The Ex-Hex by Erin Sterling

 

First off, a big thanks to HarperCollins and Avon for a copy of this book. I entered a giveaway and won! This was a fast read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially just a few days before Halloween. 

Vivienne Jones lives in the small Georgia town of Graves Glen with her Aunt Elaine and cousin Gwyn. They are all witches. Elaine and Gwyn even own and operate a "witchy" store that keeps them busy with tourists. They are all good witches, of course, and the most Vivienne has done with her magical ability is reheat her tea and set a spell on her student's papers to alert her to any that are plagiarized. She's a professor of history at Penhallow College, a unique place where magic is taught as well as normal college subjects. 

It's the anniversary of the founding of Graves Glen, and Rhys Penhallow of Wales has been ordered by his father to return to Graves Glen to recharge the ley lines that keep the magic flowing peacefully around town. It's also the place where, nine years before, Rhys met and has an intense summer of love with Vivienne. Upon returning to Wales, a broken hearted (and a little tipsy) Vivienne placed a curse on Rhys. 

As her Aunt always says, never mix witchcraft with vodka. 

Rhys returns, and it's one thing after another; near misses, close calls, you name it. For someone like Rhys who is a warlock and never has any issues, it's a bit strange. And when he takes Vivienne to help him recharge the ley lines, disaster strikes-the curse is let lose in the ley lines, traveling all the way to Graves Glen and starting up some crazy, weird off-kilter magic. 

Now it's up to Rhys and Vivienne to figure out how to reverse the curse before Halloween, or the town and possibly Rhys are doomed. 

Of course, through all of this, Rhys and Vivienne can't keep their hands off each other. If Rhys survives the curse reversal, will he return to Wales, breaking Vivienne's heart again?

This was a fun read, with characters I absolutely enjoyed. I'd love to return to Graves Glen for more stories. I kind of hate to say goodbye to this novel, because it just hit me at the right moment and I gobbled it up. I really, really hope Rhys' brothers have their own stories to tell, along with Gwyn and Elaine. 

4/6 for a delightful romance filled with magic, a curse gone very wrong, and a second chance at love. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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The Ex-Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

This was an excellent mix of thriller, history, antiquities, libraries, and action-adventure. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, after picking it up at the library on a whim. 

Carys Jones is a rare book authenticator who works for an auction house. She's worked on tracking down British Dark Age manuscripts for John Harper, a super rich man who has created a one of a kind library at his estate. 

Harper has been committed to an insane asylum because he's been hallucinating and insisting he's talking to a monk who was the personal holy man to the man known today at King Arthur.  Carys has been called in to look over the collection and to catalog it and prepare it for sale. Harper's son JJ is selling the library, along with the estate. 

Carys thinks she's just there to prepare the library for sale, but her meeting with Harper reveals something a bit too hard to believe: a rare manuscript written by a monk telling the true story of King Arthur, and his burial site. That site contains priceless treasures from the Dark Age, when Britain was under attack by Anglo Saxons and under constant siege. If this manuscript is the real deal, the world may finally know for sure that King Arthur was an actual person, not a myth. And it will contain treasures of a long lost age. 

Carys digs deeper and deeper, and soon finds herself being chased from Boston to Wales, where the manuscript leads her on a wild chase. There's so much to this story, I can't possibly tell you everything. It's pretty wild. Is Carys also falling prey to hallucinations, or is she really conversing with the long dead monk? Will the bad men chasing her, determined to kill to get the manuscript, succeed in tracking her down? Who can she trust? 

Oh, it's so good! I love novels that explore legends, ancient mysteries, and lost treasure. This novel is chock full of history and mystery, and I was enthralled. There were a few plot twists that gutted me, for sure. I was very invested in Carys' journey, and the supporting characters are such a part of the plot I had a few stressful moments in the thick of the action. Let's just say no one is safe in this adventure. The bad men are really bad, and will stop at nothing to succeed. 

I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who is a King Arthur fan or a  history buff. For sure I'd recommend it for fans of Clive Cussler, James Rollins, and Dan Brown. It's a solidly written tale that will keep you breathless. I hope hope hope there's a sequel, because there's room at the end for more adventures. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thrilling dive into the legend of King Arthur, set in contemporary Boston and Wales, where history could be rewritten if long lost secrets come to light. So good!  

