Wild & Hexy

Table of Contents

‘‘A snappy, funny, romantic novel.’’

—
New York Times
bestselling author Carly Phillips

‘‘Filled with laughs, this is a charmer of a book.’’

—The Eternal Night

‘‘The same trademark blend of comedy and heart that won Thompson’s Nerd series a loyal following.’’

—
Publishers Weekly

‘‘Thompson mixes magic, small-town quirkiness, and passionate sex for a winsome effect.’’ —
Booklist

‘‘A warm and funny novel . . . you find yourself cheering. I would definitely recommend it.’’

—The Road to Romance

‘‘This novel was brilliant. I laughed until I cried, and it was a very fast read for me. This genre is the beginning of a new series for Thompson, and if this novel is any indication of the following books, then Thompson has hit the jackpot.’’

—Romance Readers at Heart

‘‘Vicki Lewis Thompson has a true flair for humor. Pick up
Over Hexed
and be prepared to be amused, delighted, and satisfied as Vicki Lewis Thompson takes you on an unforgettable ride.’’ —Single Titles

‘‘Vicki Lewis Thompson sure delivers with
Over Hexed
. . . . A lighthearted tale that won’t soon be forgotten." —Fallen Angel Reviews

‘‘With her wonderful talent of lighthearted humor, Vicki Lewis Thompson pens an enchanting tale for her amorous characters, steeping it in magic and enough passion to scorch the pages.’’ —Darque Reviews

‘‘Vicki Lewis Thompson has created another romance blended with humor to make you beg for more.’’

—Once Upon a Romance Reviews

‘‘Count on Vicki Lewis Thompson for a sharp, sassy, sexy read. Stranded on a desert island? I hope you’ve got this book in your beach bag.’’

—Jayne Ann Krentz

‘‘Wildly sexy . . . a full complement of oddball characters . . . sparkles with sassy humor.’’

—
Library Journal

‘‘A riotous cast of colorful characters. . . . Fills the pages with hilarious situations and hot, creative sex.’’

—
Booklist

‘‘Smart, spunky, and delightfully over-the-top.’’

‘‘[A] lighthearted and frisky tale of discovery between two engaging people.’’ —
The Oakland Press
(MI)

‘‘Delightfully eccentric . . . humor, mystical ingredients, and plenty of fun . . . a winning tale.’’

—The Best Reviews

‘‘A funny and thrilling ride!’’

—Romance Reviews Today

"A hilarious romp." —Romance Junkies

"Extremely sexy . . . over-the-top . . . sparkling.’’

—
Rendezvous

‘‘A whole new dimension in laughter. A big . . .
Bravo!
’’ —A Romance Review

ONYX
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124,
Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi - 110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, June 2008

Copyright © Vicki Lewis Thompson, 2008

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

No author is an island, or even a small continent. I wouldn’t be able to function without my valuable people connections. That’s especially true of my daughter and assistant, Audrey Sharpe. I’ve also enjoyed wonderful support from everyone at New American Library, especially Claire Zion, Hilary Dowling, and Elizabeth Tabor. My professional life would truly suffer without agents Robert Gottlieb and Jenny Bent. Thank you all for making me look good!

Prologue

"I had a chat with our lake monster this morning." Dorcas Lowell gazed at her companions from behind her black marble desk. How she enjoyed dropping bombshells during Monday staff meetings.

Her husband, Ambrose, and her assistant, Maggie Madigan, looked gratifyingly shocked. Sabrina, the black cat curled in Ambrose’s lap, sat upright and blinked, which was as shocked as Sabrina ever allowed herself to be.

Ambrose recovered first, and he was furious. ‘‘Look, we agreed you wouldn’t—’’

‘‘The lake monster speaks English?’’ Maggie leaned forward in her chair.

‘‘Who cares?’’ As Ambrose stood, Sabrina leaped onto the polished desk. ‘‘You should never have gone there alone. Anything could have—’’

‘‘But nothing did.’’ Dorcas stroked Sabrina and smiled at her husband. He was so cute when he was mad. He would never have approved of her going to see the lake monster alone, but she’d known instinctively that was the way to approach the problem.

Ambrose glowered at her. ‘‘You might have been killed.’’

‘‘Nonsense.’’ Dorcas gently extricated her notes from underneath Sabrina’s paws. ‘‘Would you like to hear my report?’’

Ambrose sat down with a martyred sigh. ‘‘Might as well, considering you risked your life to get it.’’

‘‘I did nothing of the kind.’’ Dorcas put on her jeweled reading glasses and consulted what she’d written. ‘‘In a nutshell, Dee-Dee is lonely.’’

‘‘Hold on, Dorcas.’’ Ambrose obviously still had his snit going. ‘‘Matchmaking for humans is one thing, but we’re
not
matchmaking for a lake monster. End of story.’’

‘‘Why not?’’ Maggie’s voice quivered with anticipation. ‘‘Couldn’t you bring a mate to the lake?’’

‘‘Ye gods.’’ Ambrose glared at his wife. ‘‘Please don’t tell me you’re considering that.’’

‘‘No, sweetie, I’m not.’’

Maggie made a sound of protest. ‘‘But—’’

‘‘Sorry, Maggie. It’s out of the question.’’ Dorcas turned to her with a tolerant smile. From the moment Maggie had discovered that Dorcas and Ambrose had magical powers, she’d acted like a kid with a new Xbox. When she’d moved here from Houston to get married, she’d immediately asked to work for them in their matchmaking business. A nonmagical person such as Maggie usually thought that witches and wizards could do anything.

‘‘I don’t understand the problem, Dorcas,’’ Maggie said.

‘‘Transporting a grown male lake monster here would take more powerful magic than Ambrose and I could manufacture by ourselves.’’

Ambrose snorted. ‘‘You think?’’

‘‘But you guys have connections. The Grand High Wizard was just here this weekend. I’ll bet he—’’

‘‘He wouldn’t do it,’’ Dorcas said. ‘‘For one thing, it violates the original contract made with Dee-Dee when she arrived here, which says she’s not to have any contact with people, magical or non. Cecil would never approve.’’

‘‘But you’ve already had contact,’’ Maggie pointed out.

‘‘Which I hope Cecil never discovers, but I happen to think this needs solving. Unfortunately, bringing in a mate couldn’t be done without somebody noticing. Imagine a creature the size of the Goodyear blimp cruising over our unsuspecting neighbors. You don’t see that so much here in Big Knob, Indiana. The residents would get hysterical.’’

‘‘And then we’d have a monster hunt on our hands,’’ Ambrose added. ‘‘Once they’re alerted to strange creatures in the area, they could easily find George. The only reason they haven’t discovered that a dragon lives in the forest at the edge of town is because it never occurred to them there was one there.’’

Maggie nodded. ‘‘I see your point. I don’t want to endanger George.’’

‘‘Neither do I,’’ Dorcas said, although most of the time she longed to give that silly dragon a kick in the patoot. If he’d paid more attention to his duties as the Guardian of Whispering Forest, she and Ambrose would be off the job and headed home to Sedona by now. Instead, by order of the Grand High Wizard, they were stuck in this one-dragon town until George earned his golden scales. They’d already waited months for that, and there was no end in sight.