BOOK NOOK: Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

 

"She couldn't stop it. She burst into tears. Big, little-kid crying. Heavy sobs that shook her whole chest. She buried her face in her hands to hide. And before she knew what was happening, two arms were wrapped around her. Warm and entirely enveloping, a shoulder to press her face into that smelled like an autumn dream, woody and spicy, clean and smoky. A chin resting on the top of her head. She let herself be swallowed up, a little sorry creature swept up in a blanket from the cold rain. She let her guard down, just for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had held her like this, like someone was around every part of her, a wall of safety between her and the world."

As soon as I had finished reading Uncharmed I knew that I wanted to read more books by the same author. Alas, at the moment she only has two books published, but I looked forward to curling up with Rewitched as soon as possible, hopeful that it would be just as good. Well, I have just finished reading it and I wasn't disappointed at all.

Rewitched is another cosy, witchy novel of magical realism, one that speaks of a much quieter magic than that of Uncharmed. In this novel, Belladonna Blackthorne, or Belle, is a witch who hardly uses her magic at all. She is so swept up in life that she hasn't really had the time or the inclination to study the Craft properly, and so she uses magic in a soft, gentle way - to wash the dishes for her, or to brew a cup of tea while she relaxes on the sofa as the steaming cup levitates towards her. That sort of thing. She certainly isn't a flashy witch. 

Belle suffers from a deep seated feeling of being unworthy. She feels that she is behind in life, that she isn't up to the opportunities that come her way, that she will never be as a talented a witch as her mother is, so why bother?  She remains detached from her coven and is quietly content with her non-magical life, sharing a flat with her best friend and her cat, and working in a cosy bookshop in London.  In short, she is rather stuck and set in her ways, suspicious of change because she assumes that change makes everything worse. So she maintains the status quo of her life, working hard to make the bookshop an enchanting escape from the cold streets of London in mid-autumn and enjoying the safety of her small, cocooned life. 

Then one day, a stranger turns up at the bookshop. A tall, dark, handsome and very magical stranger named Rune, with a letter from her coven. She must prove how well she has been using her magical abilities for the past fifteen years, or else they will be stripped away from her completely. Now, while Belle doesn't exactly use her magic for much, she enjoys the gentle magical charms that she does make and how they help her life to run smoothly, so she doesn't want to lose her powers altogether. With the help of Rune, and an ex-coven member named Artorius, she has a month to prove that she can become a proficient and well-rounded witch, capable of casting all kinds of magic for all kinds of scenarios and thus, she is thrust into a frenzy of magical study and practice as she tries desperately to prove that she is worthy of being a witch.  However, someone is trying to sabotage her progress at every turn and Belle finds herself having to fight for her life and the lives of those she loves. 

Rewitched is a lovely magical story that is full of autumnal charm. The scenes in the bookshop are some of my personal favourites, reminding me of when I worked at a bookshop and how cosy the store would be in the dark winter evenings, with the scent of coffee and pastries wafting around the shelves from the café counter we had in-store. Reading this book transported me back there again and made me wish that I could open up a magical bookstore of my own. That would be just lovely! Though I'm not sure what chance there is for independent book stores these days, as even the big book chains struggle to compete with the immediacy of Amazon. Still, its a nice dream to have. 

The romance in this story is fun and feisty as sparks fly between Belle and Rune, the magic lessons are interesting, the villains are ones that I didn't see coming and the story reaches its climax on Halloween. What's not to like? All in all, I would say that Rewitched is another triumph of a book and that the author has successfully brought a new cosy vibe to the traditional witchy novel. And she has a brand new novel coming out in September too, which is exciting! 

If you like cosy, autumnal mysteries and witchy magical realism, then you will probably enjoy reading Rewitched. I couldn't put it down and read it in a day and a half. Happy reading!

Serene Blessings,

Marie x

AD: This book is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now in all formats. 

BOOK NOOK: Lochbound by Rebecca Templeton

"I am used to being alone, living from one of Duncan's visits to the next. I prefer it, or so I tell myself. I would rather be alone than ask for help, than admit to everyone the truth of what happened to me all those years ago.

You're safe, I repeat to myself until I almost believe it. I have not been discovered. 

All is well."  

Lochbound has held me in thrall since page one! As soon as I was offered the ARC a few months ago, for a novel that is set by a Scottish loch and loosely based on the Little Mermaid, I practically snatched their hands off for it. It has held me in its grip for the past couple of days and I'm so glad to review it for the publisher, Little Brown Book Group.

The main protagonist, Iris, has been cursed by a witch so that she is the monster in the loch by day and only returns to her ageless human form at sunset each evening. This has been her existence for the past fifty years, hiding herself away in a cave during her human hours. Her lifelong friend, Duncan, now in his seventies, is the only person she has contact with and together they are looking for ways to try and break the curse.  The problem is that people have been turning up dead, and the monster in the loch is the main suspect.

In fear, the Clan Chief and Laird of Castle Kilmara, hires a hunter to find and kill the monster. But unbeknown to the villagers the monster, named Moireach, is actually Iris, and she has no recollection of killing anyone, nor could she conceive of ever doing so. She and Duncan must discover who is committing these murders and protect Iris before the hunter discovers her secret and kills her. 

I loved this novel. Although it lacks any Gaelic or Scots words and phrases which would have added to the sense of place, it does have a wonderful broadly Celtic atmosphere, with ceilidhs, an ancestral castle, old warriors and all the magic of the loch. There are several witches present, plus the threat of witch burnings. (So-called witches were burnt only in Scotland in the UK. In England they were hanged.)  There is lots of Scottish folklore woven throughout, including the Seelie, kelpies and changelings, so its a very magical read.

The internal voice of Iris/Moireach battling for control is interesting as each one fights for supremacy and tries to subdue the other. Despite her plight, Iris has no shortage of suitors, with three different love interests all vying for the attention of this mysterious redhead with her emerald green eyes. The emotional entanglements and romantic leanings fill the pages with longing, hope, yearning and despair. 

I especially liked the way in which obsessive love is portrayed here, showing how dangerous a spurned suitor can become as they allow their unrequited feelings to burn to an ever-growing resentment, eventually turning that hatred onto the object of their desire with bitter cruelty. Well, haven't we all been on the receiving end of that sort of mantrum?! I know I have, more than once, because the entitlement of men knows no bounds and that twisted emotional journey is depicted with great skill here.

I also enjoyed all the unexpected turns that the novel took and the way in which female jealousy and betrayal constantly simmers beneath the surface. The writing style is so deeply immersive, it draws you in completely and the story arc is more twisty than a merrow's tail! I could see all the parallels with The Little Mermaid, yet at the same time this story was something totally unique and true to itself, with a strong slice of Scottishness. It's really got me in the mood for my holiday to the Highlands and I will be peering into every loch I see, hoping to see a glimpse of something shimmering and scaley in the water. 

In some ways Lochbound has echoes of other shapeshifter tales, such as the Swan Lake ballet or the 1985 movie Lady Hawke. It also reminded me a little of M A Kuzniar's novel Upon A Frosted Star, so it you like any of those stories then you might really like this book too. I have certainly enjoyed this dark fairytale novel and it is the perfect enchanting read for late summer.  Enjoy! 

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me for the purposes of review by the publisher Sphere. It was published on 16th April in hardcover, kindle and audio formats. 

 

MUSICAL DOLL: My Oath Is Steel

 I'm not sure if I believe in soul mates, but if I did, this would be mine. A knight of the Lion Rampant - I would love to go riding with him. 💖

xxx

WRITER'S DREAM: CELTIC MAGIC PUBLISHED!

