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Premonitions of death. Murder in a small town. A killer is on the loose, and the coven fears it might be one of their own.

The Grimes sisters aren’t normal — even by witches’ standards. For weeks, Fiona has been having chilling visions of death, and Eleanor sees restless spirits nearly everywhere she goes. It doesn’t help that Mountain Shadow is a strange place to begin with, where rumors of curses fly as fast as salt-water taffy on a warm summer day.

When a string of gruesome murders rocks the small town, Fiona and the rest of her coven begin to worry that a fellow witch may be the killer. Even worse? A witch hunter has just moved in next door, and he suspects the coven.

When it seems that Eleanor might be the next victim, it will take an unlikely alliance and all the witches’ combined powers to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Aether Witch is Charmed meets Gilmore Girls. If you love a dark supernatural mystery with witty banter and unforgettable small-town characters, this book is for you!

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About the author

Tarah Benner

39 books348 followers
Tarah Benner is the author of more than 25 books, including Witches of Mountain Shadow, Mountain Shadow Mysteries, The Fringe, the Elderon Chronicles, the Lawless Saga, and more.
She lives and writes in sunny Colorado with her two dogs, a cat, a toddler, and her beloved partner in crime. When she’s not writing, she enjoys breakfast, hiking, yoga, and martial arts.

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5 stars
488 (45%)
4 stars
353 (32%)
3 stars
189 (17%)
2 stars
44 (4%)
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7 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
Profile Image for Gale Albright.
2,932 reviews19 followers
April 3, 2021
I had a very difficult time rating this book. I truly wanted to like it but the female lead just left me cold. Her personality is abrasive and shallow at times. Not a bunch of excitement even though a lot seemed to be happening. Probably won’t read book 2.
Profile Image for Shannon Heck.
694 reviews
July 31, 2020
Average

This was a decent read. It had an interesting plot and characters, but just seemed to be missing a special something to put it over the top.
Profile Image for Courtney Yang.
88 reviews
June 3, 2022
I got it for free on kindle and I kind of wish I didn’t… took forever for it to be interesting and I found myself dreading having to read it. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read and I managed to complete it so… 2 stars I guess.
Profile Image for Connie B.
297 reviews11 followers
March 16, 2025
Premonitions of death. Murder in a small town. A killer is on the loose, and the coven fears it might be one of their own.

The Grimes sisters aren’t normal — even by witches’ standards. For weeks, Fiona has been having chilling visions of death, and Eleanor sees restless spirits nearly everywhere she goes. It doesn’t help that Mountain Shadow is a strange place to begin with, where rumors of curses fly as fast as salt-water taffy on a warm summer day.

When a string of gruesome murders rocks the small town, Fiona and the rest of her coven begin to worry that a fellow witch may be the killer. Even worse? A witch hunter has just moved in next door, and he suspects the coven.

When it seems that Eleanor might be the next victim, it will take an unlikely alliance and all the witches’ combined powers to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Aether Witch is Charmed meets Gilmore Girls. If you love a dark supernatural mystery with witty banter and unforgettable small-town characters, this book is for you!
53 reviews1 follower
November 24, 2024
Did this as an audiobook and the very first one I've done. I've really enjoyed this read, it had all the feels in it, it had me on the edge of my chair many times. Definitely going to read book no 2 at some point soon.
Profile Image for Veronica Strachan.
Author 5 books40 followers
April 7, 2023
Witches, hunters and murder

Solid storytelling and a nice twist on the witchy tropes. A little darker than I expected, with some good characters.
Profile Image for Abby Lattanzio.
Author 3 books9 followers
November 27, 2022
This magical mystery keeps you guessing until the end. I was drawn to the stunning descriptions of this mysterious little town of Mountain Shadow and enjoyed learning more about all the nuanced characters. Fiona is a brave, strong-headed protagonist who will stop at nothing to protect her family. I’m excited to continue the coven’s journey in the next installment in the series.
Profile Image for Carolyn.
21 reviews
January 11, 2022
Great read. Irritating heroine.

Its not that it's not well written. It's just that I want it to progress differently.
Such as; Fiona to have more concern about demons flooding her hometown, for her to have driven the extra miles to come around on the other side of the highway (because I just don't believe even she would have made it across that section and not have needed a major healing) and the general attitude of antipathy of the entire coven toward each other and everyone else! Not 'an yew shall harm no other's coven!
Other than that it was a very good r.a.f.
Profile Image for Kitty.
889 reviews19 followers
November 23, 2021
I don't know about this one. There were things I liked, and things I didn't. I was definitely a bit annoyed by some of the dumb things the main character did. Some of the book had that silly "cozy mystery" feel to it, but other parts were a bit "dark" for a cozy. I felt like some of the "magic" in this book didn't completely make sense - powers seemed to change when it was convenient for the storyline. It wasn't terrible... but it didn't knock my socks off, either.
Profile Image for Helen Robare.
813 reviews5 followers
August 25, 2023
Even though I am at the beginning of 2 other series (Amazon seems to always have very low prices on the first book of any series), I decided to start this series as it looked good from reading the blurb.

