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Magic in the Blood: La Bruja Roja #1
Aixa Riley lives in two worlds. The daughter of an American father and a Mexican mother, she is heir to a tradition of magic older than the nations that claim her as a citizen and is the latest member of her mother’s family to be known as la bruja roja, the red witch.
Aixa’s hometown, Sangre de Cristo, is located on the border between the US and Mexico but also straddles the invisible divide between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. Aixa is a resident of both those worlds as well and can see trouble coming in all directions.
When dangerous sorceress Rosamara Quintana allies with an ambitious drug lord nicknamed “El Tiburon” (the shark) and their plans threaten to destroy Sangre De Cristo, Aixa summons her own potent powers to save her life, her love, and her very soul, aided by the local padre, the ghost of her grandmother—herself a red witch—and her sexy undercover boyfriend.
Magic in the Blood is a stand-alone urban fantasy novella that introduces red witch Aixa Riley and the colorful cast of characters—both living and dead—who inhabit the border town of Sangre de Cristo, Texas.
Note: This book originally appeared as a trilogy of shorter works (Aixa & the Scorpion, Aixa & the Shark, and Aixa & the Spider). It has been re-edited and new content added. Also note, this urban fantasy contains some elements that may be disturbing to readers, including violence, profanity, and sexual content. It is not suitable for readers under 18.
Aixa’s hometown, Sangre de Cristo, is located on the border between the US and Mexico but also straddles the invisible divide between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. Aixa is a resident of both those worlds as well and can see trouble coming in all directions.
When dangerous sorceress Rosamara Quintana allies with an ambitious drug lord nicknamed “El Tiburon” (the shark) and their plans threaten to destroy Sangre De Cristo, Aixa summons her own potent powers to save her life, her love, and her very soul, aided by the local padre, the ghost of her grandmother—herself a red witch—and her sexy undercover boyfriend.
Magic in the Blood is a stand-alone urban fantasy novella that introduces red witch Aixa Riley and the colorful cast of characters—both living and dead—who inhabit the border town of Sangre de Cristo, Texas.
Note: This book originally appeared as a trilogy of shorter works (Aixa & the Scorpion, Aixa & the Shark, and Aixa & the Spider). It has been re-edited and new content added. Also note, this urban fantasy contains some elements that may be disturbing to readers, including violence, profanity, and sexual content. It is not suitable for readers under 18.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2018
3 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Kat Parrish
125 books228 followersKat Parrish is a former reporter who prefers making things up! An Army brat, her motto is "Have passport, will travel." She has lived in seven states and two foreign countries and would love to celebrate her 100th birthday with a trip into space. She lives in the Pacific Northwest near a haunted cemetery.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 12, 2022
After the death of her mother, Aixa grew up with her grandmother in a small town called Sangre de Cristo just on the Mexican side of the Mexican-American border. She is a blood witch, though not remotely as powerful as her grandmother, and trained to practice on the side of the light and to steer clear of Rosamara the powerful dark witch who everyone in town is afraid of. Being that it’s a border town, drug traffickers treat it as prime real estate and Aixa finds herself meeting more than a fair share of people involved with the drug trade and that Rosamara plays a central role in the corruption of Aixa’s small town.
(This felt a whole lot longer than 156 pages. I would have pegged it as closer to 300). This was a fascinating story full of Mexican culture. And for once, it wasn’t caricatured. The culture and way of life in a town taken over by drug traffickers felt fully detailed, fleshed out, fully believable and still with magic interwoven into it. Yes, it felt seedy and corrupted, but the town was so fleshed out, there were plenty of innocent characters mired in the situation needing rescuing. How fleshed out the detailing was both a plus and a minus for the story. I loved all the detail, and meeting all the different characters, from the local priest, to Esperanza who loved to bake, to the girlfriend of a drug lord who found her gold digging wasn’t the lifestyle she wanted. But on the other hand, it felt mired in characters. I had trouble keeping people straight, and they all had names, right down to the various people who ended up as victims of the turf war of the drug trade. I got the feeling the story was much larger at one time and had been edited down for interesting content. But because of that, characters just seemed to appear out of nowhere already knowing Aixa. Like Dale. He just appears in one scene as her boyfriend (I loved their brief romance!). I backtracked trying to see how they met, but there weren’t any prior mentions of him. I loved the creepy legend building Rosamara up throughout the book. Aixa really didn’t meet up with her until the very end of the book, so it was mainly just rumors and exploits of her that fueled the tension of the story, making her into a larger-than-life demonic force. So, when the final fight was over in just a page, I blinked and missed it. I had to backtrack. I loved the grittiness of the story. Both good characters and bad characters get killed not just because of magic, but because of the drug trafficking making quite a few of the deaths be rather out of the blue since Aixa tried to avoid most of the dealings with the traffickers, but they were always in the background. I loved Aixa. She’s a strong, capable woman who’s grown up knowing about magic and the evil that can be done with it, and she’s had to grow up in this corrupted town full of poor good people being muscled around by the drug trade and how the money spent by the rich people with the drugs goes into the local economy. Most of the time she keeps her head down since she knows what happens to people who get noticed by the drug traffickers, but every so often she does try to right wrongs.
(This felt a whole lot longer than 156 pages. I would have pegged it as closer to 300). This was a fascinating story full of Mexican culture. And for once, it wasn’t caricatured. The culture and way of life in a town taken over by drug traffickers felt fully detailed, fleshed out, fully believable and still with magic interwoven into it. Yes, it felt seedy and corrupted, but the town was so fleshed out, there were plenty of innocent characters mired in the situation needing rescuing. How fleshed out the detailing was both a plus and a minus for the story. I loved all the detail, and meeting all the different characters, from the local priest, to Esperanza who loved to bake, to the girlfriend of a drug lord who found her gold digging wasn’t the lifestyle she wanted. But on the other hand, it felt mired in characters. I had trouble keeping people straight, and they all had names, right down to the various people who ended up as victims of the turf war of the drug trade. I got the feeling the story was much larger at one time and had been edited down for interesting content. But because of that, characters just seemed to appear out of nowhere already knowing Aixa. Like Dale. He just appears in one scene as her boyfriend (I loved their brief romance!). I backtracked trying to see how they met, but there weren’t any prior mentions of him. I loved the creepy legend building Rosamara up throughout the book. Aixa really didn’t meet up with her until the very end of the book, so it was mainly just rumors and exploits of her that fueled the tension of the story, making her into a larger-than-life demonic force. So, when the final fight was over in just a page, I blinked and missed it. I had to backtrack. I loved the grittiness of the story. Both good characters and bad characters get killed not just because of magic, but because of the drug trafficking making quite a few of the deaths be rather out of the blue since Aixa tried to avoid most of the dealings with the traffickers, but they were always in the background. I loved Aixa. She’s a strong, capable woman who’s grown up knowing about magic and the evil that can be done with it, and she’s had to grow up in this corrupted town full of poor good people being muscled around by the drug trade and how the money spent by the rich people with the drugs goes into the local economy. Most of the time she keeps her head down since she knows what happens to people who get noticed by the drug traffickers, but every so often she does try to right wrongs.
August 2, 2025
The story wasn't actually too bad, although at times it didn't really make sense. What annoyed me most were the numerous (overly so) words, sentences, and saying in Spanish. Yes, the story is set in Mexico, but the author cannot just assume every reader understands Spanish, and if I have to look up words every 10 pages or so, I soon lose interest in the story.
Personally, I also prefer to read stories with a bit of humour, and a more or less happy ending, and oh, from a story about a witch I would have expected a bit more magic.
Personally, I also prefer to read stories with a bit of humour, and a more or less happy ending, and oh, from a story about a witch I would have expected a bit more magic.
April 21, 2024
4 Stars
Magic in the Blood: La Bruja Roja #1 by Kat Parrish
~An original storyline which made for an intriguing read.
Magic in the Blood: La Bruja Roja #1 by Kat Parrish
~An original storyline which made for an intriguing read.
December 17, 2024
Could’ve been a 5-star book except for the typos. Proofreading before publishing is really important.
January 15, 2025
The writing was fantastic. I got this book in an anthology of other stories and it was, by far, the best of the bunch.
December 31, 2022
I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews