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The Witch's Brew #1

The Witch's Brew

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After his discharge, former Delta soldier Adam Travail just wanted to find somewhere to settle, a new home, where he could utilize his skills without the threat of his PTSD rearing its ugly head. The security position at the Chicago nightclub The Witch’s Brew seemed like the perfect fit and it was even after he learned that everything he thought was fiction was, in fact, reality. Fighting his attraction to his new security employee was the least of Mikael Popov’s problems when he is attacked several times in his club. Keeping his employees, his family, safe was Mikael’s responsibility, just as keeping their world hidden was until he had no other choice. ~ This book contains M/M sexual situations and is intended for readers of legal age in the country in which they reside. Please store your adult literature responsibly.

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2018

49 people are currently reading
83 people want to read

About the author

Brenda Cothern

80 books306 followers
Brenda is an Amazon and ARe best-selling author and resides in Tampa, FL with her husband, six cats, a dog, a turtle named Tammy, and a rabbit named Alice. She is active in the Tampa Bay GLBT, kink, & leather communities, and the owner of Florida Leather & Fetish Pride Weekend event which includes a Mr. & Ms. title contest.
When not putting the voices in her head on paper, Brenda is attending book and fantasy/Sci-fi conventions to meet fans. She also attends leather/kink events as Ms. Florida Leather & Fetish Pride 2016 and teaches about the leather and kink lifestyle.

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(Where you can find several FREE reads!)
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Community Reviews

5 stars
81 (29%)
4 stars
100 (35%)
3 stars
76 (27%)
2 stars
18 (6%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Amanda Jean .
630 reviews17 followers
February 10, 2018
A great start to a new paranormal series! It kept me completely interested and I really like Mikael and Adam.

Adam is an ex-military man who gets a job at Mikael’s club as security. He finds out the not all of the family is human and someone is gunning for Mikael.

Mikael was the quiet strength and had nothing but love and fierce protection toward his family. For some reason, he can’t shake his feelings for Adam. And Adam feels the same.

I enjoyed this very much and will definitely keep an eye out for the next.
Profile Image for Katherine.
5,400 reviews42 followers
July 17, 2020
Eh. Didn’t hold my attention. Good premise, could’ve been better. There was far too much angst about boss/employee relationships being verboten, the entirely too repetitive about all the club employees being family, and you don’t fuck family (their words, I swear).

Bought as part of audible escape package.
Profile Image for Leelah🍁♋️ Orion.
1,444 reviews55 followers
September 14, 2022
interesting world

This was a different take on the paranormal world. I find it interesting the ways different paranormal species come together and what they call themselves. I also love the family vibe with this group. This is a first book so I’m hoping this will continue with this couple. We still seam to be in the beginning of their relationship when this book ended. The writing was good, the smexy was good and the side characters were ok. I love George I’m not yet sold in the rest of them.
Profile Image for Qin.
537 reviews45 followers
February 11, 2018
No credibility attaches to this book owing to its terrible plot filled to the brim with stock situations and vapid cardboard characters on top of the atrocious literary standards of this so-called writer. The prose style combines nigh inumerable incorrect inflections with a shameless absence of ear for flow and cadence and entirely too many repetitions of the same words. In chapter 2, the POV shits from reply to reply, with so much head hopping between Adam and Mikael that I was not able to read it for long; I had to skim until things got (somewhat) better. Experienced authors do not write that way.
165 reviews5 followers
February 23, 2018
3.5 stars

What I liked: (1) The MCs. Mikhail and Adam had the instant chemistry that I love, and the secondary characters were interesting, as far as this book went. This is the only book I've read by this author so the secondary characters may have their own stories. (2) The setting. I confess; I bought this because of the title and the blurb.

What I didn't like: (1) the overly repetitive mental hand-wringing by the MCs. This book could have used a strong editor to cut probably a third of it. There was also too much telling, not showing. (2) The ending. It was too quick, too easy. I won't say anything else, so I don't spoil anything.

Obviously, this is only my opinion. Overall, I liked it enough to finish it and that's saying a lot. And I'd seriously consider buying another book by this author, especially if it involved a certain bear.😉
202 reviews
February 5, 2018
Great new paranormal world

This is a unique mix of the paranormal world we all know and new aspects that make this book stand out. Michael is not your typical blood drinker (life drinker). He has a family of paranormal that he has gathered together and will do anything to protect.

Adam is human. Ex military with on friends or remaining family. He is looking for a place to belong when he applies for a job at The Witches Brew.
Let the chemistry begin. Too bad neither Mikael or Adam will participate in work place romance. Don't forget the people out to kill Mikael.
This is a great book and I hope a sequel is in the works.
1,068 reviews6 followers
March 11, 2018
Paranormal romance

I really liked this book and the paranormal elements.
Mikael runs a night club with his chosen family and fellow paranormals. When Adam applies for the job as a security guard he doesn't know that there's anything other than normal people but he knows that he's attracted to his new boss.
Mikael is just as attracted to Adam but he knows he has to keep his family safe and can't let Adam know anything about them. That's until everything goes wrong and the secret is forced out in the open.
557 reviews
March 5, 2018
Loved this story!

I really enjoyed the new direction that Brenda has taken with her writing! The story of how Adam learned that there is a world that he had no ideal about. Mikael is a hot sexy life drinker who felt a strong connection to Adam but had to contend with the danger that was aimed at him. I loved how protective Adam was toward Mikael! Good story!
783 reviews4 followers
March 22, 2018
Not bad.

Has some hot and steamy scenes with some hot men. Not much of a storyline yet as it introduces us to the world.

Easy read and safe to read in public until the last chapter.

Can be confusing at times as the author transitions between the two main characters points of view every few paragraphs.
Profile Image for Hrtnsoul28.
1,185 reviews
June 1, 2018
Very different from other vampire stories I have read. I enjoyed the mystery of who was trying to kill Mikael. I enjoyed Adam and how calm he is when learning about the supernatural. I thought it was funny how not calm he was after being turned. I will be reading the next as I have so many more questions.
Profile Image for Carla Hamilton.
Author 38 books7 followers
February 2, 2018
Loved it

This was a brilliant first book, I am absolutely hooked! I was really shocked with the ending, I didn't see the betrayal coming, and I was even more shocked with how Mikael handled it. I can't wait for book 2.
Profile Image for Sharon Gatus.
116 reviews
February 24, 2018
Great

I really enjoyed this take on a paranormal tale. I would have liked a little more romance but still a good read. The author has left the possibility of a follow on which would deepen the story but has a hfn ending.
18 reviews
May 10, 2021
Unresolved questions

Who was making attempts their lives. How does Robert and chris get dropped in matter? Hell, what exactly was the climax here? Yes, I have some unresolved issues with the book. And the routes the story took were all over the place!
94 reviews2 followers
February 12, 2018
Good story

I enjoyed this story very much. However I did feel like the ending was rushed. Hopefully there'll be a book 2 because it does end rather abruptly.
Profile Image for Michele Evans.
1,213 reviews8 followers
June 25, 2023
Very well written and just wonderful characters! A nice spin on a supernatural world! Loved the sweet loving characters and how they all wanted to help each other and protect their family!
Profile Image for Love Bytes Reviews.
2,529 reviews38 followers
April 28, 2018
Audiobook review by Roberta

I’ve read some of Brenda’s books before and I’ve really enjoyed them. I was truly intrigued with Brenda going the paranormal route…I’m a huge fan of PRN and ex-military…Oh Hell Yeah.

We start off with Mikael and I have to say that I really liked that he considers the people that he works with as Family. That was a HUGE part of the draw for me for Mikael. That he wants to do the very best for them and keep them safe. I really liked that about him. I like that he wanted Adam, but due to his own rules…it wasn’t possible. I liked that he was smart enough to see the attacks that were happening and wanted to figure out how to make then stop and to see to the safety of not only his family but also for his customers.

Adam…I liked Adam. A former Delta soldier who suffers from PTSD, however, it doesn’t stop him for pursuing a job that could/would possibly trigger it as a bouncer at the Witch’s Brew. I have to say that Adam is a good guy. He takes his job seriously and is VERY good at it. He notices so much. I liked that even though he liked Mikael…he tried to push his attraction to him off. As things start to heat up at the club…it was good to see Adam really step up and do his part to help keep everyone safe.

I liked that there was a bit of suspense/mystery in the story. Brenda always does a good job of that in her books. I was actually really impressed that I didn’t know who was behind the attacks. I was guessing until the very end, which is what a truly good book does for you. I liked the world building that Brenda came up with and that they didn’t use the terms that we use…I was truly impressed by what Brenda had created.

There was a bit of sexy times in the story, however, it really didn’t overwhelm the story. They didn’t really do anything until towards the very end.

I will say that repetitious nature of the two MC’s blathering about the same thing over and over was rather annoying and it took me out of the story multiple times and that took away from my enjoyment of the story.

The Narrator for this audiobook is Garrett Reins and I really want to say something nice about him, however, he totally took away from the story for me. He was monotonous in his delivery. I couldn’t tell you which character he was trying to portray as they all sounded the same. I tried to speed up delivery and that didn’t help either. I would not recommend him as a narrator as it truly felt like he was reading the story to me instead of taking me into the story/adventure that an audiobook is supposed to do.

Overall, I wanted to like this book. It had all the elements to make it work and yet, the execution just didn’t match up. The story itself had some issues, but the narrator….he ruined it for me.

This book was provided for free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
Profile Image for Aleana Joy Pearson.
64 reviews
February 5, 2020
Really didn’t like how Adam was manipulated in the beginning. I don’t think his telling the truth would have made a difference. Would have like to know how Milkael was turned. More drama with Randy would have been interesting. Hope a new one comes out cause it didn’t really say weather Chris was responsible for everything that happened. So lots of questions that still need to be answered. POV was annoying, switches in the middle of a scene a lot.
1,109 reviews
February 2, 2018
As a long time fan of Brenda Cothern, I was excited about this new book. And then, I started reading and didn't want to put it down!!! The story is by far the best she's done in my opinion, and I hope that we get more of this family in the future.
414 reviews3 followers
February 21, 2018
The Witch's Brew

I don't know how Brenda does it but I'm glad she does. This is going to be a great series with wonderful characters. Can't wait to see what's to come.
2,922 reviews15 followers
August 23, 2018
Very enjoyable - love that its a paranormal.
Profile Image for Suzy .
748 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2019
3.5 stars

Quite an abrupt ending
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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