Author: Paula Brackston
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 29, 2013
Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Adult Fic.
Pages: 340
Buy: The Book Depository
Book Description: Fledgling witch Morgana must defend her love, her home, and her life in this enthralling tale perfect for fans ofDiscovery of Witches
In her small Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She has never spoken, and her silence as well as the magic she can’t quite control make her a mystery. Concerned for her safety, her mother quickly arranges a marriage with Cai Bevan, the widower from the far hills who knows nothing of the rumours that swirl around her. After their wedding, Morgana is heartbroken at leaving, but she soon falls in love with Cai’s farm and the rugged mountains that surround it, while slowly Cai himself begins to win her heart. It’s not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there—a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her love, and herself from all comers, Morgana must learn to harness her power, or she will lose everything.
ARC won though The Reading Room in return for an honest review.
This was one of those instant want to reads. The cover and the name of the title had me signing up for the giveaway without even reading the description (which is not something I do all too much). I was very intrigued about figuring out the reason behind Morgana’s muteness. Well I found out soon enough, that her not being able to talk really wasn’t too important to the story. And not important to who Morgana was. I really loved Morgana’s character. She was head strong and willful and had her own mind. She didn’t let people’s judgement of her muteness (which most assumed meant she was also slow and dumb) get to her. I loved how she interacted with the world and with the animals mostly.
I also loved Mrs. Jones (the housekeeper). She was the type of person that would have none of your crap. There was no escaping the friendly and willful eye of Mrs. Jones. Cai Jenkins, on the other hand, annoyed me various times. Mostly because it I felt that he was a bit slow on the uptake. So needless to say this book made me connect with the characters and the story, which I think is an aspect of a good book.
The plot wasn’t as adventurous as I had expected but even some of the small scenes had me gasping in shock or horror. The last few pages was where the real action came in and I think Brackston did a wonderful job of writing it out.
My only issue with this book is that it was written in present tense. I’m not a big fan of that type of writing and I don’t see it often, so some sentences sounded weird when I tried reading them. There were also a few types and grammatical errors, but I’m assuming those will be gone in the published copy. I also just noticed there was a last minute name change because on my copy and in the Goodreads book description it says Cai Bevan, but it was changed to Cai Jenkins. All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, even if it took me longer than I was expecting.
My Rating: ★★★★