Review: Bitter Spirits

BITTER SPIRITS
Roaring Twenties #1
Jenn Bennett
Paranormal Historical Romance
317 pages
Berkley Sensation
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Aida Palmer performs a spirit medium show onstage at Chinatown’s illustrious Gris-Gris speakeasy. However, her ability to summon (and expel) the dead is more than just an act.

Winter Magnusson is a notorious bootlegger who’s more comfortable with guns than ghosts—unfortunately for him, he’s the recent target of a malevolent hex that renders him a magnet for hauntings. After Aida’s supernatural assistance is enlisted to banish the ghosts, her spirit-chilled aura heats up as the charming bootlegger casts a different sort of spell on her.

On the hunt for the curseworker responsible for the hex, Aida and Winter become drunk on passion. And the closer they become, the more they realize they have ghosts of their own to exorcise…

MY THOUGHTS

Bitter Spirits is a strong start to a new series, Ms. Bennett delighting not only with witty, sensible characters but also with a time period not as frequently seen in historical romances, the combination of which ensures we're held riveted from page one to three hundred. We're immediately tossed into the thick of things when Aida's services as a medium are required to help a strapping, scarred bootlegger rid himself of an unwanted spiritual companion, and from that moment on we find ourselves equally entranced by both the progression of their relationship and the slow unraveling of a perfectly complex mystery. With some mysteries we're meant to know the culprit from the beginning, the joy of it then coming from figuring out the why rather than the who, but with Bitter Spirits we're made to guess the identity of Winter's malevolent magic wielder, and attempt to guess we do.

Aida is a woman easy to like from the beginning, her tension-filled banter with Winter bringing a smile to our faces and the flutter of butterflies to our stomachs. She proves herself throughout to be someone who thinks before she acts but blessedly doesn't overthink, finding happiness with Winter after a nice build without questioning her every reaction. She admits her attraction to him with little hesitation, never one to play coy but also never one to pretend to be more than she is either, admitting her limited relationship experience upfront just like she owns up to everything else about herself. She's not the type of person we have to worry about hiding something monumental that will eventually cause an irreparable rift between her and Winter, and when she learns a few things about Winter (because he's not quite as forthright as she is) she deals with any hurt or jealousy with relatively little fanfare, taking time to sort through it while being honest with Winter about how what's she's learned has made her feel.

Winter, while more guarded than Aida, isn't one to intentionally withhold information either, and the two of them tend to have small disagreements that feel genuine for two people trying to get to know one another rather than epic blowouts with lots of drama and angst. He wants to help Aida make her way in this world given she has no family and is on her own to make a living, but he never attempts to exert his not inconsiderable will, instead fully understanding how important her independence is to her. They each have baggage they bring into the relationship, and while they have brief moments where said baggage temporarily blinds them to the truth of the situation, neither of them is too stubborn to take a step back and reevaluate to see if there's perhaps something they've missed while their focus was solely on the extent of their own hang-ups.

Overall, Bitter Spirits is successful on a variety of levels, romance and mystery blending seamlessly to give us a well-rounded story rich with characters who have us loving every moment we get to spend with them. The next book moves from Aida and Winter to Winter's brother Lowe, and I can't help but hope there's a book for Winter's sister Astrid in the works as well, as the entire Magnusson clan is a group who will never fail to keep life interesting.

Rating: 4/5

*Update: I wrote this before I knew there was in fact going to be a book for Winter's sister, so YAY!

  

Find Jenn:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Character Interview + Giveaway: Theta from The Diviners

As part of the promotional blog tour for Libba Bray's The Diviners, I have the pleasure of welcoming rising star Theta to Supernatural Snark today. To borrow a word from main character Evie, I'm "pos-i-toot-ly" thrilled to have Theta here to answer a few questions about what it's like to make a living on stage as a Ziegfeld Girl in New York City in the 1920's, but you'll want to be sure and visit the other participating blogs as well to get more character interviews and inside scoop on life during the time:

9/17 - Evie visits Forever Young Adult
9/18 - Sam visits The Book Smugglers
9/19 - Memphis visits Good Books and Good Wine
9/20 - Theta visits me
9/21 - Uncle Will visits Novel Novice

Let's all give a huge round of applause for Theta! *stands up and claps*

When you walked into the theatre for the first time and saw the stage, what ran through your mind?

Gee, that’s a lot bigger than the Palace back in Kansas City.

If you had five minutes alone with Flo to tell him every idea you and Henry have for the show knowing he would listen and take them under advisement, what’s the first thing you’d suggest?

I’d tell him to get rid of those jokes that were stale before my mother was born (whoever she was). Then I’d tell him to head uptown to the clubs to see what’s really hot, fellas like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong. He should give a listen to records by Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey or to songs by Harold Arlen and George & Ira Gershwin. Naturally, I’d give a plug for my pal, Henry—not the Dumbdora songs Hen has to write to keep our rent paid but the beautiful, secret songs he’s always scribbling down in the middle of the night. Last but not least, I’d tell Flo to can that tomato, Daisy Goodwin he put in the big number: She can’t act; she can’t dance; and she sure can’t sing—a real triple threat.

What aspect of your elaborate costumes do you love most? Like least?

You call those skimpy glad rags costumes? It’s barely enough material to cover a flea’s a—um, a flea’s derriere. And the headpieces weigh a ton! Pal, if it were up to me, I’d be performing in my pajamas every night.

If Henry was going to write two songs about your life, one from the time before you met him and one from the time after, what might the title of each song be?

Before: “I Got Them Stuck-in-Kansas-With-A-No-Good-Man-Need-To-Get-Out Blues.”

After: “Everything’s Jake (Knock Wood).”

The title of a Ziegfeld girl is something a lot of young girls dream of attaining. What advice might you have for someone who longs to join you onstage under the bright lights?

Move to the left kid. The spotlight’s mine.

Thanks so much for popping in Theta! More information about this fabulous book (read my review HERE) can be found at these links:

The Diviners Series Website
The Diviners on Facebook

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fantastic people at Little, Brown I have a truly amazing giveaway for you guys today. Included in this epic prize pack is not only a signed finished copy of The Diviners, but also a Diviners necklace, a 1920's headband and a few Bit O' Honeys (I've never had one of these, but anything with sugar in it is a win with me!). To enter, please just leave a comment telling me one aspect of life in the roaring twenties you would have loved to experience - the fashion, the music, the shows, etc. and be sure to include a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run through Friday, September 28th after which time a winner will be chosen and emailed. Good luck everyone!

THE DIVINERS

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City–and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult–also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."
 
When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer–if he doesn't catch her first.