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.

Great story

The whole trilogy is great, but the narration was not the best for the first and second book. I wish the third narrator had done them all.

Amazing!!!

I saw some comments about the narrator yelling.. ignore those comments!! The books are brilliant and beautifully written! The books had me HOOKED!!! I can’t believe I’ve missed these I’m so glad I stumbled across them! The speaker is alive and vibrant and tells the story so well! She makes sure you know when something crazy is happening by her tone of voice which is amazing! You don’t want someone just reading to get paid! She actually reads and shows the emotion that’s supposed to be there which makes the books that much better!! Absolutely loved her and absolutely loved these books! You will NOT be disappointed!!!

Constant breathless narration distracting

The story was good, but nearly quit listening, as the narration and presentation of the main character was like a giddy breathless schoolgirl, and quite loud and annoying. So much so the other female characters seemed like elderly aunts, when eventually I figured out they were younger women. I had to double check that it wasn’t a teen romance. I pushed through to the end, and while I’m interested in the follow on books, can’t bear the thought of enduring a similar narration. A constant reminder to listen to the sample…sigh.

Overdramatized

I felt like the narrator, who is clearly talented, really overdramatized, so much so that sometimes the story took a backseat to the narration. The story was okay but not well developed. It read like a teenage romance novel.

The story

The storyline was fantastic!! Weaving in and out like an old country road going and coming!

creative

Creative and kept me listening. Wasn't a huge fan of the preformance, but did well enough (and better than I could have).

Hard to listen to

I purchased the book before I listened to a sample. I love Nora Roberts. However the narrator is horrible. Over acted, yelling, and campy. So bad it distracts from the story. I bought it, so I'll finish it. if she narrates the other two books in this series I will move on to something else. Lesson learned. From now on I'll listen to the sample before buying.

Excellent story and performance

I bought this book a couple years ago but never got around to reading it. So grateful for audiobooks which give me the opportunity to multitask and experience so many amazing stories that I wouldn’t otherwise have time to indulge in and enjoy.
Nora Roberts is a fantastic writer who’s works are absolutely thrilling!

Conflicted about the narration

So this is a paranormal (witchy) trilogy that's really well thought out and highly entertaining. Where I'm troubled with the narration is not that this narrator isn't talented, because five minutes into listening to her you'll know that she is a gifted voice actor. The problem for me is that her Irish accented female character voices all sound like they're in their 60's. There's something in the pitch or tone that makes every one of them sound old while her American voiced female character sounds quite young. I think the problem sometimes holds true for the male voices but not consistently. It's off-putting because the physical descriptions of these women don't match the voices. Picture Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider but when she opens her mouth it's Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall.

Held my attention and transported me there

Okay I normally do not write reviews for books because to each their own but this story…. Makes a good book. Can’t wait to read the rest