Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel: A Story of Sleepy Hollow

This is an interesting take on one of America's classic stories, the first half being more or less a retelling from a woman's perspective and the second half somewhat of a sequel in which we find out exactly what happened to poor old Ichabod. Definitely more of a romance than a horror novel, it feels grounded in its time period and has a few nice twists. So, if you want a good period romance with some great characters or, if Washington Irving's frustratingly brief novella left you wanting to know more about Sleepy Hollow and its inhabitants, then this is definitely worth picking up.

Absolutely loved this

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit more "romancey" than I normally go for, but the little bit of magic really lifted it out of the pure romance genre and gave it a bit more oomph!An absolute pageturner!

3.5 starsA retelling of the classic tale of Sleepy Hollow , and its infamous Headless Horseman, this time told from the perspective of Katrina Van Tassel, the romantic interest of Ichabod Crane. Katrina is the daughter of a wealthy family, who falls in love with Crane , despite her father's plan to marry her off to the son of another local family.In this version of the story , Crane and Katrina fall in love, and begin an affair, risking everything for their love. When Katrina falls pregnant, Crane approaches her Father to seek his blessing for their marriage, When this is refused he rushes into the night and is never seen again. Katrina is haunted by dreams of the Headless Horseman, a well known local legend, who seems to stand between her and Ichabod.Despite the title, and the headless horseman, this book is more of a romance and less of a thrilling ghost story, as might be expected. It is still an enjoyable read, and in the final third or so of the book, it does take a more dramatic turn, While I am not a fan of romances in general, this one was well crafted and cleverly hung on an existing tale to give it an interesting twist. The character of Katrina in particular is well crafted and easy for the reader to feel sympathy for, given the difficult circumstances she finds herself in,. The book also focuses on the importance of female friendship, empowerment and loyalty, both in terms of Katrina's character, as well as that of her best friend, and the powerful bond between them.I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I started this novel very very late after purchase (but hey, that's what a lot of people do, right? Buy novels and let them pile up and never get round to reading them until the last minute, or in my case, Halloween season) and I got so bored through the first few chapters. It was nothing but horrible sex scenes that I found gross, especially in the middle of the woods at night. I mean, who does that? Will I finish this book? No, I will not. In fact, I have given it up on chapter twenty six. Will I recommend this novel? Not if you are left feeling like me.