Format: Paperback
Published: October 15th, 2024
Age: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4/5 Stars
I enjoyed this, though not quite as much as the previous two books in the Graves Glen series. Even though we have now run out of Penhallow brothers, I’m hoping we get more Graves Glen books, or books set in the same world. Either way, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Erin Sterling releases next.
Bowen Penhallow is a loner, preferring to study magic than spend time in the company of others. His focus is very particular: reversing the spell that cursed his friend Declan to remain a ghost, stuck between life and death. Without telling her the reason, he enlists Tamsyn Bligh – a procurer and seller of magical items, though not a witch herself. Declan asks Bowen to attend the wedding of his ex at a grand estate in the Welsh countryside, and to Bowen’s surprise, Tamsyn has somehow got herself an invite, searching for a magical item with a hefty price tag. While there, however, a spell goes wrong, and both Bowen and Tamsyn find themselves thrown back in time to 1957, only to discover they’re accidentally at Bowen’s grandparents’ wedding. There’s just one slight problem: Bowen’s grandparents can’t actually stand the sight of each other, and the wedding is called off.
I really liked both Bowen and Tamsyn – Sterling absolutely has a talent for crafting characters you want to spend time with and get to know. And I loved Bowen’s gruff, mountain man nature. It was a good contrast with his brothers, who we see at the start of the novel. Tamsyn was interesting, too, drawn into this world despite not having any magical ability of her own. She was really fun to read, and their dynamic worked well.
There were a couple of areas where the book fell a bit flat for me, though. As much as I enjoyed it (giving it 4 stars), the use of Welsh felt a bit forced. There are parts where different characters will say something (usually an endearment) in Welsh, but often they felt like words pulled and put through translate rather than something someone would actually say. The rural countryside setting in 1957 doesn’t quite feel like it’s hitting the mark, in ways difficult to explain – minor things I think you’d only really pick up on if you are Welsh, but throughout they took me out of the story and reminded me these books are written by an American (to stress, there is nothing wrong with that, but it’s frustrating when a bit of extra care and research could have resolved a lot!).
Re the time travel aspect – I think it’s pretty hard to pull off a really effective time travel story, where it really feels like characters are in the past and the story progresses to get the characters back to a present day in a way that makes sense. I don’t want to talk too much about negative aspects of the book, but I don’t think Sterling quite lands that here. The ‘historical’ setting never quite feels right, and often is a touch all over the place. It was never really clear how they got there without the person who actually cast the spell, what was ‘undone’ by the spell or how they were supposed to get back. Presumably it ties into a particular character reveal we get later, but the puzzle pieces don’t quite fit. I was also left a bit disappointed by the ending, where, again, it’s not exactly clear how the past events resulted in the present day we end up in, especially as the ending present day would, logically, result in Bowen and Tamsyn never actually meeting.
There were parts of the book where I was waiting for things to click into place, but it was never really clear what had really happened in the past, what was supposed to happen, and how Bowen and Tamsyn had changed things. A bit of a messy ending, coupled with the fact that the festive read places the epilogue at Halloween!
Although I enjoyed this, I definitely think it’s the weakest of the three books, stretching things just a little too far for it to work. Still, overall a fun, enjoyable trilogy that works great if you’re looking for witchy books.
Reading Challenge
2025 TV Shows Reading Challenge
Prompt: Charmed – A book featuring witches or magic
Progress: 12/12 – COMPLETE
Unwrapping Words 