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The Witches of Portland #3
By Wind
Sometimes the voices in your head are real.
Brenda should be happy. She runs a successful esoteric shop in Portland. She has a great coven and good friends.
But a voice she doesn’t recognize has taken up residence in her head. It’s not one of her spirit guides. It isn’t her matron Goddess. What does this voice want from her? Troubled customers start showing up, complaining that they hear voices, too.
Then Caroline walks in, beautiful, with a sheet of perfect black hair, and a face that makes Brenda melt. She’s on the run from danger.
Who —or what—stalks Caroline? And what haunts the streets of Portland, invading people’s minds? With the help of a couple of angels, Brenda and her coven must act swiftly, before the coming storm blows them all away.
Brenda should be happy. She runs a successful esoteric shop in Portland. She has a great coven and good friends.
But a voice she doesn’t recognize has taken up residence in her head. It’s not one of her spirit guides. It isn’t her matron Goddess. What does this voice want from her? Troubled customers start showing up, complaining that they hear voices, too.
Then Caroline walks in, beautiful, with a sheet of perfect black hair, and a face that makes Brenda melt. She’s on the run from danger.
Who —or what—stalks Caroline? And what haunts the streets of Portland, invading people’s minds? With the help of a couple of angels, Brenda and her coven must act swiftly, before the coming storm blows them all away.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2018
49 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
T. Thorn Coyle
89 books191 followersTT. Thorn Coyle has been arrested at least four times. Buy her a cup of tea or a good whisky and she'll tell you about it.
A salty-tongued, tattooed mystic, Thorn is author of the alt-history urban fantasy series The Panther Chronicles, the novel Like Water, and two short story collections. The Witches of Portland will be out in Spring, 2018. She has also written multiple non-fiction books including Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Kissing the Limitless, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. Thorn's work appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections.
She has taught magical practice in nine countries, on four continents, and in twenty-five states. Her other occupations have been numerous, and include working four years each on the Pacific Stock Options floor (as a young Anarchist punk with a blue, flat-top Mohawk), in a woman-run peep show, and full time in the San Francisco soup kitchen she ended up volunteering at for twenty years. All of this, along with her activism, informs her fiction.
An interloper to the Pacific Northwest, Thorn joyfully stalks city streets, writes in cafes, and talks to crows, squirrels, and trees.
Thorn is active on:
Twitter @ThornCoyle
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tthorncoyle
Medium https://medium.com/@ThornCoyle
Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ThornCoyle
http://www.thorncoyle.com
A salty-tongued, tattooed mystic, Thorn is author of the alt-history urban fantasy series The Panther Chronicles, the novel Like Water, and two short story collections. The Witches of Portland will be out in Spring, 2018. She has also written multiple non-fiction books including Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Kissing the Limitless, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. Thorn's work appears in many anthologies, magazines, and collections.
She has taught magical practice in nine countries, on four continents, and in twenty-five states. Her other occupations have been numerous, and include working four years each on the Pacific Stock Options floor (as a young Anarchist punk with a blue, flat-top Mohawk), in a woman-run peep show, and full time in the San Francisco soup kitchen she ended up volunteering at for twenty years. All of this, along with her activism, informs her fiction.
An interloper to the Pacific Northwest, Thorn joyfully stalks city streets, writes in cafes, and talks to crows, squirrels, and trees.
Thorn is active on:
Twitter @ThornCoyle
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tthorncoyle
Medium https://medium.com/@ThornCoyle
Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ThornCoyle
http://www.thorncoyle.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 7, 2025
Sometimes the voices in your head are real.
Brenda should be happy. She runs a successful esoteric shop in Portland. She has a great coven and good friends.
But a voice she doesn’t recognize has taken up residence in her head. It’s not one of her spirit guides. It isn’t her matron Goddess. What does this voice want from her? Troubled customers start showing up, complaining that they hear voices, too.
Then Caroline walks in, beautiful, with a sheet of perfect black hair, and a face that makes Brenda melt. She’s on the run from danger.
Brenda should be happy. She runs a successful esoteric shop in Portland. She has a great coven and good friends.
But a voice she doesn’t recognize has taken up residence in her head. It’s not one of her spirit guides. It isn’t her matron Goddess. What does this voice want from her? Troubled customers start showing up, complaining that they hear voices, too.
Then Caroline walks in, beautiful, with a sheet of perfect black hair, and a face that makes Brenda melt. She’s on the run from danger.
January 18, 2021
The reason this is a three star rating is not because of the writing or the story. It deals with abuse and rape, which are topics that are extremely difficult for me to consume in fiction. I still love the series and intend to continue.
June 15, 2018
Full disclosure: I have been a fan of Thorn's for a long time, fiction & nonfiction.
I love this series so much! Each book lets us delve deeply into the life of one member of the Arrow and Crescent coven, so folks we've met in earlier books become more fully-fleshed characters.
Where the first two books are explicitly about injustice among the city government, this one looks at more intimate violence and how it affects individual people. The coven member By Wind focuses on is Brenda, who runs a metaphysical shop. Her love interest is Caroline, who is in the process of disentangling herself from her husband. As the book begins, Caroline is in the process of realizing her husband is abusive. Thorn writes the internal dialog of a gaslighting victim clearly and consistently. This kind of thing happens so gradually that even strong people you might think would never fall for it become shadows of themselves, isolated, full of self-recrimination, and always walking on eggshells. Watching Caroline come back to herself is hard sometimes because of how badly she was wounded, but it's also really awesome. I was rooting for her so hard from the get-go.
This installment of the series deals with more personal violence, and while sexual assaults take place off-page, there's on-page domestic violence in several scenes. Be sure to evaluate your comfort level before you read if you find these kinds of scenes difficult. There's no shame in skipping ahead a chapter or skipping a book entirely.
