Francesca Pelaccia - The Witch's Salvation

29. The Witch's Salvation by Francesca Pelaccia (2013)
The Witch's Trilogy Book 1
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Started: 28 April 2014
Finished: 8 May 2014
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 23 March 2014
Why do I have it? I like historical fantasy and Francesca Pelaccia is a new author for me.

Trendy urban princess Anasztasia Senaslau is hiding a secret that only her relatives, family physician, and her best friend Chloe know anything about. Annie is an actual princess, born shockingly mortal in an otherwise immortal family that traces its royal lineage back to the time when Romania was known as the principality of Wallachia. Five and a half centuries before - according to family lore - a witch's humanity was stolen by two immortal families. As punishment, the witch cursed the patriarchs of both families - casting one patriarch from his homeland and imprisoning the other in Wallachia.

Anasztasia has grown up with the knowledge that her grandfather was of the House of Senesti - the patriarch who was exiled so long ago. His counterpart - Alexandru Craiovescu - was the imprisoned patriarch of the House of Barbat. Annie had always been told that on her eighteenth birthday, the Senaslau family would return to Romania and have "the circumstance of her birth": her mortality - in her grandparents' words - "remedied".

Annie has always felt out of place within her family. However, having grown up around immortality all her life, she has never felt like her life was her own. The words of the witch's curse have constantly haunted her, and her fate has always been inevitable. When she is subsequently kidnapped from a royal ball honoring her family's arrival to Romania, Annie has no idea that she and her captor will soon become pawns in the witch's sinister scheme.

Desperate to find out any information about his missing father, Matthias Craiovescu - the mortal grandson of the patriarch of the House of Barbat - agrees to deliver the American princess Anasztasia to his family's immortal nemesis - the witch known as Strigoaic. To ensure Matthias' cooperation, the witch imprisons his best friend Austin within a mirror.

The Houses of Senesti and Barbat had denied her of her humanity. But she could be compassionate; their mortal descendants would be granted immortality - but only if they go back in time and restore the witch's humanity. She will also break the 550-year-old curse which imprisons Matthias' family in their ancestral home.

To make their lives their own, the heirs must return to the most perilous day in their families’ past, Easter Sunday, 1457. This is the day Vlad III, aka Dracula, massacred all nobles and their families involved in the death of his father and older brother. However, is it possible for Anasztasia and Matthias to reverse the past when their families will not speak of their wrongs? How can they possibly refuse when the witch essentially owns their lives?

Comprehensive and deeply engaging, The Witch’s Salvation takes readers on a remarkable journey that spans time, immortality, family curses, and illuminates one of history’s most infamous and notorious figures.

Let me say, first of all, that I've always been fascinated by the life of Vlad III - ever since I watched Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, when it came on television in 2000. So, that's initially what made me want to read this book. In my opinion, the plot was well-written and intriguing - the characters sympathetically drawn and fully developed.

This story completely captured my attention, and held it until the end. Ms. Pelaccia is a new author for me and in my opinion, this is an amazing debut. I give this book a definite A+! I absolutely loved this book and am looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy - The Witch's Monastery.

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often