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A Hunter Bewitched
I was the village witch.
I knew what that meant; I was destined for no man.
And I thought I was okay with that… until a mysterious stranger walked into town.
And now, I had more troubles than I knew what to do with. A wife on the brink of death who needed my help. Her husband, who would happily see me in the ground myself if he had the chance. A rebellion brewing amongst the surrounding farms and a burning bonfire with my name on it. A village turning against itself, governed by a Mayor who couldn’t restore order.
And amongst it all was the man who dominated my thoughts over long days and tortuous nights. His brown curly hair, powerful body, and deadly grace. Who was he, why was he here, and what did it mean?
All I knew for certain was that life was about to get much more complicated.
And in the end, just maybe, I would dare myself to dream.
I knew what that meant; I was destined for no man.
And I thought I was okay with that… until a mysterious stranger walked into town.
And now, I had more troubles than I knew what to do with. A wife on the brink of death who needed my help. Her husband, who would happily see me in the ground myself if he had the chance. A rebellion brewing amongst the surrounding farms and a burning bonfire with my name on it. A village turning against itself, governed by a Mayor who couldn’t restore order.
And amongst it all was the man who dominated my thoughts over long days and tortuous nights. His brown curly hair, powerful body, and deadly grace. Who was he, why was he here, and what did it mean?
All I knew for certain was that life was about to get much more complicated.
And in the end, just maybe, I would dare myself to dream.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 4, 2019
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 24, 2019
A Hunter Bewitched by Darcy Armstrong is a straight up great medieval-setting romance novel. I’m not going to lie, I’m writing a full review because I’m apparently the only person who’s read this book (according to GR) and I think it deserves more attention. This is a full-on M/F explicit lots-of-sex kind of book, so if that’s not your thing, pass it up.
If it IS your thing, then let’s talk about how many boxes this book checked for me. Liliana is a village witch, and takes on the general role of healer and mid-wife. The book starts with her in a particularly bad birthing situation, where the baby is breach, and won’t come out. This first scene hooked me immediately, and was literally the whole reason I went from “Look Inside” to “Buy Now With One Click.” I was overjoyed that the book comes out of the gate very strong, with the heroine showing you what she’s made of. She’s smart, quick to problem solve, but also very emotionally sensitive, which I really liked. Too many times a “strong female character” mean that she is a badass warrior, and I think this book really highlights that a strong female can be badass, and then also cry herself to sleep when things go wrong.
Hunter is a hunter, and yes, it is a joke in the book. He comes into town from several weeks in the forest, and is ready to refresh his supplies, make some coin, stay a few nights in an actual bed, and then head back out into the great unknown. That is all well and good, until the Alderman (mayor of the town) gives him an extremely well-paying job which requires him to spy on the witch. The Alderman needs to give a formal report about the witch to the county seat, and part of that report requires observations from a neutral third-party. The village is so small, that Hunter is literally the only person who can fulfill the “neutral third party” part, and is paid handsomely to do this. I really loved the “forced” meet cute, and also thought this was an extremely thoughtful way to bring the characters together. The whole thing works very well, and never seemed like a weird thing that sometimes happens at the beginning of romance novels. I also really enjoyed how Hunter and Liliana have two distinct POVs, with a lot of inner dialogue so by the end of the book, you know pretty much exactly what the character will think and do. Very nicely done.
But obviously this is a romance novel, so Hunter is going to spy on the witch, and they are going to fall in love and have sex all over the place. You can see from the beginning what the “major problem” will be, but it’s still a joy getting to actually read it through. The sex scenes do gets to be a little repetitive, but not cringey or bad at all, but it did feel like some phrases got repeated, or like the MCs only liked one position maybe (which is totally a thing!). The book slips here, for me, with a lot of major things happening off-stage, so that we can get all the sex parts on-stage. I would have liked to have some of the issues shown, instead of being told about it later. For example, apparently the two MCs talk a LOT, like the reader gets told many times that they “spent all night talking” and now they really know each other now and how everything is so much better, because they shared so many emotions. But the reader doesn’t get to see a lot of that, just told later after an explosive sex scene. There is also a small revolt going on, to get the witch to be “fired” from her job as a healer, and you don’t get to see that either, just hear about it later and about how much danger the witch is in.
While I think that this could be better, as a first novel and a first publication, I got to say that it was overall an amazing story, and there was a lot done right. Here is my favorite things that should be applauded and celebrated: 1) Rhona, the elderly mother-type to Liliana. A snarky, hilarious old woman, who is like a funny gossipy grandma. I loved Rhona, and her no-nonsense, I-don’t-give-a-shit-attitude. 2) The ability of both the hero and heroine separately. They both have very unique backgrounds and skills that don’t rely on others to be relevant. I also celebrate the author for really putting a lot of thought into HOW each person thinks about a problem – it’s super believable and I’m sure it took a ton of effort to fully realize how two completely different people would think through problems and address them in a realistic mannor. 3) Slut shaming and hypocrisy. I don’t think that the MC got it right (she is slut-shamed, and then slut-shames another person) BUT to me, the author brings this all up in a way that makes you realize how easy it is to fall into that role. I read this particular passage as the author having a conversation with the reader about how nice it would be to just be happy for others who found happiness (sexually) instead of making them feel awful, and I think that is a great message. Maybe somebody will read it a different way, but that’s how I feel, and I think it was really nice. 4) Both characters easily and quickly apologize when they are in the wrong. Got to love that. None of this “oh my pride!” whatever bull shit that drags on for 200 pages. Nice people can just be nice!
Anyway, if you like fantasy romance, and want to support someone who definitely should be writing more books, get this book and read it. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but the characters are all amazing, and a very well done story from beginning to end.
If it IS your thing, then let’s talk about how many boxes this book checked for me. Liliana is a village witch, and takes on the general role of healer and mid-wife. The book starts with her in a particularly bad birthing situation, where the baby is breach, and won’t come out. This first scene hooked me immediately, and was literally the whole reason I went from “Look Inside” to “Buy Now With One Click.” I was overjoyed that the book comes out of the gate very strong, with the heroine showing you what she’s made of. She’s smart, quick to problem solve, but also very emotionally sensitive, which I really liked. Too many times a “strong female character” mean that she is a badass warrior, and I think this book really highlights that a strong female can be badass, and then also cry herself to sleep when things go wrong.
Hunter is a hunter, and yes, it is a joke in the book. He comes into town from several weeks in the forest, and is ready to refresh his supplies, make some coin, stay a few nights in an actual bed, and then head back out into the great unknown. That is all well and good, until the Alderman (mayor of the town) gives him an extremely well-paying job which requires him to spy on the witch. The Alderman needs to give a formal report about the witch to the county seat, and part of that report requires observations from a neutral third-party. The village is so small, that Hunter is literally the only person who can fulfill the “neutral third party” part, and is paid handsomely to do this. I really loved the “forced” meet cute, and also thought this was an extremely thoughtful way to bring the characters together. The whole thing works very well, and never seemed like a weird thing that sometimes happens at the beginning of romance novels. I also really enjoyed how Hunter and Liliana have two distinct POVs, with a lot of inner dialogue so by the end of the book, you know pretty much exactly what the character will think and do. Very nicely done.
But obviously this is a romance novel, so Hunter is going to spy on the witch, and they are going to fall in love and have sex all over the place. You can see from the beginning what the “major problem” will be, but it’s still a joy getting to actually read it through. The sex scenes do gets to be a little repetitive, but not cringey or bad at all, but it did feel like some phrases got repeated, or like the MCs only liked one position maybe (which is totally a thing!). The book slips here, for me, with a lot of major things happening off-stage, so that we can get all the sex parts on-stage. I would have liked to have some of the issues shown, instead of being told about it later. For example, apparently the two MCs talk a LOT, like the reader gets told many times that they “spent all night talking” and now they really know each other now and how everything is so much better, because they shared so many emotions. But the reader doesn’t get to see a lot of that, just told later after an explosive sex scene. There is also a small revolt going on, to get the witch to be “fired” from her job as a healer, and you don’t get to see that either, just hear about it later and about how much danger the witch is in.
While I think that this could be better, as a first novel and a first publication, I got to say that it was overall an amazing story, and there was a lot done right. Here is my favorite things that should be applauded and celebrated: 1) Rhona, the elderly mother-type to Liliana. A snarky, hilarious old woman, who is like a funny gossipy grandma. I loved Rhona, and her no-nonsense, I-don’t-give-a-shit-attitude. 2) The ability of both the hero and heroine separately. They both have very unique backgrounds and skills that don’t rely on others to be relevant. I also celebrate the author for really putting a lot of thought into HOW each person thinks about a problem – it’s super believable and I’m sure it took a ton of effort to fully realize how two completely different people would think through problems and address them in a realistic mannor. 3) Slut shaming and hypocrisy. I don’t think that the MC got it right (she is slut-shamed, and then slut-shames another person) BUT to me, the author brings this all up in a way that makes you realize how easy it is to fall into that role. I read this particular passage as the author having a conversation with the reader about how nice it would be to just be happy for others who found happiness (sexually) instead of making them feel awful, and I think that is a great message. Maybe somebody will read it a different way, but that’s how I feel, and I think it was really nice. 4) Both characters easily and quickly apologize when they are in the wrong. Got to love that. None of this “oh my pride!” whatever bull shit that drags on for 200 pages. Nice people can just be nice!
Anyway, if you like fantasy romance, and want to support someone who definitely should be writing more books, get this book and read it. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but the characters are all amazing, and a very well done story from beginning to end.
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March 26, 20193 star sample, which isn't good enough to get me to buy the book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews