Wickedly Dangerous (A Baba Yaga Novel)

***BookBinger.com Book Review***As a kid, I loved fairy tales. The real fairy tales (Grimm's, not the Disney versions).Since I had a Russian mother, she gave me Russian fairy tale books and I loved those too.I passed this tradition on, and bought my daughter the book Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole.Bony-Legs is Baba Yaga, a Russian witch with sharp teeth who likes to eat young children. In the story, Bony-Legs plans to eat the heroine, little Sasha. But, Sasha's quick thinking and kindness to a gate, a dog, and cat saves her from the witch.So of course, when I saw the urban fantasy, Wickedly Magical (Baba Yaga), I had to read it. This series is not about one witch, but about the Baba Yaga title.In the first book, Barbara (Baba) Yager, is one of three Baba Yagas who guard nature and Otherworld portals. Posing as a botany professor, she travels to a small town in an enchanted Airstream because a family has summoned her to find their missing child. Baba soon discovers that multiple children have disappeared in the town and senses it could be the result of an Otherworld creature and damage to the environment. While she investigates, she meets handsome, Sheriff Liam. Liam is working to stop the kidnappings and find the children. On top of this, Baba and Liam are attracted to each other. However, they aren't sure they can trust each other.ProsI really enjoyed this clever remake of the Russian fairy tale. The story contains everything I like in an urban fantasy: plenty of action, a race to solve a mystery, and a budding romance between the kick-butt main character and the handsome leading man.Baba is a multi-layered character. She's powerful, confident, and loves to fight. But because she was not raised among other humans, she's also socially inept. The combination is endearing and funny.Liam is a surprise, in a good way. He is not the typical overbearing male character. Liam is determined to find the children, but he investigates in a quietly resolute way.Poor Liam is weighed down by tragedy. In the past, he experienced a horrible family tragedy and now just wants to get through life. In addition, the town's people and the mayor don't appreciate him and think he is incompetent. You feel for Liam's pain and frustration.The setting and side characters added uniqueness to the book.Baba lives in a magical Airstream trailer that has quirky appliances. For example, when she opens the refrigerator, she's not sure what type of food or drinks will appear.Her main companion, Chudo-Yudo, is also a kick. He is a dragon disguised as a really big white dog.ConsThe only part I disliked in the book was the description of the Otherworld. I loved how Julie Kagawa described the Nevernever, the land of the fey, in her Iron Fey series. When Megan, a human, enters the Nevernever, Kagawa descriptive writing makes you smell, see, and feel the differences between our world and the fey one.Blakes' description of the Otherworld fell flat for me. I think she could have provided more detailed description about the strangeness of this land.ConclusionI enjoyed the characters and the quirkiness in this first book. The mystery, non-stop action, and romance will keep you riveted till the end.

Liam is a small town sheriff who is investigating a series of child abductions. While making his umpteenth search of the area, he finds the silver Airstream trailer belonging to Barbara Yager. She has come to his town because the grandmother of one of the missing children has called to Baba Yaga (a magical human of Russian mythology) for help. Barbara is one of three Babas in the US.In addition to the missing children there is a company offering residents money to lease their land for hydrofracking. It’s a tough economy and the money is looking good. Working with the company and a few of the town’s leaders is Maya, a being from the Underworld who is using her magic to influence the townspeople.A surprising amount of this book is from Liam's point of view. He's my favorite type of hero: smart, determined, strong, and a good man with normal feelings. He’s not thinking “mine” or is experiencing a sensation for the first time that he can’t identify (that’s Baba, actually). Liam is a tired guy trying to get on with his life after a personal tragedy. He's attracted to Baba right away and it adds to his mental turmoil. He is not agnsty; he has a lot to think about. There are his basic law enforcement duties, the intense pressure to find the children, and local politicians trying to get him fired. His guilt over not being able to save the abducted children is acute (view spoiler).Baba is confident. She's been solving problems for a long time and she's good at it. She uses her magic casually and effectively. Liam knows when he's out of his depth and when she’s the expert. It’s almost like they’re both adults.I was very dubious about the part of the ending relating to human children who have had horrific lives, but it was intended to be part of the happy (and incredibly tidy) ending so I’m not letting it distract me from how much I liked this book.In summary, this was a very good book with excellent central characters. I enjoyed the plot and didn’t have a problem with the occasional clichéd elements.