This book introduces the Grimes sisters and (later on) two brothers, Wesley and Gabriel. The main character is Fiona Grimes and (to a lesser extent) her sister, Eleanor Grimes. Fiona has premonitions in dreams that come true and Eleanor sees and interacts with ghosts. This book begins with Fiona out on another date with a man she had not dated before. She sees a premonition in her thoughts and grabs the wheel of the car which causes the young man to drive off the road. End of ever having a date with him again!

When she gets home she finds out that the Reverend has died by being boiled alive in holy water in his own bathtub! The Reverend was the man she had seen in her premonition/vision that caused her to grab the steering wheel of her date's car.

After talking to her sister, Eleanor, they decide to hold a seance and here we are introduced to the sister's friends Bellamy and Beatrix. At the seance all he!! breaks loose and thus begins the story and plot. The Reverend is not the only townsfolk who gets murdered and Fiona begins to think that there is a witch behind the murders and that the witch has a plan and a reason for the murders (though Fiona doesn't know what they are.) Introduced is the new neighbor(s) that bought the 13-year empty house next door (Gabriel and Wesley). Wesley is a human cop and Gabriel is a supernatural Hunter (and how that came about is explained later. Fiona gets along well with Wesley but not with Gabriel though it's Gabriel that has the most information and can help her find the witch.

The writing itself was good and the characters were pretty fleshed out. The town was described well. Many of the secondary characters were well-fleshed out and described. The one character that was poorly written was Eleanor. It seemed like she was just there so that Fiona would have a reason to do all the things she was doing. Also, it seemed to me as if Eleanor was clueless regarding anything to do with the ghosts she is able to see. It also seems like Eleanor is there ONLY for plot purposes! From what I believe Eleanor should have been front and center just like Fiona but she wasn't. Other than that point, I liked the book enough to buy #2 in the series and also read the novella that deals with Wesley and Gabriel. (Which I will review later).
Profile Image for Dew.
762 reviews63 followers
February 12, 2024
This book is breathtakingly bad. I am tempted to finish it solely for entertainment purposes to see exactly how much worse it can get because it’s written in a florid and disembodied way without any sense that the author is aware of what she is writing from one paragraph to the next. It’s deeply reminiscent of a third year high school creative writing project.

In the first chapter, the fmc wanders off during her date to explore the train tracks and commune with the ghosts. She falls down and muses about her shoes being dirty, but also doesn’t seem to be aware that it’s weird that she just got up and left in the middle of dinner. Having established that the fmc is fully aware that she sees ghosts, the author has her grab the steering wheel of the car that she is riding in and jerk it as hard as she can to deliberately run the car off the road in an effort to prevent the driver from hitting the ghost that she sees in the road. Then she seems nonplussed that her date is turned off by her behaviour.

I mean, seriously, forget the paranormal whosiwhatsits is there anyone who would be okay with someone ditching them in the middle of dinner and running their car off the road while driving?

And because I am that person, train cars don’t flit, they trundle. Also, this is the second paranormal mystery book that I have read today with a black cat named “Smudge”.
Profile Image for T.C..
Author 18 books22 followers
February 26, 2021
Oh. My. Goodness. I nearly folded after the first scene, thinking this was going to be rather redundant. I'm glad I didn't, and I haven't such sleepless nights reading a fast-paced, action-packed work since I read the Gateway Trilogy and Gateway Trackers.

Best yet, Aether Witch was basically a more complex, darker version of E.E. Holmes' work. And it makes me wonder whether Tarah Benner came across either series as inspiration for her own. Fiona, our protagonist, reminds me a lot of Jess Ballard from the Gateway, while Eleanor and Bellamy strongly resemble Hannah and Milo.

Best yet, the story is full of mystery and mystique. You're diving into the lives of a coven of witches living in small-town America. And when a string of murders attracts a witch hunter to town, all eyes point to Fiona. Only her coven, her loyal sister, and her love interest, Wesley, have her back.

Can it get any worse for Fiona?

It can. Because the coven comes to realize the perpetrator of these crimes is among their own people. Who is the guilty party? And will they bring down Fiona?

The answer will boggle your mind.
Profile Image for Isobel.
517 reviews17 followers
September 3, 2022
The protagonist was annoying - very '90s Meg Ryan rom-com, you know, constantly being kind of rude and aggressive and people generally letting her get away with it because she's so adorable or beautiful or whatever. Except me. I see you, Fiona. Stop being an entitled betch. Also, stop being so freakin' ignorant. This chick needed EVERYTHING explained to her - which I know was really for the reader's benefit, because Benner built this intricate world for her new series - but she demanded the information aggressively, and it often... Seemed like shit she should already know? Like... Um, were you asleep during witch history class or something, Fiona? Also, maybe you could ask for information nicely? It's not your best guy friend's fault he wanted A's and you wanted to be a cool girl and constantly bake while remaining thin. You could have tried to pull a Rory Gilmore, but nooo, you just want to snap at Bellamy and everyone else for information. So not my favorite, but the read was pretty quick and it wasn't the worst thing I've read. So read it if you like Meg Ryan, I guess?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
118 reviews3 followers
October 5, 2020
Welcome to the small town of Mountain Shadow, a quaint touristy spot that is also home to a coven of witches. They keep to themselves and do not flourish what they are. Their way of life, especially for two sisters, Fiona and Eleanor, is threatened when a series of murders are commited. Not only do the towns preople start panicing and accusing the sisters of witchcraft, but an attractive witch hunter, Gabriel, comes to hunt down the culprit and also has his eyes on the sisters, Fiona in particular. Fiona leads her own investigation to find out who is murdering these innocent people and who kidnapped her sister with some help from fellow coven members and also some surprisingly and unwelcome help from Gabriel himself.

Follow Fiona as she works through this and finds a surprising twist as to who the murderer(s) are. This is a fun, suspenseful, intriguing story that leaves you wanting more, and the ending definitely hints at more to come!
391 reviews1 follower
March 8, 2023
Fiona Grimes and her sister Eleanor are witches, but they are like no other witches around. To begin with, Fiona has been having nightmares that don’t feel like dreams but premonitions, and her sister, Eleanor, can naturally see beyond the veil, but lately, there seems to be more lost souls walking around. Then the murders start when someone new moves in next store. At least he is a police officer, but his brother is a hunter of those paranormals that get out of line. Then there are bible thumpers from a town or two away demonstrating in the main square.

The world-building by Mrs. Benner has been done very well. I could see some of the things she described and feel the chill of the wind… or is that my windows? The character interaction is very well done, and the twist, well, I did not see coming.

You may like this read if you like fantasy, witches, covens, and the paranormal. I give this small-town tale five stars out of five stars.

Profile Image for Renee.
312 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2025
A paranormal, urban fantasy romance or so this is how many are defining this story. But unlike the normal repetitive nature that we read in the above “genre” Aether Witch is more. Yes it is about two sister witches in a modern day Colorado town and features witch hunter there was more to this story. There is lose, found family, there is mystery and an eerie backdrop of a setting that makes it the perfect story for this time of year. I really am impressed with how deep in explanation we are taken concerning how the magic system works. Tarah Brenner has done a wonderful job writing a plot forward, character driven story that will grab the reader and take them for a supernatural ride. If you are a fan of mystery and magic with a touch of The Witcher twisted about, I recommend this book to you.
Profile Image for Tarah Benner.
Author 39 books348 followers
Read
May 25, 2023
Aether Witch (Witches of Mountain Shadow Book 1), narrated by Taylor Harvey, is now available from all your favorite audiobook retailers! Listen on Spotify, Chirp, Audible, Kobo, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble!


Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks...
Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Aether-Witch-W...
Kobo/Walmart: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nz0yiP...
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobo...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/aeth...
Profile Image for C. Mercie M Crystal.
445 reviews
November 8, 2021
A memorable jaunt through a magical murder

The main characters are likeable, funny, sarcastic, and fairly straight forward. The quaint little mountain community is stenciled out in quick brush strokes, making you want to know more about it l. You do see some character depth that develops as the book moves into the story, and it makes you invest in knowing more. What will they find/see in this mountain town that explains why evil has come here. How are Fiona and her sister involved, and what will this event reveal to them about themselves and their family? Thank you for a quick, fun, read.
Profile Image for ForestGardenGal.
438 reviews6 followers
April 13, 2023
Fun supernatural thriller

Good plot, not completely predictable, and had a few nice red herrings as a special treat for the astute reader. Characters were interesting and while the main character was fairly well developed, the supporting characters needed more work to make the reader care about them.

