Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle – Review

Doyle’s follow-up to her debut young adult Victorian romance Bewitching Season is a bit darker and racier than its predecessor, with a greater sophistication in the telling that makes it a much more compelling read.  Pen, the twin who spent most of the first novel excited about the finery involved with her debut while her sister went on to find true love – with some help from Pen – feels like a third wheel as Persy begins married life in England and their governess, Ally, becomes a bride and an expectant mother.  Pen continues her study of witchcraft under the guidance of Dr. Carrighar, Ally’s father-in-law, in Ireland, where Ally lives with her new family.   The sisters have inherited a gift for magic that has been molded by the dedicated Ally, but Pen believes her abilities are inferior to Persy’s, more than likely because of their roles in the supernatural battle that saved Princess Victoria’s life in the first book. 

There is quite a backstory here, and at first it seems as if it might be better to read the first title before attempting this one, but things begin happening quickly and independently enough to Pen that her past seems almost irrelevant.  By page seven, when Niall Keating appears, drowsy in front of his drawing room fire with a book in his hands, Pen has already had a strange encounter with the over-attentive Lady Keating, to whom she discloses quite a bit of personal information. Niall, Lady’s Keating’s son, soon figures into his mother’s plan to use Pen’s magical gifts to her own benefit.  Pen and Niall have immediate physical chemistry, and Niall, while adhering to his mother’s instructions, really has no desire to hurt the girl he comes to respect and love.  Their flirtations are rather adventurous; he touches her toes underneath her skirt, which seems a bit forward for the time period, and later, while attempting a seduction that would save her from a role as his mother’s pawn, he confesses, “I want to wrap myself around you like a cloak and feel every inch of you under me.”  Oh, my. 

Pen’s adventure, unlike her sister Persy’s in the first book, is quite fast-paced, and there really is never a dull moment.  Lady Keating is up to no good and intends to channel Pen’s abilities for her own nefarious goals while abandoning her own daughter, who has proven unsuitable to Lady Keating’s plans.  She cares nothing for her son’s happiness, either, and is completely wrapped up in her lust for power.  Pen’s immediate and complete trust in this stranger feels like a bit of a stretch, but her age and displacement may account for what seems like a breach of character.  Her struggle to validate herself without constant comparison to her sister winds up in a fierce battle with a vicious Lady Keating and a close encounter with a pair of goddesses who claim her as the powerful third of their trio.  She is stunned with the realization that she has always had this gift, a gift she shares with other witches who wish to use their abilities to serve the good of others. 

Pen does, of course, have a happy ending with Niall, and how could she not?  After the cloak line, I was ready to follow him anywhere.  I wasn’t, however, ready to follow the annoying fairy folk included in what seemed a forced necessity to the Irish setting.  Just because a tale happens in Ireland doesn’t mean we need or expect to find wee people harassing the kitchen help.  Corkwobble the clurichaun aside, this title should be a good read for fans of Anna Godbersen’s Luxe quartet, Jacqueline Kolosov’s Elizabethan dramas, Sarah MacLean’s The Season, or followers of Stephanie Laurens, Julia London, and Victoria Alexander on the adult shelf.

About Medora

I am a librarian and a doctoral student in American Literature. I like cats, chinchillas, and moogles. When I go to a big city, I have to go to Chinatown. I eat lemons. I love love love NASCAR. This may be all you need to know. Medora's Blog