If you missed my last two reviews, I linked Dark Witch and Shadow Spell for you.
Hey! I’m back with the third and final book in the series. To recap, Dark Witch was about Iona and Boyle, Shadow Spell was about Connor and Meara, and Blood Magick was about Branna and Fin. For a more in-depth recap, read the reviews at the links above. The perfect coupling is very Nora Roberts for her trilogies. You meet the six main characters and watch them pair off through the three books. For these trilogies, all six must work as a unit and match their partner’s energy. It’s a great formula, and she does it so well that you don’t care that this is a specific, repeated formula of hers. I actually love it. She does it that well. Back to the O’Dwyer cousins.
Branna is the kind of witch I aspire to be. Sadly, I fear I will never wield magick as powerfully or gracefully as she. She is beautiful, and she is kind. Those she loves, she loves fiercely and protects them with her whole self. She opened her home and heart when her cousin, who traveled from America, and whom she had never met before, came stumbling into her workshop. She is also an incredible cook of both food and potions. Her thriving business proves that To make sure I am completely jealous of her, and she possesses quite a lot of power. So much so that Cabhan wants to have her as he wished to Sorcha, remember I said Branna was beautiful? She looks like the lovely Sorcha herself, further twisting Branna and Sorcha in Cabhan’s mind.
Fin, what can I say about that handsome devil? I spent the entire three books in love with him. He is Branna’s match in every way. He is a self-made man. He owns the hawks and horse features of the hotel that Boyle, Connor, Meara, and Iona work for. Though, in fairness, Fin has made Boyle a full partner in the horse side of the business before the start of the books. He brings Connor in as a full partner on the falcon side before the end of this book. Fin is a fair and generous man. He owns the house that Meara’s mother rents and keeps the rent affordable for her. Unlike Meara and Boyle, he isn’t without his own power and is as strong as Iona, Connor, or even Branna. In fact, he and Branna were together, but it was revealed when they had sex the one time that he was a descendant of Cabhan, causing a rift between them and an immediate breakup. Fin and Branna went from friends and lovers to strangers in a split second. While Fin has tried to be her friend, she has refused but put up with him for Connor’s sake because they remained friends, along with Boyle. Mind you; the breakup happened when they were 17. Fin wandered around the world but always had a home base where his heart was, near Branna.
Branna’s counterpart of the first three is Brannaugh. I mean, who else could it be? Like Brannaugh, Branna is the oldest of the three and the group’s unofficial leader. Even Fin looks to her for approval, like he can get it. Though, to be fair, Branna is past that at this point, and they even decide to start sleeping together again with no promises. Because that works for all of two seconds. Cabhan’s attacks this time weren’t as many, but they were bigger. Probably because he desired Branna and thought Fin would be an easy mark because they share blood, and book space was running short (haha). However, he was holding back too. He seemed to be having to heal more after the last battle. They hurt him pretty badly. They had thought they had won until the last second but found out how they failed in this one. Cabhan has a literal demon sharing his body? I say body as a question because if you have been a version of alive since the 1200s and have had to rebuild your body more than once, can you share your “body” with a demon? Or is it more of an energy thing? Debates aside, the group must find out how to defeat a demon and a witch for good. They chose the date of Sorcha’s death to be the final time they go at him. They must coordinate with the first three to have enough help to finish it. Branna gets to know Brannaugh and tells her of Fin. Fin is visited, of course, by Cabhan but also by Sorcha. From her, he learns that not only did he come from Cabhan but also her husband Dathi’s family.
After reading all the books, I am left unsatisfied. There was a little church that was talked about a great deal in the first one. The first three sought shelter there and received it. Iona and Boyle are getting married there but nothing. Outside of the importance placed on it in the first book and the wedding in the future happening, nothing else of note happens with it. This brings me to weddings. There were NO wedding scenes. Iona and Boyle are getting married, and Connor and Meara are getting married, but we got no wedding! The book just ended. They defeated the bad guy, everyone hugged and went home, and the book was done. No epilogue, nothing. I felt cheated. Each book felt progressively more rushed, and I was just not in love with this trilogy. It started great, but I was left disappointed.
Are you a fan of Nora Roberts? If so, have you read the Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy? What are your thoughts? I want to say that I am normally very happy with her trilogies. I read the ones that deal with the magick because she does a bang-up job with them. I hope that if you haven’t read Nora Roberts, I haven’t given you a reason not to try her. She is a great author. What are you reading currently? Tell me about it in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
