Linda Wisdom – 50 ways to hex your lover

The first book in the Jazz Tremaine series, published in 2008.

Jazz can't decide whether to scorch him with a fireball or jump into bed with him.

Jasmine Tremaine, a witch who can't stay out of trouble.

Nikolai Gregorivich, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire cop on the trail of a serial killer.

The sizzling love affair between Jazz and Nick has been off-again, on-again-for about 300 years. Mostly off, lately. But now Nick needs Jazz's help, and while Jazz and Nick try to figure out their own hearts and resist their ever-increasing attraction, they must steer clear of a maniacal killer with super-supernatural powers. They are surrounded by a hilarious cast of oddball paranormal characters, including Irma, the chain-smoking ghost who haunts Jazz's sports car, Dweezil, her ghoul of a boss, and Fluff and Puff, a pair of bunny slippers with sharp teeth and short tempers (watch your ankles)!

Jazz is living as she wants and happy with her life. She has a day job as a limousine driver for paranormal clients, and a part time job as a curse extinguisher, in LA. She loves living near the coast, like she grew up many hundreds of years ago in Ireland, named Griet. Two of her best friends live in a nearby town. And she rents a nice apartment in the house of a (human) computer geek who became a very good friend. She drives a great sportscar she loves, the only downside of that is, she is stuck with the ghost of a woman who died in that car, and refuses to leave.

Then Nick turns up again, needing her help. He has asked that before, and each time she ends up in jail while he leaves in the night. So she is determined to turn him down this time. Until she learns that the man she thought she killed 70 years ago, is still alive and kicking, and murdering vampires to sustain his own existence. It cost her dearly, the killing of a person, no matter how evil he was, and now he isn’t even dead! So why has the witches council punished her so severely, when she was already hurting in her soul for it.

Witches and Vampires have never been friends, with the added benefit that drinking the blood of a witch will make a vampire sick, and perhaps even kill him if he is still young. So the rest of the paranormal community is not overly concerned with the disappearances and murders of so many vampires. But will the murderer stop there, or try some other type of blood soon?

Jazz is still trying to stay out of it. Nick can tell her he quit the Protectorate, but he still wants to ask them for info and stuff. Especially his sire, who has been around since the Roman empire. Then she meets her nemesis eye to eye, kind of, and he terrorizes Irma, her ghost, and smears her car with evil. He will come after her again, if she doesn’t stop him again, and this time for good. The witches council won’t help her, so she decides to go for information at The Library, which is an experience all on its own. The Librarian already doesn’t like her much, so she has to be on her best behaviour.

I liked this first book. It has lots of humor in it, and of course, Jazz is a witch. I love reading about witches, especially the sassy and powerful ones who fight evil. And the attraction between Jazz and Nick is sure sparking from the pages. Then there are of course the secondary characters. I am very curious what will happen next and to learn more about the younger Jazz and what she did to get expelled from witch school and to keep being banished.

7 stars.