I rarely buy a book off a bookbub ad. I’ve been burned before by low prices, a good cover, and great copy. But I do notice if someone’s got over a thousand 5 star reviews. And for whatever reason, I took a flyer on The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith. Guess why I liked the book.
- Great cover
- Great worldbuilding
- I was drinking a lot of wine when I read it, and it seemed appropriate.
- I was doing a ritual to infuse my knitting with magic and mis-read the title as The Twine Witch.
Answer: 2 – The worldbuilding was fantastic. She set her book in historical France during the industrial revolution. The idea is that the hero is a science-minded guy who doesn’t want any of that superstitious nonsense interfering with his newly acquired winery. The heroine, however, needs to fight hexes and evil spells from their competitors. It’s a fun adventure with interesting characters. I really enjoyed it!
As for the other possibilities, I honestly didn’t like the cover that much. I appreciated the lack of a naked man. The book doesn’t have a strong romance plot, though it is a romance, so I’m glad it didn’t have a traditional clinch. I don’t think I would have picked it up if it did. But the plants and spellbook cover didn’t excite me either. Good thing I picked up the book anyway. As for drinking and stitching, those aren’t my jam right now. I’m allergic to alcohol, and I’m a crochet gal! But I do appreciate a good drinking story, and I definitely love hand-knitted things! So for those who do make wine and hand-knitted goods, please keep it up!
I’m going to check out the next two books in the series soon. But in the meantime, score The Vine Witch with another 5 star review! So…have you read anything lately that you’d like to recommend to me? I’m up for just about anything!