If the witches don’t get him, the werewolves will. Fired from his job protecting the witches of Washington DC, David is now treading water at Hecate’s Court, trying to redeem his reputation and put his life back together. His father says David has disgraced the family name. His new boss is a tyrant. And his best friend—a wolf shifter—is dragging him onto the front lines of an all-out supernatural … onto the front lines of an all-out supernatural war.
Just when David thinks he’ll never catch a break, he’s summoned back to warder status, protecting an infuriating witch who has the strongest powers he’s ever seen.
Can one man juggle work, warfare, and warding Jane Madison?
“Consistently entertaining, heartfelt, and downright funny…” – Reader C.B.
“A fan-freaking-tastic book! I can’t wait for the second installment!” – Reader A.C.
Magical Washington includes The Washington Witches Series, the Washington Vampires Series, the Washington Warders, and the Washington Medical: Vampire Ward Series:
Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft
Sorcery and the Single Girl
Magic and the Modern Girl
Capitol Magic
Single Witch’s Survival Guide
Joy of Witchcraft
“Dreaming of a Witch Christmas”
“Nice Witches Don’t Swear”
Fright Court
Law and Murder
“Stake Me Out to the Ball Game”
The Library, the Witch, and the Warder
The Witch Doctor Is In
Fae’s Anatomy
The Lady Doctor is a Vamp
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Mindy writes fun paranormal chicklit, and one of her best characters is Jane Madison, a librarian who discovers she’s a witch. In Jane’s books, she has a magical warder assigned to keep her from creating magical disasters. David Montrose, that powerful DC warder, has his own series now, and we get to see all the problems he’s facing behind the scenes. Not only are his personal problems mounting, but magical DC is on the brink of warfare because of his best friend, Jane’s talent is blossoming, and he’s juggling more than fire balls to solve everything at once, without being demoted again. It’s a fun fantasy ride!
The Library, the Witch and the Warder by Mindy Klasky is the beginning of the Washington Warders series. David Montrose is a warder who has been sidelined courtesy of Haylee James, a witch who did not appreciate David’s by-the-book approach (he likes to follow the rules). For the past three years, he has been working under Norville Pitt as a file clerk. Unfortunately, David made the mistake of pointing out an error his boss made in the hearing of some court officials which resulted in an audit of Pitt’s paperwork. Pitt is a vindictive man who delights in torturing David with unnecessary work and excessive criticism (a petty, nasty little man). A friend reminds David that he needs to be bonded to a witch before Samhain or will be stuck working for the court (Norville Pitt) for another year. Late one night he gets a summons from an artifact that he had catalogued. He arrives to find that Jane Madison has opened the Medieval Compendium and awakened a familiar (on a full-moon night). David finds her entrancing, powerful and unaware of how to work magic. Could Jane be the witch for David? Would he be the right warder for Jane? David is about to fall into bed when his best friend and shifter, Connor Hold calls with an emergency. An important artifact belong to the Washington Pack has been stolen, and Connor needs David’s assistance in retrieving it. David needs to tread carefully, or he could find himself in the middle of a war. David is in for a busy time with his duties as a clerk for Hecate’s Court, helping Connor, keeping an eye on Jane and, mostly importantly, keeping Norville Pitt away from Jane. Will David be found worthy on Samhain by Goddess Hecate to be Jane’s warder? Come along for a magical journey in The Library, the Witch and the Warder.
The Library, the Witch and the Warder is David’s story (takes us back to when David met Jane). We get to see his side of events as well as meet his friends, family and enemies (versus Jane Madison’s story in Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft). I found the story to be well-written with entertaining characters (Aidan O’Rourke, Connor Hold, Neko, Linda Hudson). The pace varied throughout at the book. I found it a little slow during the first half of the book, and I was happy to see it pick up later in the story. I did miss the humor that is normally present in Mindy Klasky’s books. We get glimpses of it periodically (mostly in the scenes with Jane and Neko), but I think the book needed a little more (I am probably shocking some of you with this statement). It was interesting to find out more about David Montrose and see how his attitude/behavior changed. I cannot believe everything he had going on at the time he met Jane. You do not have to read the Jane Madison Series, before indulging in The Library, the Witch and the Warder. However, the Jane Madison Series will have you entranced from the first page to the last with many laugh-out-loud moments. My rating for The Library, the Witch and the Warder is 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it).
If you like the Washington Witches (Jane Madison) series, you will like seeing things from David’s point of view, but this isn’t on par with the books from Jane’s point of view. This follows the events of A Girl’s Guide To Witchcraft from what’s going on with David, and you find out that there’s this whole other story as to what’s going on with him. My biggest problem is that this has never come up again (I guess with a disclaimer that I haven’t read Joy of Witchcraft yet), and it seems like these are some big pieces of David’s life! If there are further books that parallel the Washington Witches from David’s POV I’ll probably be snatching them up, but likely when they go on sale.
What a great start to a new series, I just loved the characters as well as story line, Former warder David is in a dead end job after getting thrown under the bus by the last witch he was warder for now his only chance of redemption is to find another witch willing to have him as their warder. Enter stage left Jane who has no idea she is a witch but happens to work some magic after finding a book in the cottage she has just moved into, which alerts David. The way David and Jane interact as well as Jane’s inability to commit or believe what is happening to her and what she needs to do is frustrating and hilarious, unfortunately Davids Boss is a total douche and you really just want to trip him up and hope that he gets whats coming to him. This was definitely a roller coast of a ride to find out if David get his witch or will he lose everything including his god awful job!
Although he had originally graduated first in his class from warders’ academy, David Montrose’s life has definitely taken a downward turn…restricted to file clerk duties after his witch unceremoniously released him from his bond as her warder, and assigned to the despicable Norris Pitt, who looks for any opportunity to make life miserable. But a call from one of his previously catalogued artifacts brings him to Jane Madison and the missing Osgood Collection. Can he again get back into Hecate’s favor, by becoming warder to this new and untrained witch? For those readers familiar with Jane, this story goes back to where David and Jane first met, but from the viewpoint of David. What a delightful way to further flesh out David’s character and bring an adorable alternate universe feel to the Jane Madison series by adding new adventures for David. I have already downloaded the original “Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft” to again read the background story from Jane’s viewpoint. I can’t wait to read more stories in this new Washington Warders series. Such fun! Disclosure: I am voluntarily reviewing an advance reading copy of this book.