Hard Work Will Pay Off Later. Laziness Pays Off Now. Let’s get one thing straight – Ivy Wilde is not a heroine. In fact, she’s probably the last witch in the world who you’d call if you needed a magical helping hand. If it were down to Ivy, she’d spend all day every day on her sofa where she could watch TV, munch junk food and talk to her feline familiar to her heart’s content.However, when a … content.
However, when a bureaucratic disaster ends up with Ivy as the victim of a case of mistaken identity, she’s yanked very unwillingly into Arcane Branch, the investigative department of the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. Her problems are quadrupled when a valuable object is stolen right from under the Order’s noses.
It doesn’t exactly help that she’s been magically bound to Adeptus Exemptus Raphael Winter. He might have piercing sapphire eyes and a body which a cover model would be proud of but, as far as Ivy’s concerned, he’s a walking advertisement for the joyless perils of too much witch-work.
And if he makes her go to the gym again, she’s definitely going to turn him into a frog.
more
Slouch Witch is book one in The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic by Helen Harper.
OMG I had a blast with this novel. It was so much fun! The title and blurb peeked my interest and had me curious about a lazy witch.
Slouch Witch is a light, amusing, and enchanting tale. This novel introduces us to a fun paranormal world where witches and magic have been a part of regular society. Tho those witches tend to stay to themselves and are slotted into careers based on how much magical abilities they have.
Ivy might be a witch and she might take the easy way in life, but she’s no slouch when it comes to magic. She’s actually quite brilliant, but just gets bored easily. She is a pariah among her Oxford witch-crowd due to something that happened in her past. She doesn’t let this put her down.
This reads like an Urban Fantasy Cozy Mystery. I loved how Ivy is roped back into the crowd that spurned her. The world is great and we get plenty of quirky characters to enjoy. The humor is light and the case that Ivy and Winter need to solve is engaging and amusing. The case wraps up nicely, Winter and Ivy are amicable yet a bit of regret in their separation, and we are left with a little note of to be continued.
Slouch Witch was a nice start to the series. I can’t wait to pick up the next novel and find out what might be in-store for Ivy. The mystery was a delight and the characters were entertaining.
Rated: 4 Stars
Oh. My. Goodness! Loved this story and am devouring the series. Author K. M. Shea mentioned this book in a Facebook post about Urban Fantasy and I’m so glad that I checked it out. It’s on Kindle Unlimited, so I downloaded it and didn’t want to do anything else but read the book once I got started. Ivy Wilde is a self-proclaimed lazy witch who lives in an apartment with her familiar, Brutus, a talking cat (Brutus is a hoot!) Ivy is self-employed. She drives a taxi, putting in just enough hours to pay her bills so that she can relax on her couch. When her neighbor, Eve, an energetic witch with ambitions of rising in the local Order goes off on assignment, she asks Ivy to feed her familiar, also a cat, named Harold. While feeding Harold (in her pajamas, no less!) Ivy is mistaken for Eve by two Order witches. I won’t divulge anymore so as not to spoil the story, but know that Ivy is a powerful witch, lazy but good-hearted with a strong sense of justice. I’ve not read a main character quite like her before. The book is laugh out loud funny at times, but the story is good, with a good mystery and is fairly well edited.
Slouch Witch by Helen Harper a magical five-star read. This is the first book in The Lazy Girls guide to magic, and what a fist book. I am a huge Helen Harper fan and would usually read everything the minute it hits my kindle but this time I wanted to wait until a few of the books in the series were released so I could read them together as when I read the Highland Magic series I may have called in sick to read the last book (if my boss ever sees this I will deny it).
This series looks to be a great read, I have loved every page in this book, the characters are great, Ivy and Winter are so sweet, but my favourite character was Brutus. In fact all of the familiars were really great and added a level of fun to the story. Ivy is so cute, she may be lazy, but she owns it.
The Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment Hierarchy was super helpful, it gives you a breakdown of all of the rankings of the order so you can keep track of who is who’s boss and who is where they should be, it was great at helping you keep track of the politics of the story.
If you are looking for a funny and interesting read with a magical element then this is the story for you, I can’t wait to get into books two and three to find out what Ivy does next.
I’m recommending the first books in series that I love.
I love funny urban fantasy and was delighted to discover Slouch Witch. This book hit all my favourite notes perfectly: snarky heroine, magic, annoying hot guy. I can get pretty critical about all how these elements are put together and a lot of times the humour, especially, doesn’t work for me, but Harper is bang on with all of it.
