Judith‘s review of Bewitching Finn by Emma Wallace
Armed with a secret family recipe book, Grace Woodrow is cooking up a storm. And as every good witch knows, the real power of magic isn’t in the lotions and potions but in the intent. Grace wants a simple life but events conspire to keep her world complicated. As a result, Grace resorts to drastic measures that inadvertently trigger a chance encounter with a sexy, stranded Irish stranger. It’s lust at first sight, and after a year of being virtuous, the temptation to succumb to the promise of a no-strings-attached night of pure sexual indulgence proves too much to resist.
But once isn’t enough. And as if Grace doesn’t have her hands full with her interfering mother and Finn Delaney, the locals are acting==well–frnakly — Weird. Soon the rest of the island is unable to resist the side-effects of her notoriously decadent delicacies, and before long it isn’t only Grace and Finn who are making merry.
A girl who really doesn’t want to be different, doesn’t want to be a witch of any kind, who leaves home as soon as she can for distant places and adventures with her best friend, whose mother has always wanted her to be happy but knows that eventually she will have to own up to who and what she is: this is our Grace. So we are launched into an interesting novella that brings Grace home again to one of the Scottish islands where she remembers and becomes re-acquainted with an old family recipe book. What she doesn’t understand (since she abhors spells and such) is that all those recipes for cookies and such are really love spells. Grace has come home reluctantly, not to live with her parents–she really wasn’t up to that–but to try to put her life back together after having her heart broken by a man who didn’t know the meaning of “faithful” or who thought sex with anyone who offered it was just fine. She doesn’t want another relationship and she wants to use her family recipes to start her own bake shop. Now the fun begins.
Finn didn’t know who she was, didn’t know why she had come into his vision–the one he had as he was drowning off the Scottish island coast when his boat was swamped and sank. Yet it was a vision of a beautiful woman that had kept him from death, and only that vision. Now, three weeks later, as he was walking on the beach to try to clear his head and figure out how the memories of that night might be put aside–he rarely sleeps more than four hours–, he sees a beautiful woman standing in a circle within which a pentagram was drawn, speaking softly and then throwing something in the ocean. There is no way it could be her — but it was. And to further complicate matters, when he returned to his inn, there she was again, standing near the bar, speaking with the village folk. Their eyes lock, and before too much longer, she was in his room, they were clasped in each other’s arms–with only one difficulty: she won’t tell him her name. AND when he awakens she is gone.
This is a truly delightful love story between two very different people. Grace’s heart is guarded carefully and she also guards her secret ability–she loathes the looks on the faces of those who see her as “weird” and she fears Finn’s response when he discovers what she is. Finn has been mesmerized by Grace ever since that one night together. He has searched for her for a year and now fears her response when he reveals that he knows her secrets. Emma Wallace has crafted a really delightful tale that is full of the real stuff of life, witchcraft to the contrary, and has populated this book with some very unique characters. The various townspeople are often very funny, and their response to her “recipes” is even more comical. The plot may not be all that unique, but it holds together well, and the reader is drawn forward as the relationship between these two individuals grow. Grace’s mother is also a witch with a very big difference from her daughter: she loves being a witch. Wallace has done a great job of keeping the reader aware of the difficulties between mother and daughter, often not so different from what some of us have experienced in real life.
So I recommend this novella as entertaining and fun. It is really a very romantic story and I like both Grace and Finn. Sometimes I think Grace is a little too abrupt, but given the experience with her ex, I think she is entitled. Finn is patient, kind, romantic, caring, and he wants Grace to grow into the fully aware and joyful person he knows she is inside. I have not read any of Emma Wallace’s previous work, but I think she has demonstrated the talent and writing expertise to tell a very engaging story. I am looking forward to future offerings from this very good writer.
I give this novella a 4 our of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
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