• Dark Witch

  • The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, Book 1
  • By: Nora Roberts
  • Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
  • Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (9,260 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Dark Witch  By  cover art

Dark Witch

By: Nora Roberts
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts comes a trilogy about the land we’re drawn to, the family we learn to cherish, and the people we long to love...

Book One of The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy

Dark Witch

With indifferent parents, Iona Sheehan grew up craving devotion and acceptance. From her maternal grandmother, she learned where to find both: a land of lush forests, dazzling lakes, and centuries-old legends.

Ireland. County Mayo, to be exact. Where her ancestors’ blood and magic have flowed through generations - and where her destiny awaits.

Iona arrives in Ireland with nothing but her Nan’s directions, an unfailingly optimistic attitude, and an innate talent with horses. Not far from the luxurious castle where she is spending a week, she finds her cousins, Branna and Connor O’Dwyer. And since family is family, they invite her into their home and their lives. When Iona lands a job at the local stables, she meets the owner, Boyle McGrath. Cowboy, pirate, wild tribal horsemen, he’s three of her biggest fantasy weaknesses all in one big, bold package.

Iona realizes that here she can make a home for herself - and live her life as she wants, even if that means falling head over heels for Boyle. But nothing is as it seems. An ancient evil has wound its way around Iona’s family tree and must be defeated. Family and friends will fight with each other and for each other to keep the promise of hope - and love - alive...

Don’t miss the other books in the Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy:

Shadow Spell

Blood Magick

©2013 Nora Roberts (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Featured Article: Spooky Supernatural Romance Audiobooks to Get Your Heart Racing


The two genres combined here—paranormal and romance—each have highly engaged, passionate fanbases who make finding quality recommendations easy. Listeners are enraptured by these stories. We too love the double escape provided by both fantastical and romantic elements, and for the countless ways authors continually play on listeners’ expectations to keep stories fresh. Whether you prefer werewolves, witches, or wyrs, there’s a listen for you.

What listeners say about Dark Witch

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,758
  • 4 Stars
    1,977
  • 3 Stars
    936
  • 2 Stars
    307
  • 1 Stars
    282
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,268
  • 4 Stars
    1,484
  • 3 Stars
    789
  • 2 Stars
    351
  • 1 Stars
    483
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,361
  • 4 Stars
    1,699
  • 3 Stars
    791
  • 2 Stars
    249
  • 1 Stars
    243

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t finish

The narrator ruined it for me. I couldn’t understand her most of the time and she was too loud and fast. I couldn’t finish the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, terrible narration

The narrator tried to inject emotion and drama into certain scenes by yelling and over acting. I had to turn the volume down but still couldn’t escape it. Her voice was stressful to listen to. Story was great. Read the book vs listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Story was good, performance was painful

The yelling and dramatics were hard to listen to. I agree it was distracting. I also had a hard time imagining the women were all in their twenties as they sounded very old.

One thing I don't like about Robert's writing is that the sex scenes are sometimes over the top and she ALWAYS has to repeat words three times for emphasis when I think it can be accomplished by other means. It happens in every book I have listened to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Question??

Does anyone know why there are two books 1,2,3? One much shorter in length than the other? Just a little confused by it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Too much sex

I like romance. The story was great but the sex scenes got in the way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My take on all the confusion

First, let me say that I adore Blood Brothers, It's the first audio book I ever bought on MP3/CD years ago and I still listen to that series. Every character is realistic, the male MCs are interesting, and the female MCs are the best ever written in MF romance. Nothing but good to say about it. Same for Three Sisters. For this reason, it was never a total turn off for me that the O'Dwyer series was said to be a copy of that fighting evil trope. To love Nora Roberts, you must love characterization above all else because all of the other writing techniques are couched in the drawing of the characters.

What I'm not confused about after purchasing O'Dwyer Book 1 is that while the evil plot may be similar to the beginning of those 2 other series, for me Book 1 O'Dwyer is the most unique one of them all, and I love those other 2 series. It's similar and it's not.

The O'Dwyer series Book 1 has (1) some good humor (relying on cultural norms), which I have to say I've never run into in a Nora Roberts book before, so down to earth for her; and (2) out of all I've read or listened to by Roberts, this book stands out as really good--and unlike anything else done by her. The humor was good enough to make me LOL a couple of times, and the main female MC in Book 1 actually offers up a twist I've never read in an MF romance before. And it doesn't even get angsty when it normally would in other romances! It turns relatable, a Roberts trait and why we give her our loyalty. You can't beat this twist in a romance. It's possible that this main female MC is the most feminist of them all, though she is very young, 20s vs. 30s, and hasn't had time to get cynical yet, unlike the female MCs in her other books in these series.

Now when it comes to narrators, that's a bit of a different matter. The first 3 or 4 chapters of O'Dwyer Book 1 were way overboard on emo/passionate overacting/ stage acting, whatever you want to call it. Then something happened and Kellgren's mode of narration shifted into something closer to what we're used to in a Nora Roberts book (by not sounding so overwrought and emo beyond those early chapters). Kellgren only breaks out of her new mode a few times for the balance of the book, and it isn't as shocking to the nervous system when she does. Kellgren still misses what I would want to hear in one of the character voices entirely, but I can live with it because this book isn't about that character. By the third book, when it is that character's story, I read in the comments that that narrator is great.

After all the bad comments on this book, it took a sale for me to purchase O'Dwyer Book 1. What confuses me now, after enjoying Book 1 as much as I have enjoyed it, The remaining confusion is do I take a chance on those other 2 narrators in the final 2 books in the series? Will they be able to pull of this unusual touch of humor Kellgren brought to book 1?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Story is ok, narrator was not to my liking.

The story is ok, very much like the Dragon Heart legacy, if you can get past the narrator. The narrator is so way over the top when voicing the main character that she's one dementional. The way the narrator voices the main character she cames off as some, always apologizing, nervous, never shuts up, airhead, it's so annoying. She's supposed to be someone that's strong enough to face a dark witch but it's hard to see her as that way because of the way the narrator reads. if you can get past that the story isn't bad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thumbs Up

I liked this book enough, I will say that the narrator is talented in the in amount of voices she uses..though I was surprised when I learned that Breanna and Mara were only in their late 20’s, they “sound” like they would be much older… I like the storyline as it’s summer for me at the time of this review and it is like a beach read/listen for me…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Didn’t work for me

Narrator was too excited throughout. She didn’t have much range so the main character didn’t either. The story is very similar to the dragon heart legacy (which is much better).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully enjoyable!

I enjoy Nora’s romantic fantasies and this first book of the trilogy does not disappoint. I disagree with a few previous reviews on the narrator being distracting. I think the narrator has a terrific talent for performance of the many characters and I felt as if I were watching this story on screen or in the theatre. Can’t wait to start listening to the second in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!