A Dark and Secret Magic: A Novel
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.
Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.
Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.
As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.
A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long.
A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.
Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.
Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.
As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.
A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long.
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Community Reviews
The writing was a bit simplistic and some parts of the story under developed, but for a first published book that isn’t surprising. Either way, this was a 5 star read for me! The vibes were perfection, the storyline was captivating and I really enjoyed the characters. I didn’t want this book to end!
4.5
I picked up this book entirely based on the cover, and I was a little worried the universe would punish me for being superficial. Fortunately it did not! The cover matches the interior, it's such a Halloween book with some really lovely cottage witch elements as well as some dark and spooky magic. I really liked the romance and the interpersonal relationships within the coven. The narrator did a good job. I think the weakest element of the book was the dialog for the big bad guy towards the end, but the rest of the ending was still good. I hope this author publishes more books like this in the future, I can only see them improving and this was a promising start.
Content Warnings:
Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
I picked up this book entirely based on the cover, and I was a little worried the universe would punish me for being superficial. Fortunately it did not! The cover matches the interior, it's such a Halloween book with some really lovely cottage witch elements as well as some dark and spooky magic. I really liked the romance and the interpersonal relationships within the coven. The narrator did a good job. I think the weakest element of the book was the dialog for the big bad guy towards the end, but the rest of the ending was still good. I hope this author publishes more books like this in the future, I can only see them improving and this was a promising start.
Content Warnings:
Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
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