This is one of the best and most creative re-workings of old tales that I've read.Meet today's Baba Yaga. She's updated- at least the looks of things, though not their essences. No longer a hag (unless she wants to appear as such), she is tall, strong, attractive, and very skilled at pool (among other things).It turns out that "Baba Yaga" is more a title than a name per se; there are various Babas around the world, including another 2 in the US. They travel from place to place, keeping the boundaries between our world and the Otherworld intact, working to protect the earth, and sometimes helping people desperate enough to take the risk of calling on them for aid- because while they are mostly good, they are not especially NICE.The romance was handled very well, and was appropriately- especially given the characters of the protagonists- secondary to the main plot. While some mooning took place, no one spent pages doing it when they ought to have been busy with other things!All the characters were solidly written, each with their own motivations from which their actions naturally arose. I look forward to seeing some of the secondary characters in future books in this series- because yes! It IS a series! It's my understanding that each book will deal with a different Baba Yaga, which has a lot of potential.I thought the humor was perfectly balanced with a pretty serious plot, and was welcome and funny.While the results of fracking in the book seemed to devolve mostly on the Otherworld, please note that some- like the sudden sinkholes- are results here in the real world as well.In short, a great start to what promises to be an excellent series! I am eager for #2!

Barbara Yaeger, as this particular Baba Yaga is known, arrives at a small town to find that children are disappearing. She joins forces with the local Sheriff to discover what is happening: a combination of fracking and fairies threatens to destabilise the world.This is fine mind candy, as we discover more about Baba Yaga’s background, and the Sheriff’s own tragedy, as they work together to uncover the bad parties. But some of the aspects are disappointingly underused: the addition of a fairy Queen dilutes the Baba Yaga role; Baba’s three dragon helpers play a minimal role, mostly off stage; and even her enchanted caravan could have contributed more than a fairy door and enchanted fridge. So, too much candy, and not quite enough substance.

Barbara Yager; aka Baba Yaga is my favourite leading lady in this series (yes I’ve read all the books). This powerful witch is tough but compassionate, doesn’t stand for any nonsense but has a wry sense of humour and is ready to face any battles head on. She is drawn to the tiny town of Clearwater when young children begin to disappear. Sheriff Liam thinks there is something suspicious about her; it’s not her dragon masquerading as a pit-bull, her magical home that contains a doorway into another world, or her sudden appearance in his town. Nope there’s something extraordinary about Barbara; despite her claims she is nothing more than an herbalist college professor.With plenty of action, some great characters (who aren’t always human) and entertaining banter, “Wickedly Dangerous” is a fantastic start to this magical romance series. With another 2 full length novels in this series which feature the other 2 Baba Yagas, a couple of novellas and an offshoot series featuring The Riders, there’s plenty to explore if you are new to the magical world of the Baba Yagas.

Baba Yaga is a Russian folktale – a wicked old crone who lives in a house that runs around on chicken’s legs, flies across the sky in a giant mortar whilst wielding a pestle, and has a dragon called Chudo Yudo as companion. She may, or may not be either good or evil.Only that’s all a fairytale. ‘Baba Yaga’ is really a title, and there are currently three of them living in the US, helping out where they are asked and keeping an eye on ecological issues.This book is about one of them: Barbara Yager, a herbalist travelling the country in an Airstream trailer that has a mind of its own when it comes to decor – and the contents of its fridge. It also contains a door to the otherworld, and a giant pit bull called, you guessed it, Chudo Yudo. And yes, he can talk and yes, he really is a dragon in disguise.Called by a Russian grandmother when a child goes missing, Barbara discovers that this child is not the first abductee, and with no clues as to what’s happened to them, or who might be taking them, the local sheriff, the delightful Liam, is at his wits end. It doesn’t help that he’s still mourning the death of his own child and the belief that his missing wife is probably dead somewhere of an overdose.After a little persuasion, Barbara starts digging, and at first, even though clues are scant, things seem to be moving along smoothly. And then it all starts to go horribly wrong.‘Wickedly Dangerous’ is a light paranormal romance, with wonderful characters, vividly told with just the right amount of action, emotion, and humour, and with a perfect little twist at the end that left me smiling and satisfied. Just what I want from a book of this genre, when there is a certain amount of inevitability built into the story by its classification.I’ve also read and thoroughly enjoyed the prequel novella, ‘Wickedly Magical’, and I thoroughly recommend them both. I’m looking forward to the next one, ‘Wickedly Wonderful’, due out soon.

The Baba Yaga legend has been updated and refreshed for the 21st century, and is very well done. The character of Barbara, the Baba Yaga, is not someone to be crossed, but when children start disappearing from a small town the sheriff, Liam, discovers that it's good to have her on your side!Oh, and there are 3 Baba Yagas in the USA. I look forward to the next book in the series about the second Baba Yaga.

The Baba Yaga stories are always a good read. This is my second time through. After reading them at the library, I realized I wanted to read them more than once, so decided to purchase. Good to know I can decide to buy something and be reading it a few minutes later. Love Kindle downloads.