The Veil Between the Worlds (Witches of the New Forest, Book 2): An Enchanting Paranormal Romance and Mystery With a Small-Town Setting and a Heroine Coming Into Her Own Power

by Joanna van der Hoeven

From bestselling author Joanna van der Hoeven comes a new paranormal romance series, Witches of the New Forest!

Escape to a world of magic, myth, romance and adventure...

BOOK 2 (WITCHES OF THE NEW FOREST): THE VEIL BETWEEN THE WORLDS

Hunter is dealing with the fallout that came from her last hedge riding ritual. Her world has been turned upside down, and now she must focus and throw herself into her studies in order avoid thinking about her relationship with Jack. She and her sister, Ryder, are currently thousands of miles away from home, in the little village of Burley deep in the New Forest of England. This quaint little tourist spot hides many secrets, and is a liminal place where magick, myth, and legend are very real. The sisters have already been confronted with numerous challenges as they learn about their magickal heritage and legacy. However, now they have even bigger problems to hand.

It seems that Hunter has made some powerful enemies, and she must keep her friends and family safe. As she learns even more about her heritage and what that means to her as a magickal practitioner, she grows in power. But is she using it wisely? And just what will happen when she finally does cross the veil between the worlds?

This is Book 2 of the Witches of the New Forest series, and is the second part of Hunter’s trilogy.

Praise for The Veil Between the Worlds and the Witches of the New Forest

"Village life, the natural world, the Otherworld, a broken-off romance, a well-paced narrative, a main character who is strong, yet fallible, supporting characters who are nicely delineated, a book that is thought provoking in many ways - and an exciting conclusion that prepares us for the final volume in the trilogy. Highly recommended." Amazon 5 star review of The Veil Between the Worlds, Book 2 (UK)

" An excellent sequel to Hedge Witch. The story is developed further, we learn more about the darker elements resident in Burley and also more about the techniques of Hedge Riding itself. It is very well written, both in the wider development of the story line [never a dull moment!] and in the richness of the actual sentences on the page.Reading the notes at the back of the book, it would seem that Joanna has done considerable research on this topic, which gives it a feel of authenticity, rather than just another Fantasy novel." Amazon 5 star review of The Veil Between the Worlds, Book 2 (UK)

"A little mystery, a little romance and fantasy all into one... this series has me hooked! I eagerly await the third book!" Amazon 5 star review of The Veil Between the Worlds, Book 2 (Canada)

"I have read books 1 and 2. It is absolutely amazing and couldn’t put it down. You can feel the power and magick in every turn of the page. The New forest and Burley are my favourite places to be. It feels like home when I’m there. Blessed be." (UK)

"These books are so compelling, and yet comprise a gentle read. Their attention to detail surrounds the reader in the atmosphere and flavour, giving total immersion in the events as they unfold. The descriptions of the magickal workings are also a welcome addition and give added weight to the feelings of inclusion. Thank you for such a wonderful rabbit hole to disappear into when this world becomes overbearing." (UK)

"A great second installment in the series! Lots of wonderful, well described magick and a really well crafted plot. Absorbing and immersive. My favourite witch themed novel series." (UK)

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2024

About the author

Joanna van der Hoeven was born in Quebec, Canada. She moved to the UK in 1998, where she now lives with her husband in a small village near the coast of the North Sea.

Joanna is a former Trustee of The Druid Network. She has studied with Emma Restall Orr and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. She has a BA Hons English Language and Literature degree.

She is currently enjoying writing fiction, and her Witches of the New Forest series has been wonderfully received.

Reviews

[Jas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joanna van der Hoeven’s ‘The Veil Between the Worlds’ is the second book in her new fiction trilogy (‘Witches of the New Forest’). The middle volume in any trilogy poses many challenges for any author: while the book itself should be self-contained with its own defined outline and plot arc, it needs to pick up where the first book left off and must also pave the way for the concluding book. Any explicit action in this volume is initially rather curtailed as Hunter comes to terms with knowledge of her Fae roots and has to face many problems that are the fallout from the first book – not least dealing with her broken heart. There’s a slight feeling of stasis at the beginning of the volume but this belies the careful construction of the storyline: the strands of storyline are being subtly interwoven to propel the plotline forwards and so to deliver the tense crux to the novel. And this volume passes that critical middle book test as while it delivers its own highpoint, that highpoint is actually preparing us for the third and final volume.

One very interesting aspect of this book is the exploration of the idea of what makes a proficient ‘magickal’ practitioner. Hunter and her sister spend much time engaged in studying the occult (Hunter the more so) to inform themselves, but also to aid the quest to step into their heritage as one of the five old ‘magickal’ families of Burley. However, Hunter’s academic background means that she has a reliance on books and research. As an academic, this is how she understands the world and to date this approach has always worked for her in the past. But she becomes unstuck as she over relies on this tactic, not fully comprehending that ‘magick’ is one case where book study is complementary to experience but not a replacement for it. Critically, she also ignores the old academic mantra of ‘the more you learn the less you know’. She brings with her the many insecurities from her profession: the academic world is a harsh one where one absolutely has to believe in the quality of one’s work and be able to defend it, but as a consequence there is also an inherent danger when one then believes in one’s work and abilities without questioning these. We see these issues reflected in her reactions to various comments or responses to her esoteric work. And what starts off as sensitivity and anger (stemming from her relationship problems) means that she is easy prey for the dark forces, driving the plotline forwards and leading to the crux of the story.

Our evil protagonists are depicted again mainly through actions - actions speak louder than words. Also, by not fully fleshing out evil characters, this element of the unknown makes them all the more sinister and effective (less in this case is more). There are encounters with a few Otherworldly characters who are rather questionable in the trustworthy stakes. As outsiders we can see what’s been happening to Hunter’s state of mind and, having got to know her character in the first book, we are aware of her abnormal reactions. One of the strong points of the narrative is that we are almost completely convinced by Hunter’s lack of trust when she meets these Fae characters - we ourselves are questioning the integrity of them – would any of us actually have faith in any of them?

Village life, the natural world, the Otherworld, a broken-off romance, a well-paced narrative, a main character who is strong, yet fallible, supporting characters who are nicely delineated, a book that is thought provoking in many ways - and an exciting conclusion that prepares us for the final volume in the trilogy. Highly recommended.

[Angela Reeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Rivetting Read

These books are so compelling, and yet comprise a gentle read. Their attention to detail surrounds the reader in the atmosphere and flavour, giving total immersion in the events as they unfold. The descriptions of the magickal workings are also a welcome addition and give added weight to the feelings of inclusion.
Thank you for such a wonderful rabbit hole to disappear into when this world becomes overbearing.

[Emma Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was still a quick and enjoyable read this book sadly did feel like filler as nothing much happened until the last 50pages or so. The reunion was also quite rushed and anti-climatic. I would have liked to have read more from Jack's point of view throughout the book rather than in a few pages at the end.

[MRS A A SMITH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spellbound

This series has had me spellbound from the first book and as the read becomes more & more dangerous for the sisters the faster I found myself reading to get to what happens in the next chapter.
Fabulous storyline well thought out & executed. Well done Joanna am on to book three now hoping a happy ever after for all of the characters.

[Bogdan Marin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the first book, it is very well written. Has a very nice flow and plot, which makes it very easily to get into the action, and imagine everything.
I can hardly wait for the 3rd one to come in May. The waiting...

[julia stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved both books in the series and I'm hoping there will be a third to finish the storyline