The Warlock of Westland

The Warlocks of Westland

by Jack Brightside

Sam is an immortal warlock whose life revolves around a failing hardware store in rural Southern Connecticut. His self-imposed isolation is interrupted when the Warlock Council assigns him to help an evil warlock living in his village. The desperate warlock happens to be Sam’s ex-boyfriend from two thousand years ago, Cailte the Cruel.

Cailte hasn’t used that name since the iron age. Now he’s Kevin MacCormack, a recently unemployed stockbroker. Kevin spends his days bewitching the villagers and making potholes for fun. The last thing he needs is a good warlock like Sam cramping his style.

The warlocks must work together to track a dangerous ghost that Kevin accidentally released in Westland. Meanwhile, Sam decides that Kevin might be his last chance at a relationship. He’s ready to do anything to make it work, including tolerating Kevin’s self-serving magic. Kevin isn’t as sure that it’s meant to be. Sam’s small-town charm starts to grow on Kevin just as they realize the ghost's devastating power.

This is a HEA, enemies to lovers contemporary paranormal small town male/ male romance.

This is the first book in the Warlock of Westland Series

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, M M Romance, LGBT, Magic

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2021

About the author

Author living my best life.

Reviews

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

interesting story but the writing just was not for me

[James Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the book. The plot did make sense. But there were jumps in the storyline and I had to go back and read several pages to see what happened. The story of Sam and Kevin is good and realistic. Sam being the good warlock and Kevin being the bad warlock. They were once lovers several hundred years ago. Now the must work together to contain a ghost that Kevin set free. Will they be able to move past old hurts? I want to read the next book.

[Stuart Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces us to two non-stereotypical warlocks with a past love interest. There is Sam, the owner of a hardware store, who is a good warlock, empathic and a little bit gullible and then there is Kevin who is a stockbroker, narcissistic but not irredeemably evil. Jack Brightside has a talent for world building and builds into the story an explanation of the warlock's past relationship and break up a long time ago. We follow Sam and Kevin as they are forced to work together to track down a ghost witch. Throw in Duck, a cop who wants to become a warlock, and the fun continues. The story contains lots of snarkiness which really pleased me. It was an enjoyable short read and i look forward to the next in the series. My only problem was that I had read the so-called prequel Seduced By A Warlock Billionaire only to have a past history given in this book that didn't seem to relate to the prequel that I had read. It might be better to just start with this book and enjoy the snarky adventures of Sam and Kevin as their story unfolds.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jeffrey RN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this is the first review that I have done, for Jack Brightside. I’m addicted! I don’t know if I need to go to meetings, or if I need to introduce myself at the beginning of everything. But hello my name is Jeffrey and I’m addicted to the “The Warlock of Westland!”… now I can’t wait for the sequel! Just the right amount of tension, angst and ROMMANCE! Really enjoyed this read!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Eloise Archangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warlock of Westland is not a serious book. It was a pretty suspect plot, with suspect characters. But this book was hilarious in all the best ways.

We have our two main male lead, Sam and Kevin. And then there's Officer Duck. He just kind of exists in the background to heighten the comedy of this book.

There were so many funny lines in this book, I feel the need to list a few in this review (And I assure you that all of these are much funnier with context):

"As an evil Warlock, Kevin resented authority. It was a testament to his current situation that he'd written them an email, begging for assistance. Even by his standards, Keven deserved to be canceled for this one."

"Kevin! Have you been scamming the humane society since 2015?"

"I don't have access to animals anymore. Something you don't know about me, Sam, is that I've been banned from the humane society. They know me. They know my cars! I bought the Range Rover as a cover so I could keep getting dogs, but they recognize the rover now!"

"Samantha claimed she knew how to use zoom, but struggled with the audio.. Samantha overcompensated for the audio difficultly by leaning into the webcam every time she talked."

"I'm in love with a douchebag day trader who wears cutout t-shirts."

"They were young and many of their intimate encounters ended in climactic death."

it might just be me, but Sam and Kevin were so funny, I was laughing every other page. I especially loved that they referred to everyone who wasn't a witch or a warlock as a villager. Most of this is set in modern day, aside from a few flashbacks.

This book was a freebie with Stuff Your Kindle, but it had high entertainment value. If you go into this book and don't take it too seriously, you'll enjoy it.

For more book reviews/ bookish things:

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[Bob Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine two immortal warlocks. One is narcissistic, egotistical, and intrinsically evil. The other is all-around kind, humble, empathetic towards others and...still crushing on Mr. Evil after 2,000 years of a broken heart. Add their joint love of real estate (for real), a malevolent and possibly homicidal ghost on the loose, and lots and lots of snarkiness and you have the story in this first book of the series.

Ms. Brightside (Jack) does indeed have a gift for writing and storytelling. I always know when I have found a great author when I either spontaneously cry or laugh out loud while reading the book. I actually laughed so much that my dog got up and left the room. The chemistry between our two protagonists is skillfully crafted by the author and you feel the slow burn between the two characters. The book has a happy-for-now ending and the second book in the series comes out the end of December this year. Kudos to the author for a job well done.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam and Kevin . . .

