The Lightness of Water

Water Witch: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure, Book 1

De: Toni Cabell

Narrado por: Lisa Lynn Sandlin

The only thing more dangerous than divining for water is falling in love with the enemy…

**2022 B.R.A.G. Medallion Award

****2022 Winner - The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

****2022 Gold Medal - Best Fantasy Romance - Global Book Awards

Solace is beautiful, strong-willed, and called the water witch by her neighbors. She divines for water in the arid hills of her home—a dangerous pastime across the border, where the king controls access to all the water.

Rhees is brooding, bitter, and hiding a deadly secret. But he’s determined to find a way to help the thirsty people of his land—even if it means kidnapping the last living water diviner.

But divining for water is against the law, punishable by death. Should Solace risk everything—including her heart—in a daring race to find water, or flee across the hills at her first chance of escape?

If you love warring kingdoms, strong, sassy heroines, and clean enemies-to-lovers romance, discover Water Witch, a complete romantic fantasy series for fans of Shari L. Tapscott, Kenley Davidson, and Melanie Cellier.

**Content Note: The Lightness of Water depicts an assault on Solace in which her blouse is ripped by her assailant**

©2022 Toni Cabell (P)2024 Toni Cabell

Reseñas de la Crítica

"An exquisitely refined fantasy adventure that will keep you reading well into the night." (Indies Today)

"A cleverly crafted fantasy packed full of mystery, adventure, and romance! Highly recommended." (The Wishing Shelf)

"The Lightness of Water by Toni Cabell was a riveting novel that held my attention from the first chapter." (Readers Favorite)

Toni has written an interesting and unique story

Solace is a water diviner, she's safe doing this in the hills of her home. Helping the locals locate water underneath their soil. Across the border a king controls access to ALL the water, the people must pay for their water.
Rhees is hiding a secret that could lead to his death. But he can no longer sit and watch the evil king leave the people thirsty. He puts his plans into action when he kidnaps the last living water diviner. Even though water divining is against the law and punishable by death.
Has Rhees taken on more than he can handle? Will Solace risk her own life to help these people, or will she flee for home as soon as she’s able?

Solace is a strong-willed, beautiful woman. She pushes back at Rhees through the whole book. Rhees is that good guy type who will do anything to help his cause even if it is to kidnap a woman. He sees it as all part of his greater good plan.

Toni has written an interesting and unique story. I loved the dynamic between Solace and Rhees. They don’t experience insta-love, it more comes softly and once it does it is such a swoon moment.


🎙️Lisa is my favorite narrator. She has such a way at making a story come to life and not just reading the story but telling the story, through the way she speaks and the characters voices I feel as if I am there within the story.

An enticing tale of rebellion and romance

I enjoyed this story and I am looking forward to the next in the series. Parts of it reminded me of Romanov by Nadine Brandes

At times I felt like the narrator was reading to a child. Many words were wrongly pronounced and it took me out of the story.

Content:
No explicit language or content
Good vs evil
Doing the right thing when it could cost your life

Fast moving fantasy romance

This is an unusually well-written and well-narrated fantasy romance using the enemies to lovers trope. It struck me as kind of a beauty and the beast retelling. The author includes some plot surprises and many sympathetic characters as well as an evil ruler monopolizing the world’s most precious resource —that’s not gold or oil, it’s water! The story has a kidnapping and ably told fights and battles in addition to the strong love story and the unique magical water divining ability of the heroine. Enjoyed listening to it very much.

Excellent choice to start reading fantasy!

Fantasy is not a typical genre for me, as I don’t like having to figure out the pronunciation of made-up words or struggle to bring the book to life. Having the narrator made all the difference! I also liked how Lisa was able to make the male voices sound authentic and not just like a woman trying to sound like a man. She is a favorite narrator because of that!

Solace’s gift as a water diviner seemed almost like a skill she had learned. Her mother did teach her to use her gift, so I suspect it was a mix of both. She is the type of person who focuses on others and ensures they feel included, needed, and loved—no matter who they are. Rhees is gruff and single-minded in his desire to help the kingdom, so much so that his plans cause harm to others, particularly Solace. The book had me on the edge of my seat with the action. While the entire book was good, once I hit Chapter 13, I couldn’t stop reading and stayed up late to finish. There was just so much going on; I was anxious for Solace and Rhees and had to keep reading, even though it meant staying up late.

If I had one complaint about this book, it’s that Solace is 17. While I appreciate that this is a young adult book, I would have preferred Solace to be in the 18–20 range, given the things she has to deal with. Not that anyone should have to go through them, but for the sake of young minds, having her be older would have felt more appropriate.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from the narrator. All opinions are my own.

Perfect!

This book has amazing worldbuilding and characters that are very well written. I easily felt like I was a part of this book. I fell in love with these characters and was rooting for them the whole time. There are so many challenges and obstacles that Solace and Rhees face, but each one made them stronger. The growth of Solace is my favorite thing about this book. Rhees' determination to save the people makes his character so lovable. The side characters are even written with so my detail. I feel like Toni truly knows her characters inside and out, and it really shows in her books. I really enjoy this world that she has created, and I'm looking forward to reading book 2!

As always, Lisa Lynn did an amazing job bringing this story to life. ♥️

💧Enemies to lovers
💧Rare gifts
💧No Spice
💧grumpy/sunshine
💧Character growth
💧Amazing world building