Review: Stray Witch – Eva Alton

My rating: 4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Alba is about to lose everything during an awful divorce until she meets The Vampires of Emberbury, who have a very interesting proposition for her. She will get to know Clarence, a vampire gentleman who thinks cloaks and top hats are still in fashion. Soon Alba is about to find out that, sometimes, the scariest monster isn’t the one with fangs.

My thoughts

I was kindly send a copy of this book by Eva in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I have read a paranormal romance novel. There are so many of these novels aimed at young adults and I loved reading them as teen but never seem to find many as an adult. This novel is the perfect adult paranormal romance filled with vampires and witches.

Alba is such a strong character which I think at points was overshadowed by the paranormal aspect of the novel. She stayed strong even as her husband was asking for a divorce and threatening to take full custody of her children. The interactions between Alba and her abusive husband were handled with respect which is so important. Alba’s character was really well written and I connected well with her.

The vampires in the novel were as you would expect. If anyone has read a few novels with vampire characters then the rules surrounding the vampires in this novel will come as no surprise, they can’t be in the daylight, have no reflection, don’t age etc… The witch element to the novel wasn’t explained in great detail but from what I understand this will probably be explained more in the second novel as this focuses more on Alba’s heritage as a witch.

The romance element to the novel was sweet and caring. This was well balanced with the abusive relationship that Alba had with her husband and I thought it was refreshing. There are a lot of adult paranormal romances that focus a lot on the sexual element, so it was great that this wasn’t the sole focus of this novel. Clarence really cares for Alba and it was lovely to read.

The descriptions and the vocabulary in the book were amazing and really elevated this novel from ‘just another vampire book’. It brought the underground world that they lived in to life and I was so jealous of their huge library!

This novel was such an easy read and I was fully transported into the world that Eva created. I would recommend this novel for those who loved paranormal romances as a teen, as I did, but want something aimed at adults. Although there are dark moments of domestic abuse, I did enjoy this novel and those dark moments were balanced well with other elements to the story. I can’t wait to read more of the series.