Sam is an immortal warlock and one of the good-guys. He works hard and is a good person. He is ordered by the Warlock Council to help an evil warlock who released a dangerous ghost into the community. The evil warlock -- whose “evil” appears to be selfishness, condescension, narcissism, and lack of caring -- turns out to be Sam’s ex-boyfriend of 2,000 years ago. He has changed his name to Kevin MacCormack, a now unemployed stockbroker.

For some reason, Sam decides he wants a relationship again with Kevin, even to the point of tolerating his annoying behavior. Before they can decide if a relationship would work, the ghost makes its move. Can they get down to business and capture the ghost before someone gets hurt?

[Kkhmonrai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes 'opposites attract' to a whole new level. Sam, a good warlock, and Kevin, an evil (or at least very selfish) warlock had a thing 2,000 years ago...and Sam still feels it. Now, they must work together to stop a ghost that Kevin set free. Sounds crazy, but it really worked. Kevin was more like a kind of Loki character to me, more of a prankster just for the fun of it, but definitely very self-centered and selfish. It made me wonder what Sam saw in him at first (and even later on), but together they made me laugh out loud. The story was very entertaining and kept me flipping pages to see what would happen next. I am looking forward to the next book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series rocks! What are the chances of finding your soulmate after several centuries apart? This is a story of Sam and Kevin. Sam, a good warlock and Kevin, an evil warlock who are just meant to be. This story was filled with magic, memories, a warlock in training, and a mission to capture a ghost. It kept me engrossed in the struggle of wills to see who wins, Good? Evil? Or a little of both? You will be drawn in and not want to put the book down. I can’t wait until the next book so I can see how the saga continues and if the love the two warlocks share can survive. You really need to read this book!

[stardragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about two warlocks that have a past together. It is funny because they are so opposite but the same. Sam is a good warlock that owns a hardware store and is very down to earth. Kevin on the other hand is more of a prankster and is very narcissistic. Kevin is a stock broker, likes the best of everything and looks down on others. They have to work together to catch a ghost witch. Then there is Duck a police officer who wants to be a warlock.
This book is hilarious and a must read. I am definitely purchasing the additional books to continue this series.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story has good bones but too much ADHD directed writing for me!

This is a mm paranormal romance with magic and oddities. I liked this book better than “the Billionaire’s Soulmate” but the author writes in a rather confusing manner. I can’t tell which paragraph has which point of view. Who is thinking in their head right now? There’s a lot of thinking too which had me re-reading passages more than once to figure out what was going on. Just like the last book I read by this author, it has good bones but it hurts my head to follow the spastic lines to a complete thought.

[MAT · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world building is good. The explanation of how their magic worked was logical and helped by providing more information about Sam's and Kevin's past relationship and their breakup after being together for many years. It was good to see them work together in accomplishing their task and reconnecting emotionally. I am looking forward to reading about their future adventures.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Uufda651 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gonna be honest couldn't get past Kevin's evilness

Kevin did some super twisted things. The shelter animals were my breaking point, though. He's genuinely horrific. I couldn't really relate to either main character or bring myself to like either of them.

The author's writing style definitely shows promise, though. I plan to pop back in in a few years to read his stuff once he's got a few more books under his belt.

[Stephanie W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good beginning to this series. There were some parts that I had to re-read a second time for context, but began to flow more cohesively after a few chapters.

Sam and Kevin have a romantic past. Now they must work together to track and contain a ghost accidentally set free by Kevin.

**I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.**

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story. The dialogue was tricky at times because it wasn't always obvious who was speaking, but it felt very natural and believable. I like that these characters aren't tropes. They have depth. Sam isn't all good and Kevin isn't all evil. These are morally ambiguous characters which makes them a joy to read. Looking forward to the next book.

[Jocelyn Whaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Warlock of Westland was an interesting read. Good and Evil (In this case warlocks) with a past. Must team up to find a ghost. They soon realize they belong together. Fun and antics ensue. It was an enjoyable read.

[Carole-Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to like this...but...
Kevin is an "evil" warlock (define 'evil'); and Sam is a "good" warlock (define 'good') and I got so far and decided it was too silly to continue... :(

I have another couple in this series and I hope they're better...

[Carol (bookish_notes)]

The writing style just isn’t my thing.

[Mysti · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I really tried but I couldn't get past the writing style.

[Deena · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 26% or so - but I'm counting it as read anyway, because after that 26%, I deserve the credit.

[ReadWithE]

Dnf. Didn’t click with the writing

[Aethena Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept having flashbacks to Deadpool and Shaun of the Dead while reading this book. The story is packed with dark humor and characters that you shouldn't like, but you can't help yourself.

Don't start this series if you are triggered by mistreatment of animals. The humans experience equally dreadful things, but some of us have a lower tolerance for the mistreatment of animals. I almost didn't finish this book, but I wanted understand where the author was taking the story. The author writes with an interesting voice that I would like to see more of.

[Ken Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connecticut warlock reunion

A silly, albeit mildly cute novella with barely a plot. Brightside starts this series with an accidentally released witch ghost, and things flash back two millennia, and back, with little logic in the humor.