The Moon Witch By Linda Winstead Jones

In Colubyana, the Fyne witch rejected the wizard making him so angry he cursed the Fyne women so that their love will always die. Over the next three centuries any Fyne witch who married for love watched either their mate die young or ultimately end up hating them. Of the three current generations of Fyne siblings, the oldest Isadore watched her spouse die as he neared his thirtieth birthday. Thus she and her sisters vow to never fall in love until the youngest Sophie breaks the pledge (see THE SUN WITCH) but fears her beloved will die when he turns thirty.

The middle sibling Juliet sees the curse operate by observing her sisters. She swears to avoid men as she cannot deal with a loved one dying because of her family curse. When the Emperor's soldiers abduct her, Ryn recognizes her as the star of his dreams and rescues her from them. He insists they belong together for eternity, but she fears for his life and has doubts anyway about a witch and a shapeshifter like him belonging together even as she falls in love with Ryn.

The middle Fyne Witch tale is an enjoyable romantic fantasy that grips the audience from the moment Ryn insists she is his intended. The story line is action-packed and fans will commiserate with Juliet's reticence, but fails to go deep into her emotional baggage so that newcomers will not fully grasp what makes her tick. Still this is a fun novel as Ryn tries to persuade Juliet, whose whole existence has been that love means young death, that their love can conquer the curse.

Harriet Klausner