“Mahurin has taken the witch and witch hunter trope and made it new again. The world-building will draw in readers and Lou’s strong but wistful nature will keep them turning pages”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

 

Shelby Mahurin’s fantasy of the witch and a witch hunter knotted in unholy matrimony puts a new spin on star-crossed lovers. Lou and Diggory Reid encounter each other in a kingdom where witches or Dames Blanches are plotting to kill the king and his heirs. Lou is on the run from her mother and has stolen a precious golden ring that bestows invisibility on its wearer but she doesn’t know how long it will be before her mother hunts her down and sacrifices her in an effort to gain the ultimate power.

Mahurin sets her story in a French fantasy world – possibly because the romance languages sound more malancholique – and reinvents Paris. Reid Diggory is a Chasseur equipped with a magic sapphire tipped knife to help him chase witches but he falls prey to Lou’s blue green eyes and love for sticky cinnamon buns and Lou is mesmerised by his broad shoulders.

There are battles, hand to hand fights and variations on the witch theme with blood witches who cut themselves to cast spells. Of course witches are not proof against good looking Chasseurs so there is magnetism and chemistry aplenty. Not to mention spellbinding moments and bodice ripping ones. Of course the action is sometimes too dense to be riveting and there are the usual obstacles that fate casts in the way of the star-crossed.

There is of course the undercurrent of the war between male machismo and feminine wiles. Women are witches especially when independent and one doesn’t need magic spells to be aware of that – while men, poor things are often befuddled.

Teens and unquestionably girls will get a kick out of this book while boys sneak a peek when no one’s looking. Quite obviously Mahurin has sequels in store with new twists and turns, dreamy fantasy sequences and wars between good and bad witches.

 

Reviewed by:

Anjana Basu

Added 23rd January 2020

More Reviews By
Anjana Basu