Category: Standalone Title

The Sword of Light by Heather Graham

On By TracyIn Ancient Britain, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Irish Historical, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Standalone Title, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Sword of Light: A NovelThe Sword of Light: A Novel by Heather Graham

Tracy’s Rating Print Edition: 3 of 5 stars

Tracy’s Rating Audiobook    : 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 14, 2025

Deidre, the daughter of a Rí, is a proud and determined warrior, when she is given a magical sword during an attack by Northmen, she wields it with success and realizes it is the mythical Sword of Light. When she dreams of a great battle to come, she is then tasked with defending her homeland and uncovering a traitor among the Irish kings. This begins a quest to find gifts from Tuatha Dé Danann, which are reported to help the people of Éire during times of great need. She is joined by Kylin, the son of a Northman who married an Irish lass. She doesn’t trust him, but as they spend time together, she learns that they share a bond and feelings begin to grow.
Kylin, a fierce warrior and ally to the Rí, also dreams of a battle to come and joins Deidre on this perilous quest. He knows she doesn’t trust him because his father came to Éire from the North, but Kylin loves his home and will do whatever it necessary to protect it and Deidre. He proves himself time and again to her, and slowly their relationship develops into mutual respect each other’s strengths and skills, but deeper feelings will have to wait until they complete their quest.

I was excited to read this book as it is a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance, drawing on Celtic mythology and Irish legend, I was also looking forward to finally reading a Heather Graham book. I liked the story, but I was hoping for more, more magic, more intrigue and more passion, and while the world-building and premise are compelling, I wasn’t pulled into the story and found it to be a bit repetitive and slow moving. While reading the book wasn’t the experience I was hoping for, I also listened to the audio edition and found that experience much more enjoyable, the narrator Alana Kerr Collins read the story in a lovely Irish lilt and without being distracted by seeing choppy text and excessive punctuation, the story did seem to flow better. Overall, the book isn’t really what I was hoping for, but it was interesting and if given the choice, I would pick the audio edition over the printed edition.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Druid Cursed by C.J. Burright

On By TracyIn Contemporary, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Druid CursedDruid Cursed by C.J. Burright

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Kellen Ravenwood is an Irish Druid who was cursed centuries ago by a witch named Sorcha, for a crime he did not commit, thankfully his twin brother Caedmon was able to cast a spell that allowed Kellen to be free one week every 50 years, and offered them time to try and break the curse, but the catch is that Kellen is trapped in the enchanted prison for the rest of the time and is not able to help find a way to break the curse, but their time is running out and this will be the last time Kellen will have a reprieve before he is trapped for eternity. When Caedmon summons Kellen from his prison, he is happy to tell him that he may have finally found a way to break the curse. They will need to sacrifice Sorcha’s descendant, and Caedmon has invited her to the Ravenwood Samhain festivities. Kellen refuses to even consider spilling the blood of an innocent to save himself and insists that Caedmon find another way. A conviction he holds on to even stronger about once he meets Maggie O’Malley, Sorcha’s descendant and realizes she is his soulmate.

The last year has been hard for Maggie O’Malley, her marriage ended in divorce and then she learned that her ex not only hadn’t paid the taxes on the house her father built and left her, but unbeknownst to her, took out a loan against the house and defaulted on it, leaving her jobless, and on the brink of losing her home. Thankfully her best friend Wendy has stood by her throughout it all and somehow managed to secure Maggie an invitation (with Wendy as her plus one) to the Ravenwood Samhain festivities in Ireland giving her the opportunity to win enough money to save her house and set her up in the business she has dreamed of starting for years. But almost from the moment they arrive, things start to go wrong, and Maggie finds herself navigating the house party alone. Even more troubling is her reaction to Kellen, she has just gotten out of a relationship and has no desire to start something new, but Kellen makes her feel things that she has never felt before, but can she trust him?

This was such a nicely paced, well written story with wonderful characters and a complex, mysterious plot with a bit of spooky vibe, that had me wondering how this could possibly have a happy ending. The story is filled with emotion, loss, curses, lies, secrets, a crazy ghost witch, possession, warm love scenes, magic ending in an epic battle of good vs evil. I have read reviews of other readers who felt the ending was a bit cliché, but I loved it. I am hoping that there will be another book so Caedmon can find his soulmate!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *