Shadow Magic (Sisters of Magic #1)
Donna Grant

Blurb:

With a past soaked in sin and darkness slowly closing in around him to claim his soul, Drogan only wants to live his life in solitude. Years in the king's service and his numerous deeds directed by the crown have left Drogan with horrendous nightmares and immeasurable guilt?

Serena is a witch, cursed and forever alone. She accepts her future. Until she meets Drogan. With Drogan a passion deep and unyielding awakens inside her. She is willing to sacrifice herself for his love, but can he put his past to rest and embrace the future?

Themes: Paranormal, Historical, Witches

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

I am not usually a big fan of reissues or re-releases of older books, mainly because authors grow and change so much in their careers overtime that usually their voices have changed and are so very different than their older works. But when my girl Donna Grant mentioned she was reissuing her Sisters of Magic series, which was already on my TBR list, I figured now was as good a time as any to get the reading done. That said they were definitely a departure from anything I am used to reading from Donna in terms of voice, characters, and plotline. I enjoyed the storyline overall to be sure, but they were very rough and you can tell they were written early in her career when she was still finding her true greatness and that it was a steppingstone to the full amazingness she would later become. Drogan and Serena have a certain dark fairytale quality to them that lets you know Donna’s imagination has always been deep and intriguing, but the overall plot had several holes in it that left me with far too many questions. The intrigue and mystery of both the villain and the origins of Serena and her people is going to be an interesting story arc to carry over through the rest of the series and I look forward to the rest of the series so we can learn more in terms of that. The supporting charterers and the romance between Serena and Drogan carry the story through, along with a certain dark humor that keep the story from dragging too much or becoming too dark.

Drogan has slowly started to lose himself to the darkness of his past misdeeds, but on a visit to one of his best friends’ homes, he comes face-to-face with the lovely and enchanting Serena and he cannot forget her. Serena is drawn to the darkly sensual Drogan, but she knows that she can never have the beautiful man for herself, because she like all women of her powerful line are cursed to never know lasting love. When they are forced together on a quest to protect the lives of their friends, they find themselves unable to deny the irresistible pull between them, but even as they fight against the evil looking to kill them all, they are fighting against the curse bent of keeping them apart. Serena was an interesting dichotomy, on the one hand a powerful woman willing to risk literally everything to save her friends and loved ones, but she was terrified of risking her heart for even one moment of happiness on the fear of losing it. While she is strong and smart, her fear and vulnerability were a little bit sad, holding her back from her happiness and a future that could make her truly complete. Drogan had obviously had a dark past, but he remains a good man, one that will give everything to protect his friends and people, not to mention the woman that has stolen his heart. He fears that he will never have a chance at a future with Serena, but is willing to risk that in order to have a moment of happiness with her in the present. He is stalwart, brave, loving, and benevolent with his people, but he kicks ass, when need be, against his enemies. I loved the sweetness and passion between these two and look forward to maybe seeing them in the rest of the series. As suspected this series is nothing like Donna’s recent masterpieces, but you can tell that the greatness was there from the beginning of her career in this reissue of one of her earliest works and I am glad I finally took the chance to read it. I am dying to see what comes next for these witches and the men that seems to need them to lead them out of the darkness.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.