The Lost Coven

The Lost Cove Darklings #1

by Bekah Harris

Felicity Hawthorne has never been superstitious.

Coming from a long line of Appalachian healers, she's helped Nan cast grounding spells and left gifts of candy and moonshine for the fair folk, but was any of it real? Not likely.

But when Felicity spots a mysterious boy at school that no one else can see, she begins to question the true origins of her family's beliefs, as well as her place within it. Could magic really exist? Were all of Nan's stories true? Were her parents really who they seemed to be? Desperate for answers, Felicity follows the boy deep into the forest to discover a secret world lost to time itself.

Too late, Felicity realizes the truth has consequences, that her search may come with a price she is unwilling to pay.

Lured into a deadly world where blood is more valuable than precious stones, Felicity must call upon the hidden magic inside her if she has any hope of surviving in this dangerous new realm where the supernatural reigns.

Filled with magic, folklore, and romance, The Lost Coven is the first book in Bekah Harris' captivating new series, The Lost Cove Darklings.

Genres: Fantasy, Witches, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fairies, Urban Fantasy

274 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2020

About the author

Born and raised in the mountains of East Tennessee, Bekah Harris has been writing since she could hold a pencil. The beauty of her home in the Appalachian Mountains, along with the legends, myths, and folklore of that area, is what inspires the unique plots and settings captured in her young adult fiction. In addition to her love of all things fictional, Bekah is also a freelance writer and editor, an occasional adjunct professor, and a high school English teacher. When not working, Bekah can be found at home building block towers for her son to knock down, drinking coffee and watching Netflix with her husband.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the most confusing books I have read and not in a depth type of way. The writing is so back and forth it is hard to connect with any of the characters even though Bekah Harris has some really good potential for depth and likeability. Lets start with the MC, Felicity. She's brave, but not. Snarky, but not. Doesn't believe in magic but wants to learn the family trade...in magic. She makes no sense on paper. While, yes, these things in a teenager are not suprising, Harris did a poor job of making this character anything more than paper thin. I just could not get a real feel for WHO this character was besides the most basic of observations. Felicity's friend Raven, had such a good story line that I thought would bring some depth to Felicty and maybe make me like her on a deeper level, but it fell flat as well. The story line of Raven bouncing around shady homes with a crappy bio-mom who did nothing to help the situation had an opportunity to bring some real life topics and issues to light but just kind of stopped. The issues were more or less just listed rather than being a storyline.
The main issue I had with the writing was that it felt as though Harris wasn't sure what type of angle to use when trying to write her other groups. The Fae are pretty typical in the thought that they are vain and pretty self serving but than she has the laltogs. They also have the same kind of qualities. Who is the real "bad" guy in this, or is this a situation where one has to chose the lesser of two evils? I didn't hate having to question every move these two groups made but it made it hard to have a real hope for Felicity to chose one over the other. There's no real choice for her and it's continuously written as though there was one, which in the end lead me to really not caring. I don't know if I am interested in seeing where these characters end up or not. If I come across it, I may read the second book but only out of curiosity to see how Harris evolves these charactersand writting style, but we all know what they say about curiosity.

[Thais • tata.lifepages • · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was super excited to start Bekah Harris' Lost Cove series after reading The Thorn Princess by the same author, I really enjoy her writing style and I am so glad that this new series is just as good!

I love the entire mystery around Felicity and her family, what are they really, are they really capable of magic? Felicity has been kept in the dark all her life about her true being and it was fascinating to how everything unfolded slowly, a true eye-opener when it all clicks!

Her friendship with Raven is adorable, I really enjoyed their dialogues throughout the story. They are both strong women who speak their mind. I am glad that the author included calls to action against rape culture throughout the book, both with the students in Felicity's class and Raven's foster-dad.

I wasn't swooning over Tristen as much as I hoped for in the beginning, however that picked up after the halfway point of the book once Felicity crosses over to Lost Cove. Bekah truly has a way to capture us with her words, her stories are always fast paced and kept me turning the pages non-stop! I recommend this series for those who love Fae and other supernatural beings, arranged marriage and forbidden romance tropes (which just happen to be my favorites!).

Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy for review!

[Melinda Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book as I’ve loved the last two series by Bekah but I was very disappointed in the language in this book. I didn’t find it necessary at all and it was very surprising considering her past two series had little language in them. I still enjoyed the book a lot but it definitely would have been just as good without the language. I had planned to let my daughter read these books when she’s a little older but not I’m not so sure.

[Chrys Minter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and awesome

I absolutely loved loved loved this story. An awesome ride in discovery of what you are. This story draws you to the point where you truly fall in love with the characters like they are family. Can't wait to read more from this author.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd Recommend reading The Princess Of Thorn Series first. Give you more history of so.e of the characters.

[Amy]

This book was better then I expected it to be I have wanted to read it for a while now but wasn't sure how I felt about it. I loved the twist towards the end when you find out what felicity true identity was and am curious to find out what happens in blood tithe.

[Epic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I asked for recommendations about fantasy set in Appalachia and had this series recommended. Did it blow me away? No. But it is absolutely the kind of book I like to knockout when I'm too busy for heavy reading or otherwise in a reading slump. Also? I love that a hiking destination mentioned in the book is real...so um...if you want to have a real life deadly adventure inspired by a book:
"The train is slow and you can hear it from a long way away, but the steep hike through the bear sanctuary is probably a lot safer."
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/l...

Also just, appreciation for Nan as a character. Mountain grannies are important and that is some solid Appalachian representation.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very fast-paced, easy read. Although the book has heavy YA vibes, the MC Felicity is very realistic and makes getting into the story very easy. I have not read any of these authors' other books, but even without them, the author made it very easy to keep up with all the plot points and different characters' points of view. The romance was cute but also a slow burn and left me interested enough to want to read the next book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I received this book from the author and I voluntarily give this review, it is my honest opinion.

Bekah Harris is one of those authors whose books I come across and am interested in but still haven't gotten around to reading. So when I got the opportunity to read The Lost Coven, the first book in her Lost Cove Darklings series, I jumped at it.

The Lost Coven was good, the story was very interesting, had a mystical quality, and I was able to finish it in one sitting. However, it was obvious fairly quickly that it would have been helpful if I read Bekah's previous series, Iron Crown Faerie Tales. While Lost Coven is a companion series and I was fine reading it, I felt like I was missing certain information that I could have and it did spoil the events in the Iron Crown series. I have been meaning to read the Iron Crown series for a while and now I wish I had read it first but most definitely plan on reading it now.

Felicity is the main character and she is incredible. Felicity is smart, a feminist, and feisty. However, her parents and grandmother are a little different and in a small town being different gets teenager crude labels and of course, picked on. However, Felicity gives as good as she gets with sassy and witty comebacks. Her relationship with her best friend Raven is just as adorable because they are both outcasts, with Raven being Black in a small town, they cling to each other and have a true friendship.

The characters are also interesting like I said Felicity was great and her family was interesting but the description of her classmates, especially the boys made me shiver. They are monstrous which is kinda funny consider Felicity just realizes the supernatural world is real. Speaking of that there are a few moments between Raven and Felicity that crack me up, I don't want to spoil anything but I will say these conversations endeared Raven to me. As for Tristen, the love interest, he is complicated. I like him overall but he is nothing but shades of gray when it comes to morals. He has grown up a certain way and it has kinda made him a little blinded to the way things are but he is slowly winning me over.

The storyline is great with supernatural politics, hints other realms, magical realism, actual magic, and family drama. Then add in forbidden romance, and missing people, so of course things get very interesting. I will say that that there are some trigger warnings, some sexual harassment, and a physical attack, I was fine but for others, they might want to consider this. I am impressed by how Bekah manages to input topics of racism, feminine inequality, and manipulation into this modern fantasy.

The Lost Coven is a great start to a new series and I can't wait to see where the story goes next because the ending of Lost Coven kinda broke my heart a little bit. I am hoping that somehow things correct themselves and that Felicity eventually gets her happy ending. Until then I will be looking forward to seeing happens in the next book Blood Tithe.

[Nerdybibliophilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its been about 10 days now. I was in my private space/ my reading zone. I got to know about this book called "The Lost Coven". So I always start with the cover and the title of the book because that's the fist impression of the book and I feel it's important to mention in a detailed review. Talking about the title of the book, its a relevant one and does its work perfectly. Talking about the cover of the book I really liked the vibe that outer attractive cover gave me. I would definitely give a 2/2 for the cover and the title.
Talking about the content of the book. If I had to give this book a genre I would say its a mixed one like I really liked the Fantasy part not forgetting about the little touch of mythology with a very little blend romance. Unlike other books, it takes you to a ride with different aspects of the story.
Talking about the story of the book, Felicity being the main character is the very confident smart girl, who is much different from her family. The events were really settled in the starting of the book and I am really amazed that I hadn't read the pervious book of this author because I really liked the writing style of the author. The starting being a bit slow but as the story progresses Felicity experiences something that others can't like she sees a boy who cannot be seen by anyone that's where I got hooked to the book and couldn't stop. The events and situations were expressed in such a nice way. The story progresses with supernatural characteristics in it which gave a different feel to it. Now I really liked the bond author has shown in the book. These were the key points which I really liked but there is something I would like to suggest here. If the story may have been a little less detailed I would have loved it more. May be that's the style of the author but I am surely going to read more from the author also I recommend it to all of you. I am sure you are going to love the story mainly the female audience. I would say the female audience would connect more while the male audience I am sure you all will be glad to give it a try. So for the story and other aspects I would like to give it a 2/3. Talking about the words and the language used in the book in terms of difficulty I would rate it a level 2 where I didn't face any difficulty while reading but I would say the book had some points where there was sexual harassment and strong content. At last I would like to thank the author for giving me such an experience through the book. So what are you guys waiting for go grab your copy fast.

[hollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this take on the supernatural world. I haven’t seen much overlap with fae, vampires etc without a major focus on just one area and I thought this book tackled this well.

Our characters were relatable and interesting and I liked how we got the perspective from Felicity, Lyric and Tristan. I also felt like the development was there for Felicity’s character especially and I want to see more from Raven which hopefully we get in the next book.
I liked the pacing and thought the plot had a clear direction. I could understand Felicity’s motivations and I liked the budding romance between Felicity and Tristan.
Anyway, I think the only thing I wanted more of was the world building. I could understand the modern world well (obviously) but I found it hard to imagine when they entered Lost Cove and I wanted to understand their history more. Maybe this comes later in the books but there were gaps were this could have fleshed out the chapters more.

Overall, I’m excited for the next book!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great contemporary paranormal romance.
I read this without realizing it was a spin-off series and BH provides enough backstory when needed without spending half of the book rehashing the last series, which I appreciate.

BH switches the narrators easily without the story losing momentum. Felicity is a strong protagonist who is realistically sassy and thoroughly amusing. The attraction that grows between Felicity and Tristan moves quickly without feeling forced and having some chapters from Tristan's POV brings the reader right along with them.

There were plenty of times when I wanted the story to be longer, but everything moved along without being rushed and not dragging anything along. The action scenes weren't drawn out, but provided vivid details. Definitely excited to read bk 2!

[Sherie Novotny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely a mixed bag. First the good: The characters were interesting, well developed and relatable. Even the adults in the book were not two dimensional, as often happens with YA. The world building was promising as well. Now the not so good. This book really needs an editor, or at least some honest beta readers. The writing was clunky. It just did not flow at times. Also there were far too many 'darlings', phrases that maybe sounded good in the author's head, but really did not add anything to the story, and often detracted from the flow of the book. Phrases like 'frozen like a marble statue.' Way too redundant. These darlings needed to be killed. I am hoping that the author will make use of a good editor or at least beta reader in the future.

[Sarah Baroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I can personally say that I enjoyed it a lot. I haven’t read this type of book I in a while l, and found myself extremely happy.
Felicity is such a fun character that isn’t afraid to back down and I found myself invested in her friendship with Raven. I found that their bond is what sold the book to me.
I also fell in love with the supernatural aspects of the world.
The book talks about racism, sexism, and harassment and don’t make it preachy. In fact I found myself wanting to read more of Bekah Harris.
Overall I’d recommend this as a interesting read. Especially if you love a bit of fantasy and supernatural.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lost Coven is an exciting and intense spin-off of the Iron Crown Faerie Tales series and Harris doesn’t disappoint. She will have you questioning what is truly hiding in the Appalachian mountains. I was quickly drawn into the familiar setting and recognizable locations in rural Appalachia, especially Lost Cove. Felicity is a snarky but loveable character who deals with everything from bullies to crazy family secrets. When she meets a mysterious boy that only she can see, she suspects there may be more to her Nan’s Appalachian mysticism than she ever realized. Harris’s supernatural storytelling and alternating narrator voices kept me turning pages at a wicked pace. She tackles some serious issues that teens face in the real world. The real monsters she faces are the boys who bully and harass her. Felicity handles it all with a heavy dose of wit and sarcasm.

---Amy N. Edwards, author of NIGHT OF THE WAMPUS

[Ashley Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

* I was given an ARC for a honest review*
I loved this book! I had been in a reading rut for so long and I picked this book up to read and could not put it down! It is the perfect balance of lore, fantasy, and romance that you need in a book. I loved the main character from the start. Her personality and spunk makes it super easy to relate to her. The way the story progresses it keeps you drawn in the entire time! If you are looking for a really good Fae series this one does not disappoint at all! I can't wait to add more of Bakeh Harris to my TBR list!

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didnt know who Bekah Harris was - otherwise I probably wouldn't have read it.

I am glad I didn't know so that I did take a chance on this book.

I really like how the story was written and the storyline kept me interested enough to keep reading and see what was going to happen next. There was some back and forth within the storyline, so I am assuming, there is a series of books before this one and this might be a spinoff series. If there hadn't been the back and forth, I would still have enjoyed the storyline.

Well written,, entertaining, light read.

[Joey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because the cover and blurb intrigued me. I’ve never been one for fae stories and yet as this one dragged me in, I couldn’t help but find myself enjoying and loving the world, the story and everything that went with it. I adored the build up, the pacing, the characters and the story itself engaged me from the first words. The intrigue of the coven, of what that means for all present, and the world building were stunning. I adored the book, and will be looking forward to more in this series. Overall, an amazing read and one I would recommend!

[Violet Rayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review*

The author continues to amaze me with the world's she creates! I was hooked right away and sucked into the story. I would say to read the Iron Fae series bt her first before reading this one as there are references made that may spoil the other series for you

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review, opinions are my own.

This book was such a treat for me. Appalachian setting, interesting take on lore, forbidden love, and great female friendship. This series connected to the Iron Crown Faerie series but can be read alone. I haven't read that series yet but it has gone to the top of my TBR pile!

[Laurie Franco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good start and we get to see characters from previous series!!

So excited to start this series as I absolutely adored the Iron Crown series and was thrilled to see many of the characters again. I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of Felicity and feel that her twin brother Dillon may be a problem in the future.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not what I expected unfortunately... Felicity is way to much like Slaine, not a likable character... didn't like the story much. I only loved Lyric and Lochlan and Nan (references to crown series) but the ending ruined it for me, because I FREAKING LOVEEEE BEAR and in this one he was kind of an ass.

[Toni Harness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m probably being generous with 3 stars. It’s more like 2.5. It was intriguing but Felicity is just a tad annoying. Side characters were interesting and saved the book from being boring. It was good enough to make me want to read the sequel and keep my fingers crossed that she actually gets interesting.

[Sarah M S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was skeptical when I first picked this series to start reading after reading some reviews here on GoodReads. But I can honestly say I was delightfully surprised that I enjoyed it. Yes, there is some language, but not nearly as bad as some I’ve read.

It’s a good series if you’re looking for a light reading series.

I am excited to start the 4th book tonight and I have a feeling I am going to wish there was more to come at the end. Definitely a new fan of Bekah Harris!

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me hooked and interested. I finished the book within 24 hours of starting it. It definitely follows suit of the other series. So read that series first as I was lost on certain parts. But overall it’s a good book. I found one part I feel didn’t fit into the book theme. But otherwise it’s a really good book. It kept me hooked and turning page to page until I finished it.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

disappointing

Initially, I was captivated. The book is well-paced and the characters are interesting. (With the exception of the Twilight rip offs. Seriously? If it was sarcastic, you should make that clear.) The ending, however, was terrible. The FMC makes a terrible choice, the whole book stalls, and there is no real conclusion. Waste of time.

[H NELMS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really like this first in series

Really like this first in series...great start to the story...love is in the air for our heroin and hero...plenty of angst and anger...well fleshed out characters...fabulous.

[Hollylovesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars!
This is such a feel good book with quite good world building and politics as well as fae! I love fae books. If your not a fan of romance being the main plot in your fantasy this probably isn’t for you but, I really enjoyed this one.

[Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy, quick read - perhaps a little too quick.
I rarely buy a book with less than 400 or more pages & this reminded me why - just as the story grabs you, its over!
I will definitely read the other books in the series but only when I have them all so I can carry on like they are one volume.

[Chanelle Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read but I found it to be a little bit twilight crossed with witches of east end. I’m interested in reading the next book in the series but wasn’t left feeling like I HAVE to read the next one. I just found it a little bit anticlimactic.