I didn't care much for the first book in this series, A Mermaid's Kiss. I hadn't actually intended to read A Witch's Beauty just yet, but it kind of fell into my lap. And I'm really glad it did. This is the Joey W. Hill that I fell in love with when I first read the Nature of Desire series. And this book even had an unexpected link back to that series. The kind of link that gives you goose bumps when you figure it out.... but I won't give spoilers by telling you what it is.
In this book I felt for David and Mina as I've felt for other characters written by Ms. Hill: Mac and Violet, Tyler and Marguerite, Marcus and Thomas. Characters with depth, with character. People who continue on, who have us cheering for them and hoping and hurting and loving right along with them, despite their faults, their baggage, their issues.
We met David and Mina in the first book, but we didn't really know them, understand who or what they were. Now? Now I feel that I know them both, inside and out. And what an unexpected turn of events, to go from the Mina and David of the previous book, to the Mina and David that exist at the end of this book? Wow.
Okay, before I blather on much more, here's the blurb:
Mina is Dark Spawn, half-mermaid, half Dark One. A sea witch who lives in the shadows, she is shunned by the merpeople. She seeks no friendships, however, no lasting relationships. Every day is about surviving, fighting the call of the dark blood within her, which demands she submit her ever-increasing powers to their cause. But Mina submits to no one. Until she meets David.
At thirty, David is one of the youngest angels in the Dark Legion, the angelic host dedicated to eliminating Dark Ones. Unlike many of his fellow angels who feel Mina-s death is inevitable, he believes her power can be used for good. When he entreats his commander to be assigned as her guardian against the Dark Ones, he also finds himself cast in the reluctant role of her executioner, if she turns to their cause.
The only problem is he is falling in love with the prickly sea witch. Which means he might risk the universe itself to turn her away from the darkness, and into his arms.
At thirty, David is one of the youngest angels in the Dark Legion, the angelic host dedicated to eliminating Dark Ones. Unlike many of his fellow angels who feel Mina-s death is inevitable, he believes her power can be used for good. When he entreats his commander to be assigned as her guardian against the Dark Ones, he also finds himself cast in the reluctant role of her executioner, if she turns to their cause.
The only problem is he is falling in love with the prickly sea witch. Which means he might risk the universe itself to turn her away from the darkness, and into his arms.
One thing I've noted is that while this series has a few elements of D/s, and A Witch's Beauty touched on pain as a control mechanism... these books are not BDSM, or even D/s.
I'm giving A Witch's Beauty a 10 of 10, and the series a 9 of 10. I didn't like A Mermaid's Kiss, but A Witch's Beauty was good enough that I don't regret reading the first book, as I had to have read the first book in order to understand the second. I'm looking forward to the third book, A Mermaid's Ransom, due out in December of this year.
Book Rating: 10 of 10
Series Rating: 9 of 10
1. A Mermaid's Kiss
2. A Witch's Beauty
3. A Mermaid's Ransom (Dec 2009)
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