Saylym Winslow moves to a small town called Sanctuary near Salem, Massachusetts, but once she enters a store by that name, things begin to go a bit crazy around her.  Objects are moving and talking to Saylym and she has a lovable neighbor who believes herself to be thousands of years old.  However, once Saylym is given the deed to a cottage, she decides that everything is okay--just a bit of mid-America weirdness.   Now if she could just figure out why people look at her funny and why she feels as if she is suddenly an accident waiting to happen, things would be much better. 

Prince Talon has ventured into Sanctuary for the beginning of the Beltane season just ahead of the others hoping to find a perfect mate for it.  Talon spots Saylym right away and can’t figure out how a witch can be so inept.  While still trying to figure out just why Saylym denies the magic in herself, the Waken guild call him home to give him an assignment, one that was part of the other half of his life: that of an assassin.  His newest target is Saylym and her crime, the exact things that Talon was trying to figure out. 

Talon now has a very short time to fulfill one of two dictates that the guild gave him.  Saylym is beginning to enjoy having Talon around and is fighting her desire and losing the battle fast.  Talon has to make his choice before the guild lets another fulfill Saylym’s sentence.  When the passion of Beltane and their own becomes more than either can resist, the choice is obvious.  But there are more things going on during this sensual season, and death and danger are all around when dark plans are put into motion.  Will the tentative feelings between Saylym and Talon be strong enough to get them through the dark days to come?

Witch’s Brew originally grabbed my attention with the blurb and the plotline that combined the Salem Witch trials and intertwined them with the world’s history.  It appeared to be exactly the type of book I love, with fantasy, magic, and paranormal aspects.  I was just starting to understand what Saylym and Talon faced and sort through all the various characters, when the two villains began their plan. The graphically written abuse and extreme mental harm that was used by both, tore me out of the story and overshadowed Saylym and Talon for part of the book.  I appreciate and understand that the two villains needed to be shown as evil and it was a case of good verses evil, but again, I think that could have been done without throwing the reader out of the story.  Saylym and Talon did finally get their happy ending, for which I am glad. Unfortunately, it was not enough to ease the bitter taste and redeem Witch’s Brew for me.