Falling for the Enchantress: A Robin Hood and King Arthur Retelling With a Twist

To Win a Dark Heart

by Lyndsey Hall

An ancient witch with a grudge.A sheriff with something to prove.An enchantment they’ll come to regret, but never escape.High Priestess Morgaine has been hiding in plain sight for centuries, using her magic to hide herself and her coven from Prince John’s witch hunters. But when a young witchling is slain by the new sheriff’s men, Morgaine will stop at nothing to get vengeance. She’ll kill every witch hunter in the royal forests, including the cruel and handsome sheriff, and then she’ll find Prince John and cut out his heart for good measure.

Until a protection spell backfires and she finds herself magically bound to her enemy. If he dies, so does she.

Stefano’s only job as the High Sheriff of the Royal Forests is to rid the country of the scourge of witchcraft. Betrothed to Prince John’s daughter, he’s desperate to prove his worth and live up to his name as the Grand Witch Hunter. The only thing standing in his way is the captivating and enigmatic witch he’s now bound to by some twist of fate.

As sparks fly and the sworn enemies grow to grudgingly respect each other, could there be more than pure hatred causing the tension between them?

Falling for the Enchantress is a fairy tale that combines elements of Robin Hood and King Arthur. Set between the events in each of these stories, it is the ninth book in the To Win a Dark Heart series, which retells fairy tales as old as time, but this time it’s the villain’s turn to get a happy ending.

Genres: Fairy Tale Retellings, Retellings

Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 13, 2026

About the author

Lyndsey Hall lives on the edge of Sherwood Forest, one of the most magical places in England's history, and the inspiration for her debut novel, The Fair Queen. She grew up surrounded by books, and loved to write from a young age.

She loves to travel and try her hand at new things, but is most at home when curled up in a chair with a cup of tea and a good book, usually accompanied by at least one dog.

Get a FREE book when you join Lyndsey's email list: https://substack.com/@lyndseyhallwrites

Find her on social media: @lyndseyhall on Instagram and @lyndseyhall_ on TikTok

Reviews

[Sarah Ryder]

****DNFed at 22%****

Well, this is the first arc I’ve DNFed—not sure if this is a good milestone or not. 😆😬

Full thoughts on why I quit to come!

[H J Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Falling for the Enchantress' is well written, with an immersive setting and magic system. The main character and love interest are both quite dark characters, and this gives the book an edgy feel. I was quite disappointed that there was no characterization and they continue to be quite dark all the way through.
I personally found this, the unabated red flags of the couple (such as him being engaged to another woman), and the very vivid description of witch magic a but much. I'm not really keen on filling my head with violence, very real (and very wrong) witchcraft, and plans on murder. On the other hand, I think others will appreciate this one more than I did.

I do highly recommend reading this whole series.

[Ilona Nurmela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this mashup retelling of Robin Hood interwoven with the Arthurian myth, the more so that the author actually lives near Sherwood Forest (as far as I know)!

Morgaine has been alive for 500 years. When the new witch-hunter-turned-sheriff comes to Nottingham, she knows it’s time to move on. Except she gets caught and her heart strung in a bond to the evil man.

I loved how witch trials were brought into the traditional tale of Robin Hood and until the very last kept hoping it’s the sheriff who’ll be turned into Robin, but alas. A far more interesting fate for him and Morgaine. Loved the court intrigue and Stefano as the naive scheming villain who thought he was smarter than the locals. Couldn’t avoid picturing Alan Rickman as the sheriff in my mind’s eye, though. Sheriff’s and Morgaine’s interactions were a hoot, loved the dialogues! Princess Gwyn was a surprise and methinks we’ll see more of her, since she had been raised with Merlin at her side. Portraying Arthur as an elderly leech was brill. A veritable page-turner even though a 90-minute novella - much too short if you ask me, this deserves novel length for sure. I want to know what happens to the other characters now, so I wish the author would keep on expanding on her Robin Hood world.

Recommended for lovers of mashup clean mixed gen (YA/NA) retellings, especially Robin Hood and King Arthur.

