Witching Hour by Sara Craven

 

You know I think I might actually like Sara Craven more than I like Charlotte Lamb. She writes the sorts of heroes and stories that I totally would have written if I were around in the 70s and 80s. The WITCHING HOUR is set in Cornwall and deliciously gothic, set just around Halloween. The H and the h have a late-night encounter in the woods and after that he refers to her as little witch and Morgan Le Fay.

As it turns out, the H, Lyall, is a distant bastard cousin and the true heir of the house. Which means that Morgan, the heroine, is about to be disinherited from the house she loves so much. But Lyall has a thing for her and drops salacious hints that he might keep her around if he can sleep with her. Which is so hot but obviously super offensive to her principles (*wink*), so she says no even though she wants the D.

Most of the appeal in this book is the banter between the H and the h, the love square between Morgan and this other rich guy, Rob, and his bitchy sister Elaine, who's after Lyall. The gothic backdrop is also great and the Halloween setting makes this the PERFECT autumn read. There's even a costume party, and y'all know that I'm a sucker for those.

Was this a perfect read? No. Would I recommend this to most people? Probably not. I think a lot of contemporary readers would take issue with the age gap and Lyall's forcefulness. There's also no explicit sex on page. The H and h get pretty close but then are rudely interrupted at the last minute. (Really, SO RUDE.) That said, I'm definitely feeling the urge to pick up the rest of Sara Craven's backlist. So far, I've loved everything I've read by her, without exception.

3.5 out of 5 stars