 

" 'My advice? Whatever you do don't lose your temper! It can lead to a heavy weight resting upon your conscience for the rest of your days. Aye, I wish somebody had told me that years ago, when I was young and hot-headed.' He bows his head in a moment of sorrow and reflection. You say nothing. You know of what he speaks, but you cannot help him. 'There is no changing the past,' he mumbles, 'only learning from it.' "

from The Good King meditation. 

I have been so busy with my Oxford studies, plus my writing, and reviewing new books for publishers that I haven't yet had a chance to process the fact that my latest book was recently published! Allow me to introduce you to my new Celtic Magic, which is the Extended Collector's Edition from the Gilded Magic Series.  It is the companion book to the Extended Norse Magic which was published last year in the same series and they make a stunning pair for any library.  

This edition of Celtic Magic is just beautiful! It is hardcover and more than twice the length of the original that came out a few years ago. With its clothbound covers, picturesque end pages and gilded sprayed edges, this is a book to treasure. And just look at that Art Nouveau style Celtic lady on the cover! I love Art Nouveau so I am delighted that the design team have managed to give it a beautiful Celtic twist for the cover treatment. Both the Celtic Magic and Norse Magic books in this series really feel like me and I am so thrilled with how they have turned out.  They are the kind of books I always dreamt of publishing, being elaborate and decorative hardback tomes suggestive of old libraries and magical bookshops.

I was writing this extended edition of Celtic Magic back in January last year, 2025, and it was a really fun writing experience. Of course, it was also super stressful because the deadlines and turnaround for projects with my current publisher is always so tight. I think I had about four weeks, from submitting the Anxiety Relief Card Deck at the end of December 2024, to write and submit Celtic Magic by the end of January 2025, so there was a bit of pressure. Needless to say, I worked right through Christmas and New Year 2024!

It was worth it though because it meant that I got to spend the colder, winter months tucked away writing some really fun projects. I was thrilled to be able to revisit the topic of Celtic magic and mythology once more. The mythology projects that I write are some of my favourites because they are just so joyful to create. I have always loved folklore, so to write books that are full of myths, legends, enchantment and folktales - and to get paid for doing it! -  is such a dream come true for me. 

Celtic and Norse mythologies are dearest to my heart and there is a slight overlap between the two, due to the Viking settlements in the UK and the blending of both Viking and Celtic cultures, including their storytelling traditions. For instance, Jormungandr, or the Midgard Serpent of Norse mythology is the forerunner of the Old Stoor Worm from Orcadian legend. Of course, the Orkneys were originally Nordic islands, given to Scotland as part of a marriage dowry in the 1400s and thus being absorbed into the UK as a result of the Act of Union in 1707 when England and Scotland united under one crown. It makes sense then that the Orcadian myths and fairytales would carry echoes of old Norse mythology and this is something I wanted to briefly highlight in the book. Because stories are never fixed. They grow and evolve and change in the telling. That very dynamism is what makes them so interesting and compelling.  That is what gives them life and longevity. 

In Celtic Magic I had a much bigger word count, so I have been able to recount classic myths and legends, retelling tales such as that of Geraint and Enid from the Mabinogion, and exploring folklore such as the Welsh Tylwyth Teg, the Scottish Spaewife, and the Fairy Knight of the Seelie Court.  I have also included a few ghostly tales from battles lost and won, and the spectres that haunt the ancient stones of castle walls. In addition, there appears my own encounter with a group of ghost monks on the A616, which I transformed into ghostly Druid monks for the purposes of the book, but the original encounter was one that I had several years ago, in England, and it was both spooky and magical, so I wanted to write about it in the book. 

As a part of the research for Celtic Magic I took a trip up to the Highlands, to Dunoon, in November 2024. I wanted to learn more about Clan Campbell and their somewhat shady past! The results of this research trip can be found in the pages of this book and Dunoon is a place I shall certainly return to because the history there is so rich. I was very keen to include snippets of Celtic history, as well as the mythology and magic, because without a grounding in the history of a place the mythology and magic doesn't make a lot of sense. History is what links magic, mythology and place together, it is the glue that binds it all into a cohesive whole. So you will find key historical characters such as King Robert the Bruce, his daughter Princess Marjorie Bruce, John Balliol the Tomb Tabard, Cartimandua, Boudicca, Rob Roy and of course, William Wallace, all represented here, as well as many Celtic deities. 

