Review: A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
Series: Winter #1
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Expected Publication: January 5th, 2012
Source: Received from publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 346

Goodreads Summary:
Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Although a perfect fit for the paranormal romance genre, A WITCH IN WINTER avoids fangs, excessive body hair and submissive female leads, and tells the heart-wrenching story of a couple meant to be together, but being forced apart. Seth is utterly irresistible and Anna is an empowered, proactive young woman with unimaginable magic inside her. This is fast-paced, sensuous writing with believable incantations inspired by Warburton's research into witchcraft legend and old English.

My Rating: 4.0 / 5

First thoughts:

This is a very magical book about witchcraft, first and true love and about dealing with the consequences of your own behaviour. Seth and Anna are a beautiful couple to watch as they grow closer and realize that they care about each other. This is a beautiful story and I'm looking forward to find out how it continues, hoping that all questions will be answered and all wishes will come true.

More detailed:

My favorite aspect about A Witch in Winter is the magic we get to experience. Like I've already said above, this is a truly magical book. The spells Anna encounters and uses are creepy and completely different from what I was used to from, for example, Harry Potter. But this is the best part of this novel since it's quite special.

Anna's story in Winter starts off creepy when she practices magic in which she doesn't even believe in. But when she binds Seth to herself all of sudden she has to believe in the impossible. Her journey from unbelieving to finally accepting her powers is wonderful to witness and it's very obvious how much she changes and developes until the end of this book.

Sadly at some points the character and relationship development is a little bit too sudden for me. Yes, sometimes magic is involved, but certain conversations become serious very quickly. I'm sure that most people won't be disturbed by that (it seems more like a personal preference to have longer conversations) and especially towards the end those scenes almost disappear completely.

Besides that, I truly enjoyed A Witch in Winter. It's very exciting with lots of action scenes - especially towards the end -, very relatable and diverse characters I'd love to find out more about (one name: Abe!) and a truly magical gift that has turned a beautiful love story into a very complicated one. All in all, I can definitely recommend this novel and advice you to pick it up if you're looking for a great story about witches.

Books in this series:

1. A Witch in Winter (Jan 5th, 2012)
2. A Witch in Love (July 5th, 2012)
3. A Witch Alone (n/a)

Have you read A Witch in Winter? What did you think about it?

Do you plan to read it?
Carina