Well, H.P Mallory certainly pushed me out of my reading slump. I don’t know what it is about these books, but I can’t put them down once I start. If I didn’t know it before, I am positive now, I am an official Jolie Wilkins fan. Of course, that may have something to do with Rand and Sinjin, but let’s not quibble over details.Toil and Trouble takes up pretty much where Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble left off. Jolie is recovering from her battle with a fairy and it has left her pretty much helpless. She spends a fair amount of time in the beginning of Toil and Trouble recovering and being continually enamored, confused and frustrated by Rand.A lot of ground is covered in Toil and Trouble. Rand opens up a little more and Jolie learns some things on her own that even Rand doesn’t know. He still totally frustrated me in this. Even though we learn more about his hesitation where Jolie is concerned, he still made me just as mad and hurt as he made Jolie. Which I suppose is why I like these books so much. I love Jolie’s ‘voice’ and her personality. She just seems so ‘real.’ Like someone I would want to know and be friends with. I love it when authors do that.Then there’s Sinjin. Sure he could just as easily be the bad guy and honestly, at this point I’m not so sure he’s not. At least I’m pretty sure he’s hiding something. Yet, when it comes to Jolie, regardless of his motives, you can tell he does care. Just a warning, if you aren’t a fan of love triangles, you will probably go crazy by the time you are done Toil and Trouble. I can’t say that I’m a fan, but sometimes they are unavoidable. Jolie is not a flighty teen who can’t make up her mind. She’s actually in a pretty impossible situation and is pulled in too many directions.Toil and Trouble solves a couple mysteries, but opens up a few more. You know you are in for it when the final sentence in a book is ‘Son of a …..’ How can you not want to pick up the next book in a series when you’re faced with that? Needless to say, I’ve already downloaded Witchful Thinking. *sigh*
