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Casters and Claws #1

Spellbound in Salem

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Book 1 of an amazing new series! Get ready for witches, wolves, magic and romance. All in Salem!

Raven Bishop is happily doing inventory in her magic supply store Gemstones when a man walks in with an odd warning. Suspicious of his motives, Raven ignores his advice. He might be a police officer, but she knows she can take care of herself. She doesn’t need the help of a man, no matter how hot he is.

Sheriff and wolf shifter Zane Cross has one mission: get the Bishop women safely away from Salem and the order of witch hunters intent on riding the town of all witches. He doesn’t have time to deal with his wolf howling at him that they’ve finally met their mate. Especially not since the woman in question refuses to follow him to safety until she is attacked.

In the secluded cabin, far away from the threat of death, the grumpy sheriff and headstrong witch will have to find common ground in order to survive the Order of Salem’s attack. Can Raven put her pride aside and let love save the day?

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 2020

667 people are currently reading
392 people want to read

About the author

Milly Taiden

494 books4,271 followers
Milly Taiden (also writes as April Angel) was born in the prettiest part of the Caribbean (to her) known as the Dominican Republic. Currently, she resides in New York City with her husband, bossy young son and their little dog Speedy.

When she’s not working full-time, texting with her best friend Heidi in England, chastising her son for pulling the dog’s ears, shopping with her sister Jewel or watching scary movies with her husband, she can be found writing on her laptop.

She’s addicted to shoes, chocolate, Dunkin Donuts coffee and JIMMY THOMAS covers!!!

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5 stars
436 (31%)
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367 (26%)
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384 (27%)
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161 (11%)
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55 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
Profile Image for Gale Albright.
2,932 reviews19 followers
February 21, 2020
I have to say that the word “difficult” is the word to describe this book. The heroine is difficult. She causes many difficulties for our hero Zane and has a know it all personality. Her attitude sucks from the beginning and I just generally did not like her. She got a little better toward the end but not much. I loved Zane and feel sorry that he has her as a mate. I hope this series get better.
Profile Image for Erin Henderson .
528 reviews7 followers
October 28, 2022
I don’t know why I’m surprised. This was honestly worse than I imagined. But I finished it, because mama didn’t raise no quitter.
Profile Image for Lynn Thinking out loud .
1,482 reviews64 followers
March 8, 2020
She only knew spells and could only really use her defensive magic. But she wanted her and her sister and cousins to take on this order that's been killing witches for years. And is well organized. There is a difference in being independent and just plum stupid. She was the latter. She has never had to kill for survival, and the bad guys have a lot of guns and some how they can track the witches magic but she wants to get everyone in one central location to use magic. She doesn't know how many are on the order and she doesn't have a plan. But she keeps wanting to leave the safe location where her and zane are. The Wolves are trying to formulate a plan and get as much information as possible on the order but she wants to leave.
Zane caught 2 teens breaking into cars and not being in school where they should be. Most likely because of a bad home life and no money. So he tells them to be in Salem at the police station to work for him after they get out of school for the day. Did I forget to mention Salem is 4 HOURS away from them? (Ok this was explained)
This book is making less sense to be by the minute. Does Milly not have an editor or a proofreader? I know in her other books she has missing words etc... but this book is so far out there in left field. I didn't think I was ever going to be done with this book. I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series.
Time will tell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tina.
955 reviews156 followers
May 3, 2022
3.25 ⭐⭐⭐ This could have been good if the F/Lead used her brain instead of thinking that her magic would solve it all.
51 reviews5 followers
March 15, 2020
MC is very childish!

I don't care for Raven too much, at least not in the beginning. Before she meets Zane, she's fine; but after he comes to warn her, her personality turns into something resembling a spoiled, petulant teenager. A man is shooting at her, trying to kill her, but it takes him calling her evil before she gets mad and fights back? Seriously? And she's supposed to be this big, bad witch...but she can't even handle simple defense spells she's supposed to know, despite it being a while, without nearly passing out? So far, she's coming across incredibly weak and immature.

