Spotlight: The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel

by Alyssa Palombo

Published October 2, 2018

St. Martin's Griffin

Paperback, ebook; 432 pages

When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina – unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.

But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together – all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.

Enlisting the help of her friend – and rumored witch – Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional – often magical – means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase.

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Praise for The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel:

"Marrying forbidden love, devoted friendship, and the supernatural with Palombo's signature passion for music, storytelling, and heartbreaking choices, The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel enchants with a concoction of love, longing, and loss plucked from the bones of one of our most enduring and haunting legends." - Erin Lindsay McCabe, USA Today bestselling author of I Shall Be Near to You

"Readers seeking a historical romance or a reboot of an American legend will enjoy this tale." - Booklist

"The perfect combination of sweeping romance and eerie thriller, The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel will haunt you in all the best ways. Palombo's deft touch brings new life, fierce female spirit, and pulse-pounding suspense to the Sleepy Hollow milieu." - Greer Macallister, USA Today bestselling author of The Magician's Lie and Girl in Disguise

About the Author:

ALYSSA PALOMBO is the author of The Violinist of Venice and The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence. She is a recent graduate of Canisius College with degrees in English and creative writing, respectively. A passionate music lover, she is a classically trained musician as well as a big fan of heavy metal. When not writing, she can be found reading, hanging out with her friends, traveling, or planning for next Halloween. She lives in Buffalo, New York, where she is always at work on a new novel. Visit Alyssa on the web: https://alyssapalombo.com/

GIVEAWAY!

Blog Tour Review: Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz

From the Back Cover:

Trick…or wicked treat! 

It was a devastating dirty trick—Joey Silvia just found out her boyfriend of two years is married. What. A. Dick. Joey knows her best chance to get over one guy is to get under another. Of course, heading home to her family's remote cabin in Oregon poses some challenges in the "available men" department…until she discovers this cabin comes with its own hot handyman! 

Holy crap, Chris Steffensen. When did her brother's best friend turn into a hard-bodied pile of blond-bearded hotness? He's the perfect Halloween treat—and a surprisingly dirty rebound guy. For a couple of weeks, anyway. Except that Chris has other ideas…like proving to Joey that this blast from the past is a whole lot more than a naughty Halloween hookup.

My Thoughts:

I was in the mood for a fall-themed romance, and as far as atmosphere goes, Her Halloween Treat delivered perfectly. Rainy, misty, chilly Oregon, emerald evergreens with splotches of brilliant autumn color, a rustic mountain lake cabin remodeled with all the amenities a girl could want, including a handsome handyman, and capped off by a Halloween costume wedding? Yeah, that hit the spot. The back cover copy does a pretty good job of summing up the plot of this shortish novel of friends to lovers on the rebound, so I'm just going to go right into telling you what I thought of it.

In the end, I liked it, though there were some aspects that I wasn't so crazy about. While I'm all about sexy romances, this one could have used a little more development of the relationship outside of bed. Especially considering that Joey just had a devastating break-up from a two-year relationship. To believe she fell in love with someone else two weeks later, as sweet and sexy as Chris is, I needed to see more interaction that didn't involve having sex, talking about sex, or thinking about sex. And speaking of sex, the sex scenes in this story dragged on way too long, every single movement and action described in minute detail. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good sex scene as much as anyone else, but carrying on for thirty pages? I need more story to go along with the sex. And while I loved the witty banter out of bed, I was not so much a fan of it in bed. Dirty talk during the act? I like it. Jokes? Not so much.

But I enjoyed the setting and the characters--especially Chris, and I loved the 80s and 90s music and movie references. I don't think I had ever read a Halloween romance before now, and it's a holiday that's probably underserved in the genre. Despite my quibbles, I still found Her Halloween Treat a fun and atmospheric read for a fall afternoon, with a sweet ending that satisfied the romantic in me.