The Selkie Spell (Seal Island Trilogy #1) - Moss, Sophie

 Romance, Fantasy, Mythology, Mystery
3 out of 5 Stars
Kindle,  227 pages

In this modern-day fairy tale romance, American doctor Tara Moore travels to an enchanted Irish island and discovers she has the power to break a 200-year-old curse. At first, Tara laughs off the villagers’ speculation that she is descended from a selkie—a magical creature who is bewitching the island. But when a ghostly woman appears to her with a warning, Tara realizes it was more than chance that brought her to this island. Desperate to escape a dark and dangerous past, Tara struggles against a passionate attraction to handsome islander Dominic O’Sullivan. But the enchantment of the island soon overpowers her and she falls helpless under its spell. Caught between magic and reality, Tara must find a way to wield both when a dangerous stranger from her past arrives, threatening to destroy the lives of everyone on the island. (From Goodreads)

I was hooked from the prologue. Mythologies and such have always been of interest to me, and the fact that the book is set in Ireland is a big plus, as I love the country.


I started out liking this book, and the characters. But as I got half way through it started to bore me. Tara wasn't that interesting, things weren't explained very well, they felt glossed over.

The romance between Dominic and Tara seemed a bit sudden, and happened too quickly. Dominic didn't want Tara to work in the pub he owned because she reminded him too much of his ex-wife. But she was allowed to work there, all the while he was cold and mean towards her.

There was some sexual tension there, but then it suddenly seemed like they were together. Dominic did a 180 attitude change and is now all loving and quite protective of Tara.

Until I hit about 85%, once Tara's husband comes into the picture and really starts making trouble, I really started to get into the book and it was action packed at the end.

The book was not without its flaws. There were frequent point of view changes in the middle of a paragraph. Glimpses of what the other characters were thinking during a particular scene. It was confusing as I was not expecting to hear what the other characters thought, especially not in the middle of a paragraph.

The writing was simple, but some parts flowed very well. There were some intimate scenes between Dominic and Tara that I thought were done quite well. They had a poetic feeling to them which I enjoyed.

I'm going to be reading the next book in the series, as I'm eager to know the story from Caitlin's perspective. I'm hoping it doesn't just rehash what happens in the first book.