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Hidden Gypsy Magic
by Tena Stetler
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GENRE: Paranormal Romance
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BLURB:
The Salem Wildlife Sanctuary is Gwen Taylor's life work. Her Irish Gypsy heritage provides a hidden talent she uses to help the creatures under her care. But even her magical skills can't help new rescues in dire need of veterinary care.
The opportunity of signing on as the vet for Gwen's sanctuary dropped into Brock Scutter's lap after he expanded his practice to include wildlife. The personal attraction he and Gwen experience is undeniable the more their professional and personal lives collide.
Touring the only "non-haunted" house in Salem they both feel a spark of magic. A trip to his family's cabin uncovers a heritage he didn't know existed. If they want a future together, it means facing the consequences of awakening hidden Gypsy magic and a race against the clock to correct past wrongs.
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EXCERPT TWO:
A mischievous twinkle in his eyes, he swept her off her feet and twirled her around. “Four glorious days, no clinic, no sanctuary, no emergencies—just you, me and the cabin in Puffin Cove, Maine.”
“Wow, you are excited.” She grinned. “Me too. But, I gotta ask. How’s the owl?”
He set her down on the ground and kissed her lips affectionately. “She’s doing great. Doubt she’ll ever fly again, but we’ll be transferring her to you when we get back. She needs rehab on that busted wing and to strengthen the other. Cuts and scrapes are healing well.”
“Great to hear. We look forward to having her. Everything is all set up for the birds arrival. I’ll see to her rehab myself. Though Pepper is going to consult. She did such a fantastic job with Kaylee years ago. In addition, she’s had a couple of endangered owls in her care recently.”
“Figured. Between the two of you, that’s one lucky owl.” He took her bag and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Ready?”
“You betcha.”
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MY BOOK REVIEW:
Wow!! Wow!! Wow!!
From the very first page I was completely captivated and swept off my feet!! I finished this book in just one sitting!! Once I started reading there was no stopping!!
This is truly my favorite Tena Stetler book and absolutely one of the top books I’ve read all year long!!
I have to be honest, once I saw this book was about rescue animals, animal sanctuaries, and veterinarians, I was totally sold!! But then the author also included a spooky, eerie, mystery of a “non-haunted,” house with ties, history, and secrets related to the Salem Witch Trials. This added for a fun, adventure filled with historical content and with Halloween on the rise this felt like the perfect read!!
I really enjoyed the main characters, Gwen and Brock. I loved how likable, genuine, and realistic these characters were. I loved that Gwen was strong, passionate, caring, sweet, driven, honest, and warmhearted. She also was a bit sassy, bold, and overall total kick-ass heroine. She is the type of character you can easily relate and connect with – at least I absolutely identified with her. Gwen’s love and compassion for helping to rescue and save the animals was sweet, angelic, inspiring, and uplifting. She is definitely someone you’d want to be BFF’s with or better yet – even be her!! And that says a lot about the author being able to create such a multi-dimensional character with realistic traits and a unique personality that draws a reader into not only sympathizing with the character, but further engaging and developing a stronger bond.
One scene that just perfectly depicts Gwen’s ambience and that doesn’t give away any spoilers is when Gwen finds the abandoned Desert Tortoises and is going on about, “what’s wrong with people,” which is like the exact same thing I was saying at that moment!! How can there be people in the world that could commit such horrid, careless acts towards poor, defenseless, little creatures?!?! And then she takes the box of baby turtles to the vet clinic and is interacting with Delta, the receptionist. Delta mentions how odd it is to find these turtles in cold, New England, and asks, “how do you suppose they found their way here?” And Gwen, gritting her teeth responds: “Human interference.” I could easily picture her saying that so annoyingly and frustratingly. It just captured Gwen’s (and my!!!) passion about saving the rescue animals and her disdain of wretched people abusing, neglecting, and abandoning animals.
I also really enjoyed Brock and his strong, protective, caring, charismatic, and charming features. His love for animals was also very endearing and adorable!! Which made partnering up Gwen and Brock even more perfect as two strong, caring, driven, passionate characters with a clear devoted love for the animals in their care.
I also wanted to note that I greatly enjoyed the supporting characters such as Pepper, Lathen, Sam, Paul, Quintin, Delta, Rita, and so many others!! They were quite entertaining, played well off the main cast, and were significantly important to the success of this book!!
