The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

 

Do you like when books combine two holiday seasons?  I do, it gives me a Nightmare Before Christmas Vibe.

Bowen Penhallow prefers to live life alone on a mountain in Wales studying ancient magic.  He ventures out to meet Tamsyn Bligh.  Tamsyn is not a witch, but she does procure magical items for witches.  She becomes exclusive to helping Bowen procure items.  She does decide to do one last private job on her own where she will make a lot of cash.  While on this job, she meets Bowen at a wedding that they are both crashing for different reasons. Will they be able to help each other with their projects?  Will sparks fly?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This is the third novel in the Ex Hex series.  I have enjoyed this entire series.  It is a lighthearted and fun series that is great for the Halloween season.  I hope this series continues!

·       This novel was a steamy romance.

·       I really liked the time travel elements of the story.  Bowen meets his grandparents right before their wedding.

·       The story got a bit slow for me in the middle, but then it picked up again and held my attention to the end.

·       It was set a Christmas, so it was both a Christmas and a Halloween read.

·       I loved how Bown and Tamsyn had an opposites attract story.  Bowen is grumpy and Tamsyn is all sunshine.  They had good banter.

·       In the 1950’s storyline, the child Emerald is a hoot.  She is always catching the two of them at awkward times, and she knows that they are up to something.

·       I enjoyed that the author tried something different in this world to keep the story interesting.

Overall, The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling was an enjoyable, fun story with great romance, time travel, and fun banter.  It is perfect for both the Halloween and the Christmas seasons.

Book Source:  Review copy from NetGalley. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo

 

Title: The Witches of El Paso

Author:  Luis Jaramillo

Narrated by:  Raquel Beattie

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

Do you like to read books for the Halloween season?  If so, what are your favorites?

The Witches of El Paso is a brand-new book that was just published in October.  It features a family that can travel through time with their inherited magic.  Nena is a teenager in 1943 El Paso, Texas.  She takes care of her sisters’ children, but she longs for her own life and adventure.  She prays for help and the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives in response.  She then travels back in time to 1792 where her gift of “La Vista” is calling her.  There she lives in a convent until the day that a mysterious illness kills many and she is sent to care for a sick family member of one of the nuns and her life is changed forever.    

In the present day, Marta is a civil rights attorney living in El Paso with her husband and children.  She helps her old aunt Nena on her quest to find her missing child.  Marta also finds her own “La Vista” along the way.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a multigenerational family drama, and I greatly enjoyed it.

·       I loved the magical realism of the story.  There wasn’t too much magic, but I did enjoy how both Marta and Nena found themselves and their magic.

·       I enjoyed the glimpse into Hispanic culture and the history of El Paso.

·       I really enjoyed Nena’s time in the convent in the 1700’s.  The history and day to day life was fascinating to me. 

·       I also enjoyed Marta.  As a mother, wife, and attorney, she feels herself pulled in many directions. She also cares for Nena and through Nena, Marta is finally able to find her authentic self. 

·       It was also interesting comparing the life of a woman in the 1700s, 1940s, and current day.

·       Raquel Beattie was an excellent narrator and made the story very enjoyable.

Overall, The Witches of El Paso was an interesting magical realism, family drama, and time slip novel that was perfect fall reading.

 

The House by the Cemetery by Lisa Childs

 

What do you think about cemeteries?  Peaceful or scary?  I think they are peaceful, but I know that they scare a lot of people.

River Gold has returned to her hometown of Gold Creek Michigan at the death of her father, Gregory Gold.  Gregory Gold was an entrepreneur funeral home owner.  His original funeral home was in Gold Creek, but he has started a chain of funeral homes across the country that has brought him great wealth.  Gregory was also extremely vain and a womanizer. River’s mother, Fiona, is his last and current wife.  His first two wives still live in the family compound. When River was a pregnant teen, she escaped from Gold Creek and carved a life out for herself in California with her daughter Sarah, and Grandma, Mabel.  She has always wondered what happened to her high school love and Sarah’s father, Michael.  Why didn’t he meet her when she was going to leave town?  Michael’s brother, Luke, is now the Sheriff and is investing Gregory’s death as a murder.  Who murdered Gregory and why? 

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a perfect read for this time of year.  It had just the right amount of suspense, spookiness, and romance.

·       This was the type of novel where there were many in the family who wanted to kill Gregory for good reason.  I did not guess the killer in this one. 

·       I loved the cover and use of purple.

