Fire Watcher [Paperback]

Enter a magical world where good and evil battle and all is not as it seems to the mortal eye....

Elise Nicholson is a fire witch and a reluctant Guardian (see DARK WATCHER). She doesn't trust the Circle Lightfall or the Watchers and is starting to feel a little left out as her two best friends, Mari and Theo, are blissfully happy with their Watchers while Elise is all alone.

Remy is the Watcher known as the Hunter and Circle Lightfall has him searching for a powerful magical talisman called the Trifero, the Talisman of fire and destruction. Remy dreams of being assigned as a Watcher and finding the Lightbringer who can ease his pain but he has never had the chance until now. A surprise phone call sends him to Elise. Little does he know but it also sends him to the Trifero as Elise now possesses the talisman.

Elise and her friends face a new threat this time as the Brotherhood wants to capture and use Elise and the Trifero for their own nefarious purposes. Can Elise learn to control her anger and prevent total destruction from occurring? Will Remy convince Elise that he can be the kind of Watcher she wants?

Elise's character has remained consistently tough through the entire series but she is somewhat softened in FIRE WATCHER. She has mixed feelings over seeing her two best friends happy while she is alone. Readers will empathize with her as she feels isolated with only her guitar for company. Her fiery temper coupled with her tendency to rush headlong into things make her a witch only the Watcher destined for her could handle. Remy's calming influence on Elise is magical and readers will cheer for Elise and Remy's relationship.

The introduction of the Brotherhood provides an intriguing twist and helps keep this series fresh and exciting. While the Dark still wants to destroy the Lightbringers, it becomes harder for them to do so as Mari, Elise, and Theo develop their powers. The Brotherhood is more of a business consortium however, and doesn't have to follow the same guidelines as the Dark.

FIRE WATCHER can be read as a stand alone novel. However, to truly appreciate the complexity of the world and the depth of Elise's pain, this reviewer recommends reading DARK WATCHER and STORM WATCHER first. But consider yourself forewarned.... Once starting FIRE WATCHER, you will not want to put it down until you have finished it!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

In this third installment of her "Guardian Witches" series Lilith Saintcrow brings us the story of the Fire Witch, Elise, and her Watcher, Remy. This series just gets better and better as we learn more about the Dark and the Brotherhood.

Elise has always had a firey temper, to go with the fire power she has as a fire witch. She has also been very cautious of the Watchers. Now a Watcher has arrived unexpectedly, and this time it is her Watcher. Although attracted to Remy she is still not sure of his loyalties. Elise was brought up the hard way and finds trusting a hard thing to do. Theo and Mari are the only family she has since Suzanne's death. Elise finds it hard to admit she is jealous of the time and attention Mari and Theo give to their Watchers. Maybe having her own Watcher will help her to understand.

Remy is a Cajun, he has been to the jaws of hell and was saved by Circle Lightfall, when they made him a Watcher. He has never really watched a witch, as long as he has been a Watcher, he has searched for and found many powerful items and icons for the Circle. He is known as the "Hunter", now he has a witch to look out for and as fate would have it , she is his witch. The witch who takes away his pain and replaces it with pleasure. But how can he earn her trust, when he believes himself to be unloveable and unworthy.

This time the Brotherhood is determined to possess Elise, especially since she has come into possession of the TRIFERO. A mystical ornament that will magnify her powers. Fire witches are very rare. When they cannot reach Elise herself they kidnap her band, and now only heaven knows what they must face to save them. Against all advice Elise goes her own way, and Remy must find a way to not only save her from the Dark but from herself as well. I loved it.

Third in Saintcrow's "Watcher" series, we get the story of Elise, the fire witch. Elise, to date, has been without a Watcher, and she doesn't understand her friends' relationships with their watchers. She is suspicious of anyone who tries to get close to her friends, and she really does not want to trust the Watchers, despite seeing them in action, protecting the witches from the evil that is encroaching the city of which they have become Guardians. Elise has a temper, which she lets get the better of her, many times, and she doesn't use her common sense when she is trying to protect her friends, despite the trials from her friends' experiences. Remy, her Watcher, is a Cajun, and his easy-going temperment is the perfect foil to Elise's jump first attitude. When Elise comes into possession of the "trifero" which multiplies her power infinitely, things heat up in the city of the Guardians, and Remy has his hands full. I liked the first two stories better - it seemed to me that Elise didn't learn squat from the first two and ended up hurting her friends more because of it.