Then with Zane...he throws her phone out of the window. I would be annoyed too, I get that...but all because of that, she claims she will never forgive him and give him a chance as her mate? He's trying to protect her for goodness sakes! Talk about melodramatic! I understand the author is attempting to make her seem stubborn, but all it's doing is making her seem childish.

I might come back and change my review if I decide to keep reading, I'm not very far in. It's just hard to get into a book when the main character is annoying, so I'm not sure I'll get much father. She probably won't bother everyone like she does me, especially younger readers, but I don't know if I can take 200+ pages of stereotypical female drama and immaturity. Hopefully her personality gets better....quickly!
Profile Image for Amy.
2,710 reviews16 followers
February 1, 2021
The narrators did a good job. I like fated mates stories and I liked Zane but Raven was annoying but author did address the issues I had.
Profile Image for Larissa.
260 reviews
June 23, 2020
I absolutely love Milly Taiden’s Paranormal Dating Agency Series. Like as soon as a book is out or able to be preordered I click that purchase button. So when I learned she had another series that featured witches and Salem? I was all for it but I held myself back from reading the series until all books were out. This is was easy because I knew I wouldn’t have to wait half a year or more for the next book.

Unfortunately I have to say I’m a bit disappointed. This book and story has so much potential but it didn’t live up to my expectations of what I’ve read from Milly. I just found myself wanting to get through the book. I really struggle giving a rating to books like this. I went back and forth between 3 stars and 4 stars because I really wanted to leave a 3 and 1/2 stars.

I just feel there could be more development with the characters and their interactions. Also more excitement and action with the witches. If definitely wasn’t the witch story I was looking for but I know there are others that would enjoy this book (I also know there are others who will hate it). Everyone has their likes, dislikes, and triggers when it comes to books.

I will say that I finished all of the books by this point and I started to enjoy some of the later books in the series even though they also had their faults. At this point though, I’m just going to stick with Molly’s PDA series.
Profile Image for Deniz.
1,204 reviews97 followers
May 29, 2022
2.5 Stars
I enjoyed the storyline.
But while I liked Zane, I found Raven most of the time a bit irritating. The whole Arthur thing was repeated a bit too much for my taste and honestly, her stubbornness came across as immature. Yet it was clear that there would be some sort of big bang finale, so I guess she had to go do that thing.
Also, her sudden turnaround felt a bit too sudden. Funny enough, I should have been team Raven, I mean I am never ever team insta-love. Yet here I am totally team Zane and all his insta-vibes.

This is fairly short and fun, yet I wish there was a bit more development and also some more background on the shifters.
I am going to read the next instalment since we are left with a ton of questions.
Alas, this is very cleverly done. No cliffy yet I need to know the other stories.
Profile Image for Darnell MR Hart.
433 reviews9 followers
March 9, 2020
Awe struck!

Zane and Raven are the most unpredictable couple. This was an enjoyable story with a mystery. I can't wait for the next installment.
Profile Image for Emma.
461 reviews54 followers
June 18, 2020
Fair warning run away the cover makes it look like its a good book about mates and supernatural and magic and ITS NOT. ugh it literally was slowly turning my brain to mush.
3,420 reviews19 followers
February 21, 2020
He's the sheriff. She a witch and the object of a death threat along with her female relatives. Zack and the shifter wolf pack alpha team up to save the witches. Until they can find the culprits and make a plan to capture them, the guys plan to put the women in safe houses protected by deputies or shifters.

She's a witch and a strong woman with a business to run. She's not going to make it easy on him to just take her away. That is until she meets the threat head-on. She may go but is she going to stay?

Zack has an added issue--she may say she doesn't like him but actions and words and all that. For him, there is another factor that makes keeping her safe even more important. He's not just protecting a citizen. She's more. Much more.