·       I especially liked that there was a family tree at the beginning of the novel.  I made use of it often as I got to know the characters.

·       There was one mystery I kept wondering about throughout the novel that got a semi-conclusion in the epilogue.  I hope there is a book two to flesh out this story more.

·       This was a quick read, which I loved in this busy time of year.

·       The story was told through multiple narrators including the killer at times.  I could have done without the killer’s thoughts.

·       I enjoyed the family drama and especially liked River, Luke, and Sarah.

Overall, this was an enjoyable light spooky mystery suspense novel that was perfect for the Halloween season.

Book Source:  Review copy from Kensington Books. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah

 

Do you like pumpkin flavored food or drink items?  What is your favorite?  I love pumpkin flavored baked goods such as pumpkin bread.

Lindsey owns a bakeshop in an old lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan in the small town of Beacon Harbor, Michigan.  The lighthouse is rumored to be haunted and local teens have tried to break in near Halloween to see it for themselves.  Lindsey’s best friend Kennedy has arranged for the Ghost Guys to do a livestream podcast as they look for supernatural beings in the lighthouse.  Unfortunately, they instead found a dead body on a tree outside still dressed in a costume from the local pumpkin pageant.  Who murdered them and why?

I enjoyed this cozy mystery.  It is the fourth book in the A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, but the first book that I have read in the series.  It worked well as a standalone novel.  I enjoyed how the start of the novel set up the scene, introduced the characters, and then after the murder, Lindsey and her friends investigated and started to piece together what was happening.  The ending was very good and I had not guessed the murderer.  After the novel ended, there many tasty looking pumpkin recipes that I want to try out.  I loved the autumnal setting of this book and I really liked it being set in a small town on Lake Michigan.  I live in a small town on Lake Michigan, but on the Wisconsin side.  I need to read the rest of the books in this series!

Book Source:  Review copy from NetGalley and Kensington Books. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Hallowe’en Party

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 27 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

Do you like Halloween parties?  If so, do you dress up in a costume for a Halloween Party?

In Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie, a Halloween party for teenagers ends in the murder of Joyce, a young thirteen-year-old who stated at the party that she had witnessed a murder, but didn’t know it at the time.  Ariadne Oliver gets her friend, Detective Hercule Poirot to help to investigate the murder.  Who is the murderer and why did they commit this horrific crime?

I enjoyed how the action picked up in this novel once Poirot was on the scene and I was surprised by the ending as usual.  I didn’t like how Christie seemed to be trying to make the story modern by throwing in some modern slang and making the children seem wild and promiscuous.  I know it was 1969, but the way some of the twelve-year olds and their behavior were described at the party seemed like it should have been a party for seventeen-year-olds.  This story just seemed off and was not one of my favorites.  It may be because it was one of her later stories.

I read Hallowe’en Party as both my #ReadChristie2023 October selection and as part of the read along with #deesreads.  I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on the story.  I enjoyed reading it for the first time and feel ready to watch A Haunting in Venice, the new Hercule Poirot movie that is partly based on this novel.

Hugh Fraser was a great narrator.  I enjoyed how he was able to change his voice to be the distinct voice of all of the characters including children and even someone with a Scottish accent.  It was an enjoyable cozy mystery to listen to in an audiobook!

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Are you reading any books for the Halloween season?  I was happy to recently read The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub.  It combined two of my favorite things – Halloween and Pride and Prejudice.

Lydia Bennet is the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter.  She has powers that are not shared by the rest of her family, except for her Aunt Phillips who is able to guide her as she grows into a young witch.  This novel tells Lydia’s background and then retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from her point of view. 

I thought this novel was very fun.  I loved that it was told from Lydia’s first-person narration through a manuscript she is writing to Lizzy to explain everything.  It is very funny and in character for Lydia. I was delighted to find out that Kitty Bennet is actually a cat and George Wickham, is literally a handsome devil or demon.  To me, it seemed like the entire novel was really about the love that Lydia had for her best friend and sister, Kitty, and the sacrifices that Lydia made to ensure her happiness.  Taub really captures Lydia’s voice.  A few of my favorite quotes:

“I suppose if this were a proper book, I’d begin it something like, ‘Miss Lydia Bennet, youngest of five daughters to a father hopefully entailed, had few advantages in life, but not too few to squander.’”

“La!  Imagine what Lizzy would do if she knew I made that spot on her chin pop back out whenever she vexed me.”

