by Terrance Mc Arthur
Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Witches With the Enemy, along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL & supports an indie bookstore.
Celine and Amelie are sisters, close but different. Amelie is a fighter, can’t stand dresses, cuts her hair short, and (if she touches your hand), she can see your past. Celine, the older one, is a healer who knows a lot about plants, and touching your hand shows her your future. Their part-gypsy heritage has made them Mist-Torn Witches, and “Witches with the Enemy” is their third series book penned by Barb Hendee.
Happily protected by, and working for, the good Prince Anton, the sisters are shocked to hear that they are to go with Anton to the castle of his brother, the despicable Prince Damek (even the start of his name is not nice), who wants them dead. Their purpose: find out who is killing family members of Damek’s maybe-bride-to-be, a union that might bring him closer to a throne. 
It doesn’t help that the deaths continue while Celine and Amelie sift futures and memories to track a killer. Hendee and her husband, J. C. (with whom she writes the Noble Dead novels) are very fond of extended flashbacks, but the scenes of the past are put to good use as the young women take memories and turn them into clues.
In many series books, some installments seem like hammocks, mere placeholders until the action that could have happened in the present book occurs further down the line. Hendee manages to present a complete mystery in each book, with a full resolution of that story before the final chapter. Still, there is a through-story that extends beyond the end-pages of each tome. Anton and Damek are in a struggle, pitted against each other by their father to see who should be allowed to rule.
We already know that the decision lies two years in the future in book-time, so we have the opportunity to watch how each story’s events builds us toward that climax. The romance that conflicts with his royal duties bedevils Anton and Celine, while Amelie battles her way through another adventure in dress-wearing, and the angst of not having the dashing Lieutenant Jaromir with her, though she knows that his past behavior makes him less than promising in the long-term relationship department.
The sisters don’t have super-powers (OK, seeing the past or the future IS a super-power, but it isn’t like flying or turning into a green-fisted behemoth), and they sometimes ignore clues that would make Nancy Drew throw a magnifying glass at them. But Celine and Amelie are tenacious. Although they are just learning to use abilities they once pretended to have, their journey of discovery is a pleasant trip for their readers.
To enter to win a copy of Witches With the Enemy, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Witches,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 6, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.
Check out more fantasy book reviews in our fantasy and fangs section.
Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL & it supports an indie bookstore:
We have a winner
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher