If you love contemporary fantasy, then you have to read Lightning in Her Hands. This series featuring supernatural sisters is an emotional roller coaster. I haven’t read Witch of Wild Things (I just didn’t get to it before publication), but you can definitely read this without it! Keep reading this book review of Lightning in Her Hands for my full thoughts.
Summary
Teal Flores is desperate for two things—control over her gift of weather, and a date to her ex’s wedding. The first isn’t possible until she finds her long-lost mother, but the second has a very handsome last-ditch solution: Carter Velasquez.
Carter needs Teal too. His chance at receiving an inheritance is dependent on him being married by age thirty (blame his traditional Cuban grandmother), so who better to pose as his wife than Teal? But fake marriage and cohabitation prove tricky when mutual attraction charges the atmosphere—quite literally for Teal, whose volatile emotions cause lightning strikes.
Together, Teal and Carter embark on a quest to find her mother and the answers she’s searching for. But along the way, they’ll discover something even better: a love that can weather any storm.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Lightning in Her Hands is emotional from page one. Reeling from the abuse of her previous relationship, Teal is determined to never feel that way again. At the hands of her ex not only did the things he say permeate into her own thoughts, no matter how hard she tries, her own past with her mother is echoed in the way these loved ones just take from her. So Teal is trying to make amends, deal with her emotions, and figure out how she can find herself again. The journey is messy, emotional, and heart wrenching. But it’s also a story about showing up for someone, being honest, and realizing that not all is lost.
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Teal’s story might not be for everyone, but for me it resonated deeply. Teal’s lashing out, her feeling of being broken, struck a chord. She’s simultaneously trying to fix her problems, her mistakes, while also running from some heavy emotions. And she’s also healing. Teal has been so badly hurt, she’s put up some heavy walls around herself and doesn’t know how to let them down. They came up as a way to never be hurt again, but if she keeps them up, she also won’t experience the support she needs and wants. With miscommunications abound, Lightning in Her Hands is a story about doing the difficult work. Of showing up for the ones we love and also for ourselves.
About protecting ourselves and the ones we love. It’s about feeling like we are unloveable and only realizing that if we think that, we are doomed to accept love that doesn’t honor us. Find Lightning in Her Hands on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.