Dark Witch

The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, Book 1

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

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.

Fabulous narration and story

It’s a great trilogy, and the narrator of this book was excellent. These are some of my favorite books to listen to.

I didn’t make it past chapter 2

I just can’t with the person reading the book. I wish they would re record it to make it listenable.

The Narration is hard to listen to.

The story may have been more entertaining with a different narrator. For some reason, all the Irish females in the story sound like creaky old women, and when it is the narrator speaking you can't tell, because the accent changes from one narration section to the next,

Until about Chapter 13?

I was totally into this story until. . .well, until the romance really started. And I actually like romance! But something about Boyle & the plucky American heroine—it just felt forced? Bland? Cliched and cringey? I don’t know. I would have preferred to have their sweaty groping happen off-screen, so to speak. Even their friends and family were like: “Jesus. Will ya just give us a break from it?”

Because it’s an audible, I don’t know if the author intended for the dialogue to be as dramatic as the actress interpreted it (and she was absolutely brilliant with accents!), but the drama felt so extra (as the kids say). She was too bright, too cheerful, too Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz—not vulnerable enough—and by the time she unleashes her ladybits, I found her downright cloying and inauthentic.

I’ve never read anything by Nora Roberts before; she had excellent reviews, so maybe I’ll revisit her earlier, celebrated works—(set somewhere without Celtic mysteries?). But this one, for me, just ended up slipping on a bar of Irish Spring and fell, face-first, into a bowl of Lucky Charms.

DNF at Chapter 14

Great Story, Narrated Poorly

Great Story by Nora Roberts. I almost returned it right at the beginning only because the narrator made the young mother witch sound so horribly ancient and weak, she is not either. The main character is portrayed as an insecure pre teen voice rather than the grown woman that the book portrays her as. The supporting witch role was as the beginning witch she sounded horribly ancient and weak and again she was neither one. The narrator did a good job on portraying the male voices. The narrator Katherine Kellgren is generally a good narrator, maybe this just wasn't the right story for her. Again the story is another of Nora Roberts great ones! I would purchase this title again if someone else narrated it.

Enjoyable book & satisfying start to a trilogy

Iona Sheehan travels to County Mayo in Ireland, to connect with her family roots--and specifically with the family history of magic and destiny her grandmother has told her.

She quickly connects with her Irish cousins, Branna and Connor O'Dwyer, and finds her grandmother's stories, and her own dreams that have haunted her since childhood, are true. She's a witch--and the vital third member of the triangle needed to confront a lurking danger that has pursued her family for a thousand years.

Iona quickly warms to having a family that embraces her rather than thinking her strange and uninteresting, and learning the use of the magic her grandmother has shown her. Branna has her shop, where she sells the potions and charms whe makes; Connor has his hawks and the forest walk business he runs; it's not long before Iona is working at Boyle McGrath's stable, leading group rides and giving lessons to eager students.

But Iona and her cousins, as well as the handsome and delectable Boyle, his partner Finn, and friend and employee Meara, all know that the lurking threat that goes right back to the beginning of the O'Dwyer family is growing closer. Cavan, or what remains of him after the long-ago confrontations with the dark witch Sorka, their many times great-grandmother, is determined to seize the O'Dwyer magic, combine it with his own, and rule the world.

Iona, the least experienced of the three O'Dwyer cousins, is somehow the lynchpin of the coming confrontation.

Of course, romance is also lurking. Boyle and Iona are deeply attracted but have difficulty staying on the same page. Branna for reasons she won't state explicitly, is convinced she can't have a relationship with Finn. Connor and Meara seem to be almost unaware of each other.

This is the start of a trilogy, and not all of this is resolved in this book. If you like Nora Robert's fantasy romances, though, this is a very satisfying start to the trilogy, with characters that you can love and, sometimes, want to wack upside the head sometimes. The magic is real within the world of the book, but not cost-free, and requires work, discipline, and a willingness to pay the price it imposes.

Very enjoyable.

I bought this audiobook.

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator

Has Dark Witch turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator needs to stop yelling! The narration made it difficult to focus on the story.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

A more original story line. Too similar to other Nora Roberts books. Nothing special or unique about the story or the characters

Good story but interrupted by sex scenes that were not necessary.

These matings happened far to soon and literally disrupted the story. I’d like to see future books focus on the storytelling because it’s really good and the reason I continue to read Nora Robert’s.

Are the characters aged leprechauns?

good grief, I wanted to like the story but the narrator made all the characters sound like snobby aging leprechauns!

Good story totally overacted

The storyline was entertaining but the narrator was totally over the top. Would have quit if the story wasn't good.