One of the best aspects of writing these longer and more elaborate books is that I get to explore and share my own storytelling. I love fairytales, and I have dreamt of writing pagan fairytales, with a magical twist for many, many years. It is always a joy to me that I can now write my original phantasmagorical meditations for these bigger books, because I have a generous word count that can sustain them. This type of imaginative writing also suits the aesthetic style of these larger tomes - because when you open up the beautiful covers of a book like this one, you expect to find magical fairytales within! 

Writing my pagan meditations began with The Book of Moon Magic a couple of years ago. They were very well received, both by my editors and by readers, so I was thrilled with the response and found it very encouraging. People have loved them and have commented on how beautiful they are, which is such a lovely compliment.  In made sense then, that I would continue to write them wherever I had a word count to support them, because these fables do gobble up words! I have included lots of fantasy meditations in both the Celtic and Norse Gilded Magic books and they have been tremendous fun to write. It is so satisfying as an author that I get to write and publish fiction now too, dreaming upon the page and creating beautiful worlds for my readers to dive into and enjoy. I love the sheer escapism of it, both for readers and for myself as the author. Its such a pleasure to write. 

In Celtic Magic you will find enchanting meditations where you meet key characters such as Boudicca, Cernnunos, The Good King, William Wallace, the Loch Ness Monster and your very own Anam Cara. There is also a meditation called A Winter Song of Snowflakes that is based upon the time I got lost on a mountain in Glencoe in the middle of a storm, which if you've been reading my blog for a while you probably remember. Yeah - its now in the book. My stupidity immortalised forever in print!

This is one of the things I love about being a writer. Everything is raw material. Every experience, be it good or bad, fun or scary, every friendship and relationship, every fight and disagreement, every trip and holiday, can all become the inspiration for a magical piece of writing. It is wonderful to now be in the position where I am able to transform these things into beautiful pagan fairytales and guided meditations, and to know that this is a relatively new aspect of my work that people really love and have taken to their hearts. That tells me that I am on the right track and heading in the right direction.

Celtic Magic was a joy to write. It draws heavily upon Scottish tradition and the magic is inspired by that region, with a touch of Welsh thrown in too - because frankly the Irish have had the monopoly on all things Celtic for long enough! This book came directly from my heart and from my love of Scotland and the Celtic culture that I adore. It includes a little bit of history, a dash of mythology, a sprinkling of magic and a few original fables as the cherry on top. I truly hope that you love reading it as much as I loved writing it for you. 

And if you're one of my Scots boys - you're probably in the Acknowledgments, because a true Fellowship never dies. You were part of my Highland journey, so this book is as much yours as it is mine. I hope you like it. Love to you all. 

Enjoy!

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This post promotes my own work, featuring books that are published and out now, including Norse Magic and the Anxiety Relief Toolkit Book & Card Deck

ONCE UPON A DREAM: Demure Days

 

 

As winter begins to draw to a close and we look ahead to the brighter days of spring, it is time to think about coming out of hibernation. However, for me, that does not mean a return to the busyness of before. Something has changed in me this past winter. It is as if allowing myself the time and space to slow down has given me the chance to embrace my softer self. While I will always love my active hobbies - riding, skating, dancing etc., - I have a tendency to take on too much. A couple of years ago I was writing at least half a dozen projects a year, studying at Oxford, writing assignments, riding horses, going to music school for piano classes, attending the theatre, ballet, concerts etc. You name it, I was doing it and whilst it was a lot of fun and very productive, it was also exhausting. 

