5/5

For fans of: witches, flashbacks, curses, lighthouses, seaside towns, mystery, mysterious girls, mysterious boys, romance

The Big Questions:

• What genre is this in? Magical realism, mystery, young adult fiction, romance, revenge

• Are there any swoon-worthy characters? Bo is your quintessential good looking mysterious boy who rolls into town with a mysterious past, a mysterious motive for being in town, and is conveniently age appropriate for our main character.

• Is it spicy? There is a description of consensual sex, but not graphic

• Is it violent or gory? There are descriptions of drowning, but is not graphic

• Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? Buy it.

Synopsis: 200 years ago in the harbor town of Sparrow, Oregon, three beautiful sisters were accused of witchcraft and drowned. Every year since, the month of June endures the Swan Season: the spirits of the girls rise from the sea, possess a young woman of the town and enchant young men to drown themselves. Their vengeance goes unsatiated, causing the deaths of hundreds of young men. Penny Talbot has grown up with the stories of the Swan sisters and, like the rest of town, prepares for the onslaught of tourists eager to witness the morbid curiosity that is the Swan Season. One outsider, however, is about to change the season forever. Bo Carter has no idea what he walked into when arrived in Sparrow and has no idea the chain of events he will start when, on the eve of Swan Season, he stopped a drunken boy from dragging Penny into the harbor. Can this sisters ever find peace or will this town continue to endure the stolen time from their daughters and the deaths of their sons?

Review: This is the second book of Shea Ernshaw’s that I have read and it has solidified her spot on my auto-buy list. Her writing style has enchanted me like the song of the sisters over the harbor. She weaves such a dark and whimsical feeling to small towns with secrets and history. The weaving of flashback chapters throughout the story help build the tension and yet still tells two separate and powerful stories of women struggling to seek the freedom to live how they choose. She is also a master at shocking twists in stories and I always want to reread her work immediately to find where the twist had secretly taken place without the reading realizing. She also writes young love so enchantingly that many more financially successful authors should be green with envy for her talent. Certain stories set in the Pacific Northwest with magic and romance could NEVER. The romance isn’t sweeping, its subtle and seeps deep in the bones. Before you know it, the tension built has gripped you and there’s no stopping what happens next. The journeys and mysteries she writes really get under your skin and there is a longing there for something so overwhelming and darkly enchanting. Wherever this storyteller goes next, I will be following eagerly.

Up Next For This Author:

• “A History of Wild Places” already out in hardback, paperback release August 2022.

• “A Wilderness of Stars” hardback release November 2022.