The Water Witch

I liked The Bookbinder's Daughter, another of Jessica Thorne's books. So I jumped at the chance to read and review this one. While I think I like The Bookbinder's Daughter better, this is an enjoyable story!

Bad enough that Ariadne (Ari) Walker's fiancé Simon broke things off with her. But shortly after the breakup, he died. Drowned in his pursuit of the legendary lost city of Ys. Ari has sworn never to return to Brittany, and while she grieves Simon's death, she sees it as a tragic accident. She puts little stock in local lore that says the princess of Ys was horribly betrayed by one she loved, and as a result, cursed the man who betrayed her and his descendants.

When her brother Jason asks her to come to Brittany to help bolster his case that his team has, in fact, located Ys, she plans to stay a couple of days. She has no intentions of staying in a place that brings her so much pain. But Rafael du Lac, charming and ridiculously wealthy and next of the du Lac men to die if the water witch has her way, convinces her otherwise. Soon things are happening that she can't explain, and she finds herself drawn tighter and tighter into the search for Ys. Finding the city and breaking the curse may be the only way she – or any of them – survive.

The romance felt a little too rushed, too insta-romance for me. I mean, Ari is still heartbroken over both Simon's dumping her and his unexpected death. But she's now developing feelings for the new guy, who may be dying soon, too, if the curse has its way. I know, liberties must be taken for the book. That's just a trope that bothers me a little.

And bless Rafael's heart. He's got so much money, he thinks it fixes everything. Ari says she needs to get back to her job? He sets up a foundation for the school where she teaches and covers all of her expenses to boot. There's a problem with an artifact they found and the university whose help they may need authenticating everything says it's a fake? He dumps a load of cash on them and suddenly they're irrelevant. I almost felt sorry for Rafael, because clearly no amount of money can keep the water witch from coming for him.

But the lore, based on actual legends of Brittany, is fascinating. Characters are not always what they seem, and I found plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing. Thorne's writing style is both beautiful and easy to read, and Ari is an easy character to care about.

So this wasn't quite up to the level of The Bookbinder's Daughter for me, but it's a solid four-star read. Very enjoyable if you're a fan of a good paranormal tale with a dash of fantasy, romance, and adventure.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from Bookouture and NetGalley. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.