Treat yourself to this book.
Slouch Witch
The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic, Book 1
By: Helen Harper
Narrated by: Tanya Eby
What a hoot! This book is so funny! This is a must read for anyone that wants a good laugh and listen to a good story. Ivy is a witch but she is too smart for her own good. She is lazy and so she uses her ‘smarts’ to help her laziness. She is also a taxi driver and uses her magic to cope with unruly passengers. All is well until she is accidentally bond to an attractive Agent from the Order of Magic. She has to stay with him until she can figure out a way to unbind the spell, or 100 days. He likes exercise, order, and everything she doesn’t. It is so funny! I giggled all the way through it! So fun!
The narrator is fabulous! She is just what you would think Ivy would be and all the other characters! She is perfect! I can’t say enough positive things about the narration of this book! Just perfect!
Loved this book. The characters are different, especially Brutus the cat, and the humour is very British. Something I enjoy immensely. Thoroughly enjoyable witchy read.
I just finished the series and I gave it 5 stars. This one was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed her familiars personality (although I can’t discover the familiars in this series actually do actual magic) but they were lots of fun.
Amazon says this about Slouch Witch
Hard Work Will Pay Off Later. Laziness Pays Off Now.
Let’s get one thing straight – Ivy Wilde is not a heroine. In fact, she’s probably the last witch in the world who you’d call if you needed a magical helping hand. If it were down to Ivy, she’d spend all day every day on her sofa where she could watch TV, munch junk food and talk to her feline familiar to her heart’s content.
However, when a bureaucratic disaster ends up with Ivy as the victim of a case of mistaken identity, she’s yanked very unwillingly into Arcane Branch, the investigative department of the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment. Her problems are quadrupled when a valuable object is stolen right from under the Order’s noses.
It doesn’t exactly help that she’s been magically bound to Adeptus Exemptus Raphael Winter. He might have piercing sapphire eyes and a body which a cover model would be proud of but, as far as Ivy’s concerned, he’s a walking advertisement for the joyless perils of too much witch-work.
And if he makes her go to the gym again, she’s definitely going to turn him into a frog.
One of my all-time favorite series that I could read over and over
I loved it. Ivy and Winter make an entertaining pair. The mystery and action keeps the pages turning. Add in the hint of attraction and you have the perfect mix. This does the up nicely, but there are more books to look forward to it you enjoyed this like I did.
I absolutely love and adore this book. Helen has once again brought forth a story (series starter) that not only has originality and adventure but it kept me interested from start to finish. Ivy and Rafe (Winter) are amazing characters. I laughed so many times throughout this story I was afraid I would get a stomach ache. Besides Rafe and Ivy I really love Brutus. I think it would be awesome to have a talking cat. His little speech at the end is amazing, funny and strangely true. Well done, Helen. Looking forward to reading the next book, Star Witch!
The Start of a great series. I want more!
Great series! This whole series is just awesome! The heroine is so funny!
I would have given this book 5 stars based on the hysterical last paragraphs alone. Fortunately, the rest of this fun novel was equally 5-star worthy. The characters are full of foibles and delightfully dysfunctional. I sped read through the book, dying to see what new trouble the main character, Ivy, would get herself into—and waiting for the romance to come to a head between her and Winter. If you’re curious, read the book’s blurb. It accurately says what the story is about. Like other reviewers have said, Ivy’s cat is one of the best part of the story—maybe all the cats are.
My one complaint and warning would be that I purchased a paperback copy and the formatting was horrible—random extra spaces between words, odd indentations. Luckily the quality of the story made it easy to overlook the poor quality of the formatting.
Ivy Wilde is a very funny, snarky, reluctant, heroine, one that I also very much admire! (Her familiar is also hilarious and makes the book so much more fun!)
This has been my favorite series since I read page one of this first book. Please, please, please, Ms. Harper, write a book 4!! …And 5 through however many… LOVE, so much love.
Hilarious.
Oh.My.Gods. I’ve only just begun to read the book and I’m already laughing myself silly. Ivy and Brutus are hilarious.
It was a page turner. I had A hard time putting it down. This author is definitely one of my new favourites. I love the way she writes.
I highly recommend the Slouch Witch series and the authors other series.
Helen Harper never disappoints. Her characters are well-developed with personality quirks that make them unique individuals. They are usually people who are still trying to figure out their personal and work relationships and show real emotional growth at the end of each book.
I really enjoyed these books
let me wanting more, can’t wait till the next is out.