Four Leaf Clover

Clove has a wonderful life; she is in love and enjoying all the good things life is throwing at her. While working in her shop one day a stranger drops by, after a brief discussion the stranger gives Clove a lucky coin.

Not thinking anything of it other than a nice gesture, she deposits the coin in a pocket and carries on with her day.  It doesn’t take long for her to begin to believe in the power of the lucky coin. She feels as if nothing can go wrong as long as she has the coin in her possession. When a storm blows in and sweeps her off a dock into the water, she thinks it will be her last moments on earth. Pressing her hand against her leg, she feels the coin wishing her boyfriend would come to save her. Suddenly, Sam appears out of nowhere, reaches down, and pulls her from the water.

Clove knows her luck has changed and begins thinking of ways she can use the lucky coin without getting hurt or hurting anyone else. Unfortunately, Aunt Tillie finds out about the coin and demands Clove turn it over to her. Clove refuses, likening the coin to the “Precious” in the Lord of the Rings stories.

After several reports of an armed robber running around town, and Clove having accidentally on purpose bumped into the culprit, the family decides they have to catch the thief before someone gets hurt. Is the robber local, or a stranger just passing through? Why does Clove get a distinct feeling that she knows who it is?

---

Series: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short
Author: Amanda M. Lee
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Publisher: WinchesterShaw Publications

Rating:

Clove is a lot like her cousins, yet she is a bit more stable than the other two. Her aversion to getting involved in anything that might get nasty or dangerous is understandable, but her need to be in on the action will always overrule her logic. Having run into an armed robber and almost getting hurt saved only by her lucky coin, Clove goes along with her cousins, and plots to lay a trap to catch the thief.

Clove is not happy about trying to nab the thief in the middle of her Aunt Tillie’s “special” field, but as usual, she goes along with the plan and hopes no one gets hurt. She becomes even less happy when Aunt Tillie shows up with a loaded gun, and Thistle and bay let her keep it.

This short gives us an inside look into the least known Winchester cousin, Clove and adds to her overall character. The dialogue is humorous and easily relatable. The banter between the cousins, as well as all of the cast of characters, is interesting and lively. This story is a short but felt like it could easily have become another book in the series. The setting is fun and filled with possibilities. The story is smooth and fast-paced without being mired down in descriptiveness that is unnecessary.

The Winchester Witches are very much your ordinary family with the twist of being witches added. They laugh, play, fight and get on each other’s nerves, just like any close family will. Exceptions, however, come up whenever one of them is in trouble, or in need of genuine support. They would go to the ends of the earth and beyond to help someone they love. A  bit hidden at times but always on the edge of the inevitable mischief and mayhem, they care for each other and are willing to sacrifice anything to help when trouble brews. All of the characters are aggravating to one degree or another, intelligent, gifted, egotistical and at the center of it all, loving. They are the relatives we love to hate and will defend to the end.

It would be advisable for anyone who wants to read this short to start with the original books in the series. These are not stand-alone books or shorts, and if this is the first story a reader picks up, they will be confused and frustrated by not knowing the characters or the circumstance surrounding the situations they get dragged into.  However, that said, this short, much like the others in the series was enjoyable and easy to read.