2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
hide

2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
hide

Book Review: Crossing the Witchline by T.L. Brown

About the Book

Ever since Lucie Bellerose returned to the Empire, she’s lived amid chaos. Now, three months after a devastating battle in the Walled Zone, she’s desperate to get into the Above to find her lost magic man. With her best friend still missing and her membership at the Congress of Empire Witches suspended, Lucie’s on her own.

A glimmer of hope comes in the feline form of a shapeshifter, a young man who set fire to the Crimson Stone. But as Lucie works to put the three pieces of the gemstone back together, she learns her best-laid plans might magically backfire.

Down to her last resort, Lucie seeks help from an unpredictable demon – a man from her past who is held captive in the Below. A deal is made, but can Lucie trust him to keep his end of the bargain? Will the darkness overshadow her light?

Crossing the Witchline is book two in the adult dark fantasy Bellerose Witchline series, where friends and enemies aren’t always who they seem to be, and even a bad man can get a second chance to do life right.

As Lucie says, it’s complicated.

My Review

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the library…

Lucie’s life is indeed complicated. It’s complicated by the interplay of a series of men whose main goals in life seem to be to foul up her plans for a simple life, studying magic, strengthening her witchline and reading tarot. But a simple life is not in the cards (teehee) for Lucie – and this second-in-series makes that abundantly clear.

With the latest installment in her Bellerose Witchline series, Brown has amped up everything this time around – the emotions, the stakes, the world-building, and the twists are all on over-drive. There are demons and portals in places they shouldn’t be. There are romantic and political intrigues lying around like potholes, and poor Lucie keeps stumbling into them. Injuries, old friends, illnesses, secrets, and plots are all thick on the ground, and navigating them requires everything Lucie has – and then some.

Once again, Brown has done a magnificent job crafting a world that is just this side of our own, full of darkness and spice, action and adventure – all of which are designed to reel the reader in and then leave them hooked. I’m continually impressed with the author’s ability to devise new ways to drive her characters into corners that should leave them broken and lost, yet to somehow also give them just enough of a glimmer of hope and possibility to allow them to find their way back into the light – if they choose. It’s a tough dance, but it is once again managed with sharp pacing, crisp writing, a healthy smattering of snark, and more than a dash of romance to light the way…

Thanks to the author for my obligation-free review copy.

About the Author

Writer Tracy Brown lives in the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York State dreaming up epic stories and quirky characters who definitely make her life much more interesting.

She believes magic still exists; you just need to look in the right places.

Tracy is the author of the Door to Door Paranormal Mystery Series, three books penned under the name T.L. Brown.

She is also the author of the adult dark fantasy Bellerose Witchline books. Although this is a standalone series, it shares some of Brown’s most popular characters found in the “Door to Door books.” The second book in the series, Crossing the Witchline, will be released in late summer 2022.

Tracy’s married to one damn amazing man. Together they talk about music for hours, cook up fabulous meals, and raise clever chickens.

Visit Tracy online at https://writertracybrown.com/.

2 comments to Book Review: Crossing the Witchline by T.L. Brown

  • Thank you so much for your FABULOUS review and your support, Jill! I LOVE taking this wild writing journey with you as my fellow “Empire” adventurer.

    Oh, the fun we shall have with book three! 🙂

Leave a Reply to Tracy Cancel reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>