A history of loss and a terrible stammer have led gravedigger Benjamin Hood to a life of isolation.
When a rash of untimely deaths sweeps through his small English village, he cannot stand by in silence. To uncover the truth about the lives lost, he takes up a long-neglected role of responsibility among the townspeople.
As Benjamin questions the victims’ families, he finds that beautiful widow Juno Stephens has preceded him in each case. She makes no secret of her odd midnight ceremonies and dark powers of persuasion. The villagers are whispering about a woman bearing a lethal hex.
Is Juno the source of danger in the village, or a victim of it? Benjamin must resist her beguiling ways and decide if he can trust her…until another death sets his smoldering worries ablaze.
“N-no. T-this is n-not a cure, it’s n-nothing.”
“Say my name,” urged Mrs. Stephens. “My name is not nothing, I promise you. There is power in it. There is strength in those things to which we assign strength.”
“No.”
But somehow, I heard ‘no’ with no slur or stutter. The initial tripping consonant was still there, as real as the trampled grass below my feet, but I didn’t mind the sound that emerged. I focused only on the perfect, spherical word I intended to say, and my voice vibrated in the cool, clammy air. What had she done to me?
“Say my name.”
“No!”
“I want to hear my name in your voice.”
Her whispered command was too seductive to resist. I raised a hand to my head, scrubbed at my hair. “Mrs. Stephens.”
“Not that part. That’s another man’s name.”
Infernal woman. Stubborn, demanding, witchy creature. “Mrs. Juno Stephens.”
“Too much.”
“Juno!” I shouted, raised my arms to the sky, then let them fall. “Goddess of Rome, protector of women. Juno.”
My voice was flawless, deep, rolling, and aggravated. Exactly how I have always sounded inside my own head. It was the true sound of the internal voice I had heard when I wrote those notes to her. Could they possibly hear me as I heard myself?
Juno curtsied. “At your service.”
Review
I don’t usually go for gothic books, but this took me by surprise in how much I enjoyed it. The setting was the biggest thing. It felt so real, so lifelike. I was there—the graveyard, the village atmosphere, the old house that was crumbling but still so majestic. Visiting this place felt very possible.
The characters, too, were well-developed. Juno and Ben were a fantastic couple. They complemented each others’ strengths and weaknesses well. There was also plenty of chemistry. Juno was a prime example of the kind of woman men feared at the time. I loved her from the get-go. The side romance and friendships also felt real. The antagonist and his followers were scary in a “this really could have happened” way. Without spoiling, the antagonists arc left me blinking and stunned, even as I realized this, too, could have happened.
In short, I really enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to pick up more from this author. Fans of gothic romance would quite enjoy this, I would think.
Julia lives and writes in Chicago with her handsome dog and scruffy husband. She tells people she enjoys books, wine, baking, and architecture as plausible cover for her secret double life. Find her online at http://julia-byrd.com
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All the opinions expressed in this review are my own. Read the full disclosure here.