Review: A Witch in Love - Ruth Warburton

A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton, published by Hodder Children's Books on 5th July 2012

Goodreads synopsis:
Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her and has vowed to suppress her powers, no matter what.

But magic – like love – is uncontrollable. It spills out with terrible consequences, and soon, Anna is being hunted.

Review:
*There may be spoilers from the previous book in the series

This is the sequel to ‘A Witch in Winter’ which was one of my favourite books of last year. I’ve been looking forward to catching-up with all the characters ever since. I’ve no idea how Ruth Warburton has done it, but I have to say that ‘A Witch in Love’ is even more brilliant and even more compulsive reading than the first in the series. I picked this one up on Sunday afternoon, planning to just read a few chapters but then decided that there was no way I was going to be able to sleep that night until I’d finished it. So I was glued for the rest of the day!

At the beginning of the book we see Anna and Seth together, happy and in love. Their relationship seems to have grown stronger since we saw them last and from the outside they look like the perfect couple. Seth is kind and affectionate and isn’t afraid to show his love for Anna, who it is quite clear he adores. Anna however, still worries about the spell she cast on him and can’t shake the fear that his love for her may not be truly real. This is the crux of the problem which threatens to tear them apart. I really loved the scenes between the two of them in this book. The focus of the story is much more on the romantic side which meant lots of heart-thumping, tingly moments. There’s also a potential love triangle set-up for the end of the trilogy but I’m hoping against hope that Warburton doesn’t invest too much in this because surely Anna and Seth are perfect for each other.

Anna is determined to suppress her magic after warnings from the Ealdwitan in the first book. She can’t however deny who she is which leads to lots of problems with magical leaks. It was interesting to see her having to struggle with her true nature. After so many years of not knowing who she really was and what she could do, you would almost think it would be easy to return to that but having tasted magic, she finds it hard not to use it. There’s also a new threat this time around which leads to danger for Anna.

Another interesting aspect of the story was Anna’s determination to find out more about her mother and her mother’s family. There are plenty of secrets which have been kept hidden and these all threaten to come spilling out.

The latter part of the book threw in lots of surprises that I didn’t see coming. I literally couldn’t read fast enough! It was an explosive end and it was brilliantly written, combining excitement, sadness, sorrow and hope. I don’t know how I’m possibly going to be able to wait for the final instalment, which is entitled ‘A Witch Alone’. Fingers crossed that the publication date isn’t too far away.