you can foresee the future–and summon the rain–is a surefire way to end up in the psychiatric ward. But when Dr. Sebastian Frasier arrives at the facility, Willow’s whole life takes a turn. Sebastian is the handsomest man she’s ever actually laid eyes on–even though he has been in Willow’s visions for years. But not even she could have predicted the storm of passion that engulfs them both. With Sebastian by her side, Willow is emboldened to embrace her history, and the sisters she never knew. Soon, the true power in her blood awakes–and the battle she was born to fight begins. While the tempest rages, Willow must depend on the friends and family she’s found–and the man she has loved forever…

In the final book of this enchanting new trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Lori Handeland sweeps readers into a bewitching tale of secrets, sisterhood, and the stunning magic of love.

My Review

Smoke On The Water is the third and final book in the Sisters of The Craft trilogy, a magic-filled series following three gifted sister witches as they learn the secret of their origins, the truth of the powers they inherited from their parents, and the evil that stalks them in their current time.

Willow Black is the youngest of the three sisters, relatively speaking since they’re triplets, and had arguable the hardest time growing up with witch powers that marked her as different – Smoke On The Water is her story. Found abandoned as a baby, Willow’s ability to see the future in water, from large bodies of water to the smallest raindrop, caused her to be seen as unstable and delusional and she was passed from foster home to foster home, never really finding a safe place to call home. Willow’s visions, and her attempts to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, eventually land her a spot in the Northern Wisconsin Mental Health Facility. It is there that she meets Mary, an older woman who believes she’s a witch and leads Willow down a path that will soon have her discovering her own witchy roots, and Dr. Sebastian Frasier, the new facility administrator and the man of Willow’s dreams (literally), who’s very uneasy at the intense attraction and connection he feels with his new patient, but just can’t make himself stay away.

With Sebastian’s help, Willow takes the first steps that eventually lead to her finding her sisters and the truth behind her ability. The two quickly find themselves in the middle of a battle already in progress, joining up with Willow’s sister witches Raye and Becca, their significant others, their unusual parents, and some various friends and acquaintances, to take on the evil that has chased the sisters and their family across time and space in an inevitable confrontation of witches vs witch hunters.

Smoke On The Water was a great conclusion to a series that hooked me from the beginning. There was a lot of story packed into this book, with Willow’s personal story and romance and all the action going down with the final battle – even a final happy ending was squeezed in there, tying everything together and wrapping it up in a big Happily Ever After bow.

I loved seeing all the sisters together for the first time – the dynamic between them was hilarious at times, especially with Raye taking on the “Oldest Sister” role, since, you know, out of the triplets she was born first. If you haven’t read the first two books in the series (which you really should, they’re fantastic), you should know that Raye can talk to ghosts and is engaged to a homicide detective, and Becca can communicate with animals and she’s recently rekindled a romance with her high school sweetheart, a marine with the K-9 Corps (who happens to be the son of Willow’s friend Mary from the facility) – See my reviews for In The Air Tonight for Raye’s story and Heat Of The Moment to get to know Becca.

Magic, romance, and fantastic action scenes color the Sisters Of The Craft trilogy from beginning to end – I can’t recommend it highly enough. I really enjoyed this whole series. Each book in the trilogy followed a sister’s individual story, but also flowed seamlessly into over-arching plot that was nothing short of enthralling. All of the books in the series were very well-written and I couldn’t put any of them down.  I will absolutely be on the lookout for more books by the same author.

In Smoke On The Water, Sebastian describes Willow’s eyes as reminding him of the tropical ocean he’s always wanted to see and Willow describes Sebastian as smelling like “limes beneath the sun, or perhaps on ice” – I may not have visions like Willow, but I can definitely see a tropical island vacation for these two in the future, perhaps with some lime margaritas 😉 . I’m recommending Boca Java Tropical Kiss Coffee – this medium coffee flavored with chocolate and coconut definitely sets the mood for a romantic island getaway (or perhaps a honeymoon? 😀 ).