Blood Magick by Nora Roberts

Title: Blood Magick

Series: The Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy bk 3

Author: Nora Roberts

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Romance

County Mayo is rich in the traditions of Ireland, legends that Branna O’Dwyer fully embraces in her life and in her work as the proprietor of The Dark Witch shop, which carries soaps, lotions, and candles for tourists, made with Branna’s special touch.

Branna’s strength and selflessness hold together a close circle of friends and family—along with their horses and hawks and her beloved hound. But there’s a single missing link in the chain of her life: love…

She had it once—for a moment—with Finbar Burke, but a shared future is forbidden by history and blood. Which is why Fin has spent his life traveling the world to fill the abyss left in him by Branna, focusing on work rather than passion.

Branna and Fin’s relationship offers them both comfort and torment. And though they succumb to the heat between them, there can be no promises for tomorrow. A storm of shadows threatens everything that their circle holds dear. It will be Fin’s power, loyalty, and heart that will make all the difference in an age-old battle between the bonds that hold their friends together and the evil that has haunted their families for centuries.

Thoughts: I’m a bonafide Nora Roberts fan. So much so that I own IN PRINT all of her books but about 20 and those are books that have previously been unavailable. So for me to not like one of her books is a really huge deal.

When this series started I was excited as I like her Irish series, and the magick she has in them. BUT I didn’t like the first book Dark Witch. In fact I struggled to get a 1/4 of the way into it before I just gave up. With the next book I wasn’t as excited because I hadn’t finished the first book, a first for me with her. I read it though and liked it. You can find my thoughts on Shadow Spell here. Needless to say at the end of the book I couldn’t wait for this book to come out because I really wanted to know what was going to happen with Branna and Fin. At the same time I was hoping and praying that it wasn’t anything like Face the Fire, especially as Mia and Sam were witches who’d been in love and together as teenagers.

That’s were the similarities between Mia/Sam and Branna/Fin end however. Well except for needing to defeat evil. But even then the evil is different.

Like the other books in this series Blood Magick has a cadence and flow that makes you believe you’re living in County Mayo. It takes a bit to get into the rhythm and flow but once you do you find yourself lost in the story of Fin and Branna.

Branna is a very strong character. She’s made decisions that have broken her heart, and continued on with her quest. She’s come to accept that Fin, the one person she shouldn’t love or want, is a part of their circle and a key to defeating the evil that has stalked her family for generations. This time, with him, she understands what the seventeen year old Branna didn’t and couldn’t. That what was done to Fin, wasn’t his fault. He’s as much an innocent of the evil as her family is.

When Branna broke up with him, it destroyed him. He has spent the years in between avoiding home as much as possible. Now that he has returned for good well, at least until the evil is defeated and then he’s leaving again, probably for good. It hurts to much to be near Branna and not have her in his life.

I liked the way this book played out between Fin and Branna and how everything that Fin has done over the years has always had something to do with Branna whether she wanted to admit it or not. He’s had one goal to have her back where he’s always known she belonged in his arms.

Branna drove me a little nuts at times, and I know she was supposed to, but I have to tell you my heart broke for Fin A LOT in this book, and there were times when I wanted to reach in and shake Branna so she’d see what was right in front of her, and that Fin was the key to everything. When she finally did I almost cheered out loud.

As always Nora delivers a story rich in characters and location, so much that the location is almost a character itself. Branna is strong, independent and confident in who she is and her abilities, which is why I  love her heroines even when I hate them. Fin, is classic Nora hero, strong, supportive of his love interest, willing (even when it goes against his Alpha tendencies) to let her fight her own demons, and loves her.

This is an excellent conclusion to this series, so much so that I’m going to go back and read the first book.

Grade B+