Review: Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle

Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle
Pub. Date: September 29, 2009
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
336pp
Age Range: Young Adult

Penelope (Pen) Leland has come to Ireland to study magic and prove to herself that she is as good a witch as her twin sister, Persy. But when the dashing Niall Keating begins to pay her court, she can’t help being distracted from her studies.

Little does Pen know, Niall is acting upon orders from his sorceress mother. And although it starts as a sham, Niall actually falls deeply in love with Pen, and she with him. But even if he halts his mother’s evil plan, will Pen be able to forgive him for trying to seduce her into a plot? And what of Pen’s magic, which seems to be increasingly powerful?

Betraying Season is full of magic, romance and betrayal that will compel you read this book nonstop down to the very last page. If you though Bewitching Season was great, then you will be thrilled with Betraying Season as it bests its predecessor. I love the direction Doyle took Betraying Season in by giving the readers different viewpoints from Pen Leland and Niall Keating. The alternating viewpoints had me loving this book even more as I got to see inside each of the characters head and watch their journey of growth and ultimately what led them to fall in love. I also loved every aspect of this story from the magic that surrounded the story to the romance that had me smiling with every encounter that Pen and Niall had with each other.

How can you not love the regency period, where the characters get to go to dances in hopes of finding a suitor? Although Betraying Season is a bit different from Bewitching Season in that Pen is in a different country and her focus is mainly to improve her magical abilities, but it was enjoyable to see a different setting where certain events in this story ultimately turned into a beautiful and magical journey for Pen.

Doyle manages to continue to provide humor full of laugh out loud moments in Betraying Season with a different character by the name of Corkwobble. I really enjoyed read about him as he is also one of my favorite characters in this book. It was also nice to see Pen’s growth in Betraying Season since in Bewitching Season she wasn’t as accomplished in magic as her twin Persy. I loved the conversations or should I say the constant flirting between Pen and Niall as it always put a smile on my face. It was lovely seeing them fall for one another. The secondary characters were a joy too, I loved everything about this book even the diabolical plot that was woven into the story.

If you loved Bewitching Season, then you will not be disappointed in Betraying Season. I don’t know what Doyle has in store next for her readers but I look forward to reading more of her books and would love to see more of the Leland Twins or perhaps even dear Charles.

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars