Books of the Week: January 28th

Thanks for checking out Books of the Week! There are nine of us and we can't keep up with the many review requests we receive, even though we'd love to read everything sent our way. Therefore, we have decided to give some books their time in the spotlight and introduce you to them through this new blog feature. We will be featuring two books a week. We hope you will take the time to check these books out. (Click the titles to find them on Amazon.) If you read them and want to write a guest blogger review for us, please e-mail us and we'll be glad to work with you!

Authors: Please see our current review policy for more information about the Books of the Week feature. Thank you.

The Winter Witch
by Paula Brackston

In the small Welsh town of Cwmdu, there is no one quite like Morgana. She has not spoken in years, and her silence, as well as the magic she can’t quite control, makes her a mystery to everyone she meets. Concerned for her safety, her mother quickly arranges a marriage with Cai Bevan, the widower from the far hills who knows nothing of the rumors that swirl around her. Refusing to speak even on her wedding day, Morgana nods her head “I do” and marries a man still in love with his dead wife.

After their marriage, Morgana anticipates that her new, strange life away from her beloved mother will end in sadness and disappointment, but she soon falls in love with Cai’s farm and the rugged mountains that surround it. Even Cai himself begins to win her heart. It’s not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there—a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her love, and herself from the town’s inhabitants, Morgana must learn to harness her power or she will lose everything.

Paula Brackston can be found on Facebook and at her blog.

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Just Add Water 
By Jinx Schwartz

Hetta Coffey is a woman with a yacht—and she’s not afraid to use it! A globe-trotting civil engineer with attitude, Hetta is working on coming of age—albeit a little late. Pushing forty, and still single, Hetta has left a life-long swath of failed multi-national affairs in her jet stream, so it is no wonder she prefers living with her dog, RJ. But old habits die hard, and trolling for triceps is Hetta’s hobby.

Plying the waterfront in search of Saturday brunch, Hetta’s attention is snagged by a parade of passing yachts—especially their predominantly male skippers—and experiences a champagne-induced epiphany: If she had a boat, she could get a man. In hopes a floating Valhalla will overcome an all-time low water mark in her life, Hetta buys her dream boat in spite of a spectacular ignorance of all things nautical. It seems living aboard is just her cup of spiked tea until a shadowy stalker, an inconvenient body, and Hetta’s own self-destructive foibles imperil not only a fresh lease on life, but an unexpected romance.

Hetta Coffey brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “sink or swim!”

Just Add Water is $2.99 on Kindle.

Jinx Schwartz can be found on Facebook and Twitter.