Book Review: The Witches’ Covenant (Twin Magic #2) by Michael Dalton

Title: The Witches' Covenant

Author: Michael Dalton

Series: Twin Magic Book 2

Genre: Alternative History, Fantasy, Romance

Published Date: March 20th, 2015

Pages: 222
 Goodreads

Erich, Ariel and Astrid have begun their life together, but all is not well.

Ariel and Astrid have discovered that sharing a husband is a greater challenge than they anticipated, a challenge that is exacerbated by a difficult winter trip to Wittenberg, where Erich hopes to enter the service of Frederick III, Elector of Sachsen. But their trip is soon interrupted by unexpected complications.

In the town of Marburg, a century-old agreement that has kept the peace between the Landgraviate of Hessen and a band of witches in the forest is beginning to unravel. The young Landgrave, Philip, needs to consolidate his authority, and the witches want something from him that he does not dare surrender.

Erich and his wives are drawn into this conflict, and in the process discover a mystery that seems tied to their unique magical bond—a mystery that may threaten its very existence if they cannot resolve it.

In this second installment in the bestselling Twin Magic series, Michael Dalton spins together magic, steampunk, and traditional German fairy tales into another entertaining alternate history adventure

Erich, Ariel, and Astrid has begun their life together as husband and wives. Erich is one lucky man to have such beautiful women and skilled mages as his wives. A few problems came up between Ariel and Astrid, Astrid not wanting to always make love to her husband sometimes she just wants to cuddle and be happy. But Ariel loves making love to her husband and tries to do it as often as she can. They all decided to go on a trip and seek employment in a village far away from their own and they want to make it there before winter and snow comes. Welp, they got held up in the town of Marburg, because Ariel kinda went haywire. They passed through a forest with a place full of the flow and Ariel decided to touch the spring that was there. Everything changed about her, and Erich and Astrid didn't know what was up with her.

In Marburg there is a tale of a Witches Covenant taking children from their homes and replacing them with changelings. But Louis decided to strike a deal with these witches and keep the town from having all their babies taken. The witches are allowed to pick out one baby every 10 years, and this deal has been passed down for generations. But now Phillip thinks he can outsmart the witches and give them the wrong baby and all hell breaks loose. 

The main characters are still Erich, Ariel, and Astrid, but a few more are in the picture to move the story along. Sabine, Hans, Giancarlo, Julia, and Phillip. Sabine is the so called witch taking babies because of what she done years ago. She loved Louis and wanted to marry him but he was to busy and cared more for his land then her, so she decided to take matters in her own hands and that is how the Witches Covenant came to be. Sabine isn't bad, she isn't mean either, she just wants to be free. Hans decided to go on a adventure with Giancarlo, he is sweet and caring. Giancarlo wanted to apologize to Erich, Ariel, and Astrid for turning them in to Erich's brother. Then you have sweet Julia, she didn't mean for what happen to her, but Phillip is her lord and she just wanted to make him happy. Phillip is selfish and doesn't care for anyone but himself really.  

I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first book. The only thing that caught me off guard was the ending. The ending was so short and simple, I wanted to know if their father and his friend would find them and tell them the news. But I will have to wait for the third book I guess!

Author Bio

Michael Dalton is a professional journalist and editor. He lives with his family and multiple pets in Southern California. Website

Book Review: The Wizard's Daughters (Twin Magic #1) by Michael Dalton

Title: The Witches' Covenant

Author: Michael Dalton

Series: Twin Magic Book 1

Genre: Alternative History, Fantasy, Romace

Published Date: March 11th, 2014

Pages: 184
Goodreads

When down-on-his-luck swordsman Erich von Jülich-Berg accepts a job protecting Walther the Artificer on a trip from his village to the Free City of Köln, his only motivation is to replenish his empty purse. Walther’s twin daughters Ariel and Astrid, skilled mages in their own right, are in search of a husband. But marriage for mages carries with it unique challenges, for their mate will be chosen solely by their place in the magical Flow—not their hearts. Erich soon finds himself caught up in a drama that will return him to a painful and dangerous place in his life that he thought he had long left behind, and pull him into the lives of two unusual women he soon grows to care about—but cannot have. In this unique alternate history adventure set in pre-Reformation Germany, Michael Dalton spins a twisted but entertaining steampunk fairy tale that is sure to entertain old fans and new.

In the beginning it's dear ole', Erich is just looking for a job, and a way to get away from his brother's anger towards him. So far his brother sent two parties to capture him but both have failed. They either have died or came back empty-handed. Upon arriving in a village he seeks employment with Walther, the father of Astrid and Ariel. Erich becomes their guard and guide to the Free City of Koln.The lovely Astrid and Ariel are looking to leave their home with their father to the Free City of Koln in search for a husband. Astrid and Ariel are very skilled mages in the art of naturalism, they can heal and do all other sorts of cool stuff. But when it comes to marrying in it's not that simple. They can't just marry if they love someone, they have to marry someone who can match up to their magical flow. Since Astrid and Ariel are twins and they have to use their powers together because their flows match either others, they will be marrying the same man.

Each character had their ups and downs, but they were all well made. Astrid, was a bit blunt and mostly to herself. But her sister Ariel, she was always curious about everything and very sweet. Their father Walther, is a good man and a great artificer. Erich, he has had a hard life with people chasing him because of his brother but that never stopped him. He did feel really bad about what has happen with his brother but he can't change the past. All the other characters were just as great as these main four.

I read this book so I know what I was getting into when I picked up  the second book. I didn't want to feel lost. To be honest I am really glad I found this book and got to review both of them. This book was amazing! The story-line was great. I think it was a very unique way how marriage went, but I still feel it is kinda bad because if you loved someone else but they weren't your match. What are you to do? *shrugs*