Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

Dark Witch (The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy, #1) by Nora Roberts
Published by Berkley on October 29th, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 342
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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…

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REVIEW

The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy is one of the many trilogies that Nora Roberts has put out there into the world. The characters are all ones that I find myself caring about on a very deep level, though, which is a wonderful feeling when you’re turning the pages of a book. It’s even more special, though, when you feel connected to characters that aren’t really front row and center. Nora has a habit of taking characters, throwing them into the first book of a series, and then finding love for each one of them by the time everything is through.

This book, Dark Witch, revolves around Iona and Boyle. They meet, don’t really see eye to eye, start to care for each other, don’t see eye to eye again, but inevitably end up professing their undying love for each other and the rest is history. It’s a very linear plot, which can be a little irritating, but I found her character building skills great enough to get over it. Could she have made the plot of their romance a little less predictable? Yes. However, I feel that a lot of people reading this novel will be rooting for these two from beginning to end.

Iona is from the United States, but her family is from Ireland. She’s got a sunny disposition and a very caring heart. It makes her feel soft, but she can stand up for herself when the need arises. She takes a trip there, only to find herself mixed up with her family’s past.

Once upon a time a witch took on a really creepy, and evil guy and ended up sacrificing herself for her children so that they could one day defeat him Fast forward all these years and you have the descendants of those kids. Will they defeat the bad guy? Yeah, duh. However, probably not until the end of the last book.

Boyle owns a horse ranch. They give tours on horseback to tourists and give lessons in riding. He’s a tough acting teddy bear, to be honest. However, I found myself drawn to him. He was one of the deeper characters of the novel and I appreciated that.

Though Nora has a habit of writing similar stories, and using the similar plot of everyone finds love in the end and all is peachy, she also has a habit of building a world that you not only get lost in but feel at home in. That’s why I keep coming back to her books, time after time, and will continue to read the ones she releases in hopes to find more worlds that make me feel at home.