“This is the part, I suppose, where the novel would wrap up with a tidy boring moral, so I will say this: Love your best friends.  Forgive your worst friends.  Remember, always, not to judge people too hastily, for everyone is living out the story of their own, and you only get to read the pages you appear on.”

I was delighted to find out in the author’s note that she used real history, myths, and folklore for the novel.  I also loved that Miss Lamb from Sanditon is a character in this novel.  I always find her an interesting character and love her addition to the story. 

I laughed out loud when I read the first line of the acknowledgements, “Guys, I did so much damn research for this book.  I could write a 10-page bibliography.”

Overall, I thought this was an inventive, unique, and fun retelling of Pride and Prejudice perfect for reading during the Halloween season.

Book Source:  Review copy from Grand Central Publishing as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch

·       Author: Melinda Taub

·       Genre: Historical Fantasy, Austenesque Fiction

·       Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 3, 2023)

·       Length: (400) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, eBook, & Audiobook 

·       ISBN: ‎978-1538739204

·       Tour Dates: September 25 – October 9, 2023

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A "wildly inventive and utterly addictive" (Julia Quinn) witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.

In this exuberant retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves, Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.

But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat; Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would one expect from a demon? And if Mr. Darcy is uptight about etiquette, that’s nothing compared to his feelings about magic. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that for a witch, promises have power . . .

Full of enchantment, intrigue, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice—while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister.

 

PRAISE FOR THE SCANDALOUS CONFESSIONS OF LYDIA BENNET, WITCH

• “Funny and fierce as Lydia Bennet herself, this book mixes witchcraft lore with Austen’s story to make its own unique magic. I’ll never look at Kitty the same way again…” ―Claudia Gray, author of The Murder of Mr. Wickham, a Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mystery
• “Taub’s wit and creativity shines through. . . A delight for both Austen lovers and fans of magical adventure stories.” ―Kirkus Reviews

·       “Wildly inventive and utterly addictive. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm now 100% Team Lydia.” ―Julia Quinn

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | BOOKBUB |    GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Melinda Taub is an Emmy and Writers’ Guild Award-winning writer. The former head writer and executive producer of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, she is also the author of Still Star-Crossed, a young adult novel which was adapted for television by Shondaland. (She also wrote that thing about the Baroness in The Sound of Music that your aunt likes.) She lives in Brooklyn.

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | X (formerly known as Twitter) | GOODREADS

When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke

 

Title:  When Life Gives You Vampires

Author:  Gloria Duke

Narrated by: Meg Sylvan

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 54 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Netgalley and Dreamscape Media.  Thank-you!

 What is your favorite vampire story, book, or movie?

 Lily Baines wakes up one morning feeling off.  She soon discovers she has fangs and a craving for blood.  When she talks through things with her best friend, she regains her memories and realizes that after she left with a hot stranger, Tristan, that he accidentally turned her into a vampire.  She is not happy with the situation, but after he turns up and tells her that they broke vampire law, they team up to stay safe.  As their feelings for each other grow, will they find romance, and will they be able to beat Tristan’s mortal enemy?

 I enjoyed this novel, but it’s hard to describe.  It’s a fun and humorous paranormal romance with some steamy parts.  It’s also an adventure at the end as well.   I found myself laughing a lot during this book.  Lily has problems with body positivity as she is overweight, and her mother makes sure she doesn’t forget it.  When she realizes that she will always now remain overweight for eternity it crushes her.  In the book she has to learn about feeling positive about herself and also realizing that she herself has also shamed someone else for their body.  I thought it was an interesting angle.  I also just liked the silly parts such as Lily being glad that she shaved her legs so that her legs will remain hairless for all time.  Her thoughts as she navigates now being a vampire seemed real for how someone would think about such things.  I thought it was entertaining.  I also loved the pop culture references.  Lily does swear quite a bit in this book.

 Meg Sylvan had a fun voice for Lily in the book and I thought of her as the character. 

 

Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch

 

Title:  Spells for Lost Things

Author:  Jenna Evans Welch

Narrated by:  Renee Dorian, Ali Andre Ali

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 15 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank you @BookClubFavorites #BookClubFavorites for the free book.

 If you had a spell that could do anything you wish, what would that spell be for?  I think my spell would be for an automatically clean house.  No more laundry or cleaning for me! 

 Willow and Mason are two teenagers who find each other and themselves in this compelling young adult novel.  Willow’s mother is always busy with her business.  After her parents’ divorce, Willow has felt disconnected with her mother.  She dreams of traveling the world.  She is surprised one day when her mother announces that her twin sister had died and they are going on a trip.  Willow had never heard of this aunt.  When they travel back to Salem to finish up her Aunt’s affairs, Willow finds even more secrets about her family.  Why has her mother never told her that their family is from Salem and that they are a family of witches?

 Mason is in foster care and all he wants is to find his mother and be a family again.  When his mother’s high school friend Emma and her family agree to become his foster parents in Salem, Mason has a new opportunity.  He learns more about his mother from Emma.  He starts to become fond of his foster family, but he yearns to reunite with his mother.  When he meets Willow, he gets caught up in helping her figure out her family secrets through a series of secret letters that they find.  But will a spell for lost things bring back the thing he wants most of all? 

 Spells for Lost Things was ultimately about relationships.  As a mother, this audiobook brought tears to my eyes.  Mason’s search for his mother, and her inability to give up drugs to be his mother, was heartbreaking.  I love Mason’s relationship with Emma and her family and with Willow.  I also liked the exploration of Willow’s relationship with her Mom.  She learned a lot about her, and they worked to mend their own relationship. I enjoyed the sweet romance between Willow and Mason as well.

 A secondary star to this novel was the setting of Salem.  It made me want to visit and go on some of the tours.  I also liked Willow’s eccentric Aunts.  There is brief magic in the book as Willow learns the history of her family. 

 The chapters were narrated by either Willow or Mason.  I liked that there were two narrators so that each was the voice of one of the characters.  They did a great job narrating.

Haunted Tales Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger

 

Do you have a favorite ghost story, book, movie, or character?  I used to love Caspar the friendly ghost when I was growing up.  We are currently watching the show Ghosts on Paramount Plus.  My favorite ghost story is probably the Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

I was happy to be able to review Haunted Tales, Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It is a perfect book for the season.  It is a great collection of “classic stories of ghosts and the supernatural.”  The book starts with an interesting introduction by editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger.  It discusses how the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century also brought about mass murder.  The Napoleonic wars killed more than four million people.  Those left behind were looking for new ways to communicate with their loved ones.  Ghost stories became a popular genre.  They were found in popular magazines and were especially popular at Christmas time, for example the spirits in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They were published all year round though and not just for holidays.

I loved how this anthology included stories from well-known authors such as Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf, but I loved even more that it included stories from authors that were popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth century but aren’t as well read now.  At the start of each story, there was a biography of the author. I like the biographies as much as the stories.  There were great footnotes throughout the stories to fill in the historical references. 

I found the stories to be fascinating and spooky.  They gave gothic vibes which would thrill Catherine Morland from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.  All of these stories were new to me, and I was happy to finally read “The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde”.  I have to admit, “The Canterville Ghost” was my absolute favorite story in this collection.  It was both hilarious and heartwarming.  It was also beautifully written.  The Canterville Ghost is pretty proud of all of his shenanigans through the years, but when an American Minister and his family move into the estate, he can’t seem to scare them.  Worse still, the young twin sons start to terrify the ghost.  It is the daughter of the family though who really figures out the mystery of the Canterville Ghost.  I thought “They” by Rudyard Kipling was a poignant story especially knowing from the bio at the start of the story that he had lost his own young child. 

I also enjoyed the Gothic splendor of “The Cold Embrace” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.  “He was an artist – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to artists.  He was a German – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to Germans.  He was young, handsome, studious, enthusiastic, metaphysical, reckless, unbelieving, heartless.  And being young, handsome and eloquent, he was beloved.”  He loves his cousin Gertrude, and she loves him.  They promise to devote each other until death, but while his love strays, Gertrude’s remains even after death. 

One last story call out was “M. Anastasius” by Dinah Mulock.  Charles Dickens himself thought it was the best ghost story ever written.  I enjoyed it.  It was also Gothic and haunting about two young lovers that are haunted by the ghost of the young woman’s guardian who was lost at sea. 

I loved in the notes for “The Canterville Ghost” that it discussed that the phrase in this story “England and America are two countries divided a common language” was first seen in this story although it is commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw.  I had just seen this elsewhere lately attributed to Shaw and I thought this was interesting information.

I highly recommend this collection for lovers of all spooky tales!

Review Copy from Pegasus Books.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling

 

Do you have any sequels you are looking forward to?

I loved the Ex Hex last year and was excited to see the follow-up novel, The Kiss Curse was being published this year. 

Gwen Jones lives in Graves Glen Georgia and runs a store that sells witchy items to tourists with her mom and cousin, Vivi.  She has a wonderful talking cat named Sir Purrcival and has started to help and tutor some “baby witches” from the local college.  Gwen’s life changes when Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow moves to town from Wales and sets up a competing store.  Gwen had a run in with Wells in college and has always considered him handsome, but snooty.  Now that he is in town, will the two kill each other in their rivalry or will something else develop?    Why do Gwen’s powers seem to be decreasing and what does her old college acquaintance, Morgan, arriving back in town have to do with it?

This book is light hearted magical fun in the vein of Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, or Bewitched.  It really is a good book for the Halloween season.  The romance is the enemies to lovers trope, which is one of my favorites.  The spice in this book is hot.  I liked that the book focused mostly on their relationship, but I did like the comedy provided by the baby witches and Sir Purrcival.  Wells’s hairy brother Browen also made an appearance and I’m hoping that means he will get his own book next year.  The book ends with excitement and some action due to the mystery of Morgan and Gwen’s disappearing powers which led to a good ending.  I enjoyed this one!

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Imogen Hermes Gowar

 

What is your favorite ghost story, novel, or movie?

 The Haunting Season was the perfect book to read over Halloween weekend.  I meant to post this review last weekend, but the weekend got away from me!

 The Haunting Season is “eight ghostly tales for long winter nights.”  I loved them.  Most of the stories were set in the past, in particular, Victorian times, but there were also some modern stories.  They were very spooky and inspired by telling spooky stories around a fire in winter.  They are very atmospheric type of old-fashioned stories and I enjoyed them.

 My favorite stories in the collection were:

  ‘A Study in Black and White’ by Bridget Collins which is a story about a man coming to a village and seeing a mysterious house with a chess theme to the gardening.  He decides to rent it and soon finds out that the chess loving former owner may still be around.

 ‘Thwaite’s Tenant’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar is the story of a woman who has taken her son and left her cheating husband.  She soon discovers that leaving with her father may not have been a good idea.

 ‘Lily Wilt’ by Jess Kidd tells the tale of a photographer that falls in love with the dead girl who he has been sent to take pictures.  What will he do to bring her back?

 ‘The Chillingham Chair’ by Laura Purcell is the story of a girl in a wheelchair getting ready to celebrate the wedding of her sister.  She soon starts to realize that the wheelchair may be haunted, and that her sister’s fiancé may have secrets of his own.

 ‘The Hanging of the Greens’ by Andrew Michael Hurley is a spooky story that involves Christmas holly in a way I’ve never heard from before.  I liked how the story was told in a unique way.

 My least favorite story was ‘The Eel Singers’ by Natasha Pulley.  I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in this story.  I looked it up and saw that in involves characters from other books she’s written.  If you like her books, then this story is for you.  Otherwise, not really.

 Overall, The Haunting Season is the perfect book of spooky stories to read by the fire.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Pegasus Crime.  Thank-you!

The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

 

Title:  The Witch Haven

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith

Narrated by:  Piper Goodeve

Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 31 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio. Thank-you! 

 Frances Hallowell is a seventeen-year-old seamstress in New York City in 1911.  After her boss tries to assault her, he is found dead with her scissors in his back.  How did they get there?  Did Frances murder him?  Before Frances can be arrested, two mysterious women arrive to state that she has tuberculous, and they need to take her to a sanitarium in the country.  Frances discovers that the sanitarium is actually a haven for witches called Haxahaven.  As Frances discovers truths about her mother, she still wonders at her brother’s death.  Who killed him and why?  What is the mysterious organization that seems to be after her for her power?  Will the mysterious Finn who can enter her dreams help her in her quest?  What about Oliver her childhood friend?

 I enjoyed this audiobook. Piper Goodeve is a good narrator that was the voice of Frances. T It’s a young adult novel and I liked the journey Frances went on.  The story started off with a bang and really pulled me into the narrative.  I liked that it was a historical fantasy novel with Frances living in New York City of 1911, but with another layer to that world of magical people.  I loved how Frances found her power and was intrigued by the mystery of who killed her brother.  I was annoyed at times though by teenage Frances as she made some rash decision and seemed to believe different people at different times instead of just stepping back and thinking through things herself.  I guess that is being a teenager, but when it involves the taking of lives, it annoyed me. 

 Overall, The Witch Haven is an intriguing young adult historical fantasy that was a perfect audiobook to listen to for Halloween.