The Hedgewitch of Foxhall

By: Anna Bright

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Alister Austin, James Meunier

In this gorgeous stand-alone cozy fantasy romance perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Allison Saft, a rebellious witch undertakes a last-ditch quest to restore magic to medieval Wales—as two princes vie for her heart.

Magic is fading from Wales—choked off by King Offa’s Dyke, the enemy earthworks that spans the entire border. Even the dragons have disappeared. And now an attack is imminent.

Prince Taliesin would love to watch magic die. Prince Dafydd fears it, and the throne. But when their father promises the crown to whichever son can destroy the dyke and restore magic to Wales, the brothers are forced into an uneasy rivalry.

Ffion works hedgewitch magic for poor folk, not princes. Unlike the power-hungry Foxhall coven, she uses only what nature can spare. But when the coven’s greed costs Ffion everything, she will need power beyond her wildest dreams to get back what she’s lost.

So when Prince Taliesin arrives, begrudgingly seeking a witch’s aid, Ffion agrees to help him—even if it means walking from one end of Wales to the other with the most useless peacock she’s ever clapped eyes on. Even if it means striking a bargain with Dafydd behind Tal’s back. The fate of Wales depends on their quest . . . and so might the fate of Ffion’s heart.

©2024 Anna Bright (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Historical Fairy Tale Well Done

My anticipation for this book to come out has been greatly gratifying as the author spins fantasy with the familiar and historical. I appreciated the characters having true descriptions about their appearances very much instead of them being left to me to imagine what they look like. I also enjoyed the story hopping from the different character’s perspectives which usually I do not. I will be enjoying this story for a long time.

Great banter

Beautiful story, and great banter. I really enjoyed this book. Colorful characters with great character development

It’s ok

The book was ok. There was some wonderful world building, and there were some parts that got really interesting. My complaint is that there isn’t a whole lot of depth to the characters and because of that, I found it really hard to read and care about the characters at points. I wish we would’ve gotten more battle action, especially since it involves the main protagonist instead of getting a quick “this is what happened” at the end of it.

welsh magic

I love the feel of magic in this. Ffion feels so witchy how she gathers material and her spells start small but grow big. different ties to magic and different spell casting in other witches. I love how magic just is. and no sad decline to how it came to be like today like is implied in other magic stories.
so many mentions of welsh magical creatures. On the one hand, I have no idea what most of these are because I'm unfamiliar with welsh folktale but on the other I also love how it builds the background because the myths and magic just are. there's no need to explain in the story context so I have to look it up which is kind of fun.

For the actual story, the love triangle is easy to see through on who Ffion ends up with. she likes one and the other just momentarily causes tension. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles for this reason but the 2 main characters have fun interactions frustrating each other. I'm not sure Ffion changes much but the story seems to be more about she's right and foes things for the better while chasing more change in those around her (especially the 2 princes falling for her)

the antagonist witch leader of foxhall didn't have a lot of interaction with Ffion. so the lead up to her at the finale and what actually happened to her could have been elaborated a little more. like the consequences of her actions would have been nice to see. it's kind of background. and she's manipulative and power hungry and short sighted so you want to see her get slapped in the face for it. but you don't see it on screen so to speak unfortunately.

But Wales has its magic and it is pretty lovely. the magic and story have high stakes but tend to keep it more grounded focusing on the 3 characters knowing what they need to do is a big deal with heavy consequence but it never gets that far out of scope. it stays closer and cozier if that makes sense.

it might be slow at times but overall it is a lovely story and I would come back to in order to see Ffion and her beau again. and Cadmo her fox.