Trigger warnings: one episode might come as a shock for those who have experienced d3ath of a younger loved one.

[Lj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous, twisting and well written story that takes place more in the backdrop of the 'Robin Hood' story than being a re-telling of it and adds a touch of 'King Arthur'. Perhaps a little darker and more mature in tone than some other books in this multi-author series, it still remains clean and the violence bloodless. It is filled with adventure and magic, the interactions between the main characters fun and constantly unexpected.

My one complaint about the book is that it clearly takes place in a world that is clearly not meant to be the historical England, yet it is too close to the real world to be a 'fantasy' (i.e. they still call the kingdom England, Stefano comes from the Mediterranean) but also not close enough to the real world to be 'historical fantasy' (i.e. the location and name of Prince John's castle, the mention of 'Great Britain' which term only really came in hundreds of years later, the scale of witch hunting in that time period). It just sits in the zone that makes the part of me that knows a little about history twitchy.

I received an ARC and voluntarily leave an honest review.

[Cat Bowser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.

So, let me clarify that I consider three stars _good_. I absolutely recommend this book. I enjoyed this book. It simply didn’t have all the elements to make me love it.

I love Morgaine. She has such a fascinating backstory and the long years of immortality have left a permanent mark in her. It permeates every action she takes and I adore that. She is absolutely a dark character but she’s a dark character I can understand which really makes all the difference.

Stefano on the other hand…I dunno, but something kept me from becoming intrigued by him. He’s written well, with all the stereotypical scheming you expect from the Sheriff of Robin Hood but despite this, I just wasn’t interested in him. Maybe he has a bit too many flaws for me?

I do love the dialogue. The banter is on point and I adore when dialogue is done so well. It really helps flesh out Morgaine.

All in all, a great mash up with a dark couple.

[Mary Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quite unique book as it takes the elements of classic Camelot and mixes it with classic Robin Hood, never read that before! My five star rating is based on that premise. Morgaine is the immortal Morgan LeFay, only not as villainous in the classic story. She's 500 years old and part of a small coven that is not evil. Stefano is the villainous Sheriff newly arrived at the request of Prince John to be his witch hunter. Morgaine and Stefano first meet innocuously, but then mayhem occurs and the rest of their story commences. It's interesting, but nothing is so scary that it can't be read by a younger person. The ending leaves what else might occur to your imagination!

[Raeleane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible mashup of Robin Hood and King Arthur in the To Win a Dark Heart series by Lindsey Hall. The world this story takes place that captivates right from the start. The two MC's Dante ( Stephano) and Eleanor (Morgaine) are very well written. They are entertaining and engaging. This story is full of action, adventure, twists and turns, surprises you don't see coming and magic. A great mashup of villianous fairy tale retellings. I absolutely highly recommend reading this book!

[Doris Plank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms Hall always gives us very well written stories, clean, exciting and with deep insights to the people's thinking. There are lots of twists that will surprise you and it's so sad, that the friend of long years wanted to kill Stefano, but evil whispers ruin lives!
A very worthy adding to the series "To Win A Dark Heart". Enjoy!
I've read an Advanced Reader Copy and this is my free opinion.

[Martelize Schütte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgaine tries so hard to protect everyone while not getting attached to them, due to her immortality. Stefano wants to prove his worth by killing witches but hesitated with Morgaine. I love how they were forced to protect each other in order to survive the bond. ❤️ Also how they both know what will they do if they are free again from each other. I love the banter between them 😂

[Laramee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic combination of Robin Hood and King Arthur! A fun adventure not to be missed! I am loving the twists in this series!

I received an ARC from the author and all opinions are my own.

[Emilee Forrester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a retelling of Robin Hood and King Arthur. I loved how the storyline was developed. This was a very good retelling! I loved how the storyline followed the sheriff and a young witch whose romance was very subtle. I love a good book where the storyline is a priority! The author did an amazing job!

[Chantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This unique twist in these two stories was heartbreaking at times and hilarious at others. Well done!