Dark Witch

Why was this book momentous? Because it was the first one by Nora Roberts I’ve read! *woots* It took long enough, didn’t it? Unfortunately, it turned out to be just an okay read. Not bad, but not great. Admittedly, I set the bar pretty high. Magic, witches, Ireland, a romance with a sexy Irishman. This story had all my favorite things, and there were parts I enjoyed, and parts that could have been better.

I loved the first couple of chapters that gave readers the history of the Dark Witch, a woman named Sorcha. Sorcha’s story took place in the 13th century, and we learn that an evil sorcerer is pursuing her and threatening her three children. Fast-forward to present day County Mayo. Three of Sorcha’s descendants are preparing to show more do battle with the sorcerer, who has returned to seek revenge for what happened to him 700 years ago.

I definitely enjoyed the secondary characters in this book more than the hero and heroine. The heroine is Iona, and she’s come to Ireland to find her cousins, find a home, find love, be loved… She was kind of desperate and needy. I felt like I was missing a big chunk of her back story to understand her. Unfortunately there wasn’t much remarkable about the hero, Boyle, and I couldn’t feel much chemistry between him and Iona. Now, the secondary characters I loved, in particular Cousin Branna and Fin. Branna is a talented witch and one of Sorcha’s descendants, and Finn has his own connection to the Dark Witch, too. They were once a couple until something went horribly wrong, but the passion between them is still there.

The setting was gorgeous, the magic was intriguing, and even though the romance fizzled between Iona and Boyle, I plan to read the rest of the trilogy. Branna and Fin! show less

I'm not sure how I became aware of this trilogy but the first book was great. I am a fan of magic and witches and this book delivers on both. It starts in 1263 with a family whose mother is a witch and is being pursued by a dark force. Events are revealed and the story moves to the present time. American Iona goes to Ireland to visit cousins Branna and Connor O'Dwyer. They all have been handed the family "gifts" and are also being pursued by the same dark force - Cabhan - from the past. Enter friends Boyle and Meara - friends of the O'Dwyer's and Fin, who has been marked by his ancestor - Cabhan. Spells, charms, magic, evil, time travel and some magical "chemistry" add excitement and romance to a great read. On to reading the next book.

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.

My Thoughts:

I have read a Nora Roberts some time ago and I can remember enjoying it. When I really excited about this book when I saw that it was due out so I booked it out of my local library.

I thought that the story line had so show more much going for it, a supernatural element and a hot romance. For me these two elements just didn’t work. I felt that the supernatural side of the story was quite bland and the romance was just a bit too slushy. Normally when there is a romance between two characters I like to feel the build up and the cat and mouse chasing. The romance in this book happened too fast so I couldn’t feel what the characters were feeling. With the supernatural element I felt that the plot was quite basic, and felt that perhaps the book would have been ok without it and just have the story of Iona coming to Ireland and falling for Boyle.

Nora Roberts is a well respected author and has many fans and I enjoyed the book that I read before, I just can’t remember the title. This book was OK and I plodded my way through. It is a trilogy but I feel that there wasn’t enough for me to look forward to the next books in the series.

An OK read but not enough for me to continue with the next books to follow. show less

I loved this book. It had it all - location, family, friends, romance, magick, and a fight against evil. The story is set up in the first two chapters, where we have Sorcha, the original Dark Witch, and her three children. Her husband is off fighting and Sorcha is fighting illness. She is also fighting against an evil sorcerer, Cabhan, who wants her and her powers and is willing to do anything to get them. As the chapter ends she has split her powers among her three children and sent them away to protect them. She lies in wait for the sorcerer, to finish him off before she dies.

Moving ahead to the present, we have Connor and Branna who are brother and sister descended from Sorcha. They sense the coming storm but know it will take three show more of them to form the bond that will defeat it. Enter Iona, their American cousin, who makes the circle complete. She is in search of a place where she feels she belongs, and finds it with her cousins. She also finds a job doing what she loves - working with horses. She feels an immediate connection with her boss, Boyle. But before they can think about a future together, they must deal with the return of the sorcerer.

I loved the way that the idea of family and friends is so important. Besides Connor, Branna and Iona, there are also their friends Boyle, Fin and Meara. Each has a distinct personality that is important in the scheme of things. Branna is the leader, the one doing most of Iona's training. She is a bit of a loner, keeping a lot to herself. She has a history with Fin. They were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love, until they discovered that Fin is a descendent of Cabhan. Now she has trouble trusting him, even though she knows they need him in the coming troubles. Fin has never stopped loving Branna. He knows she doesn't trust him but he'll be there for her just the same. Connor is the easy going, social one of the group. He's friends with everyone and loves the ladies. He's sometimes caught in the middle of all the drama affecting the others. Meara has also been friends with them all her life. She and Branna are like sisters and she will be there to help however she is needed also. She has feelings for Connor, but he's oblivious.

Then we have Iona and Boyle, the focus of this book. Iona has been searching for her place in the world and finally finds it in Ireland. In spite of a miserable upbringing with parents who just didn't seem to care, she has a sunny personality. I loved seeing the effect of that personality on Boyle, who is pretty serious. Her actions tend to keep him pretty off balance. There's an intense attraction between the two of them that has him pretty freaked out. It moves along quickly until it runs up against his fears and causes an emotional slowdown in their relationship. The whole scene with him, and later her girls' night with Branna and Meara to deal with it was very emotional. On the other side, I loved the way that Connor and Fin dealt with Boyle and made fun of his idiocy as only guys can do.

I really enjoyed seeing Iona come into her own as Branna and the others trained her in the magick she needed to know. She went from very tentative and nervous at the beginning, to a growing confidence in her abilities through the rest of the book. I loved seeing the way that Boyle was there to support and protect her. Their connection was a huge part of the final confrontation in this book.

One of my favorite things about this book was the setting. Nora Roberts always does anything Irish well and this was no exception. She spent time in this part of Ireland doing research for the books and it shows. Having visited County Mayo several years ago I was thrilled to recognize the places she described. Ashford Castle is located next to the village of Cong, just as described. I loved her mention of the filming of "The Quiet Man" there and the parade for Maureen O'Hara just a few years ago. I also loved her description of Ballintubber Abbey as it brought back my memories of walking those grounds myself.

I have read some reviews that complain that this is simply a mashup of several of her previous series. While I can see the similarities, there is enough of a difference that I have not been disappointed in the book at all. I can't wait to read the next one. show less

Some of Nora Roberts' strongest novels are set in Ireland, and I'm pleased to see that Dark Witch continues that trend. Although there is nothing new here for long-time Roberts readers, her storytelling skills are at their best. The lengthy prologue set in the 13th century goes a long way towards setting the proper fairy-tale mood, and although we've seen the 3 couples coming together to fight evil many times before, there are several stand-out characters, most notably former lovers Branna and Fin. In fact, I could read a trilogy that focuses just on their tortured history, and I'm sure the final book that ties up the series will be explosive. Meanwhile, it's hard not to root for this book's heroine, Iona, who has come to Ireland to show more find a true sense of belonging for the first time in her life, but I wish Roberts had given some backstory to her mate, Boyle, who is consistently grumpy without any apparent reason.

Some people complain that Roberts writes the same story over and over again. I'm not sure that's a problem, when the stories are so enjoyable. I've been lukewarm on Roberts' past few series, including the Inn Boonsboro trilogy and the Bride quartet, but I could sense an energy to this book that has been lacking lately. For the first time in years, I can honestly say that I can't wait to read the next book in the series. show less

I'm going to start with the end of this book (no spoilers, I promise) and mention that it seems Ms. Roberts is publishing her 200th book soon. 200! Prolific much? With that many stories running through her head, I'd hate to see inside her brain; the tangle of plots, characters, settings. Truly impressive.

Having said that, I must now admit that this is the first Nora Roberts book I've ever read. Not even the mysteries she's written as J.D. Robb have made their way into my library or reading list.

See, I tend to shy away from romance novels. All that love bursting out, clothes being ripped, teeth mashing together during those wild kisses. I've done that - the teeth mashing together - it hurts!!! Don't get me wrong - I like a little show more romance in my reads, but I tend to enjoy them much more when they're a sub-plot, not the main focus. The characters get to keep most of their wardrobes intact and I still get the sexual tension.

But this book was titled "Dark Witch". I like witches. Blame Bewitched or Practical Magic, but I'm a sucker for a good witch story. So I thought, well, perhaps Ms. Roberts has branched out beyond romance at some point and into paranormal and I've been missing the boat. So I bought it and dove into it as soon as it arrived.

Loved it. I become totally immersed in this book, even though it is more of a love-bursting-clothes-ripping-teeth-mashing book than I expected. Even if the MC is a bit too wounded-sparrow. She's very spirited, but the author makes sure we are routinely reminded that this poor girl has Gone Without.

The setting is Ireland in all its hilly, green, verdant, mythic glory. I was there. I was in those woods, her room at the castle, the stables, the workshop, Boyle's apartment. Not once did I struggle to find a sense of place or setting.

I liked all the characters. Not a one of them came off as anything more or less than they should have been. No one was annoying, bitchy, whiny or smarmy. The charming ones were charming, the taciturn, properly taciturn. The evil, truly evil in a properly black way. Every one of them I'd have a pint with (or a G&T as the case may be) - well, except for the evil one, of course. As I mentioned above, the MC was a bit of a wounded sparrow, but most of that came through in the narration, not in her dialogue. She is a babbler though, and I found myself thinking, "oh honey, shut up do!" a time or two, but always with a smile or an internal chuckle.

The plot itself - well there's actually two plot lines. The witchy battle, and the romance. They pretty much run in parallel. The witchy one was, of course, my favourite. Lots of magic, lots of confrontation with creepy evil guy. Quite a few moments where I felt a bit of adrenaline running through my own self. Absolutely loved this part.

The romance. Well I certainly liked the two of them together. And I give Ms. Roberts huge props for not being formulaic (I kept waiting for Boyle to turn out to be a "bad guy" she had to save). The sexual tension was well written too. But overall, it was a bit fairy tale-ish.

If there are friends and very very distantly related cousins out there that are actually willing to buy their friend a car for their birthday - I want those friends. (j/k, but really? a car?)

There's only one thing that's tripped me up and left me wondering. I don't think I'm giving anything away that isn't mentioned in the first two chapters of the book, so I'm not gonna spoiler tag it. Sorcha's power was divided amongst her three children and was to be passed down each of their lines. But in present day, two of the three are brother/sister. There's an ancestral lineage missing and it's never explained why or how one branch ended up with two of the powers.

Overall, a really lovely read. The second and third books each focus on a different cousin, which I usually do not like, but in this case, I think it will be welcome. Luckily, this prolific woman writes fast (200 freaking books!) so I only have to wait 6 months or so for the next one. show less

Not too bad. I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than her most recent trilogy. The story is, of course, predictable, but it didn't bother me as much in this one. One issue I do have with this book (and many of her others) is how much of the conflict in the story is resolved through what seems like constant dialogue. Do these people EVER reflect to THEMSELVES? I was entertained, though, and always enjoy Ireland and witches as subject matter.