Copyediting needs work. While not bad enough to render the text unreadable, there were several obnoxious word choice errors which marked this as as work of a novice author. Unfortunately, this author has too many books in publication to use that excuse.

PG13 for violence. No sex or language.
25 reviews
July 6, 2023
I thought this was a fantastic audio book. It has been a while since I listened to a paranormal story. I found the main character interesting. She wasn't just a clueless person bumbling around and figuring out what was going on. Not an expert either, but smart enough to get there in the end. The supporting characters were believable and served more than just the role of a sounding board.

If you like paranormal stories that have to do with witch's and mysteries then this is the story for you.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for A Schaeffs.
180 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2023
Didn't realize I was still into the paranormal worlds with witches and demons.

I love Tarah's apoc/ dystopian books and follow her on social media.
I took a chance on Aether Witch because I like her writing style and the detail with which she writes the characters. I have to admit that I came into the book thinking that it might be too 'infantile' just because of the genre, but it was far from that and I have enjoyed the story: a fast paced murder mystery, with a magical twist into paranormal worlds. I look forward to Book 2.
Profile Image for KitKat828.
13 reviews
July 26, 2020
Great first book in a new series

I've read all of Tarah's dystopian and post apocalyptic books so I'm a fan and knew I wanted to read this new venture of hers. She did not disappoint. The fictional town she built and the characters drew me in. I enjoyed Fiona's character and her determination. The book doesn't end on a cliffhanger but still leaves a lot of questions unanswered and leaves me anxiously waiting for the next book to get answers and find out more about Gabriel.
123 reviews
August 6, 2020
Awesome new story form a well loved author!!


A great new supernatural story with a murder mystery included. This author delves into a new genre from her usual dystopian stories. This is a really good story with witches and hunters. There are wonderful characters, some friends some family and some that are or not. You get vested in these characters pretty much right way. I can't wait for the next book in the series!!
Profile Image for Pattie Benger.
13 reviews23 followers
November 10, 2020
I loved this book. Geographically a little Colorado Springs (my hometown), a little Old Colorado City and a lot of Manitou Springs (called Mountain Shadow). This book has great characters and demonstrate friendship, family dynamics, entrepreneurship, and a budding romance. It was so fun to read and I was surprised to learn this is the author’s first supernatural/paranormal book. I found this in a list of books set in Colorado Springs and I’m so glad I read it!
Profile Image for Peggy Kindt.
138 reviews1 follower
March 1, 2021
Magical read.

The main character didn't seem to be interested in her witches magic. Rather used it as an after thought. The characters historical knowledge of her gift was sketchy. The author has a special knack drawing out the plot through the end. Well rounded story encouraging the readers immersion. The handsome heroine saves the day and is nicely written into the next book. PottsvillePA_03012021.
1,161 reviews26 followers
April 21, 2022
Great start to a series

Fiona and her sister, Eleanor, are witches in Mountain Shadow, and are part if a coven. Now trouble has cone to their town and someone close to them may be involved. Add to the mix is a witch hunter, who is living next door to the sisters. Now 5 people are dead, and will more follow. Can Fiona fins the answers and can she trust Gabriel, the witch hunter
Profile Image for Jackie.
99 reviews8 followers
Read
January 13, 2023
Something new!

I've read all kinds of witch stories. This is the first I've read that has to do with an aether witch. Fiona has dreams that she can't figure out so she goes into the forest to draw on the power of nature. What she discovers upends her quiet life. I like the eclectic tourist town setting of the story. It is perfect for two sister witches. Perfect for a small town murder mystery.
1 review
December 4, 2023
I honestly really liked this book. I have read almost the whole series of 7(?) books and I have enjoyed them all. If you are a hard core long time fantasy reader maybe this isn’t the book for you, but I struggled finding a series I enjoyed to get me into fantasy after reading ya fantasy books in high school (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson…) this helped me find something more mature and get into the genre as an adult.
Profile Image for Narelle Williams.
130 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2023
I received this book as a freebie in return for an honest review.
I had a little trouble getting into this book, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. I would have liked to learn more about some of the characters, but maybe that will happen in future books. I didn't guess the villains at all. The author describes in detail the characters and the scenery, so it's pretty easy to imagine as you follow the story along.
Profile Image for Gillie.
7 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2024
Not what I wanted

It is perhaps unfair of me to even rate this book, but I did something I rarely do, skipped to the end after the first few chapters. And then found one of my least favorite things: a plotline that has no feeling of resolution, but slides into the next book. Add dead animals, overhanging dread and sort of general nastiness, and I am done. In its favor, the book had deep and complicated world building...but it was not a world I wish to inhabit.
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