Dark Witch by Nora Roberts – a Review

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Description:
With indifferent parents, Iona Sheehan grew up craving devotion and acceptance. From her maternal grandmother, she learned where to find both: a land of lush forests, dazzling lakes, and centuries-old legends.

Ireland.

County Mayo, to be exact. Where her ancestors’ blood and magic have flowed through generations—and where her destiny awaits.

Iona arrives in Ireland with nothing but her Nan’s directions, an unfailingly optimistic attitude, and an innate talent with horses. Not far from the luxurious castle where she is spending a week, she finds her cousins, Branna and Connor O’Dwyer. And since family is family, they invite her into their home and their lives.

When Iona lands a job at the local stables, she meets the owner, Boyle McGrath. Cowboy, pirate, wild tribal horsemen, he’s three of her biggest fantasy weaknesses all in one big, bold package.

Iona realizes that here she can make a home for herself—and live her life as she wants, even if that means falling head over heels for Boyle. But nothing is as it seems. An ancient evil has wound its way around Iona’s family tree and must be defeated. Family and friends will fight with each other and for each other to keep the promise of hope—and love—alive…

Review:
Dark Witch by Nora Roberts is the 1^st book in her new The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy.

The story starts back in the year 1263, in Ireland, as we meet the first Dark Witch, Sorcha and her three children.  Sorcha knows that the evil sorcerer Cabhan wants her and her powers, and will stop at nothing to get it.  After a tragedy, Sorcha takes matters in her own hands, giving each of her children her powers.  Each child, along with their powers, gains an animal, who will protect them.  Kathel the dog; Alastar; the horse, and Roibeard, the hawk.  Scorch dies after killing Cabhan, but he is not totally dead.

Hundreds of years and generations later, we meet Iona Sheehan. Iona has arrived in County Mayo to meet the cousins she has never met. Her grandmother wanted her to learn about her ancestors, and it is Iona who will complete the three that will once again face Cabhan, who has quietly stayed in the background, until the three witches would come together.  Iona meets her cousins, Branna and Connor, who upon meeting her, know she is the one who will complete the three who will fight Cabhan.  Iona falls in love with Ireland, and happily becomes part of this family and their friends.  She opens her heart to her destiny to be a witch, and Branna works hard to teach her how to use her untouched powers.  Iona will need to learn fast, and understand the danger ahead.

What I love about Nora’s trilogies is the friendship and family atmosphere we get to feel, and the closeness that we become part of.  The Cousins O’Dwyer is mostly concentrated on 6 people, the three witches (Iona, Branna and Connor) and their three friends, who will also play a major part in this fight against evil.  Nora creates such fabulous and interesting characters, as well as each couple in the three books who will have their story.  The other three are Boyle, whom Iona meets and immediately finds herself attracted to him.  He runs the horse ranch, and Iona, who knows horses, gets a job working for Boyle.  I must say they made a great couple, though Boyle tried hard to fight it off, as he didn’t want to be involved with an employee.  But their chemistry was hot, and it is this relationship that will play a big part in Iona being able to survive the constant attempts by Cabhan to entice her to his side.

We also meet Meara and Fin, two characters I loved.  Meara is friends with them all, and she also works for Boyle.  She is best friends with Connor, but I am sure they are destined for each other, even if they don’t see that now.   Fin is destined for Branna; but this will be difficult for them, as they both love each other, but broke up years before, due to Fin’s discovering he too is a witch, but distantly related to Cabhan. Branna could not handle or trust Fin, when she found out, even though Fin constantly expresses his love.   I adored all 6 of the main characters.

This was an exciting and fun story.  It was fun to watch Iona learn her powers, and learn about the spells.  It was fun to see her with Boyle, though there was a bad period.  It was fun to watch how the friends and family came together to face a common enemy.   But there was a lot of tense action, and danger, especially in this book for Iona.  The ending was intense, as the 6 came to face Cabhan.  Were they able to beat Cabhan?  Did they all survive?  Did Iona and Boyle resolve their issues and become a couple? This is a trilogy, so some things get resolved, but there is more to come, and I cannot wait.  I must add that this has a slight similar theme from an older series of Nora’s, Three Sisters Island, which is my all time favorite of Nora’s trilogies.  It is not the same just some similarities. If you love Nora, Ireland, Romance, Suspense, and her wonderful trilogies, you will not want to miss this series. 

Reviewed by Barb