Dark Witch

                                           


5 stars





Dark Witch by Nora Roberts is Book One of the ‘Cousins O’Dwyer’ trilogy and introduces Iona Sheehan as she undertakes a radical change in her life and travels to Ireland and encounters a entirely new world.  Iona meets her cousins, Branna and Connor O’Dwyer and discovers that the legend of Sorcha and Daithi and their three children Brannaugh, Eamon and Teagan, lives on in the three of them and they still need to overcome the evil Cabhan.  Fortunately, they will be aided in their struggle by the O’Dwyers’ longtime companions Boyle McGrath, Fin Burke and Meara Quinn, who all have their strengths and weaknesses.  Iona discovers that not only will she learn to stretch her boundaries to learn about using magick but she will have to teach Boyle to reach out of his comfort zone and explore a different kind of magic with her.

A mystical start to an enchanting series, this introduction to the O’Dwyer siblings and their cousin epitomizes the remarkable ability of this author to create a vivid and atmospheric tale.  The inclusion of the animal talismans adds a nice depth to the story for me as I particularly enjoyed seeing the evolution of Iona’s relationship with the stallion Alastar, not to mention watching the taciturn Boyle deal with the upheaval brought to his life by the vivacious American who turns his world upside down.  There are so many examples in this story of the delightful word portraits that convey volumes of information with just a few sentences.  I chuckled for quite some time after reading the description of three manly men stepping back when Iona invited them to go with her on her first trip as a driver in Ireland as they watch the car as it “lurched forward three times.  Fit, start, fit, start, fit, start, then zipped down the road weaving like the cloth loop on a potholder loom.”  One can just see that.  And then the description of the hurt that Iona feels, “But she didn’t move to pour it for herself as she’d done before.  He’d done that, he knew, made her feel a guest again.”  Sigh.  One immediately becomes invested with all of these characters and their struggle against the evil that seeks to destroy them and the wondrous magic that is employed in the fight.  I will be impatiently waiting for more adventures involving these charismatic people and their magical lives.

© Night Owl Reviews
I received a copy of this title in return for an honest review.


Dark Witch (Amazon link)