Books4Tomorrow: REVIEW: "DARKSPELL"

Title: “Darkspell”

Author: Elizabeth Mueller

Publisher: TreasureLine Books

Publication Date: February 22, 2012

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz

Source: Gifted

Ellen’s star rating: 4/5

SUMMARY

Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold.

As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the darkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magickal realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own.

Will love prove thicker than magick?

REVIEW

In the summer before her senior year, Winter meets the guy of whom she had recently been having some extremely vivid dreams. Not only is he her dream guy but she falls head over heels in love with him almost instantly. To complicate matters, Alex's brother, Jareth, is equally handsome and determined to win Winter from his younger sibling. While all this romantic confusion is going on, weird things start happening to Winter. These weird and scary things - shadows coming at her in the night and strange feelings of weakness overcoming her at times when she is with one or the other of the brothers - very obviously has something to do with said brothers. When a whole bunch of extended family members descend on Stormhold Manner however, Winter's life is about to change forever.

Darkspell was an interesting and at times thoroughly scary, as well as suspenseful, read. Personally I found it a little slow paced but if this is to become a series it is a good way of taking time to do some world building and to get the key characters firmly established. The characters were well crafted and so well described that I could see them in my imagination. Winter, the main character, was, according to my personal tastes far too hung up on just being loved, hugged and kissed by Alex while her very life was in danger. I really don't like female main characters being portrayed as weak or as victims needing to turn to their male counterparts to take care of them. Fortunately Winter does grow somewhat throughout the story and definitely becomes a little more self-sufficient. Another redeeming factor is that she is still mourning her father, whose death was under dubious circumstances.

Towards the end the story really picks up speed and for the final third of the book I simply could not put it down. If a fairly slow developing paranormal romance with a high powered, if slightly undecided ending, is your taste, Darkspell is definitely the book for you.