URBAN FANTASY ROMANCE REVIEW: Dark Witch - Nora Roberts

Release Date: 31/10/14
Publisher:  Piatkus

SYNOPSIS:

Three cousins inherit a gift that will transform their lives ...Iona Sheehan has just taken the biggest gamble of her life. Leaving her job, her home and her family in Baltimore, she has come to Ireland in search of adventure - and answers. Iona has always felt a powerful connection to the home of her ancestors. So when her beloved grandmother confesses an extraordinary family secret, she can't resist visiting County Mayo to discover the truth for herself. Arriving at the beautiful and atmospheric Castle Ashford, Iona is excited to meet her cousins, Connor and Branna O'Dwyer, for the first time. And when she lands a job at the local riding school she finds herself drawn against her will to its owner - the hot-tempered but charismatic Boyle McGrath. Perhaps in County Mayo she has found her true home at last. What Iona doesn't realise is that her cousins have been expecting her for a long time. Connor, Branna and Iona have all inherited a powerful but dangerous gift from an ancestor known as the Dark Witch. And they are about to discover that some old legends can return to haunt the present ...The first in a magical new trilogy, Dark Witch is a captivating story of love, family and destiny.


REVIEW:

I’ve not really read Nora Roberts before and to be honest I am always a little dubious when an author puts out quite a few titles in a year. So sitting down I wasn’t expecting too much out of this book and whilst the plot felt a little like an ABC of a formula that works, I did actually enjoy it.

County Mayo is brought to life with its ancient heritage, wonderful scenery alongside a haunting tale, yet having visited the County a few years ago I did end up wondering how much of the descriptive really added to the sequence from the author and how much of it was down to me knowing the area.

That said, the storyline was interesting, I liked the opening, a fair bit of the dialogue as well as the pace, yet for me, where this book really failed was with the principle character Iona who I felt I didn’t really know enough about or had a good enough grasp of her to really get behind the events that were effecting her life.

All round a mediocre book and whilst I had fun with it, there wasn’t much to stand out and shout read me to the average reader. Perhaps established fans will be a lot happier.