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book. 

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The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

In the Light of What We See by Sarah Painter

I am lucky to have found another author who writes in a genre that is one of my favorites: magical reality.  Sarah Painter has written three novels, and I have them all on my Nook.  An opportunity to read and review this, her third book, had me hitting "Buy Now" to grab her first two: The Secret of Ghosts  and The Language of Spells (there is also a novella available as a 'prequel').  

This novel has two stories and two female characters living in different times, but bound by a place and a nagging sense of danger.  Grace, in 1938, has begun work as a nurse at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, England.  She has disgraced her family by getting pregnant.  Unfortunately for Grace, the pregnancy was a result of a rape by a family friend.  Telling her parents about the pregnancy sent her father into a rage against the humiliation his family faced having such a bad girl, and he kicked and punched her until she lost the baby.  With no happy life ahead of her staying with her family, she fled to Brighton for a second chance.  Quiet and reserved, she struggles to be a nurse in a place where long, difficult days on her feet exhaust her, and a fear of being dismissed keeps her on her toes.  

In present day, Mina works at the Royal Sussex Hospital as a radiologist.  She's not a terribly happy person, and is in a relationship with her boss, Mark,  but is trying to end it.  Mina ends up in the hospital as a patient after a bad car wreck.  She's had head injuries, a damaged knee, and burns on her leg.  She can't remember what happened, and Mark soon arrives, telling everyone he's her boyfriend.  Mina has a sense of uneasiness around him, but without her memory, is hard pressed to understand why.  

As Mina spends weeks in the hospital, she sees a nurse standing near her bed and soon realizes the nurse is not one of the nurses that work on the floor, but rather an apparition.  Who is the nurse, and why is she there?  What is she trying to tell Mina?

Grace struggles to feel at home as a nurse in the hospital, and shares a room with Evie, who is fun, flirty, and full of life.  Friendship is there, if only Grace will reach out.  Meanwhile, she is slowly becoming aware that Dr. Palmer has his eye on her, and he terrifies Grace with his demeanor; catching her alone, saying inappropriate things to her.  She doesn't know what to do, and is afraid history will repeat itself.  

Mina's memory slowly starts to come back, and flashes of memories with Mark and her estranged family have her questioning her life, and how the accident happened.  What connection does Grace and Mina have, and will it save Mina?

I enjoyed this novel very much.  Mina isn't a very nice person, but her time in the hospital begins to change her.  Not remembering who she was gives her an opportunity to become a Mina that is kinder, more thoughtful, and capable of sharing her feelings with others.  Grace is super reserved, and you can't blame her after being shunned by her family, and told over and over that she wasn't a good girl.  When all is said and done, this is a novel about women in dangerous relationships, and how sometimes others need to intercede before something horrible happens.  It's about women looking out for each other, and creating family out of those who care about us the most.  A ghostly nurse, apparitions of birds, and foreshadowing add a touch of magic to an entertaining tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Painter for a chance to read and review this novel.  

Available in paperback, e-book, and audio.

Rating:  7/10

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In the Light of What We See by Sarah Painter

Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley

Readers of my blog know I enjoy the novels of Susanna Kearsley.  I am so glad Sourcebook brought many of her out of print titles back into print!  She's been compared to Barbara Erskine (Lady of Hay is one of my ultimate favorite novels) and Mary Stewart--full of brooding men, myths and legends, and the haunting backdrops of England, Scotland, and Wales.  Contemporary with a twist of other-worldliness.  You know, the backbone to my reading life. 

Named of the Dragon is one of Susanna's earliest novels; it was first published in 1998.  A new cover and format has brought it back from out-of-print-land and into a bookstore near you.  I believe it will appeal to people who want a solid contemporary novel with a bit of history, legend, and Merlin.  Not a romance, not a thriller, but just an interesting tale to take you to Wales.  

Lyn Ravenshaw is an editor who has been talked into spending the Christmas holiday in Wales with her client Bridget, a popular children's book author.  Bridget is a fast talker and has a large appetite for food and for the attention of men.  She's also involved with the famous James Shaw, a writer who would be a big cap in Lyn's feather if she could snatch him away from his current agent.  Her continued nightmares of a crying child have haunted her since the death of her baby Justin five years before.  She agrees to accompany Bridget to Wales to get away from London and break away from the constant grind of sorrow.  

Arriving in Wales, she quickly makes friends with James and his brother Christopher.  Brooding playwright Gareth immediately suspects her of trying to sign him and their relationship is off to a mutual dislike.  And poor Lyn--the young Elen lives at Castle Farm, along with her baby boy Stevie.  Elen is convinced "the dragon" is out to take her son.  Is Elen crazy from grief at the loss of her husband, or is something weird happening at Castle Farm? 

And Lyn.  Oops.  Those nightmares haven't gone away.  Instead, now she dreams of a woman in blue, standing with a small boy, begging Lyn to help protect him before it's too late.  

What do Merlin, Wales, and a small boy have in common?  Just a few impressive Welsh legends.  Love them!  

The pace of this novel is slow; not a whole lot happens, and that's fine with me.  I liked reading about local legends, and the slow pace suits the character of Lyn just fine.  She's a work in progress, and can't be rushed.  Lush descriptions of ruined castles, rustic farms, and Christmas in Wales all make you slow down and enjoy the tale. I started this novel not realizing it was set during December so it's perfect for a Christmas read.  

Rating:  7/10 for a slow paced novel based on Welsh mythology with the added bonus of a likeable main character and a Christmas atmosphere.  Stir up the fire, make a pot of tea, and dig into this book!

Available in paperback e-book, and audio.

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Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

Oh Paula Brackston.  Ever since I read The Witch's Daughter a few years ago, I've eagerly awaited each of her novels.  I'm a bit behind, I do admit; but I have all of Paula's novels at home.  Paula manages to create a magical combination of history, witchery, Welsh mythology, pottery, and a bit of romance into a book that I couldn't put down.  In fact, I was lazy today and read all afternoon just because I couldn't wait to see what happened next in this novel.  

The Silver Witch is set in Wales.  Tilda has come home to live in the cottage she bought with her husband, Mat.  A tragic accident killed Mat on their way home from their honeymoon, and Tilda hasn't been able to live in what was to be their new home.  But she finally moves in, and is completely enchanted with the cottage, the view, and the seemingly potent atmosphere that surrounds her.  Tilda is a potter, and she hopes for inspiration after a year of grief and a lack of creativity.  

What Tilda gets is a cottage that keeps losing electricity, a mysterious lake that calls to her, and a growing knowledge that the area has awoken something magical inside her. Does this magic have a connection to Seren, the young witch and shaman who lived by the lake centuries ago?  

An archaeology site has sprung up near the lake, and it could be an exciting find:  there's a grave where there shouldn't be one, and it looks to be very, very old.  There's also the island set in the lake, that dates from 918 AD; it is the only man-made island in Wales.  What to they all have to do with Tilda in 2014?  Dark things are stirring, the legend of the sea horse in the lake persists, and Tilda may be the key to a centuries old curse that is coming to fruition.  

This is a back and forth novel between Tilda in present day, and Seren, Tilda's look-alike in 918 AD.  We see the ancient history of the area and the power in Seren to see visions and use the magic of the ancient Celts to protect Prince Brynach and his people on the island.  But trouble brews here, too.  Can Seren convince Prince Brynach her visions are true and danger is closing in on him?  

I grabbed this book off of one of my piles at home and I'm so glad I did!  I was sucked in pretty fast.  The setting is gorgeous, the mythology and Celtic magic will send you to the mythology section of your library or bookstore,  and the stories of Tilda and Seren will leave you wanting more Paula Brackston!

This has earned a spot in my top reads of 2015.  

Rating:  8/10 for a beautiful setting, an interesting historical background, and strong female characters.  A pinch of this, a pinch of that, all to make a wonderfully blended cocktail of a story.

Available in hardcover and e-book.

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The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston