Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones Zoraida Grey Series
Gothic Fantasy
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
October 28, 2016
352
Granny’s dying, but Zoraida can save her with a magic crystal of smoky quartz. Too bad the crystal is in Scotland—in a haunted castle—guarded by mind-reading, psychopathic sorcerers.
Getting inside Castle Logan is easy. Getting out––not so much. Before she can snatch the stone, Zoraida stumbles into a family feud, uncovers a wicked ancient curse, and finds herself ensorcelled by not one but two handsome Scottish witches.
Up to their necks in family intrigue and smack-dab in the middle of a simmering clan war, Zoraida and her best friend Zhu discover Granny hasn’t told them everything.
Not by a long shot.
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Zoraida Grey lost both her parents when she was only three years old and from then on she was raised by her Granny. Granny is a witch who has raised Zoraida in an old shack totally removed from the rest of the world and it was there that she began teaching Zoraida magic. Now an adult Zoraida owns a shop which she shares with her on again off again boyfriend Al. The day that Al asked her to marry him was the day that she broke it off with him again but she still counts him as one of the few people she truly can trust.
One day Granny advises Zoraida that she is dying, something she has mentioned on more than one occasion but this time Zoraida takes it seriously. The only thing that can save Granny is a Healing Crystal that was stolen from the family five hundred years ago. Zoraida must go to Scotland and steal back the crystal to save her Granny’s life. She has to go to Scotland steal a big crystal and manage to bring it back to Granny and the only one she wants by her side to help is her best friend Zhu. Zhu is a little oriental thing whose Marine dad made sure she could always protect herself and his hard work paid off because she is small and deadly.
When Zhu and Zoraida arrive in Scotland they realize that Granny was less than forthcoming with what they would face, they must get into Castle Logan and manage to steal a large crystal and get out alive and Granny failed to mention that the Logan’s have powerful magic. Michael Logan and his mother Ursula are immediately aware of Zoraida’s arrival and have insisted that she stay at the castle while vacationing in Scotland.
A simple meal winds up a force of power with everyone trying to get into the other’s head and Zoraida is not on the winning end of that power play. Then there is Cousin Shea who is full of magic and secrets but may be the only one that Zoraida can go to for help in retrieving the crystal. While she wants to save Granny’s life at the same time she has a strong desire to strangle her because the Healing Crystal was not the only reason she sent Loraida to Scotland and put her and Zhu in danger.
This book was filled with secrets, surprises, magic and the most amazing characters. Zoraida and Zhu managed to make me laugh throughout this book because of their uniqueness. What happens with the Crystal and whether Zoraida is successful in returning it to Granny and whether she and Zhu get out of the castle unscathed is something you will have to read for yourself and I guarantee you won’t be sorry. Although the book ends with some unresolved issues the next book in the series is only two months away from the time of this review.