ARC Review--Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

The first in an all-new urban fantasy series by USA Today bestseller Jaye Wells.

The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn't expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.

The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she's convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she's been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she'd never use dirty magic again.

Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never.

I received this ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Dirty Magic is the first in the new series by Jaye Wells, author of the Sabina Kane series which was incredibly awesome! Her new one promises to be just as awesome as well!

Kate Prospero is a beat cop working for the Babylon Police Department and when she is forced to shoot a suspect in self defense, her life gets a bit more complicated as the suspect was a a CI for the Magic Enforcement Agency. It results in Kate being hired to the MEA task force, a job where she can finally prove her worth.

In this world, we learn a lot about magic and dirty magic. There's a lot to know about this world and it can get a little complicated when it comes to mixing potions and spells. Kate used to do that herself for her Uncle Abe, a big crime lord in the city, but she quit one day many years ago, now she raises her teenage brother, Danny on her own. She has since left magic behind that day, but she may be forced to get back into it when the case starts to heat up.

I'll admit, I got a bit...overwhelmed when it came to the talk of mixing potions and all the names of ingredients or chemicals that were used. Science was my worst subject in school--in all formats--so it was bit confusing at times for me. For the most part I just rolled with it.

The plot otherwise flowed smoothly, it was a very engaging story that got exciting. Just when I thought things might be hitting a dead end for Kate and her new teammates, I shocked by the results. Jaye really knows how to pack a punch and surprise her readers!

There wasn't much romance in this one. Although, we didn't see much of that with her other series either in the beginning, so I am wondering if this will be something similar. Although, there may or may not be a love triangle. It seems to hard to tell at the moment. First, her old flame who used to be in the dirty magic business with her and her uncle has been reformed into a standing member of society and he's grown quite wealthy too, is back in her life by this case. Then there's also a man named Drew who may or may not be another love connection to Kate. They definitely don't have a love or lust at first sight thing going on, so it's all good really! I am anxious to see where things go in this series.

And I have to add in a kudos to Jaye for making Kate a guardian. We don't see that too often--though it does occur--in Urban Fantasies. It just makes for interesting storyline developments as our heroine must sometimes think what her actions will do to this kid...although in this case it's a teenager.

Dirty Magic is an enticing read that puts a whole new spin on magic and has a heroine who can kick ass the good old fashion way! I so cannot wait to see what Jaye and Kate will do next!


Overall Rating 3.75/5 stars--almost four stars, but yet, the science end of things kind of got to me and made my reading a bit more difficult, but still an incredible read over all!


Dirty Magic releases January 21, 2014