Review of Tethered

Synopsis

No matter how hard you fight it—destiny has a mind of its own!

Since foreseeing the imminent death of her parents six years earlier, Chloe has lived a simple, not-so-charmed-life away from her remaining Wiccan family.

Zero magic.

No close friendships.

While struggling to bench-press more guilt than any nineteen-year-old ever should.

But fate intervenes and forces Chloe to return home. As if being an in-the-closet-Seer wasn’t bad enough, now she has to spend summer break with the snarky sister who hates her—and the magical birthright she was hell-bent on denying for all eternity.

Luckily, meeting Mr. Perfect takes the edge off her endless family drama. Hunter’s twenty-five, sometimes old-fashioned in a Jane Austen hero sort of way, and more delicious than molten-lava cake. But the more she tries to hide her family’s magical secrets from this ever-present stranger, the more quickly she realizes he’s hiding a few doozies of his own.

Will the lies and betrayal destroy their relationship before it really begins? Or will learning of their tethered future create an unbreakable bond neither can deny? Either way, their hearts will be forever entwined by destiny.

Review

This book has a lot going for it, in my opinion.  It has a hot love interest, an extraordinary family, cool magical talents and a prophecy.  The beginning of the story was a little difficult because I felt like I had been dropped in blind.  There were tensions mentioned in passing but no immediate explanation.  It’s a first person POV so the character gradually reveals all when she eventually takes the time to contemplate things but my thirst for immediate understanding was thwarted. 

 

The story hits some pretty intense emotional highs and lows and I enjoyed the developing relationship between Chloe and Hunter, especially when meddling family members were involved.  The story also featured some serious mending of fences on the family front.  I have to admit though that I had a difficult time with the sources of tension.  I found it frustrating that Chloe bore guilt for reacting to the situation in her past as she did and that her sister “hated” her as a result.  I suppose that teenagers, in general, have resented family members for far less but the unfairness of the situation resonated with me and I didn’t like watching Chloe going out of her way to seek forgiveness.  The biggest frustration, however, was the neighbors.  There was something about the conflict and the eventual resolution of said conflict that didn’t quite jive for me.  The resolution in particular felt contrived.

 

Despite all of this, I still enjoyed the story.  The magical gifts that were unique to each individual, the foreshadowing with the odd glimpses of the future, and the prophecy all made for a very interesting premise.  My interest is certainly piqued as to what the future holds for this family and I will be on the lookout for the future installments in the series.

 

Try it for yourself! Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK

 

Katie