Sweetly Bad by Anya Breton

 

 

In a typical paranormal romance, the hero has abs of steel, says all the right things (or at least thinks all the right things), is extremely well-endowed, has no money worries, and is a fabulous and instinctive lover, and generally an excellent example of maleness. Except for the abs of steel, Drew is the antithesis of that type of hero. One of the things I really liked about this story is that the hero, Andrew “Drew” Haizea, is very much a flawed character. At the beginning of this story, Drew and Erica Pearce are introduced to each other when Drew’s Ferrari breaks down and Erica (who owns an auto-body shop) gets the call for service. Erica is immediately struck by Drew’s masculine beauty but is very underwhelmed by his behavior and comments, both to her and what she hears Drew saying on the phone. Drew is a little surprised, at first, to find he’s attracted to a plus size woman – that not being his usual type. While he’s cooling his heels at the auto-body shop, he finds out how much worse his day is going to get. He is an Air witch and his family is a big deal in their witch community. Due to some naughty public behavior, his mother cuts him off financially and puts him on the “rogue witch list”. That makes him a social pariah as well as opens the door for assassins to take their best shot at him. What is perhaps more humbling for him, is discovering that, once stripped of his previous social status, women are not as hot for him anymore and he has no shortage of past flames informing him that he is not the great lover he believed himself to be. I loved Drew’s journey of self-discovery. As Erica observes, he is a very different man by the end of the story than he is at the beginning. I enjoyed the romance between Drew and Erica. I think he was good for her and vice versa. I liked how he helped her with her awful sister and she stood up to his controlling mother for him. After reading this story, I discovered that it was actually a stand-alone sequel to a previous story about Drew’s brother called “Wickedly Good”. I immediately bought that one and enjoyed it as well. I look forward to reading more by this author.