This is a great start to a new series. I'm anxious to read more. These magic ladies with shifter guys are fun and hot and more.
Profile Image for Book.
47 reviews
September 7, 2022
Ok, so let me get this right... Hot sheriff guy shows up and expects her to trust him completely and follow his directions without question... and she is just supposed to get over her past traumas and be instantly in love with him, no questions and no old issues coming up... She is just supposed to choose to jump into his arms, no qualms ... but everybody thinks SHE is the unreasonable one?! I mean, I get that this is a romance novel and we are supposed to suspend reality, but they knew each other for a couple of days!! I also personally thought a lot of the decisions he was making were totally unreasonable. Talk about Neanderthal!

I am definitely not saying that she was blameless and great. She seemed completely oblivious about how her magic worked. She also seemed really wishy-washy and she went back on her word, which I didn't like, but I get that it moved the story along.

I mean, it was ok as a whole and I mostly enjoyed it. I was bothered by some little things too, but overall it was ok.
Profile Image for ♏Vanessa♏.
1,568 reviews7 followers
November 26, 2023
Fun shifter/witch romance

This book is just short of 300 pages, so it is a quick fun read. If you like shifter and witch romances with a sassy (and sometimes unreasonable plus annoying) heroine and an alpha shifter this is a great book. Zane has the patience of a saint.
1,603 reviews12 followers
August 13, 2020
This is an OK shifter/witch romance, but it seemed that the couple was more in lust than in love. I also found it very difficult to like Raven. It gets 2.5 stars from me, rounded up to 3 stars.

Raven was very hard to like. She was a complete bi*** to Zane for most of the story, but still thought he was hot. Then she had sex with him while she still thought he couldn't be trusted, which was a terrible thing to do. Her attitude was supposedly because of her terrible ex -- but sleeping with Zane when she didn't trust him sounded like something her ex would have done. So I really didn't get why Zane was so quick to let her get away with her terrible behavior, which was absolutely awful.

Zane was likable, but he did do/say some stupid things. His mistakes weren't bad enough to excuse Raven's bad behavior, but they were pretty dumb. Raven had reason to be angry with him and not trust him at first, but she should have gotten over it much sooner than she did.

I really didn't believe that Raven was in love with Zane, because she was nasty to him for most of the book. Then, all of a sudden, after they sleep together, she loves him? I just didn't buy it.

One other thing, and this is minor, but it is a pet peeve of mine. The characters on the book covers should look like the description of the characters in the books. Zane is described as having blonde hair and Raven is described as having black hair -- but the couple on the cover both have light brown hair. This may not be the author's fault, but it still bugs me.

My rating system is below.
1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
Profile Image for Phyllis.
123 reviews
February 22, 2020
Spellbound in Salem is the first book in the new series Casters & Claws. In it we meet witch Raven & wolf shifter Zane & follow them in their fight for happily ever after.

Raven Bishop & her family are descended from a long line of witches in Salem, dating back to the infamous Witch Trials. She & her twin are content to run their small shop in Salem, that is until the local sheriff comes in with trouble right behind him. When a bunch of witch hunters come after her, she'd rather stand & fight. It doesn't matter that she's never hurt anyone before. And she's not gonna let that sheriff order her around, no matter how handsome he is.

Zane is the city sheriff as well as his pack's security officer, keeping a delicate balance between his roles with the help of his friend & alpha. But everything changes when he gets word of a group of witch hunters determined to rid Salem of witches starting with the Bishop sisters. He runs into more than trouble when he goes to take Raven into protective custody & finds she's his mate.

This book seems like a good start to a new & different type of series for this author. The lead characters have me a little on the fence however. The male lead seems a little on the wishy washy side in a spot or two while the female lead gives off too much of a shrew vibe at times. The supporting cast doesn't make too many appearances but help move things along when needed. The story line is an interesting one & I'm looking forward to seeing it develope in future books. All in all, this book is worth giving a try.