I love this series so much! Each book lets us delve deeply into the life of one member of the Arrow and Crescent coven, so folks we've met in earlier books become more fully-fleshed characters.
Where the first two books are explicitly about injustice among the city government, this one looks at more intimate violence and how it affects individual people. The coven member By Wind focuses on is Brenda, who runs a metaphysical shop. Her love interest is Caroline, who is in the process of disentangling herself from her husband. As the book begins, Caroline is in the process of realizing her husband is abusive. Thorn writes the internal dialog of a gaslighting victim clearly and consistently. This kind of thing happens so gradually that even strong people you might think would never fall for it become shadows of themselves, isolated, full of self-recrimination, and always walking on eggshells. Watching Caroline come back to herself is hard sometimes because of how badly she was wounded, but it's also really awesome. I was rooting for her so hard from the get-go.
This installment of the series deals with more personal violence, and while sexual assaults take place off-page, there's on-page domestic violence in several scenes. Be sure to evaluate your comfort level before you read if you find these kinds of scenes difficult. There's no shame in skipping ahead a chapter or skipping a book entirely.
July 4, 2018
I absolutely adore how By Wind weaves witchcraft, OTO and angelic workings through a compelling story and deepening characters. I so appreciate how T. Thorn Coyle's works of fiction weave so strongly and mosaically worlds of activism and Magic, large and small. Everyone does their work, the magical and mundane, the solitary and the group; which I find so refreshing and inspiring. And they have all of the feelings, from Joy and accomplishment to abject avoidance and rage about their work, like we all do at some time. They still keep doing the work. The third book in The Witches of Portland series, particularly resonated for me, because I helped a friend out of an abusive situation very similar to Caroline's. Underneath the embellishments, there is so much real, valuable information on how to be a support, resource, and reliable friend in a time of crisis. I highly recommend this book.
August 16, 2018
This is my favorite "The Witches of Portland" book thus far. It might be because I relate so closely with Brenda and with the experiences in the book. It might also be that this book had something in it for me about community and about connecting with those around you who are of different traditions and experiences but coming together to truly do the great magical work. It also feels significant because, while the bigger-picture community issue was present, in this instance the coven was working on challenges much closer to home. I feel like talking about the personal and community in tandem as this book does is a beautiful example of how our personal magic can work in hand with our magic for the community.
Also, I'm ready to hang out with Brenda, so if she needs a hand at the shop just hit me up.
Also, I'm ready to hang out with Brenda, so if she needs a hand at the shop just hit me up.
May 27, 2018
Magic, justice, and romance
This series is SO good. It's full of actual people, in all our glorious variety, doing magic and justice in the world. This book in particular deals with domestic violence (on-page) and rape (off-page), so there are scenes that are difficult to read, but I found them incredibly worth it. Coyle makes the point of finding a positive ending for her characters, and I love the way relationships grow through the series.
This series is SO good. It's full of actual people, in all our glorious variety, doing magic and justice in the world. This book in particular deals with domestic violence (on-page) and rape (off-page), so there are scenes that are difficult to read, but I found them incredibly worth it. Coyle makes the point of finding a positive ending for her characters, and I love the way relationships grow through the series.
August 6, 2018
This is the third book of the series that I have read and all I can say is I am completely hooked and can't wait to read the next book.
The book just resonates with me on so many levels. I love the magic combined with activism and the sense of community.
It is a story that inspires the reader to search for ways to actively respond to the world, to take action and bring about change.
I reviewed an advance copy of this book
The book just resonates with me on so many levels. I love the magic combined with activism and the sense of community.
It is a story that inspires the reader to search for ways to actively respond to the world, to take action and bring about change.
I reviewed an advance copy of this book
July 11, 2018
This is the one I see myself most in. In some ways I feel like it's the most obvious and typical of the witches, but I love how this white female older character is mixed in with all the rest. It's wonderful story and I enjoyed being challenged in my paganism just as the character was when messing with angels. I cannot wait to read By Sea, and just got it in the mail!
February 17, 2023
Really enjoying this series
This series has been profoundly nourishing for me as a wiccan so far. It is so good to read stories that understand my faith in similar ways to how I do - meaning, spirituality and magic.
This series has been profoundly nourishing for me as a wiccan so far. It is so good to read stories that understand my faith in similar ways to how I do - meaning, spirituality and magic.
December 19, 2018
Wonderful!
This series just keeps getting better and better! I look forward to the next book, but first I need to catch the previous one.
This series just keeps getting better and better! I look forward to the next book, but first I need to catch the previous one.
February 1, 2019
Utterly excellent.
November 4, 2019
I'm still in love with this series, but the pacing in this one seemed a little off, and I'm not terribly fond of Kabbalism in the hands of non-Jewish mystics.
July 19, 2020
I love this series so much
💖
Extra stars for an early Brian Froud reference 🧚♂️😊
💖
Extra stars for an early Brian Froud reference 🧚♂️😊
September 20, 2021
I liked this better than the first one, especially the witchcraft
September 23, 2021
I enjoy these characters, their community, and the eye into Portland. Fun.
I wish all the witches I know had the integrity and power of these characters!
I wish all the witches I know had the integrity and power of these characters!
May 6, 2025
I love this entire series. I love the way the characters are portrayed as strong in there Witches Faith and know when to reach out to their Coven which is really their chosen family.
December 28, 2020
i think part of what feels so good about this series is the...diverse representation, the sense of political responsibility. and there's an emotional intelligence here that far outweighs the (pretty flat) prose. (will i stop mentioning the prose in my reviews of subsequent installments? probably not, because it's the main reason i'm not giving these 5 stars).
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews