The Christmas Witch

by Dalea Faulkner

If the only way to save your home town, was to partner with your middle school nemesis... would you do it?

After moving to the mysterious and magickal, Amberlight Valley, a young girl discovers magickal powers of her own... and must do exactly that.

Middle school is hard enough for Brigid Baelfyre, working through the recent loss of her father while attempting to make the first Christmas away from Scotland special for her and her mother.

In the midst of the whirlwind that is her life, Brigid must endure the taunts of Morgan Asarligt. The dark and moody princess of Amberlight Valley Middle School, seems to have a deep interest in the tease and torment of our ginger-haired heroine.

Things take a strange turning point once they are assigned as science partners, and stumble upon what could only be a magick spell.

They discover the myths and legends of Amberlight Valley are not myths at all, learning a dark force will return soon. Only when the moon is waxing to become full on Halloween, will The Stygian Myst be able to return.

It has been said that the Myst is like a creature protecting itself from the light of the valley, with the desire to consume everything which falls into its path... including The Amberlight Stone, the source of magick for the Valley.

With the Myst threatening to eradicate all that is pure and magickal, Brigid struggling to understand her own powers, and Morgan's ever growing attitude, the fate of Amberlight Valley rests in the hands of a thirteen-year old, inexperienced witch.

Will Brigid find The Amberlight Stone and restore the dwindling magick in the Valley with Morgan's help, or will Morgan thwart her every effort for personal gain?

Genres: Fantasy, Christmas, Book Club, Holiday

178 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2021

About the author

Dalea Faulkner is an Award-Winning Author, Screenwriter, & Movie Producer. She serves up Truth, Authenticity, Whimsy, and Transformation via her creations... inviting YOU to Step into your Next Greatest Self.

Fans of her work experience poetic movement and colorful realms, as they learn more about themselves, and her characters.

Dalea lives with her husband, son, dog, and cats in the beautiful White Mountains of Northern Arizona. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, you can find Dalea doing pilates, or cuddling up with tea and a book.

Her personal mantra is to Go Barefoot and Live Whimsy!

Learn more about her upcoming projects on her website.

Join Dalea's private online community where the Amberlight Valley Series comes to life from paper... into the Real World. Meet Dalea in Amberlight Valley.

Reviews

[Heather Hartsel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this from Once Upon a Book Club, and enjoyed the gifts that accompanied it. The book itself was just ok - good story for young readers, but not so much for an adult. Lots of typos and grammatical errors that were distracting.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the Once Upon a Book Club Christmas box. The premise sounded very interesting/promising but the execution was disappointing. The book was riddled with grammatical errors and typos. The characters were all Mary Sues and seemed to be perfect. Even Morgan, the "mean girl" whose personality is supposed to cause a lot of the main conflict, is mean to the MC, Brigid, for about a paragraph and then suddenly becomes her friend. EVERYONE is extra nice to Brigid and her mom and they don't seem to think it's weird considering they just moved to a new town; it was bizarre to me as a reader (e.g. the townspeople randomly throw her a huge birthday party at the start of the book), and I think it was supposed to stand out that way but the characters needed to be more self-aware. Also, Nick was especially underdeveloped as a character. He doesn't know who he is, but is aware of Santa? And then he is also in love with a much older woman but I think we are supposed to infer he is actually older too. I felt like all of this needed to be explained a LOT more because it did not work as a cutesy ~maybe he's Santa maybe he's not~ thing if he's actively confused. That made it seem like a subplot that needed to be addressed.
Everything seemed to just happen and there was no plot development. For example Brigid and Morgan randomly decide to investigate a creepy house, and then the woman who lives there tells them they have a magical quest. No build up, no reasoning. Then at another point, some weird thing start happening and Brigid just assumes correctly she is a witch. Then she just intuitively knows how to do magic and is a natural at learning it. ETC. The whole book was like this. They never seem to encounter any legitimate difficulties. The magic system is inconsistent/doesn't seem to have rules -- I feel like the Grimmorie and lessons were an attempt at that but it wasn't explained enough -- which I felt only served this purpose of magically (ha) solving all the characters' problems instantly. Also at one point I thought the author had forgotten about the main plot of finding the stone!
I found the writing style to be mostly cliche and banal. Colossal waste of my time but at least it was only ~150 pages.

[Alana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Truly truly awful. I feel bad about this review because the author clearly has love for her characters, but the best praise I can give it is it reads like a rough draft. This is like a fifth grader wrote King Arthur fanfiction, and it is not even nearly half as good as most of the stuff on AO3 written by other fifth graders.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was cute, but like little kid cute, and not necessarily well done. Don’t get me started on the grammatical errors. Ooh, that random capitalization. This book had so much potential! It had the makings of Good Witch meets Gilmore Girls. There were some really nice parts to it. I think it just felt very “first draft” and could have been fleshed out more.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was literally one of the worst books I have ever attempted to read. It is desperately in need of an editor due to multiple spelling and grammatical errors throughout. The plot is basic and the way it is written sounds like a fanfiction that was published. (I actually looked up the publisher to see who thought this drivel was worth it and it appears to be a publishing house owned by the author.) I do NOT recommend this book. I barely made it to page 100 before I couldn't handle it anymore. Do not waste your time.

[Laurie Enos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the story was ok. It was definitely written for Young Adults. I felt the story could have been so much richer, characters better developed, and more explanations into the characters past. I was just left with a feeling of wanting more.

I got this book in the Once Upon a Time Christmas book. The book is a special edition and it is beautiful. I really only kept reading the story because of the gifts, the first being my favorite!

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got distracted by the …

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was ok, but I felt that the antagonists in this book weren't as "bad" as they should have been. Everything felt superficial. I was expecting a bigger fight from Morgan and the Mist. Hoping book 2 in the series is better!

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this story was cute but very juvenile. The amount of spelling and grammar errors in the book also took me out of the story. I thought the valley had cozy Christmas vibes and was a fun read for the season but seemed short and not fully thought out. Overall, it was just an okay read.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The moment I opened the book I could not put it down. I felt as I were there in the story with everyone around. I felt I could feel what was going on. I can’t wait for the next one I’m a very big fan. You must buy the book you won’t be disappointed at all. I can’t wait to get into the next one. Let the adventures await.


Heidi Brown

[Stacy Fazenbaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Christmas Witch was part of a preorder for Once Upon a Bookclub Box. There were 4 gifts to open at various parts of the book, along with the special edition book that is autographed.

The Christmas Witch is a story about two young girls and their journey to discover magic. The work together to learn to use their powers and to save their town from an ancient evil. During their adventure they learn more about the history of the town and their ancestors that lived their before them. The reader gets to see both girls develop and grow throughout the adventures they have together.

I struggled with rating this book, and I think I was expecting too much from it. I ended up going for a two star rating, mostly because I was undecided. The book is definitely a young adult novel, middle school age I would say. I was disappointed that this hyped up pre order was geared more towards teenagers than adults. For what this book was, it was a cute story. There were so many things that could have been done better unfortunately. I really enjoyed the Scottish theme that was present, and it is one of the reasons that I kept reading. This book was supposed to be a magical adventure, but it definitely fell flat. I did enjoy the characters and the world that the author built, I just think the story could have been executed differently. The book cover says that this is book one in a series, but I don't think I will continue with another.

The only thing that made me finish this book was the gifts that came with it. I read the first 3/4 of the book so quickly, and then once the last gift was open, it took me so long to finish the last 40 pages or so. As usual, the boxes from this company are always fantastic. The first gift was so beautiful, it is definitely my favorite! The book is a beautiful special edition and it is very unique.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Y'all, I tried. I really tried with this but it took me hours to just get to page 50. I had to DNF this book as much as my heart wanted to go on, I just couldn't. I received the special Christmas edition from Once Upon a Bookclub.

First, the grammar and punctuation errors everywhere. Random ellipses. My eyes popping out of my head by the repetition of the word "erm." As a copyeditor, I almost got out my red pen and started editing it.

Second, the plot confusion. Where did this book take place?! Was Amberlight Valley founded in the early 1700's in America/Canada, or is this in England? If it was America, then why is there an old Scottish lady of the peerage living in America? If this was in England then why did the author bring up Brigid questioning why she got so much homework in the states? But if this is in the states, then how many times did Da visit this special place in America before going back home to Scotland?? See, confusion everywhere!

As a copyeditor, I'm offering my editing service free of charge if the author, Dalea, would like to take me up on it. I would love to see her succeed in her writing and her stories flourish and thrive. But sadly, this edition of The Christmas Witch was a first draft for me.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book from Once Upon a Book Club box. I was excited about the premise of the story, I love everything witchy. I feel the book is much more written for children. There was no real character development, everyone in town (with the exception of Morgan's family) seems perfect, and the only real antagonist is a myst?? Tons of grammatical errors, yet these 13 year old girls are writing these complicated spells with words I know no 13 year old knows.

I've give 2.5 stars. Could have been better, could have been worse.

[Amber Spitler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book as a part of the OUABC Christmas Box. I was definitely expecting something different. There were so many errors that it was distracting from the story, and the story itself was just okay. It jumped around a lot, and in general just came off as rushed. Another reviewer had mentioned his the “mean girl” is really only mean for about a paragraph and that’s accurate. Definitely a book for a younger crowd, I honestly wouldn’t even classify it as YA.

[Kristen Harrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just not feeling this book. It was the book chosen for Once upon a book clubs Holiday box, I don’t think I would have picked it as something to read on my own. This book read like YA and the writing felt sloppy. I was very disappointed I had been looking forward to this one since I pre ordered the box a couple months ago.

[Brianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I really did. But I just can’t. And coming from Once Upon A Book Club I had such high hopes. The idea is amazing but but the execution just wasn’t.

[Monica Fortner · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️, this was a cute cozy whimsical Christmas read with a touch of magic.

[Grace Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard one because I like the story and the characters and I think it’s a super sweet Christmas read, but really needed an editor because there were a lot of grammatical errors to the point that it was distracting, some of the dialogue felt really stilted/unnatural, and there were some weird time/narrative jumps that didn’t have a great transition. Then new characters would show up in the middle of the book without any foreshadowing. It felt very stream of consciousness. I mean it was kind of entertaining, but also a little like whaaaaat is happening? Am I still reading the same book?

All that being said, I would actually like to see it re-published with a better editor and a little bit more development. I really like the idea of this book and the different Yuletide characters and traditions that showed up. If you have the ability to overlook some of the criticisms, it could be an enjoyable story. I could also see this being a better movie or TV series because the book really did read like a pitch for a production for a pagan version of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

[AMORITA WEYLS · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, visual read.

I loved this magical, mystical book. To me, it was about friendship and the power of love. It restores hope and faith. I feel this is most appropriate for young teens, but really for any age. There’s a strong message here for everyone.

[Megan Navarro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had the potential to be decent, but there were just too many things wrong with it. First of all, this was not an adult book in any way. The main characters were 12/13 and the writing was very simplistic and immature. Second, the number of grammatical errors in this book was just out of hand. I honestly don’t know how a book makes it through the publishing process with that many errors, especially since it’s only 166 pages long! I literally had to read some sentences multiple times before moving on because the grammatical errors would get in the way of the sentence making any sense. Finally, I felt like the whole book was very rushed, especially the ending, and read more like a summary (with a few details and dialogue thrown in) than an actual novel. Even the dialogue between characters was very immature and generic. If this book was marketed as a middle grade book and if the writing had been cleaned up and given additional help, maybe from a seasoned writer, then it would have been a lot better.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah this was a major disappointment. I had high hopes for when I first read the synopsis but it definitely didn’t do what I thought it would. The premise was a good idea but I feel like it was very poorly executed. It honestly felt like there was a bunch of ideas for this book that all got mashed into one to create this story and it just did not work. Honestly, it made me think of those AI bots that are told to read/listen to a bunch of songs/books/movies or whatever and then create their own version based on what it was told to read/listen to. Like, all the ideas one could think of was all smashed into one storyline and made absolutely no sense. Overall, this was just a huge disappointment for me and I was not a fan. There was just way too much happening and I was not a fan of the writing style either. I feel like this could have been executed so much better than it was so this was a letdown.

[Aimée · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brigid und ihre Mutter sind gerade nach Amberlight Valley gezogen, Brigid hat ein paar Schwierigkeiten in der Schule und wird von Morgan gemobbt. Mit wem muss sie nun eine Woche lang ein Schulprojekt zusammen erarbeiten? Genau, Morgan.

Derweil nagen der Umzug an ihr, den Tod ihres Vaters haben sie und ihre Mutter auch noch nicht verarbeitet und dann kommt auch noch ihr 13. Geburtstag auf sie zu - sie erfährt, dass sie eine Hexe ist. Und nicht nur sie, Morgan auch! Und ihre Mutter auch! Und ihre mysteriöse Nachbarin hilft ihr nicht nur, Magie zu erlernen, sondern ist auch eine Verwandte! Sowas! Aber natürlich gibt es auch eine böse Gegenkraft, die es zu besiegen gilt...

Die Geschichte um Brigid und Morgan ist per se charmant und schön gemacht, wenn auch etwas konstruiert. Ich habe das Buch auch in der Once upon a Book Club Box erhalten und bin sehr traurig.

Ursprünglich erschien das Buch im Selfpublishing - und zwar offenbar ohne Lektor oder Korrektor. Dass auch die Buchbox-Mitarbeitenden beschlossen haben, es bräuchte keinen ist zutiefst beunruhigend und ich werde künftig sehr genau checken, woher das Buch kommt, bevor ich noch eine Box bestelle. Kommafehler, willkürliche Groß- und Kleinschreibung, its/it's-Falschbenutzung und von den Logikfehlern wollen wir gar nicht anfangen. Das ist enorm schade, wo das Buch doch von außen so liebevoll gestaltet wurde.

Ich habe mir irgendwann einfach eingeredet, das Buch sei von einer sehr motivierten 10-Jährigen geschrieben worden und dann war es sehr charmant und putzig. Die Goodies sind wieder großartig gelungen und passen perfekt zum Buch - die Sanduhr hat mich schwer verzaubert! Also ein Punkt für die Story, ein Punkt für die Buch-Gestaltung.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to praise this story… it looked great as a special edition Once Upon a Book Club choice… sadly the binding is very low quality as the pages tear, the adornments fall off, & the cover tears very easily. It’s also riddled with way too many spelling & grammatical errors. It’s more like an early rough draft for a story not quite developed yet. If the author can make sure the sequels get edited, I’ll gladly read the rest!

[Alison (Desmedt) Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too many freaking commas. It felt like a rough draft in dire need of an editor. The book itself was GORGEOUS - the OUABC special edition. But it had the depth of a children’s book. It had the potential to be SO MUCH MORE.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received in Once Upon A Book Club- super cute premise and theme and would make a great middle grade novel if the writing improved. The writing itself was poor- really choppy and poorly constructed. I almost put it down but was committed enough to the premise to wade through.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. From Once Upon a Book club, this was very poorly written, poorly edited with incorrect grammar, vocabulary use, and more. It felt like a middle school student’s attempt.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t possibly finish this book. This story had so much potential but it seemed completely unedited. Disappointed that it was offered as a special edition and hyped up so much by OUABC. The gifts were great, but don’t actually have anything to do with reviewing the book itself.

[Chelsea]

Sadly, I had to DNF this one. All the grammar and punctuation errors were just too distracting. There were ellipses everywhere, random words were capitalized, the tense changed back and forth, and the narration (POV) was all over the place. I made it about 50 pages and couldn’t go on.

[JaNelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be great for a tween. A bit simple for my age but overall a really sweet and cute book.

[JayRaeReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNF’d this book.

This book would mostly likely be much more enjoyable for a young reader. Maybe upper grade school or middle school level.

It focuses on two 12 year old girls who discover a magical garden and hate each other.
I didn’t enjoy that there were multiple points of view in the same chapter. It was rather disorienting and hard to keep track of. Brigid to Mary to Cerri to Bradford and back again all in the same chapter.
⠀
The conversation seemed forced to me and made it hard to get into the story.

I enjoyed Mr. Hudgens, he reminds me of Taylor from Gilmore Girls. Always trying to keep the town perfect and shiny, but rubbing people the wrong way in the process.

As mentioned even though I didn’t enjoy this book, it’s quite possible a young audience would enjoy it a lot.