THE HEDGE WITCH (The Witches of Star Island 1) by Colleen Delaney-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 14, 2024

A Beltane spell reveals a prophecy that will change their lives…

Laurel Bay is the third of five witchy sisters living a sweet life on Star Island; she runs a tarot reading business, depends on her sisters to pay her bills, and spends her free time jumping into the Hedge World, a realm few witches can access. But when a great love from a past life comes to her, Laurel is blinded by her need to find him-she throws all caution to the wind and ends up stalked by a vengeful witch she can’t remember.

Owen Davies is stuck. His powers as a son of a witch are minimal, he’s surrounded by morally gray water witches, and he’s aching to find his soulmate-so much so that he has a storage unit full of furniture he’s built for the mystery woman. Then a fateful vacation lands him in Laurel’s garden and their paths are finally intertwined.

With witches after Laurel’s powers and buried secrets unearthed, circumstances begin to mirror their heartbreaking past life. But this time around, Laurel and Owen refuse to be separated-not by time, not by a witch, not by death.

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REVIEW: THE HEDGE WITCH is the first instalment in Colleen Delaney’s contemporary, adult THE WITCHES OF STAR ISLAND paranormal romance series focusing on sisters and witches: Laurel, Lavender, Sage, Verbena and Rosemary Bay who work and live on Star Island. This is twenty-nine year old hedge witch Laurel Bay, and thirty-one year old carpenter, Owen Davies story line.

Told from omniscient dual third person perspective (Laurel and Owen) using present day and ‘memories’ from the past THE HEDGE WITCH follows in the wake of a series of dreamlike visions. Laurel Bay is a hedge witch, able to ‘jump the hedge’, traveling to another time where she will identify as Amee, meeting her soulmate Onfroi but on one such travel Laurel will find herself targeted by a sorceress, a witch from the past, who wants to absorb our heroine’s powers. Meanwhile, Owen Davies, the son of a water witch, suspects the woman in his dreams is his fated soulmate. A trip to Star Island would bring Owen face to face with his future, in the guise of Amee aka Laurel Bay but the past refuses to let go, taking aim at Laurel Bay.

The world building follows two timelines and intersecting paths. A curse in the past has followed Laurel to the present, and the descendant has taken aim at our story line heroine.

The relationship between Laurel and Owen is one of fated soulmates who met hundreds of years earlier , and continue to meet in the Hedge World but the real world is about to come face to face with the past, and Owen is determined to save the woman with whom he has fallen in love. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate.

We are introduced to Laurel’s sister: Sage, Lavender, Verbena and Rosemary, as well as Owen’s mother, Bartender Luke Karnes and witch Morana Stoch aka Flavia.

THE HEDGE WITCH is a story of magic and mayhem, secrets and lies, power and control, insta-love and fate. The premise is entertaining but there was more telling than showing; the romance is subtle; the characters are interesting but a little dry.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy