Hello everyone!
I do know there's three books after this opening novella out right now, and a fourth one on the way, so I'm thinking this can very much become reality!
As you know, if I have nothing better to read, it's to BookSirens I go. The online service that connects authors with reviewers is really, really good for people who may not have the funds to be able to support their reading at the moment, because you get books for absolutely free - all you have to do is read them within the time frame the author asks for, and leave a review.
Easy, right?
Right!
So that's how I bumped into this particular series. And honestly, I wouldn't have even read this prequel if not for the fact I'm organized enough that I don't want to just start a series in the middle. Since I really want to get to the third book, I had to start at the beginning, first.
Which is how we ended up with the review of The Spellbinding Courtship.
As I've read no other books by this author (yet) there won't be any links down at the bottom of the page, unfortunately, but Katherine Dotterer seems to be someone I'm going to have to pay attention to, so be on a look out - we'll keep on keeping on!
Now, to The Spellbinding Courtship.
Selena lives in a land called Calatini, where magic is openly practiced by witches who have their own shops and peddle their wares, and there's lot of other magical influences all about, from manticores to griffins and whatnot, though she doesn't much care for all of that. She's in a bit of a bind.
See, her uncle wants to sell her to the highest bidder to get rid of her - and her parents both unfortunately passed away during a season of illness, which led to said uncle selling their estate and whatnot. Given that he's contacted a black witch to get the job done, and it'll entail Selena losing her virginity, she decides to take matters into her own hands.
Which is how she ends up in a brothel, with Aragon, eldest son of one of the reigning dukes, stumbling into her room.
Being the upstanding citizen that he is, he figures out quick enough that Selena isn't a brothel worker, and coaxes the story out of her; once he hears of it, he promises he'll handle the black witch and her uncle both, then have his mother (probably the most fashionable duchess in the realm) present her to society so she can be a full member of it and enjoy the ton.
Aragon enlists the help of his cousin, King Devon, as well as magical law enforcement, and they do eventually catch the black witch after he also sets himself up as bait. The uncle kind of disappears at that point, but Selena can be moved to the house Aragon's parents reside in, and the duchess is thrilled to have a girl she can present, as she has no daughters of her own, only three sons.
Of which, mind you, both the younger ones, Mel and Hawke, tease Aragon mercilessly about Selena, Hawke going so far as flirting with her any chance he gets just because they can both see how much it annoys him.
But he promises himself Selena needs to formally enter society and see other suitors before he can press his own suit, since otherwise he'd just be taking advantage of her.
Now, on the other side of the spectrum, Selena really just wants Aragon to court her, so her solution to the problem is to flirt with others to maybe get him going. Not that it works, even though everyone around them and their grandmother tells Aragon he's being an idiot, she's got goo-goo eyes for him, and he just needs to get off his high horse and ask her to marry him.
Might have even happened, if not for the fact Selena's uncle makes a surprising reappearance, and she's again worried that her virginity is still up for grabs, so she's now desperate to get someone to bed her - at this point, anyone will do, if Aragon isn't about to do the deed himself.
But even the kind Lord Ravenstone, who does like her, can see Aragon's the one, so he backs off, and then the black witch escapes because, obviously he does.
And Selena, instead of sticking to the house like any sensible person would when there's people out there to get you, decides to wander to the stables, where - of course - she gets grabbed. She manages to stall them, and Aragon manages to alert the law enforcement as well as the King's personal witch, who manages to find Selena because Aragon purchased a spell from her to gift the girl, which she's still wearing.
The raid is successful and he takes Selena back home, where they finally shake everything out between them and end up in bed together. This of course leads to him informing his mother she can stop matchmaking and meddling like she's been all book long, because he won't marry anyone else but Selena.
To which the duchess smiles, and goes "Well naturally, dear, it's what I've known and wanted all along, couldn't you see I was just doing it all to push you to her?"
I can't, women like that are brilliant LOL.
But with the black witch and Selena's uncle out of the way, Aragon and she can finally focus solely on each other, and their own happily ever after!
I'll admit I picked this one up not because I saw it first, but because I saw the THIRD book first - and I can't read books out of order. I just can't LOL. So I did a little nosey-nose and saw the author has all this series so far listed as ARCs. Ergo, here we are, and I do plan on reading onwards.
The prequel story covers the eldest son of the family which is funny, because the actual first book is about one of the other sons rather than the eldest, an interesting choice.
Aragon (not to be mistaken for Aragorn of LOTR fame) is heir to a dukedom, a duchy, sits on the King's council, and is actually the King's cousin.
Selena has lost her immediate family besides her uncle, which is how she ends up in a brothel, with Aragon.
It's a winding road to get there including witches, balls, will-they-won't-they, and a lot of hemming and hawing, though we do get a HEA at the end.
Individually, I liked Aragon and Selena both. I also enjoyed the secondary, supporting characters, and hope to see more of them as the series progresses. Our hero and heroine both learn through experience and go through a growth when it comes to their personalities, but it's the love story that's slightly, er, well.
Aragon doesn't want to take advantage of Selena; Selena thinks he's just not that into her because he's pulling back - so she pulls back. At no point though does it occur to either one of them to open their mouths - at one point, Selena also decides to just try and seduce him, because if she seduces him then he'll realize she doesn't want other suitors and only him ...
It goes round a few times before they both are like hey, we're in love! Which, incidentally, everyone around them already knows by this point.
I feel like this story might have benefited a bit more from less of their back-and-forth and more of the devious uncle and the black witch after Selena, because we never do really learn more about WHY her uncle hates her so much (a flimsy, his big brother married the woman he wanted to court, is a little bit too little, imo), and barely scratch the surfaces of the deviousness. Some of that stuff is hastily dealt with, and I feel could have benefited from more.
But I do give it four out of five stars because I generally like the setting, the family we're introduced to, and the upcoming plotlines seem like they'll be worth the read, so here we are!
xx
*image not mine
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