A review by chelseaj91
Winterwood by Jacey Bedford

3.0

It's 1800--

Mad King George is on the British throne, and Bonaparte is hammering at the door. Magic is strictly controlled by the Mysterium, but despite severe penalties, not all magic users have registered. Integral to many genteel households is an uncomplaining army of rowankind bondservants, so commonplace that no one recalls where they came from.

Ross Tremayne, widowed, cross-dressing privateer captain and unregistered witch, likes her life on the high seas, accompanied by a boatload of swashbuckling pirates and the possessive ghost of her late husband, Will. When she pays a bitter deathbed visit to her long-estranged mother she inherits a half brother she didn't know about and a task she doesn't want: open the magic winterwood box and right an ancient wrong--if she can.

Enter Corwen. He's handsome, sexy, clever, and capable, and Ross really doesn't like him; neither does Will's ghost. Can he be trusted? Whose side is he on?

Unable to chart a course to her future until she's unraveled the mysteries of the past, she has to evade a ruthless government agent who fights magic with darker magic, torture, and murder; and brave the hitherto hidden Fae. Only then can she hope to open the magical winterwood box and right her ancestor's wrongdoing. Unfortunately, success may prove fatal to both Ross and her new brother, and disastrous for the country. By righting a wrong, is Ross going to unleash a terrible evil? Is her enemy the real hero and Ross the villain?

This was a decent book, but it was kind of slow for me.

It started off good enough and I thought I was going to just fall in love with it. I mean, magic, shifters, Fae? That's right up my alley! But after the first chapter, it got a little boring and it felt like it took forever for anything to happen. There was a lot of travel and Ross arguing with Will over leaving the box. Then about 200 pages later, things finally got going but it was still a little boring.

I really didn't like Ross's whole relationship with Will. I mean, I understand her missing him, but all her trying to convince herself of celibacy because she could never love anyone else got really annoying. And then when she tries to have a moment for herself (which she's allowed to do!!), he shows up and she basically lets him ruin the moment. I did like how the crew respected her and the whole family dynamic that happened on the ship.