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A Bewitching February with Leigh Goff’s Disenchanted!
February is for bewitching romances–get Disenchanted, a YA witchy fantasy romance inspired by the historic Wethersfield Witch Trials–on sale now through Mirror World Publishing!
February’s Featured Book is a witchy young adult historical fiction with more than a hint of romance thrown in the mix. Disenchanted by Leigh Goff is the perfect book to keep you spellbound through the rest of winter!
A forbidden love. A dark curse. An impossible choice…
Descended from a powerful Wethersfield witch, sixteen-year-old Sophie is struggling to hide her awkwardly emerging magic, but that’s the least of her worries. When a dangerous thief tries to steal her mysterious heirloom necklace, she is rescued by the one person she’s forbidden to fall for, a descendant of the man who condemned her ancestor to hang. He carries a dark secret that could destroy them both unless Sophie learns how to tap into the mysterious power of her diamond bloodcharm. She will have to uncover dark secrets from both of their families’ wicked pasts and risk everything, including her soul to save…
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Announcement: We’re Hitting the Shelves!
Disenchanted is hitting the bookstore shelves!
My dream has always been to ‘one day’ walk into a major bookstore, like Chapters or Indigo, and find my book on a shelf. I didn’t know then just how much of an uphill battle that would be, but that dream set me on the path to finishing not only one novel, but several, and through the painstaking process of learning the publishing business and becoming an entrepreneur. And, today, that dream is finally within sight.
As you know, Forbidden by Matthew Freake launched May 17th, 2015, kicking off our Summer of New Releases. The above is a photo of a shelf in the Indigo closest to our office where you can walk in and purchase Forbidden. The best part is, Forbidden is the first Mirror World book to be held in the store, but it will not be the last, soon Disenchanted by Leigh Goff will join…
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Press Release: Coming Soon from Mirror World Publishing, Disenchanted by Leigh Goff
For Immediate Release
June 1, 2015: The print release for Disenchanted, based on the Wethersfield Witches, is June 1, 2015.
A forbidden love. A dark curse. An impossible choice…Suspenseful, dark, romantic, and brimming with old magic, Disenchanted captures the intrigue of New England’s witchlore.
About Disenchanted:
Descended from a powerful Wethersfield witch, sixteen-year-old Sophie is struggling to hide her awkwardly emerging magic, but that’s the least of her worries. When a dangerous thief tries to steal her mysterious heirloom necklace, she is rescued by the one person she’s forbidden to fall for—a descendant of the man who condemned her ancestor to hang. He carries a dark secret that could destroy them both unless Sophie learns how to tap into the mysterious power of her diamond bloodcharm. She will have to uncover dark secrets from both of their families’ wicked pasts and risk everything, including her soul to save them from a witch’s true love curse, but it will take much more than that.
Title: Disenchanted
Author Name: Leigh Goff
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com/coming-soon
ISBNs: Print Book~ 978-0-9920490-9-6
e-Book~ 978-0-9947490-0-0
Number of Pages: 264
Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1FeknM1
Permission to Forward Granted
About the Author:
Leigh Goff writes young adult fiction with elements of magic and romance. Born and raised on the East Coast, she now lives in Annapolis, Maryland where she is inspired by the city’s great history.
She graduated from the University of Maryland, University College and is a member of the Severna Park YA Writers’ Group, Maryland Writers’ Association, and Romance Writers of America. She is also an approved artist with the Maryland State Arts Council.
Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website or at Mirror World Publishing.
For review copies or to arrange an interview, blog visit, or event with the author please visit her website.
Bookaholic’s Fix Review: Disenchanted by Leigh Goff
Review of Disenchanted
This one follows in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet. Two young people on the opposite sides of a massive feud, struggling with a love that could destroy them.
For anyone who knows of my obsession with Shakespeare, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I really enjoyed this book. Now, I don’t want anyone mistaking my meaning here. While this story does have some of the elements present in Romeo and Juliet, it is also vastly different. Much like many of the books and movies that have rehashed some of the Bard’s tales (Lion King, Ten Things I Hate About You, etc.), it takes the basic outline and creates a wonderful, new story.
I found the story to be well written. It was filled with rich descriptions that enhanced the magical portion of the story’s world. I found some of the supernatural elements of the story to be crafted slightly different than some of the others I’ve read. This gave it a refreshing point of view that I appreciate- it helps keep the genre from getting too cliche.
I loved the way Goff used the idea of the star-crossed lovers, the pair that succumbed to their families’ hatred, as a cautionary tale for those that came after and enhanced it with a tale of powerful magic and intense hatred. For a young girl to navigate her way through a world with so many obstacles and try to overcome insurmountable odds… truly amazing.
In a way it is typical coming of age story. Sophie is reaching the point in her life where things are going to start changing and those changes are going to shape who she becomes but her journey is a little different than that of a normal girl- which is to be expected since she is a witch. She starts off with only the most basic knowledge and though she longs to know more, the answers aren’t easily found. With a little help from the spirit world she learns more and more about her world, her past, and events that threaten her future. Enemies are present at every turn and she struggles to make the right decision before it’s too late.
This was a very creative and enthralling book which is why I am giving this one a perfect 10. I really loved this one and I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Reposted courtesy of Bookaholic’s Fix Blog
Blurb:
A forbidden love, a dark curse, an impossible choice.
Orphaned sixteen-year-old Sophie Goodchild is an outcast among the ordinaries and her coven, but not because she’s untalented. Descended from a powerful Wethersfield witch, her spellcasting gift is awkwardly emerging, but that’s the least of her worries. The boy she’s forbidden to fall for, a descendant of the man who condemned her ancestor to hang, carries a dark secret that could destroy them both unless Sophie learns how to tap into the mysterious power of her diamond bloodcharm. Suspenseful, dark, romantic, and brimming with old magic, Disenchanted captures the intrigue of New England’s witchlore.
Review:
This one follows in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet. Two young people on the opposite sides of a massive feud, struggling with a love that could destroy them.
For anyone who knows of my obsession with Shakespeare, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that…
View original post 353 more words
Disenchanted 5-Star Review
Disenchanted Release Day Blast + Review.
Miss Phyre’s Review of Disenchanted–5 Stars
I don’t know where to start telling you how much I loved this book! With shelves filled with witchcraft stories, fiction and historical alike, I think Disenchanted will forever stand out as one of my favorites. Sophie, even while being supernatural, remains human. Thought she fights between her head and heart she ultimately makes her decisions based on her heart. That’s something I think we can all relate to.
One of the things I loved about Disenchanted is it’s parallels to Romeo And Juliet. Along with all my “whitchy” books, I love to read classics and Romeo And Juliet has always been a favorite. Leigh Goff merges the two worlds in such a way that I won’t ever be able to read R And J without wondering where all the spells are! She also found the one thing that R And J was missing…a Hottie McTottie Brit with a rebellious streak 😉 Another thing that drew me so far into the Disenchanted world was all of the subtle hints of real history woven in. It just makes you believe that this actually happened and that they just tried to keep it all quiet. I mean, you can even search the last name of ‘Hottie McTottie’ and you’ll pull up Salem Witch Trial articles!
I know this review is kind of short, but it’s late (because I could not put this book down and I had to talk about it right away!) Overall I’m giving this book 5 Stars and a permanent place with my favorite books. Leigh Goff writes with such vivid imagery that you finish reading it and could swear you witnessed the events firsthand. She is definitely an author to keep you’re eye on. I think we are going to see some amazing things from her.
About the Author:
Leigh Goff is a young adult author from Annapolis, Maryland. She is a graduate from the University of Maryland and a member of SCBWI.
Her second young adult novel, Bewitching Hannah, released from Mirror World Publishing on September 17, 2017. The story is set in present-day Annapolis. Her debut novel, Disenchanted, released in June 2015 and reimagines the legacy of a historic wicked Wethersfield witch in the present-day life of her sixteen-year-old descendant
.
Links to Purchase Disenchanted
Before Salem: The Forgotten Witches of New England
The first American witch trials took place in Wethersfield, Connecticut, a historic Puritan town near Hartford, in the sixteen hundreds. During this time, the Puritan population of Wethersfield was suffering from bouts of sickness and mental fits, for which they blamed the devil, whom they believed was surely acting through powerful female vessels.
Neighbors began spying on one another and casting blame on women like Rebecca Greensmith. In 1662, several witnesses spied her dancing, drinking, and making merry in the woods with other accused witches. Then a neighbor who was afflicted with fits of blasphemy accused Rebecca of bewitching her. The Wethersfield witch hunts were followed by trials that were presided over by the Reverend Increase Mather (his son, Cotton, grew up to be just like dad and, a few decades later, had his own hands bloodied with the Salem Witch Trials). Rebecca, who was not afraid to hide what she was, admitted to having conversations with the devil, claiming to form a pact with him, as well as colluding with other witches in the woods. Her shocking confession along with, in the Reverend Mather’s judgment, her lack of fear for God, her familiarity with the devil, and her involvement in unnatural events, was enough for him to condemn her to death by hanging.
The historical event left me to wonder…what if Rebecca’s story did not end there? After all, she admitted to having an alliance with a powerful figure and she had a reputation for hexing neighbors. Who is to say she did not have time to take her vengeance on the Mather bloodline before the noose slipped over her neck?
This question along with the Wethersfield history inspired my debut novel, Disenchanted, where Sophie Goodchild, my curious and impetuous sixteen-year-old half-witch protagonist, is a modern-day descendant of the aforementioned Rebecca Greensmith.
