Dime Store Magic

On the surface, Dime Store Magic hinges on a common domestic situation. Typically rebellious teen Savannah is constantly butting heads with protective guardian mother Paige Winterbourne. But the standard teen traumas pale in comparison to Savannah's difficulties. To begin with, her mother Eve, a black witch, was murdered, and now evil telekinetic half-demon Leah O'Donnell is trying to gain custody of her, by means fair or foul. Standing in Leah's way is Paige, a rather typical twentysomething entrepreneur, trying to come to terms with this motherhood thing--that, and her status as leader of the American Coven. Welcome to East Falls, a sleepy small town outside Boston that turns out to be a hotbed of occult activity.

Dime Store Magic is a thoroughly entertaining supernatural thriller. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dime Store Magic features a contemporary setting and outwardly normal characters. This device provides scope for humour and social satire, and Kelley Armstrong proves adept at both. For instance, there's Savannah's observation that "all the best sorcerers are lawyers. Well, until they get older and become politicians." In fact, a young sorcerer lawyer, Luis Cortez, becomes Paige's and Savannah's best ally in the fight against the evil forces terrorising them. In Dime Store Magic, the third in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, following Bitten and Stolen, she displays a nice ear for dialogue, an imaginative way of describing the differing characteristics of witches, demons and sorcerers, and skill in piling on the suspense, which adds up to one fun read. --Kerry Doole, Amazon.ca

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For a younger audience, perhaps? - Rated
After revelling in the thrills of the werewolf world which Kelley Armstrong introduced in Bitten, and then followed up so well in Stolen, I have to say that I'm a mite... disappointed.
DSM is an altogether more pedestrian affair, with precious little magic in it. The title is accurate -- this is dime store stuff -- and I was hoping for something with a little more supernatural sparkle, like the first two books in the series. I get bogged down enough in the humdrum domesticity of my own life, so I can do without a blow-by-blow account of custody actions, lasivious lawyers, welfare visitors, a half-hearted romance and the onset of a would-be witch's first menses.
The chapters are short, the story progresses rapidly enough, and I guess I am interested in its conclusion and what happens next to Paige and Savannah. But if Industrial Magic doesn't pick up the pace (and the supernatural action) somewhat then I doubt I'll return to the series. I can get domestic soap opera on every channel, any hour of the day!

Simply Magical - Rated
Dime Store Magic is the third in Kelley Armstrongs series.

In this third book we get to know a Witch named Paige and her adoptive daughter Savannah.

Life is pretty average for Paige & Savannah until one day Paige recieves a court letter about a custurdy hearing for Savannah.

Now all hell is breaking loose and Paige must now protect herself and Savannah from the attacks of the enemy and the persecution of the community when they realise her secret identity as a Witch.

This book is fast paced and highly exciting throughout.

It maintains the high standards of the first two books in the series and is hard to put down.

Read it or it will be your loss.

"It was a sad world when a witch had to rely on... " - Rated
"Dime store magic" is the third book in Kelley Armstrong's "Women of the Otherworld" series. These books have a lot of action, magic and yes, some romance. But more importantly, they are thoroughly engaging, so be prepared to be immersed in a world that differs quite a bit from our own.

The narrator of "Dime store magic" is Paige Winterbourne, a 23-year-old witch who suddenly finds herself as guardian of Savannah Levine, the irritable 13-year-old daughter of Eve, the black sheep of Paige's family. Unfortunately, Savannah isn't just an annoyed teenager angry with everything and everyone: she is also a witch with growing powers and a noticeable tendency towards dark magic, like her mother. On top of everything, Paige also becomes the leader of her Coven (due to the death of her mother, narrated in "Stolen"). It is worthwhile to point out that the position is mostly nominal, though, as Paige doesn't get a lot of respect from the other witches.

Life isn't obviously too easy for Paige, but neither is it overly problematic. That changes, though, when Savannah's previously unknown father, a powerful wizard, decides to fight for custody in order to gain control of his daughter's power. Paige won't give in without a fight, as wizards are traditional enemies of witches. The result is that she will have to put her life and reputation on the line, and will need to accept help from whomever can give it. That includes Lucas Cortez, a lawyer but also a wizard that has rebelled against his heritage and goes from quest to quest striving to make justice. In Paige's words, "It was a sad world when a witch had to rely on a work-starved sorcerer for help". The fact is, soon enough she will view Lucas in a different way...

All in all, I highly recommend this book. In my opinion, it is an excellent addition to the series, and will make you want to read the sequel immediately. For that, you will have to buy or borrow "Industrial magic"... But in the meanwhile, enjoy "Dime store magic" :)

Belen Alcat

Dime Store Magic - Rated
In this third novel from the Women of the Otherworld Series we hear the story of Paige Winterbourne who we first saw in Stolen.

This is a different side to Paige we see here as I did find her mildly irritating in Stolen! Paige is an orphan and finds herself as leader of the American Coven of Witches. Unfortunately for Paige she is nowhere near as experienced as her predecessor, her mother, or even as some of the other members of the coven.Some of them feel that Paige is not the right person to be their leader.

Nine months before this book began Paiges mother was murdered along with another witch who is the mother of Savannah Levine, who became left in Paige's care to look after her. Savannah is far experienced for her age for the powers she possesses therefore Paige has to try and make sure Savannah uses her powers responsibly! The story goes on in revealing Savannah's father as Kristof Nash who is heir to the Nash Cabal and he naturally wants custody of Savannah but, just for his own evil purposes.

This was the very 1st book of Kelley's books I bought without realising that there were 2 before it but, did read them in order. Again I have heard it said this one can be read as a stand-alone but, I do feel you would benefit from reading the previous books especially Stolen in relation to this one as you may not fully understand why or how Savannah & Paige's mothers died.

This is brilliant and much different from the werewolves of the previous books and Paige is so much more likeable in this one.

Out-stripped all expectation! - Rated
Having read, and enjoyed, the first two Women of the Otherworld books I had my doubts on how well the shift in narrator would work. However I needn't have worry, Dime Store Magic is a surprisingly fast paced and well written book, as Paige and Savannah (and eventually Lucas) move from one crisis to the next, even worse, crisis. Leah returns (you know, her from Stolen, the psyco half-demon, yeah her) deterimed to gain custody of Savannah (heavens know why, I don't think she EVER gives a straight answer in the whole book) wreaking as much havoc as possible ... which leads to Paige being the suject of a, quite literal, witch-hunt ... much to the dismay and disgust of her covern, with no help from them (in fact the opposite) she is left with the only option of accepting aid from a sorcecer - Lucas Cortez. Ensuing more chaos.

For all its good point, it does seem as though we - the readers - are being bumped from one disaster to the next, with hardly any time from breathing. But I still believe this book is worth the five stars, because it is such a captivating read and it surpassed all my expectations! But if you are looking for gore it is not as prominent as in the first two books, but not completely missing; the same goes for the sex.

This book totally changed my view of Paige, and will now have to make the choice between Industrial Magic, or music next time I go shopping ... (I'm a poor student)