Title: The Vine Witch
Author: Luanne G. Smith
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: 47 North
Rating: 4.1/5
Publishing Date: 1st October 2019
Stirred with a French flavour, The Vine Witch is a story of self-discovery with a blend of romance and hell lot of magic.
Elena Boureanu is vine witch who was cursed and turned into a frog, returns to her Chateau Renard. Chateau Renard is in Chanceaux Valley in France. She grew up there with her Grande-Mère, learning the art of magic. When she returns back, she realizes it’s taken so long to break the curse. Unfortunately, she has missed so many years of her life and everything in Chateau Renard has changed.
Elena is a strong wine witch, but without her, Grande-Mère had to sell the place to a human Jean-Paul Martel. Jean-Paul doesn’t believe in magic and so he puts hard efforts to bring the vineyard back to life. As Elena realises that the entire vineyard is cursed, she asks Jean-Paul for support. He initially refuses as he doesn’t believe in magic but later agrees.
At the same time, someone is drinking the blood of the animals in the town. Blood magic is considered one of the dangerous magic and so, humans and witches in the town are worried about what the future holds for them. But one day when Elena gets caught in the trap of false allegations, she suffers.
She is sent to the prison where she makes friends, Yvette and Sidra. Yvette is a carnival witch and doesn’t have much idea about her upbringing. Sidra is a jinni, whose essence is fire. These three become good friends and end up saving each other’s lives.
Elena always blames her fiance for the long life curse, but the future has greater truths for her.
The author has written about magic and magic spells intricately. I loved the part where the book tells us about the significance of terroir. I loved the reserved character of Jean-Paul. But I expected more of romance between Elena and Jean-Paul. This book gave another thought to my brain.
How hard it is for a human to believe that he has fallen for a witch! Because witches can possess you in whatever way they want.
I liked the strong female character that Elena played. Elena always took charge of her past, present and future. She didn’t want any of her closed ones to get hurt. She was prepared for all the fights.
The writing style of the author is beyond commendable. With her simple words, she makes you picture the entire story with all the magic. Overall, this is one of the best fantasy books that I’ve read and soon I am going to read the second book.
About The Author
Luanne G. Smith is the bestselling author of The Vine Witch, a historical fantasy novel about witches, wine, and revenge set in early 20th century France, and the follow-up books in The Vine Witch series, The Galmourist and The Conjurer. She’s lucky enough to live in Colorado at the base of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, where she enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, a glass of wine at the end of the day, and finding the magic in everyday life.
Great Review, I have to admit I have a soft spot for strong female characters, so I am pretty sure I will be picking this one up in the future.