Shadow Magic

What a fantastic adventure!!!! Thrills. Chills. Tension. Darkness surround Drogan and Gerard. The past has come back to haunt Drogan and Gerard. It isn't going to stop until it has destroyed Drogan and Gerard.

Drogan has one goal--Save Gerard's family. His plan is simple take them to his castle, Wolfglynn. They will be safe there. He will make sure of it. The only problems are convincing them and getting them there in one piece.

Drogan is resistance to Serena's help. Gerard and his wife want only to listen to her. They are comfortable with her being a witch. She can see the future but will she share it? Can she guide them to safety?

Drogan finds himself unable to resist Serena. She calls to him. Drogan has a mission and Serena is a distraction he cannot afford. The chemistry can't be denied. She wants him but knows it will bring her death. Reading their attempts at avoidance were very entertaining. It was like watching a tennis match. Will she or won't she. Will he or won't he. Who will give in first was a fun guessing game.

Shadow Magic is filled with risks. They live in a world of horses, carts and hard lives. Villages are separated by great distances. They must risk their lives to reach safety. There is no where to hide from the evil that hunts them. I felt their fears. My anxiety went crazy. How in the world would the survive?

The help of strangers might just save them. The witches like Serena just might be their guiding light. I wasn't sure. Can you really trust a stranger. Thrills, chills, knight skills made for a wonderful, on the edge of my seat story.

Not sure what the point of declaring a historical setting is when almost nothing actually reflects the stated period, with the author actively veering away from convention when inconvenient to their vision, and skipping over parts that call for research. The lack of research is particularly evident when the author conflates Roma and Romanian. There are a couple of typos sprinkled throughout. So much time is spent painting Serena as a victim of circumstance it overshadows what little agency she had, making her largely useless and uninteresting as a main protagonist, despite her and Drogan’s repeated proclamations. Similarly the lack of clarity and specificity when it comes to divination and the great “evil” for eighty-percent of the book causes the story to drag, as readers aren’t provided enough details to garner interest in the dangled mystery.

Donna Grant does it again! The book that had me on the edge of my seat, that will lead you wanting more. I can’t wait to see what is next in Echoes of Magic.