Paula Brackston: The Return of the Witch Monday, Mar 14 2016 

Continued series winner and great read and historical saga , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:18 am

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Readers, I’m in cahoots with St. Martin’s to offer you THREE giveaway copies of Paula Brackston’s sequel to last year’s debut novel The Witch’s Daughter. This was the little book that could–with a captivating story, remarkable heroine, and eye-catching package, it has now netted over 200,000 copies in all formats.

Now Paula returns with its sequel The Return of the Witch, another bewitching tale of love and magic, featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, a fabulous and intriguing historical backdrop, and a headstrong and relatable heroine readers will cheer for.

After five years in the Summerlands, Gideon has gained his freedom. Elizabeth knows he will go straight for Tegan, and that she must protect the girl she had come to regard as her own daughter. In the time since the dramatic night in Batchcombe woods, Tegan has traveled the world learning from all manner of witches, and she is no longer the awkward teenager and novice spellcaster she once was.

However, her skills are no match for Gideon’s dark, vengeful power, and he succeeds in capturing her. Will Elizabeth be able to find her? Will they be able to defeat their nemesis once and for all?

In a breathless journey that takes them through history to the 17th and 19th centuries, witch pursues warlock. Three people steeped in magic weave a new story, but not all will survive until the end. Crime of a different kind here, with suspense and action.

In case you missed The Witch’s Daughter, this is its synopsis:

My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. If you will listen, I will tell you a tale of witches. A tale of magic and love and loss. A story of how simple ignorance breeds fear, and how deadly that fear can be. Let me tell you what it means to be a witch.

In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate: the Warlock Gideon Masters.

Secluded at his cottage, Gideon instructs Bess, awakening formidable powers she didn’t know she had. She couldn’t have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life. She has spent the centuries in solitude, moving from place to place, surviving plagues, wars, and the heartbreak that comes with immortality. Her loneliness comes to an abrupt end when she is befriended by a teenage girl called Tegan.

Against her better judgment, Elizabeth opens her heart to Tegan and begins teaching her the ways of the Hedge Witch. But will she be able to stand against Gideon—who will stop at nothing to reclaim her soul—in order to protect the girl who has become the daughter she never had?

THREE lucky winners who leave a comment will be sent copies of the sequel directly from the publisher. To enter the drawing, leave a comment and we’ll use an impartial draw to find the lucky winners. Good luck!!

 

Paula Brackston: The Silver Witch Sunday, Apr 19 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:53 am

With last year’s third novel, The Midnight Witch, now available in paperback, Paula Brackston’s reputation became firmly set infixing historical fiction with fantasy. She returns with this year’s offering, The Silver Witch, and fans won’t be disappointed.
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Tilda Fordwells loves to run as much as she fears deep water, the stuff of childhood nightmares. After the death of her husband, Mat, she has come to the Welsh cottage meant to be their home to grieve and to find new purpose for her life. Ty Gwyn, despite it’s view of the lake with its island called a crannog, might seem a humble farmhand’s cottage, but Tilda imagines the garden she will resurrect even as she maintains routines and repetitive tasks like those of her newd pottery to keep her mind occupied. She’s still unpacking and setting up her new barn kiln and pottery, tasks to keep her busy.

The albino woman, used to strange reactions to her appearance, rescues a sickly lurcher, names it Thistle, and tries to ignore the strange things happening around her, like electricity, clocks, and watches stopping when she is near.

Seren Arianaidd is a prophet some call a witch, who sees things that frighten and dismay the villagers. She has the love of the prince but not his confidence in her visions when she tries to warn him of the vipers in his midst.

The woman have more than their strange looks in common: they each have a sensitivity to their surroundings and the ability to see things in the past or the future.

The worlds of these two unusual women are destined to collide, with spectacular consequences for both women after Tilda has a vision and that vision is Seren and her world, just as an archeological dig starts at the crannog.

Both women tell their stories so each one’s world comes alive. When Tilda meets the white-haired Professor Williams, he introduces her to the history of her new home. He also introduces her to his handsome nephew and the equally entrancing archeology student, Lucas. But it will take Seren to keep Tilda safe from the dark forces that wish to surround her.

Nicely done, with intriguing history woven into the story, this is a story of power, love and redemption.

AND for a lucky reader leaving a comment, there will be a FREE COPY of this compelling and imaginative book on its way to your direct from the publisher.