I voluntarily read & reviewed this advance reader's copy
Profile Image for Patricia.
1,955 reviews5 followers
July 9, 2022
Let me begin with a comment: I'm glad I read reviews, it gives me an idea of what the book consists of and how other reads feel. With that said, we are all entitled to our opinions since we all interpret the author's words and story into something we either enjoy or something that just is not for the individual. I read some rather harsh reviews and it's sad but their opinion.

Personally I enjoy a book that captures my attention without any of the reality daily life is.
It's light, cute, sometimes you feel like slapping a character to make them open their eyes or you cheer them on. This story had a few of each of those moments for me and I liked the main characters. Raven was one of those characters who can be annoying with a chip on her shoulder and I agree that it was probably my only pet peeve. I get the reasoning yet it made the character less enjoyable. Maybe it just went on to long. I don't know. But one of the many delightful things was Zane's personality and knowing somewhere down the line Raven would hopefully stop being so annoying. A decent start to the series. I would have liked a bit more of Zane and Raven relationship building. Looking forward to the next book.
Profile Image for Reader_for_LifeTLG.
2,733 reviews17 followers
August 12, 2023
Never trust a pretty face. - That was Raven's reaction when the handsome sheriff beseeched her to come with him if she wanted to live. No way was she going to run off and leave her kin. When the bullets started flying she quickly changed her tune but she ensured he understood she was an independent witch. Zane was hard pressed to keep his wolf in check as his newly found mate disobeyed his orders at every turn. His protective instincts wouldn't let him leave her to fiend for herself, no matter the badge he wore. Between running from modern-day witch hunters to trying to keep their hands to themselves, these two were a joy. I love that Zane didn't impose his will overly much with Raven, allowing her to ease into her feelings. Plus, his wolf senses allowed him to know how she really felt. The nose revealed the secrets of her heart. Steamy AF when they finally came together. Another winner by Ms. Taiden.

I listened to the Audible version. Good job by the narrators and I love that there are male and female voices. Pallino's voice is perfect as that of a growly wolf shifter who can't wait to claim his mate.
Profile Image for Shhh We're Reading Dirty Books.
153 reviews5 followers
March 10, 2021
We read this book for episode 79 of our podcast. Love a man in uniform? How about one that takes his uniform off often so that he can shift into a wolf, beat up some bad guys, and then proceeds to sit next to you naked after he shifts back into human? Apparently, sheriffs love doing that! Join us for Spellbound in Salem, book one in the Casters and Claws series by Milly Taiden. Here we meet Raven Bishop, a descendant of the witches burned during the Salem witch trials, and yes, she is a witch. Who meets sexy Sheriff Zane Cross, wolf shifter, when he tries to tell her that she and her family are being hunted by weirdos, who, for some reason, are stirring shit up again that happened over 300 years ago… hey bad guys, find a different hobby. It takes a while for Raven to get used to the idea of being hunted but eventually, she let’s Sheriff Sexy Guy save her. We hope you read along! For more of our thoughts, listen to episode 79 of Shhh We’re Reading Dirty Books found on any podcast platform!
Profile Image for Ashante Williams.
2,053 reviews3 followers
March 27, 2022
(Zane & Raven): It's been a while since I've read something from MT and I have to say, she's come a long way. This book has a lot more depth to it. So we have Zane and Axel, both are wolf shifters, Axel is the pack alpha, and Zane is the town sheriff. They get word from a town kid that his dad and a group of others are planning to kill everyone distantly related to the official Salem witches. Raven and Serene are twin sisters and witches, they are descendants of the bishop witch killed in the 1600s. Upon meeting, Zane's wolf recognizes his mate. Raven is a little annoying at first, never wanting to listen to Zane. But I enjoyed the backstory we got on her. I just wished for a little more on Zane. They have unbelievable chemistry. I loved that this wasn't exactly an insta-romance. They don't just jump right into bed. I was really into the story, I wished there was a little more explanation about why the witch hunters were on the attack but the book was good.
Profile Image for Nikki Brooks.
3,551 reviews52 followers
February 18, 2020
Great start to a new series!