Furthermore, I wanted to mention the paranormal aspect with many of the characters having special "Gypsy Magic," abilities and talents, some of those include being able to connect, interact, understand, help, and heal the injured animals. I find this to be such an intriguing story line as an animal lover. If you are someone who is attuned with animals’ emotions, you’d appreciate the ability to take that one step further to really know what the animal is feeling and needing. Not to mention the power to heal a poor, defenseless animal like in the story, when Misfit, is significantly injured and Pepper is able to quickly heal her as there was no time to wait for a vet.
Also, I enjoyed the historical content of the Salem Witch Trials with a bit of a paranormal mystery intertwined that was well researched and felt properly integrated into the story.
I absolutely LOVED the entertaining names that Gwen gives the rescue animals and the other pet names that appear in this book. Such as Fluffy the hairless Iguana, RoadTrip, “RT” for short, the injured turtle that was runover by a car, Misfit the stray dog, and so on!! It was truly adorable, made for some entertaining laughs, and provided even cuter pictures in my head while I watched this story unfold like a movie.
I am a HUGE animal lover and I’ve been known to rescue many cats, dogs, squirrels, the occasional bird, and one time a baby fox. But, I have never crossed paths with turtles. Finding them to be one of the main rescue animal story lines was very interesting and intriguing!! I honestly realized I would have no idea how to help a creature so out of the norm of showing up on my doorstep – not much unlike Gwen’s encounter. I liked that this book encouraged me to further research a lesser known creature in the event I too, have a similar story in the near future. Also, I loved that the author applied her own personal knowledge as an owner of a forty-year-old box turtle.
This book has such a fascinating, creative story line, excellent writing style with detailed scenes, strongly developed characters, is steady paced, and keeps you entertained through the last page.
There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!
This book is Book Three of A Witch’s Journey Book Series. This book can be read as a standalone, however, there are significant character and story line overlap from the previous books. Even with the overlaps and having not read the other books in this series, I did not get lost or find it confusing. I think this book wouldn’t be puzzling to other new series readers, but I personally would think it would make more sense and have a stronger impact on the understanding of this book series, if you started with book one first.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it! I think all paranormal romance readers and animal lovers will like this book too! So, add it to your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
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AUTHOR BIO:
Tena Stetler is a paranormal romance and cozy mystery author with an over-active imagination. She wrote her first vampire romance as a tween, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. With the Rocky Mountains outside her window, Tena sits at her computer surrounded by a wide array of paranormal creatures telling her their tales.
Colorado is her home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-year-old box turtle.
Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn. Her books tell tales of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure, and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.
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CONNECT WITH TENA:
Website:
Blog – My Say What Blog:
https://www.tenastetler.com/category/my-say-what-blog
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BookGorilla Author Page:
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The Wild Rose Press Author Page:
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BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tena-stetler
BookBub Book Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/hidden-gypsy-magic-by-tena-stetler
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14187532.Tena_Stetler
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54964001-hidden-gypsy-magic
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hidden-gypsy-magic-tena-stetler/1137482774?ean=2940162901839
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hidden-gypsy-magic-tena-stetler/1137482774?ean=9781509232550
Kobo eBook:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hidden-gypsy-magic
Apple iBook eBook:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/hidden-gypsy-magic/id1527513144
Google Play eBook:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Tena_Stetler_Hidden_Gypsy_Magic?id=ECv-DwAAQBAJ
The Book Depository Paperback:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Hidden-Gypsy-Magic-Tena-Stetler/9781509232550
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Hidden-Gypsy-Magic/Tena-Stetler/9781509232550
The Wild Rose Press eBook:
https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/hidden-gypsy-magic
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
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Tena ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It's so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping in Rita. I hope you'll give Hidden Gypsy Magic a try!
DeleteThank you Ally, its great to be back!. So happy you hosted and reviewed Hidden Gypsy Magic! Thank you so much for the fantastic review. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book!
ReplyDeleteIt was my pleasure Ally!
ReplyDeleteThank you Victoria, my cover artist is fantastic. So glad you stopped in!
ReplyDeleteWow. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book.
ReplyDelete