The Vine Witch

The Vine Witch, Book 1

By: Luanne G. Smith

Narrated by: Susannah Jones

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller.

"Cleverly crafted.... The Vine Witch is a grown-up fairy tale with a twisty-turn-y story line of magic, love, and betrayal that holds your attention.... Pure escapism." --Forbes

A young witch emerges from a curse to find her world upended in this gripping fantasy set in turn-of-the-century France.

For centuries, the vineyards at Château Renard have depended on the talent of their vine witches, whose spells help create the world-renowned wine of the Chanceaux Valley. Then the skill of divining harvests fell into ruin when sorcière Elena Boureanu was blindsided by a curse. Now, after breaking the spell that confined her to the shallows of a marshland and weakened her magic, Elena is struggling to return to her former life. And the vineyard she was destined to inherit is now in the possession of a handsome stranger.

Vigneron Jean-Paul Martel naively favors science over superstition, and he certainly doesn't endorse the locals' belief in witches. But Elena knows a hex when she sees one, and the vineyard is covered in them. To stay on and help the vines recover, she'll have to hide her true identity, along with her plans for revenge against whoever stole seven winters of her life. And she won't rest until she can defy the evil powers that are still a threat to herself, Jean-Paul, and the ancient vine-witch legacy in the rolling hills of the Chanceaux Valley.

©2019 Luanne G. Smith (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"The vineyards of the fictitious Chanceaux Valley play home to magic, romance, and mystery in Smith’s contemporary debut fantasy.... The specter of savage, early European witch hunts ups the stakes, mixing real history with folklore...this is an ambitious debut from a promising author." --Publishers Weekly

Ohhhhhh sooooo good!

This was recommended to me via audible and I enjoyed it SO much. It was lush and was beautifully written. I felt transported. Magical world building and wine....it was like it was written for me. About half way through, I went to check to see if this author had written anything else...nothing else came up. How can that be? So if you are reading this Luanne, get to writing....I wanna live in your magical world as soon as possible.

Fantasy and Witch Lore, oh my

If you love fantasy and witch fiction, it was a great book. Very romantic and descriptive. I enjoyed the characters and the story. Always enjoyed listening.

Could have done without the narrator’s pretentious accents for true characters. Was a little grating to listen to, especially the French. There is a lot of Words she went heavy on, otherwise, great read, nice voice

Lessons in Wine Making

It was a good story with an unexpected twist at the end but you really have to love/be interested the art of wine making to make it thru the book. 🙄 Way too much detail for me. 🤷‍♀️

I didn’t notice problems w/the narrator’s French accent that other reviewers complained about so it must be a personal quirk of other listeners.

Overall it was good but nothing I’d listen to again. But that’s just me.

Could not stop listening to this book. OMG!

I couldn't put my phone down. I loved it everything about the wonderful interesting story.

Excellent story

I had this book in my library since it was first highlighted, a month or two. I would start then stop, then restart and stop again. I had trould getting pass the beginning ,a toad, hmmm. Finally, I was ready for a none "romance " book and started this book again. I was captured as soon as she took her natural form. This book is filled with love of all types and degrees plus magic and beliefs. I am so happy to have listened to this book.

Loved these witchy vibes

This book had it all. A great love story, witches and spells and even a bit of grotesque horror thrown in. I really enjoyed it and the twists I didn’t see coming!

Magic for a relaxed weekend listen

I had a lot of high hopes heading into this book and I am happy to say I was not disappointed. Starting off in a highly unsuspected location, Smith dives head first into the fairytale aspects of this novel from word one. The magic of the world is given in small doses to build the reader's understanding, and develop along with the narrative.

Immediately hit with one problem for our heroine, the trouble continues to pile up as the fairytale evolves into a combination romance and whodunit. There are more twists and turns than a mountain highway, and it’s all beautifully described in the French countryside. I adored the aesthetics of the setting just as much as the characters and developing relationships, and binged the entire audiobook in one day.

Jones’ narration was also wonderful. The use of correctly pronounced French names, places, and words gave an extra layer of vitality to the story, helping to more firmly place me in the world. Also, her voice is lovely and very easy to listen to.

If you’re looking for a light weekend read full of magic, mystery, love, and a colorful cast of characters, I highly recommend pouring a glass of wine and curling up with The Vine Witch. The only thing that is keeping me from diving into the next book of this series is that I suspect our book club will soon pick it next.

Fantastic!

Great story, beautifully written. The level of detail was spectacular making you feel part of Elena's story. Incredibly creative and the writing was remarkable. I already purchased the next two novels in the series. The narrator did an excellent job.

very enjoyable

The opening is so curious that it draws you into the book immediately. The characters are likable, but the story is a little bit predictable. nevertheless it is narrated very nicely and has a good pace.

Great story and great narration

I really enjoyed this book. A super natural story, but not too crazy to enjoy. Good plot