Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Review - The Celtic Witch and the Sorcerer



Title: The Celtic Witch and the Sorcerer
Author: Lyn Armstrong
Publishing Date: 2008
Genre: Historical
Rating: C
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: Won a contest the author was giving.

The Celtic Witch and the Sorcerer is the second book in Lyn Armstrong's Celtic Witch series. I haven't had the pleasure of reading the first book, but I had no problems following this story. Gavenia Roberts, a Celtic Witch has the power to see visions. With this power she sees her death after giving birth to her first child. Gavenia in turn fears finding her true love. Laird Tremayne Campbell is a sorcerer. In order to free his mother he must find a witch and with her death his mother will be set free. When Tremayne captures Gavenia he is immediately taken in by her lovely self. How will this unlikely couple solve these formidable problems?

The Celtic Witch and the Sorcerer had a fairy tale like feel to it with a good vs evil vibe. It's a short story, only coming in at 154 pages. The reader is just dropped into the world in which not a lot of details are forthcoming. The story does have good pacing, so it's a quick, easy read. The reader gets to know the two main characters through good dialogue and action. Thankfully, there is not a lot of telling instead of showing. Tremayne is hard to like at first. He comes across as cold-hearted and selfish. Eventually, he changes as the story progresses. Gavenia is a sweet girl if a little naive about things.

The major weakness for me was a lack of depth to the story. Being short in length there just wasn't enough time to fully develop everything that was going on in the story. Even a few thing were left unanswered at the end of the story, most disturbing was Gavenia's father. I don't know if this was a glaring omission by the author or if it would be addressed in another book.

This book can be purchased in print at Amazon.

6 comments:

Lyn Armstrong said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyn Armstrong said...

Thank you Jill for a great review of my book, The Celtic Witch & the Sorcerer.

The Celtic series are novellas in length and I really enjoyed writing them. The next book, Heart of a Warlock, continues the saga of Gavenia's father where there is a big twist to the story. ;0)

Thanks again, Jill. I hope you have a magical day.
All the best
Lyn Armstrong
www.LynArmstrong.com

Jill D. said...

Lyn, Thanks for stopping by! I am glad to hear that there is more to the story involving Gavenia's father. I was really left hanging, LOL! Hopefully, I will get a chance to meet you at RT. I plan on going to Columbus in April.

Leslie said...

Witch stories are hit and miss with me. This sounds like a series that would be best read after they're all published to avoid all the ?s.

I do like the premise that Tremayne needs Gavenia to die for his mother. Talk about relationship obstacle! Thanks for the review Jill. :)

nath said...

You can dislike a hero who would go to such length in order to save his mother :P

Sounds promising :D Hopefully, Ms Armstrong will have the opportunity to write full-length novels ;D

Lyn Armstrong said...

Thanks ladies for your comments. Yes, Leslie, the Celtic series is finished and available on www.Amazon.com. Just search for my name Lyn Armstrong and they will all pop.
There are five in total with a huge twist at the end.
Titles are:
The Last Celtic Witch
The Celtic Witch & the Sorcerer
Heart of a Warlock
Lady of the Mountain
Witch Hunter (this one won Coffee Times Reviewer Recommend Award)

Jill, unfortunately, I won't be at RT this year. I'm very sad about that, however, I will be at RWA Nationals in Nashville. ;0)

All the best
Lyn
xoxo