I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Sorrow's Song
by
Keri Arthur
cozy mystery, urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by KA Publishing Pty Ltd on June 28, 2022 and has 309 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Mercy Burns, Darkness Unbound, Darkness Rising, Darkness Devours, Darkness Hunts, Dancing with the Devil, Darkness Unmasked, Fireborn, Hearts in Darkness, Wicked Embers, Flameout, Blood Kissed, Demon's Dance, Hell's Bell, Hunter Hunted, Wicked Wings, Deadly Vows, City of Light, Ashes Reborn, Magic Misled, Broken Bonds
Ninth in the Lizzie Grace cozy urban fantasy series revolving around the Faelan Reservation and its true resident witch, Lizzie, her familiar, Belle Kent, and that sexy Ranger Aiden O’Connor.
My Take
There’s plenty of conflict in the series itself what with the wild magic that fascinates the High Witch Council and Belle’s supernatural library that Lizzie and Belle are doing their best to keep them from knowing about, the hatred Karleen has for Lizzie, and the werewolf council’s refusal to allow a witch back on the reservation. Whew. Then add in the story-specific drama (and trauma), and Sorrow’s Song is one heck of an intense story.
It also finds Liz finally confronting the werewolf council to demonstrate why they should at least respect her. Or, as Monty says:
”I’m certainly tired of risking my life on an almost weekly basis for people who oh-so-casually dismiss my efforts.”
And Lizzie acquires two white streaks in her hair.
One series arc has been Lizzie’s relationship with Aiden. The poor woman fell in love with him even knowing that there can never be anything between them. And she’s finally come to her senses. Yeah, there’s quite a bit of angst on both sides.
More arcs include Lizzie’s relationship with law enforcement, who first greeted her with skepticism and a negative attitude and the changes in her DNA.
The characters are fairly typical although Arthur has given them an endearing individuality, — that Monty and his passion for cake and Belle, mmm . . . It is all revealed through Arthur’s use of first person protagonist point-of-view from Lizzie’s perspective.
Ah-ha! Monty reveals just why that first potential reservation witch missed his plane. He also reveals what attracted him to Belle. More history includes the original reason Karleen hates witches as well as the origins of wellspring guardians and its history.
Naturally, there’s some snark in this, yay!
There’s plenty of action with its attendant drama and tension with periods of ease — cake! A fun read that I’m thoroughly enjoying.
The Story
Lizzie Grace is trying to get on with her life now that she and Aiden have gone their separate ways, but it’s a difficult thing to do when just about everything reminds her of the damn man.
The situation is made worse when a body is found, and her job as assistant reservation witch means she has no choice but to interact with him.
At first, the death seems to be nothing more than an accidental drowning in a remote location, but it’s soon evident a supernatural entity is involved.
As they race to uncover what is going on, it becomes clear that this evil is not only targeting werewolves, but one particular pack — the O’Connor’s.
The Characters
The psychometric Lizzie Grace, a formerly underpowered and despised witch, has discovered her DNA is fused with wild magic. She has also become the assistant reservation witch. The Amazonian Belle Kent (originally a Sarr) is Lizzie’s human familiar, best friend, and co-owner of their café. Belle is also a strong telepath and a powerful spirit talker with opinionated spirit guides. Belle inherited a veritable treasure trove of books on the supernatural from her grandmother, Nell.
Monty, Lizzie’s cousin, is the designated reservation witch. He absolutely adores Red, his vintage Mustang. The retired investigative witch Eli and Ira Ashworth, an IWA witch, are a couple who now live in Castle Rock and have been adopted as grandfathers by Lizzie.
After events in Deadly Vows, 6, Clayton Marlowe, Lizzie’s “husband”, has opened a can of worms for Lizzie’s parents, Lawrence and Eleanor Marlowe. Catherine is the powerful sister Lizzie couldn’t save.
Ranger Aiden O’Connor, an alpha born, is the head of law enforcement on the reservation, a group that mostly consists of werewolves and includes Tala Sinclair, who is his second-in-command; Jaz (Levi is her chocolate-milk-creating husband who has his own café); Ciara, Aiden’s sister and the coroner, with Luke as her assistant; Richardo “Ric” Pérez, who is a replacement; Maggie is the receptionist and a ranger-in-training; Mac; and, Duke.
Castle Rock, Australia, is . . .
. . . where Lizzie and Belle have their Psychic Café, renowned for its cakes. Penny and Celia, Penny’s niece, are waitresses.
The Faelan Reservation is . . .
. . . shared by three wolf clans: the O’Connors, the Marin, and the Sinclairs. They all know about the original wellspring of wild magic; most don’t know about the second, which is protected by the soul of Katie O’Connor, Aiden’s sister, and the ghost of Gabe, Katie’s witch husband.
Lucy‘s mom, June, is missing. Doris Brown runs sheep. The nasty Florence Seagrave died. Harry Seagrave is her lazy, self-absorbed son. Ryland had been Harry’s younger brother. Janet Whitehall is retired. Witchy Ways is a shop in Trentham.
The O’Connors are . . .
. . . the strongest (and original) pack of werewolves whose alphas are Joseph and Karleen, one nasty woman who harbors an intense hatred for Lizzie, are Aiden’s parents. Dillon is a younger brother, badly hurt in Broken Bonds, 8. Bryanna had been Karleen’s sister; Nia Axton had been her daughter. James Axton had been their father who fled Ireland with the family. Josh O’Connor had been Aiden’s uncle and Karleen’s brother. Jerod O’Connor had been an omega. Mia is the werewolf who had deceived Aiden and broken his heart.
The Marins are . . .
. . . another pack on the reservation where the second wellspring is located. Rocco Marin is one of the pack alphas.
The Sinclairs have . . .
. . . four different lines and includes Jackson as one of the pack alphas as well as Carter Sinclair, Mike’s uncle.
The High Witch Council is . . .
. . . based in Canberra and sets the rules for all witches. There are six witch family bloodlines, split between the royal witches (the bluebloods) and the half-bloods.
The Black Lantern Society is . . .
. . . a watchdog group who enforce the rules as they should be — the Witch Council steps lightly around them! Sophie, Ira’s sister, is the Matriarch, its leader.
The Regional Witch Association (RWA)
Anna Kang had been an RWA rep in Blood Kissed, 1.
Potential killers include a Lorelei, a river nymph, or a rusalka.
Wild magic, a.k.a. earth magic, rises from the deeper recesses of the earth and is neither good nor bad; an unprotected wellspring will attract evil. The White Lady had sought vengeance in Wicked Wings, 5. The Fenna are a race of enhanced witches involved with the wild magic.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a black background framing a gray landscape with the long-haired Lizzie wearing black and sitting in the forefront with swirls of fuchsia surrounding her. All the text is in white from the author’s name at the top, the title set below Lizzie’s knee, and the series info at the very bottom.
Sorrow’s Song could well have been birthed by Lizzie’s grief.
