The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell

Time Travel/Steampunk

I received an ARC of The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell from NetGalley.  I almost passed on the book thinking I had already read it.  This is the second book in the Stormy Gale series.  The first is The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale and I also read and reviewed it when it came out.

Here is what Goodreads says about The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale:

"London, 1841

There I was, retired from time pirating, enjoying a full if somewhat conventional life as a wife and mother. Then a chance encounter with a stranger drew me back into a world I'd thought I'd left, quite literally, in the past. From his odd behavior and even odder answers to my questions, I knew Phineas Grubb was up to something. I should have trusted my instincts—before he pulled out a time-travel mechanism and dragged my brother, Bacon, back with him...

Salem, 1698

The infamous Witch Trials may have ended a few years earlier, but the people of Salem are still pretty touchy about outsiders that appear in town as if by magic. Thanks to Grubb, my brother's been accused of witchcraft and thrown in jail. Now it's up to me and my husband, Dev, to save Bacon's bacon before the hysteria starts up again, and the course of history is altered forever...:

This is a novella length story.

World Building:  Christine Bell did a great job developing the world in the first Stormy Gale.  That allowed her to move ahead with this story with only some hints scattered when needed.

Characters:  Stormy, Dev and Bacon have all grown and changed since the last story.  Each is more fully developed.  There are several interesting new characters introduced.  I do love how the villain was disposed of.

Plot:  Time travel in interesting and it is used throughout the story.  Stormy still is a go for it person and her personality drives much of the plot.  Although the witch trials are over in Salem the aftermath is also central to the plot.  Everything moves along with plenty of twists and turns.

Tension:  Plenty of that in the story.  Time travel restricts some action causing tension.  There is plot tension and additional tension caused by the personalities of the main characters.

Writing:  The story moves at a good pace and there is plenty of action and dialog.  Everything is paced to hold the readers attention.

It was fun to see Stormy and Dev again.  Seeing how they had changed and stayed the same was interesting.  This is another good story to pick up when you want something you can finish in a short time.

Carina Press published The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell in 2012.