#BrillanceAudio review of The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

A while back I saw Kim the Caffeinated Reviewer's review of The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith and knew this was a novel that I needed to experience in audible and I'm glad I did.
Enjoy!

ASIN: B07NWXTWNM

Publisher: Brillance Audio


Release Date: 10-1-2019


Length:
 8hrs-42 mins

Source:
 Purchase Amazon/Audible

Buy It: Audible

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

A Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller.

"Cleverly crafted.... The Vine Witch is a grown-up fairy tale with a twisty-turn-y story line of magic, love, and betrayal that holds your attention.... Pure escapism." --Forbes
A young witch emerges from a curse to find her world upended in this gripping fantasy set in turn-of-the-century France.

For centuries, the vineyards at Château Renard have depended on the talent of their vine witches, whose spells help create the world-renowned wine of the Chanceaux Valley. Then the skill of divining harvests fell into ruin when sorcière Elena Boureanu was blindsided by a curse. Now, after breaking the spell that confined her to the shallows of a marshland and weakened her magic, Elena is struggling to return to her former life. And the vineyard she was destined to inherit is now in the possession of a handsome stranger.

Vigneron Jean-Paul Martel naively favors science over superstition, and he certainly doesn't endorse the locals' belief in witches. But Elena knows a hex when she sees one, and the vineyard is covered in them. To stay on and help the vines recover, she'll have to hide her true identity, along with her plans for revenge against whoever stole seven winters of her life. And she won't rest until she can defy the evil powers that are still a threat to herself, Jean-Paul, and the ancient vine-witch legacy in the rolling hills of the Chanceaux Valley.

Listen to a sample courtesy of Soundcloud:

Brilliance Audio · The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

My #Audible review:

The Vine Witch
Luanne G. Smith
Narrated by Susannah Jones

The Vine Witch is a heady tale of magic love and betrayals, a mix of magic realism, fantasy and historical paranormal romance and almost like stepping into the pages of an adult version of a Grimm fairy tale. This fast paced read full of twists and turns set around the turn of the twentieth century bounces between Elena and Jean Paul’s POV giving readers a more complete picture as the pages turn and the plot unfolds. It’s ripe with brilliant creative world building melding mortal and magic society featuring vivid backdrops that bring the audience right into the life of a winemaker and enhancing the believability factor even with the woo-woo element. But nothing will prepare readers for the ultimate shock at the end. The characters ranging from innocuous to dangerous are a colorful interesting lot but it’s the two stars Elena and Jean Paul and their relationship development that standout in this novel plus the author prepares her audience for the next installations of the trilogy. Fans of fantasy or paranormal romance, and the novels of Sarah Addison Allen will really enjoy this.

Narration:
The melodic ethereal voice of Susannah Jones is the perfect choice for The Vine Witch and she makes an exceptional Elena. Her other female voices young and old are also spot on and she does a really good job of male voices too. But it's how she imports just the right emotion at just the right time that makes listening to the audio version the way to go.

Elena Boureanu has spent seven long years cursed living life as a frog but now she’s finally broke the spell and she cant wait to get back to her job as a Vine Witch in her Grand-mére’s vineyards and exact revenge on her ex who she knows had to be behind the curse. When Jean-Paul Martel bought the vineyards at Château Renard from the old woman he made it clear that there would be no magic involved in making his wine only science. Then a beautiful vine witch shows up and turns his life upside down.

 Next in the trilogy

 Available now                        out in Jan of 2021

About the author:

Luanne G. Smith is the author of THE VINE WITCH, a fantasy novel about witches, wine, and revenge set in early 20th century France, and the forthcoming second book in the series, THE GLAMOURIST. She’s lucky enough to live in Colorado at the base of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, where she enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, a glass of wine at the end of the day, and finding the magic in everyday life.