Witch Books for Halloween?

I’ve always had a bit of fondness for stories with witches in them – perhaps I was one in a previous life! My personal interests lie mostly in herbal studies, and I expect most women marked as witches in prior days were nothing more than miscast healers. Such is the case with one of my favorite classic books by Mary Stewart, Thornyhold.

During Gilly Ramsey’s lonely childhood, the occasional brief visits of her mother’s cousin were a delight, seeming like visits of a fairy godmother. Years later, when Gilly inherits Thornyhold, her house, she discovers that her cousin, with her still room and herbalist practices—and her undoubted powers—had long been known to the locals as a witch.

Another favorite new paranormal collection is the Witchcraft Mystery series by Juliet Blackwell. Set in the modern day and now four books strong, the story begins when Texas witch, Lily Ivory, opens a popular vintage clothing store on the west coast. As one of San Francisco’s resident witches, searching for hidden clothing treasures can sometimes lead to dangerous discoveries, not to mention a complicated love life with at least two hunky men. There is more than one way to make magic as this author so aptly demonstrates!

And who better to throw a little romance into spell-casting than Nora Roberts? The Three Sisters Island trilogy begins with Dance Upon the Air and is the strongest story of the three books.

  

Publishers Weekly: An enchanted island off the coast of Massachusetts, Three Sisters was formed as a sanctuary by three frightened witches fleeing persecution. Although the witches found peace on the island, each of them entered into an ill-fated relationship and died tragically. Now their descendants Nell Channing, Ripley Todd, and Mia Devlin have to break the pattern set by their foremothers, or the island will sink. This first book focuses on Nell, a newcomer to the island who escaped her abusive husband by staging her death. Nell is unaware that she's a witch, but she is instinctively drawn to the island and secures a job as a chef in the cafe‚ owned by Mia. Between coping with her bleak memories and deciding whether she can give her heart to Zach Todd, Ripley's brother and the island sheriff, Nell has little time to digest the discovery that she's a witch. In the end, however, Nell will have to come to terms with her newfound powers so that she can fight her all-too-demented husband. It's probably witchcraft that Roberts can turn out so many books and still create something that's sexy and charming...

Keep reading with Heaven and Earth, which has a particularly well-cast and attractive hero in the form of paranormal researcher, MacAllister Booke. (I bought the Kindle copy and the formatting was dreadful, so returned it for refund and wrote to the publisher. I would not recommend buying it from Amazon until someone wiggles their nose over this issue.)

Then wrap up the story and the 300-year curse with Face the Fire. (I read this one on a Chromebook via my library's Overdrive Cyber-shelf and loved the book formatting on this platform - I'll be doing that again!) I also plan to buy all three in paperback for my home library.

And for all you diehard Nora Roberts fans, her latest book releases on October 29 and is available for pre-order now. You can get a signed copy of Dark Witch at Turn the Page Bookstore (which the author owns). Read more about the book by clicking here.

Now leave me comments about your favorite Halloween reading, witchy or not. So mote it be!

Dani Greer is founding member of the Blood-Red Pencil, has been known to make magic in the kitchen, has a wicked sense of humor, but rarely flies a broom these days.