ALWAYS A WITCH

How does one go about saving one's family from history?

Tamsin Greene, now the Keeper of the Domani that controls the magical power of the evil Knight family, thinks her troubles are over. She has known of her magical Talent for a few months now, and she enjoys no longer being the only non-witch in her very Talented family. And didn't she manage to put an end to the evil Alastair Knight’s plan to thwart the Domani? But when a mysterious stranger intrudes and the mystic book that contains her family's chronicle is suddenly blank, she realizes that her troubles are not over. Back she goes to 1887 to infiltrate the Knight family mansion and stop Alastair from warning them about the not-yet-made Domani. She gets herself hired as a new lady's maid to the then-powerful Knights, where she waits for Alastair and begins to discover their secrets. As with Tamsin's first outing (Once a Witch, 2009), neither plot nor setting astound, but Tamsin is a perfectly likable narrator, and it doesn't hurt that the dreamy Gabriel uses his time-traveling Talent to appear on the scene. The Upstairs, Downstairs–style details of the Knights’ household intrigue, and they make effectively chilling villains.

Readers unfamiliar with the first book should check it out before they tackle this one; that background under their belt, this proves to be an enjoyable magical adventure. (Urban fantasy. 12 & up)