The House Witch

The House Witch
by Delemhach
Recommended Ages: 14+

Finlay Ashowan, a.k.a. Fin, starts irritating people the moment he arrives at the royal castle of Daxaria, where he has been hired sight-unseen as the new cook. He doesn't fit anybody's idea of what a cook should be: slim, youthful, hard-headed, and way too well-educated for a mere commoner. He reorganizes everything, insists on working alone in his kitchen most of the time (with a skeleton crew of aides mostly chopping vegetables outdoors), and doesn't act like he knows his place when addressed by nobility or even royalty. But he also cooks the best food anybody has ever tasted, and he creates an oasis of peace and wellbeing for his staff that soon begins spreading into other corners of the castle. An ironic feat when so many people find him personally obnoxious.

Among those most annoyed by him is the beautiful Lady Annika Janoure, a wealthy viscountess who is secretly a spy for the king. Sparks begin flying between the two from the moment they meet. And with a war brewing against the aggressive nation where Fin's estranged father serves as chief of military, the intelligence situation surrounding the kitchen could become really sticky. The guy would have to be a magician or something to survive it. Luckly, he's a witch. A rare, male witch, and an even rarer type of mutant witch whose powers don't follow the usual lines of earth, fire, air and water. He's a house witch, or hearth witch – pretty much powerless outside his home, but able to do all but unlimited wonders within.

Fin mostly uses his power to promote peace and comfort for those who share his home, in this case the castle. Yet somehow, it seems, his talents will become pivotal in the brewing war. And so will Lady Janoure's hand in marriage, which a commoner like Fin can hardly dare to claim, when diplomacy with potential allies may depend on her choice. After a lifetime of being beaten down for being a deficient witch, or for not being what other people expect him to be in any number of other ways, can he learn to stand up for himself the way he has so often stood up for others?

By the end of this rather thick but compulsively readable book, a lot remains to be revealed about how things will work out for Fin and Annika, for the brewing war and so many other intrigues in progress. Along the way, there is an abundance of emotionally moving romantic drama, comedy, snappy repartee, growing dread and adventures magical, political and covert. There are combats, conspiracies, disguises, debates, knock-down-drag-out fights, misunderstandings, medical crises and close scrapes galore. And a pretty obvious "to be continued" at the end.

Canadian author Delemhach is so mysterious that they don't even reveal their sex. Or they might be non-binary, I don't know. They are also the author of The Princess of Potential and two follow-ups to this book, with the eye-rollingly obvious titles The House Witch 2 and The House Witch 3. Although there isn't anything in this "paranormal romance" more scandalous than you would see on the Hallmark Channel these days, parents who are protective of their children's Christian faith may regard some of this book's fantasy-world concepts and moral positions as worthy of Adult and Occult Content Advisories.