Raven cones from a long line of witches, stretching all the way back to the Salem witch trials. But there seems to be an evil band of Witch Hunters who have decided the time is ripe to strike at the witches. It doesn't matter to them that Raven, her twin and their cousins only use their gifts for good.

When Zack, the local Sheriff gets clued into the plot against the witches he is determined to save them. Slight wrinkle to the pan - Raven is his mate but she is not swayed by that fact - instead she wants to run in the other direction.

With the help of his Alpha and a nearby allied pack, Zack sets out to rout the witch hunters. But can he do so before Raven and her headstrong relatives get themselves into trouble they can't get out of?

Really fun story with much frustrated Beta hero LOL!
Profile Image for Daria.
1,989 reviews42 followers
February 26, 2020

Oh yeah Milly T and new series go hand in hand and so excited to read about a new world and characters she creates.

Our book city... Salem...mmmm now you know it's going to be fun! Witches and Wolves oh my! Witches and Witches seem to be the name of the game in this story and the town sheriff will have his hands full not only with witches but with one witch in particular.

Now, how easy will the Sheriff have it do you wonder when he tried to save the witches' lives by telling them to hightail it out of town for a bit. *laughs* exactly! Raven and her fam yeah they have other ideas and plans and their Sheriff is so not on board.

A hot and sassy a bit snarky witch and a harried oh so sexy wolf shifter... what could possible happen?? Chemistry, heat and who knows what else. Grab the story and find out, Enjoy
Profile Image for Miriam.
928 reviews
February 28, 2020
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

3.5 stars

I liked the premise of the story a lot. Decedents of the Salem witches, and witches themselves, the Bishop women have been targeted by witch hunters set on destroying all witches. Luckily the werewolves of Salem get a warning and are set to save the witches.

I liked Zane, the werewolf sheriff was both sweet and protective. Raven however I found rather annoying. I could understand that she has baggage, but the risks she takes because she thinks she knows best pushed the limits of TSTL. When she wasn't being quite so obstinate, I did like her and I think Zane balanced her nicely.

I'm looking forward to reading Cerise and Axel's story. I have a feeling their story is going to be quite the battle of wills.
1,094 reviews2 followers
March 3, 2022
The series sounded fun and was really interested to get into it. Only to be completely disappointed. I’ve read her books before and was surprised that this book so far, did not live up to her previous books. The set up for the storyline is fine but the dialogue. Horrendous! The character development was horrible.
The female protagonist was annoying completely. It’s one thing that a female protagonist is assertive but she was just contrary. Which made it completely annoying to hear. She sounded like a dummy and I refuse to keep reading books where women are made to be stupid. Her pass experience made her misunderstand
His intentions but how many freaking times did he need to say the same thing for her to understand that don’t use magic because it’s dangerous and they’ll find us. And then she acted all surprised when she did it and guess what happened? Ridiculous.
Profile Image for Ray.
128 reviews7 followers
April 21, 2022
If I never have to hear the word "Air balls" again, it will be too soon.

This was free on my included audible library so thought why not, reviews look good... this is why I have trust issues.

So the FMC Raven acts tough and laughs in the face of danger the sherif (her soon to be mate) warns her of. Only in reality she's weak af and all the magic she boasted about saving her ass with is... air balls. And like maybe 5 at most... then needing days to recover from such a big "battle" ( *cough* brawl 🙄)

It was insta lovey which I only like if its done well, and this was just OK. And this relationship happened to be about 80% of the "plot"... aka Raven being dumb. At least the narrators were good, and like I say it was free and only about 4 hours long. 2.5 stars overall and thats mainly due to hottie Zane
Profile Image for Sassafrass.
3,204 reviews103 followers
September 8, 2022
Raven is a witch in Salem, yes that Salem and some bad dudes are after her. Zane is a wolf shifter and also happens to be the sheriff of Salem. He's trying to protect Raven from the threat against her and her whole bloodline all while finding out she's his mate. So yeah, we have lots of broody hot maleness, stubborn witchiness, and some silliness in this one.

