Consort of Secrets by Eva Chase: A Bewitching Tale

“Our Briar Rose has returned to her castle at last,”

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Every witch knows the rules: Stick to your own kind. Never reveal your powers to outsiders. Take a consort from the witching families or kiss your magic good-bye forever. 

For years I’ve been quiet, obedient Rose Hallowell. I accepted the man my stepmother chose for me. But I never stopped missing my long-ago friends. 
Now we’re back on my childhood estate to arrange my marriage. The boys I grew up with? They’re still in town—and they haven’t forgotten me either. And damn if they haven’t grown up well.  They’ve got no magic, no place in my life. But they’re charming and sweet and infuriatingly hot, and I can’t seem to stay away. The more I try to resist, the more secrets I uncover about my family, my betrothal, and everything I thought was true about the witching world. 

I’ve been lied to. I’ve been betrayed. So to claim my magic and my happiness, I’ll break every rule there is—and then some. 

Don’t mess with this witch. Every rose has thorns. 

Published: March 8, 2018
Genres: Reverse Harem, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Magic 

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Honestly, this is all because of Kathy over at Books & Munches. I picked this one up right after I read her review of the book. Proves how effective book reviews are on getting bookworms to read some books. Not that we needed more encouragement to pile up on our Mons-TBR. But thankfully, I read it immediately so no need to fret about feeding the beast.

Well, @booksandmunches did write an awesome review so… pic.twitter.com/2B3wvP5SNd

— Elle • • (@chizurue) March 9, 2018

So what does this book have? A witch! Apparently, my shifter, vampire, faeries, aliens and all things supernatural reading spree still hasn’t ended, and this time I landed a witch. Not the old, wrinkly and with the broom kind of witch. Not that at all.

Rose is a witch but at the beginning of the book, she is essentially a powerless one. Witches get their powers when they are sparked. And by sparked it means one has to take a consort who also belongs to the witching world and consummate the union, and it should be done before said witch turns twenty-five. Rose as a character may have started off as an innocent and shy girl but she grew into her skin and made a badass witch with or without her powers. But the most intriguing part of this book is the presence of her five four boys – Kyler, Seth, Jin, Damon (and the nowhere to be found yet, Gabriel). The relationship between Rose and each of her boys takes on different tones and brings out different aspects of her personality which is definitely interesting to read as we see her grow comfortable in her own skin and take charge of her life.

The story flowed so well that you really can’t help but read on. Not to mention each of the boys has a personality of their own and the chapters with their POVs are distinctly theirs. Kyler with his computers, Seth who is the steady presence of the group, Jin and his artistic ways, and Damon the quintessential bad boy. (Though Kathy’s choice is Damon, mine would be Jin)

There’s also the presence of Philomena who takes on the role of Rose’s best friend. But she’s not exactly a real person but a character in a book. I would really love to know more about her as she really does have her moments.

Then there are the adult/mature/steamy/toe-curling scenes of the book. I don’t know why I didn’t see that one coming. What was I thinking? This is a paranormal reverse harem, of course, it would be there. I remember reading the first book of The Phoenix Pack series last year and there was that one scene that completely shocked me because that shouldn’t be there. I mean shifters with their mating instincts and all that, it compels them to be with only one partner for life! Not to mention that that was my first taste of the adult scenes in a paranormal reverse harem, and thank the gods I recovered. Then there’s The Good Doctor Trilogy which I think also falls into the same genre. By then, I had a good idea of how it is or what happens.

One must really be very careful of books…

“You’d be amazed what you can learn from books.”

“What the hell kind of books have you been reading?”

“All the best kinds.”

(Ha! Rose definitely knows what’s up.)

Anyway, those scenes felt like it was bound to happen and it felt like a foregone conclusion. Maybe because of the bond they have with each other and the story flowed so well that it was just an eventuality. Again, this book is not for kids. There are mature scenes which will definitely induce toe-curling and more.

I was really curious about Gabriel too. I knew he was bound to show up at one point. And when he finally did, the book was at its end! What?? And that’s how you get the readers to clamor for the next book in the series. Kudos to Eva Chase for that one.

This book also drew from fairytales like how Jin would call our main girl Briar Rose and how she is described as similar to Snow White.

“It’s fine, Briar Rose. Like the fairy tale, right? You were asleep, unknowing, and now you have woken up. What matters is what you do now.”

“…but if we were talking about fairy tales, Rose was all Snow White. Ebony hair, pale skin, ruddy lips.”

But of course, Cinderella was not to be left out. Consort of Secrets does have its very own wicked stepmother and she made sure to be especially wicked to Rose. Then when the story felt it was going smoothly and almost predictable, Eva Chase gives it another yank to pull the rag and introduce a plot twist near the end. This book just kept on surprising me – in a good way.

Consort of Secrets is a story about witches with some influences from our beloved fairy tales, but Eva Chase managed to create a unique world from that and enthralls the readers into falling deeper into it.

I’m probably stealing Kathy’s lines here because same as her I found that this story is written in a way that gives one such a smooth read, and by the time you realized it you’re nearly done with the book. The fact that I read this in one sitting could also prove how the story is engaging and it flows so well. But to be honest, I’m usually that way with most books. One sitting and no eating — but not on purpose of course.

Hahaha. Sounds like you loved it as much as I did!

— Kathy 👻 (@booksandmunches) March 10, 2018

(Yep.)

Maybe I’m just used to longer reads these days but it felt like I read this one in no time at all. I woke up, picked this one even before I had coffee, and finished it with me wide awake and hungry for more (and for food too). A bewitching tale indeed…