The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells
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There is an old tale woven through the mountain town of Woodsmoke about a stranger who appears as the first snow falls in winter, who will disappear without a trace as the frost thaws in spring, leaving a broken heart behind.
Carrie Morgan ran from Woodsmoke ten years ago, and the decision has haunted her ever since. Spending a decade painting and drifting around Europe, she tries to forget her family’s legacy and the friends she left behind. But the Morgan women have always been able to harness the power of the mountains surrounding the town, and their spells—and curses—are sewn into the soil. The mountains, they say, never forget.
Sure enough, when Carrie’s grandmother dies and leaves behind her dilapidated cottage, she returns to renovate—certain she will only be there for one winter. She meets Matthieu as the temperature dips, a newcomer who offers to help refurbish the cottage. Before long, and despite warnings from her great-aunt Cora of the old stories, Carrie finds herself falling for the charming stranger. But when the frost thaws in spring, Matthieu goes missing.
Carrie is convinced he’s real, and he’s in danger. As she fights her way across the mountains to find him, she must confront all the reasons why she left Woodsmoke and decide whether the place she’s spent the last decade running from is the home she’s been searching for.
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This is a vividly written story about the roots that tie us to places and people, the holes they can leave when you sever them, and the true costs of meddling with magic. There are secrets and mystery, gossip and rumors, all set under the foreboding shadow of mountains whose magic can just as easily break you as fix you.
The tension underneath the plot rises steadily throughout the book. The more answers you get about the past the more you can see where things are headed in the future. I honestly didn't expect to be surprised by the end of it but I was. I was so sure for most of the book where things were going but there was just enough ambiguity that it left me curious and I'm glad I followed it through to the end.
I enjoyed this enough to recommend this to other readers but not so much that I think I would read it again. Unraveling what happened in the past was the most interesting part for me. I appreciated the focus on the deep love that can exist between friends and family. The romance aspect sort of fell flat. Carrie falling in love is a pretty key component of the plot but I didn't really sense the chemistry there at all. Matthieu as a character needs to be somewhat mysterious, but I think it goes too far in that he feels like a plot point instead of a fully rounded character. That combined with the multiple perspectives and the time jumps left me wanting a lot more from their relationship.
If you're interested in subtle magic, family drama, non linear timelines, and a bit of mystery then this would probably appeal to you.
This book was provided by NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager in exchange for honest feedback