I thought the premise was pretty good but this is an instance where the narrators brought the book down. The female narrator made the male's voice so robotic it was painful to listen to. I listen at a higher speed so that may have made things worse but it wasn't a good listening experience for me.

I think I would continue the series at least for another book but won't listen to it on audio. We'll see if that changes my feelings on the writing any.
Profile Image for Melissa Cherie Elsey.
44 reviews2 followers
September 27, 2022
there was potential for the story.... but it was gone through so quick. pretty much the whole book is "im a bad ass witch i dont need or want man. my ex was a dick so i gave up love. i dont care how dangerous it is im not gonna listen to reason im just gonna do what i want! i should be doing this!" She is so annoying! Its the same thing over and over, only interupted by the occasional flirting or F***ing. i listened bevause it was short and i kept hoping it would get better. and it kept skirting around actual story plots, but then leaving them un-dealt with. maybe these things will be addressed in the nexk books.... which im assuming will be just as rushed.
Also can we talk about how in the book he us blonde with green eyes and she has raven black hair. But the people on the cover do not. Like they didnt even try.
Profile Image for Crystal Watson .
379 reviews6 followers
February 23, 2020
What a great new series!

I absolutely loved Raven and Zane. Raven is a witch who can trace her lineage to the very first Salem witches. Zane is a sheriff and wolf shifter. When Zane receives a possible threat against all the witches in his town he and the alpha act immediately. Raven just wants to live her life run her shop in peace. When a sexy bossy sheriff shows up to tell her that her life is in danger and needs to leave the town well that doesn't go over very well. After the heart break of her last relationship Raven will not trust easily. Can Zane prove he's nothing like her ex? Can Raven make room in her heart? Or will the witch Hunter's get her before she can decide?
Profile Image for Ahima Booklover.
935 reviews4 followers
March 30, 2021
4 stars for shifter cop Zane, witch Raven and another witch hunt in Salem.

After a tip about an upcoming witch hunt in Salem detective Zane has to protect one of the four bishop women. Funny thing when he enters her shop and discovers his mate only to be sliced down by her sassy mouth and her lack of enthusiasm to any male specimen on this planet.

I enjoyed this short fast paced story. Only Ravens stubbornness to just listen didn't sit right with me. In the end there was an explanation but all in all her attitude was too much for me. So I loved the male character far more than the female one. But I was entertained by the whole idea and want to know if her twin sister is worse. I am a sucker for punishment.
576 reviews4 followers
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September 3, 2023
If you want to read shifter fantasy porn then go for this. In the right frame of mind I wouldn’t mind reading this for a sexy, fantasy, escape. Hearing about a guy jacking off in the shower, with physical descriptions, while I’m at work (with headphones on fortunately) is not what I was going for. I thought this would be a cute fantasy romance, it is but there is what I would call explicit sex scenes. If you would like a fairly steamy shifter romance, give this a shot. If you’re looking for fade to black sex scenes, then skip this one. I did get invested enough in the characters that I finished listening to the book, so the characters are fairly well fleshed out for such a short book.
Profile Image for Lory.
3,263 reviews33 followers
February 23, 2020
This was a enjoyable and entertaining read and a great start for a new series. But let me tell you that I had a loved hate relationship with Raven. I felt bad for Zane thought out the whole book. I'm all for a strong heroine but she took it to the extreme she had a know it all complex and was stubborn to boot. I'm glad that she got it together in the end. Overall a good read looking forward to seeing what else is in store for this series. I received a free copy via booksprout I voluntarily read and review this ARC no monetary compensation was received and the opinions I have expressed are my own.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews

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