The Lazy Witch's Guide to Vampires & Villainy

By: Jessica Gadziala

Narrated by: Savannah Thomas, Patrick Zeller

Roxanne Caulderone is not a witch who enjoys adventure.

She's perfectly happy curling up on her couch, munching on snacks, binge-watching her favorite shows, and fostering a borderline problematic online shopping addiction while letting her spell vending machine do all the work for her.

That is until a handsome, brooding vampire tricks his way into her life.

Kidnapped and then offered a deal she can't refuse, she finds herself dragged into a dangerous labyrinth filled with ancient challenges and deadly traps meant to keep her from reaching the center—where she can find the cure to Nathaniel's curse.

As they venture deeper into the spelled maze, they start to wonder if the biggest challenge isn't the labyrinth itself but the growing connection between them that threatens to make Roxy second-guess everything she thought she knew about herself and Nathaniel reconsider everything he thought he wanted…

This is a cozy (not too dark) paranormal romance with fun magic, a slow burn with steam, and a HEA.

©2024 Jessica Gadziala (P)2025 Podium Audio

Lazy Witch + Old Vampire

This is very much opposites attract. Roxy is the laziest witch, and Nathaniel is a refined vampire who's lived for centuries.

Roxy accidentally invites Nathaniel into her home, thinking he's the delivery man. This was a funny and sweet novella that doesn't only have to be read during the spooky season.

Meh.....not what I hoped for

I kept listening, hoping for the story to develop further. It never did. And then It was over. Like the author didnt want to bother with It anymore. Don't waste your credit.

Good read

The storyline was pretty good, it definitely caught my attention. I totally enjoyed the hero/heroine banter and the labyrinth scenes, but the writing was not great. I don't believe this is one of the author's early writings, so I'm not sure why avid readers were not bothered by the too much narrative and too little dialogue issue. To make that issue even worse the narrative was a lot of "blah blah blah". My final thought is, well written dialogue does not need excessive Dialogue Tags. Except for the last chapter the book was extremely loaded with them. I did finish the story just to see how our hero ended up, so I have to say it was a 3 stars good read.

I'm glad I got the audio because both the narrators performed well. But, that's probably why the dialogue tags were so obvious.

The story is more lifeless than the vampire

Other than a cameo by random, unnamed characters in the beginning and end, the rest of this 5 hr novella is just Roxanne and Nathaniel wandering through a magical maze. Without any antagonists, magical beasts, or supporting characters, this story depended entirely upon the MC’s personalities. This was unfortunate, given than Roxanne was, as advertised, a lazy couch potato and Nathaniel was the dullest gentleman vampire who never used his vampire powers.

The pointless, lackluster quest queued up a smattering of open door sex scenes devoid of chemistry. Then, poof, they’re in love and he adores that she’s a lazy couch potato. Really?! (Throws earbuds across the room, mad at wasting five hours)