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The Vine Witch
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.
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
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What members say
Average customer ratings
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars19
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4 Stars14
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4 out of 5 stars
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 21-03-20
Narration and story telling both are best.
I recommend this audiobook to everyone who likes reading fairy tales. It is a perfect escapist audiobook with interesting magic world and their adventures.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- paul g
- 13-10-19
leaves me with a desire to discover rural France
Thoroughly enjoyable, wonderfully descriptive, has changed my perspective for wine. nicely read and well paced.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Christina t
- 09-10-19
Adult fairytale
This was a fun, sweet, story of magics of all sorts. This a fun listen. Nothing that will stay with you, or life changing. But, as the story starts out with our heroine coming out of a toad-enchantment, it’s an obvious guess what the context, and content of this story is. Light-hearted fun
63 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-10-19
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.
34 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 09-10-19
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
30 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Erica
- 13-10-19
Highly Impressive Debut Novel
I loved this story. the characters were well developed, plot line had surprises, twists and turns. the authors knowledge of potions, ingredients, spells was simply magical
29 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Traci S.
- 07-02-20
an OK beach read
I was sucked in by WITCH and the gorgeous cover art, but this book wasn't quite what I was looking for, It's a good book if you're not looking for a super compelling, deeply thought out witchy story. It's more of a read in an afternoon, predictable, shallow romance. The narrator did a good job, the overly enhanced french accent got a little annoying by the end. The winemaking details were pretty accurate - quite over simplified, but well done.
Note - not really a witch story if that's what you're looking for. Beyond yes they were "witches" most of the whitchery in the wine story was just a take on biodynamic farming.
27 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Pamela Metcalfe
- 13-12-19
Middle aged single wine-o seeking same
It was read nicely. But the story. Ugh. I was drawn by the cover because I always judge a book by its cover. You can tell this book was written by a woman who has Live Laugh Love hanging in her kitchen. Took French in high school because it's a "romantic" language. And has a wine glass that says "it's always wine o clock". The Vine Witch lacks depth. So don't go looking for it here.
73 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shoegirl
- 07-11-19
Pleasant light read but predictable
This was a pleasant read but was overall predictable and unoriginal. A bit like watching a European version of a “Charmed” episode. Someone not familiar with many witch stories may have enjoyed it more. I also didn’t find any of the characters particularly endearing, unfortunately. About 2 1/2 hours before it ended I really wanted it to wrap up.
19 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barbara Smith
- 21-11-19
Breathy
The person reading may need to move a mic or something. The breaths she takes ended up being like nail on a chalkboard after the 3rd chapter!!!
19 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jamie
- 08-12-19
Entertaining enough for a credit
I enjoyed the story and it kept me entertained. It’s a good story that could have been developed more fully. I wouldn’t say it’s spectacular but it’s worth a credit. Easy listen not deep.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Katherine Koduvalil
- 12-10-19
Well recommended!
I was shocked! It doesn't happen to me often. I usually figure out the traitor, the who dunnit, the murderer. But Everytime I was like, yes I was right the author predicted me and said oh no, you'll have to wait my friend. What a fascinating tale of witchcraft and potion making and wineries, all bound up in a little bit of love. I loved every single minute I read this book. The narrator was phenomenal at her voice change too.
13 people found this helpful