As Sophie struggles with her emerging magic and deals with a group of full-blooded witch frenemies, her impatience and curiosity lead her into trouble. She meets the mysterious Alexavier Mather, a descendant of Increase Mather who had a hand in hanging Sophie’s ancestor at Gallows Hill. When he reveals his name, she immediately hates him, but senses he is hiding a dark secret and there’s nothing Sophie loves more than uncovering a good secret.
Danger finds her as she delves into the mysteries from both their family’s pasts. Then she begins to fall for the forbidden Alexavier who reveals that his bloodline is hexed with a true love curse that could destroy them. But there is hope. If Sophie can learn how to tap into the mysterious power of her diamond bloodcharm and find an ancient book of dark spells, she might be able to disenchant the Mather bloodline and save them both.
However, she must first deal with the deadly threat that is Alexavier’s father, Judge Mather, and he has a nasty secret of his own that will drive Sophie to make an impossible choice, one from which she may never return.
Disenchanted is available now for purchase. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Mirror World Publishing
http://www.history.com/news/before-salem-the-first-american-witch-hunt
Get Familiar With My Bewitching Main Character: Sophie Goodchild
In my upcoming novel, Disenchanted, Sophie Goodchild is my sixteen-year-old half-witch main character, living with her eccentric aunt, struggling with her erratic magic, and bullied by a group of full-blooded witches she humorously refers to as the glitterati because of an illegal glitter charm they use.
She is a natural beauty with long, untamable waves of sable-colored hair, eyes the color of dark blue sapphires, and heart-shaped pillowy lips. More importantly, she is beautiful on the inside, although she hides it well behind her impatience and impetuousness, which only makes the reader love her more.
It is those heart-strong characteristics that lead her into trouble and, since she is ruled by her emotions, she’s all in once she finds trouble. She is fiercely loyal, determined, and fearless and there is nothing she wouldn’t do or sacrifice for the ones she loves, especially when she learns of the true love curse and the deadly threat that is Judge Mather, a wicked descendent of Increase Mather who had a hand in hanging Sophie’s ancestor at Gallows Hill, Connecticut in the 1600s. Wait until he finds out his rebel-hearted son has fallen hard for the forbidden half-witch.
I have been asked before which actress would portray her if a movie were ever made and, after searching through some familiar on-screen faces, I think Danielle Campbell, pictured above from the Disney movie, Starstruck, would be a nice choice to play Sophie.
*photo found at http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2822341120/nm2836740?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_pbl_48
A Witch’s Lucky Charm–Her Familiar
Ever heard of a familiar or a familiar spirit? It is a witch’s mascot, her supernatural spirit companion that takes the form of an animal, but an animal with its own magical powers. This special creature is a guardian, lending support to its witch when needed and, if she is young, guiding her as she comes into her powers. In witch lore, the creature is usually represented by the oh-so-clever black cat, but the familiar takes a form that best represents the individual nature of the witch and, in my next book, the young witch is going to discover hers, once she discovers she’s a witch that is. 
This majestic creature with eyes of blue and feathers the color of freshly fallen snow is Rasool, an Arabic name that means messenger, and I can’t wait for everyone to meet him in my next bewitching novel.
Disenchanted-The Power of White Magic
In my novel, DISENCHANTED, sixteen-year-old Sophie, a white witch, has to learn a little bit about the exotic plants from her quirky aunt’s enchanted garden. During my research for this part of the novel, I discovered a lot of interesting applications for the everyday and not-so-everyday plants around us. Below are a few that will appear in the book.
Devil’s Bit– A small purple meadow flower and a good source of nectar, which Sophie applies to her lips everyday to help her lie (this only works for Wethersfield witches), because when you’re a witch in a small, Puritanical town, you need a little help blending in with the ordinaries.
White Willow Bark– A natural anti-inflammatory and hemorrhoid reliever–in powder form, of course. Sophie jokingly wants to apply it all over Zeke Mather, Alexavier’s taunting older brother.
Munstead Lavender– Sophie’s pillow is filled with the summery scent to help her sleep through her haunted dreams, but lavender can’t compete with the tenacity of a four-hundred-year-old witch’s spirit.
Calendula/Chickweed– Combined in a teabag, cooled, and applied to Sophie’s eyes, this powerful anti-inflammatory reduces puffiness from her sleepless nights.
Annatto– Wards off evil and eases stomach distress, but this natural pigment from achiote seed pods also tints Sophie’s teeth orange which does little to impress the glitterati who already think she’s weird.
Lemon verbena, valerian, and rose petals– The fragrant combination brings lovers together and, as Sophie inhales the perfumed scent, her bad boy love interest, who happens to be her family’s enemy and devastatingly handsome with a to-die-for British accent, enters the scene.
Leigh Goff 