Over the winter period however I have slowed myself right down. I booked a little time off with my publisher, realising that just because I'm self-employed doesn't mean that I'm not entitled to some annual leave. I am, so long as I give my publisher plenty of notice so that we can come up with realistic deadlines for future projects. I had Christmas and New Year off, which was lovely, but I was very careful not to overbook myself for too many festive events. As lovely as they are, they can also be quite exhausting to me because of the Chronic Fatigue. 

So I slowed down. I finished up my final projects for 2025, redecorated my bedroom, got new synopsis in to my publisher for 2026 projects and then I just Flopped quite considerably.  I have been in the Flop stage before. It's a natural result of being in Functional Freeze for so many years, but this time instead of fighting it, I just allowed it to happen. It was the best thing I could have done for myself, because I needed rest in order to process the difficult events of the last two years. I had to remind myself that I was not being lazy, that I had been retraumatized. I was feeling acutely triggered on a daily basis, even by people I love very deeply, and so I needed space to work through all the emotions that recent trauma had brought up.

In the space where busyness used to be, I felt a kind of healing begin to take shape. It's slow and steady and I'm not where I want to be just yet, but giving myself time and space, solitude and silence has really kick-started that process.  I realised that the world was far too noisy for me. It was much too harsh, people were far too harsh, too demanding. So I retreated into my shell, into a world of my own making - my little house, where I could enjoy the peace and quiet, silence and solitude that I needed. 

I stopped doing anything that left me feeling drained or anxious. Instead, I took up my quieter hobbies and became more of an indoor girl, as Jack says in Titanic.  I spent my time stitching tapestry, knitting an army green scarf for one of my soldier friends (its about half-way done, Kermit!), baking chocolate brownies, having Lush baths and simply resting.  

I prioritised my reading, enjoying the work of other authors and escaping into new novels. I watched Elven videos on You Tube and became so inspired by them that I decided to add faux cherry blossom vines around my four-poster bed, and deep red-rose vines around my fireplace and the screen in the living room. These simple, floral touches make my heart happy. I wish the flowers were real, but that's just not feasible for long term décor, yet they still add femininity and a touch of that Elven enchantment to my home.

I came to call these simple routines my demure days, where I would focus entirely on bringing more softness into my life and my home, bringing all my senses to a place of tranquillity. I listened to a lot of Enya and to Eleanor Tomlinson's Tales From Home, or Omnia's Naked Harp album.   I read poetry and spent time colouring in my art therapy books, enjoying the process of turning a blank outline into something beautiful with a few strokes of a pencil crayon. I felt inspired to buy a few stickers so that I could add tiny flowers and butterflies to the images that I coloured in, placing butterflies in the manes of the unicorns and flowers on the fairy dresses. 

I flipped through chic and feminine magazines. I gave some of my treasures a bit of a makeover, painting the dark brown frame of my French Pierrot mirror a pastel pink and adding chiffon butterflies to the frame too. I bought fresh flowers to arrange, digging out my old Pierrot bud vases and putting fresh blooms on my dressing table and by my bed, creating little vignettes of life and loveliness. 

I set my piano playing gently to itself in the background, because it can do that, but I had never used that function before and it is actually rather lovely.

I invested in an answer phone and started letting the machine take all my calls, so that my peace was not disturbed at all. I reply to messages and get back to people, of course, but no message means no response from me.  It weeds out the time-wasters from the genuine callers. I should have got one years ago! 

In short, I enjoyed myself at home, in my own quiet way and it has paid off. I now feel calm and tranquil in my mind. My emotions are no longer being triggered at the drop of a hat - though this could be because I haven't been interacting with men, so there are no triggers around me. Only time will tell if that is the case, but for the most part I feel that my serenity has come back. I'm calm enough to pause before responding again, which is a big improvement on where I was a year or so ago! 

My demure days have become an intrinsic part of my routine. They are an aspect of my self-care. Yes I am still studying at Oxford and I currently have an assignment to write, plus new books to start writing for my publisher too, but I'm not putting so much pressure on myself. I can enjoy my studies without feeling the need to be the perfect student. I can enjoy the process of writing my new books because I have a more generous deadline for them - 7 weeks instead of 4, in which to write them. This means that I have breathing space again, and time to enjoy my more demure hobbies and interests, as I surround myself with tranquil music and scented candles or a perfumed bubble bath. One day I will return to my active hobbies, but for the time being, all is soft, sweet and demure, and that's how I like it. It's exactly what I need at this phase of my life.  

As women, I think that we have been conditioned into taking on hustle culture and being super productive, in addition to carrying the emotional needs of everyone around us, while neglecting ourselves in the process. It can be very draining. Demure days are a way to switch the focus back to softness, femininity and serenity. Back to yourself. Demure days are a source of better mental health and well-being. They are something that everyone deserves, regardless of gender. We all need more softness in this harsh world. We should all be much kinder to one another and to ourselves. 

Demure days are not about neglecting your responsibilities. They are about helping yourself be calm and regulated enough that you can bring peace to those responsibilities. Being good to yourself, taking time out when you need it, asking for space - these are the things that will make you a better friend, girlfriend, sister or daughter.  Demure days are good for you and in turn, for the ones you love. 

I truly hope that I can maintain this sense of inner tranquillity that I have worked so hard to cultivate in myself these past few months. The real test will be when I come face to face with a man's ego again! Will I react, or will I breathe, pause and respond, with all the serenity of a Swan Queen? Time will tell, but I'm hopeful that it will be the latter. 

Serene and Demure Blessings

Marie x

BOOK NOOK: Catherine by Essie Fox

" 'He's not for you!' I exclaimed, just as a bird in a cage across the room began to trill. 'See that canary over there - I would no sooner set it free in the park this winter's day than suggest you spread your wings and fly away with such a man. You don't know him at all. He'd crush you like a sparrow's egg. He is the wolf to your lamb. He'd tear your throat out with his teeth and laugh to see you bleed to death.' " 

I have been saving this ARC like a future treasure. Catherine is a retelling of Wuthering Heights and so I wanted to wait to read it, until after I had seen the new movie. I knew that I would want to prolong the movie vibes, so I kept this book on standby ready. I did really enjoy the film, even though it only tells half the story of Emily Bronte's classic novel, and key characters are missing entirely. However, the 2026 film isn't meant to be a faithful adaptation of the original text, but more of a romantic spin-off.  

The original novel isn't a romance! It's meant to be a dark and twisted exploration of toxic relationships, prejudice, vengeance, generational abuse and trauma. Instead of sweet passion there is only obsession, instead of love there is only possession. That's not love or romance. It's abuse, as the abused becomes the abuser. As a character Heathcliff could be described as a sociopath at best, a psychopath at worst, so he is certainly not a romantic hero. He is a classic Byronic anti-hero. Recent woke agendas have declared Heathcliff to be of black origin. However, I studied the Bronte's work, including Wuthering Heights, at Oxford and the accepted academic theory is that Heathcliff was most likely to be of Romany-Irish traveller origin, hence why he is often referred to as a gypsy.

Whatever his origins, Heathcliff is a character that has captured the imagination for almost 200 years. I must confess though, that Wuthering Heights is not my favourite Bronte novel. It is emotionally heavy reading, it is full of suffering and there isn't one single likable character in the entire book! That said, it's not a book that you ever forget. Once you've read it, Emily's world stays with you in some deep, dark part of your psyche. Her original novel can be a bit of chore to read, as the author is deliberately setting out to confuse her readers with similar names for her characters, hints at a past that is never fully revealed or explained, suggestions of incest and the muddied lineage of the characters and inter-cousin relationships. Factor in the oblique Victorian language-style and well, it's messy, to say the least - although there will always be the ignorant romantic who waxes lyrical on how wonderful Heathcliff is and how romantic the novel is  - and they are perfectly free to die on that hill. 

But Wuthering Heights isn't a romance and it was never meant to be. 

It's meant to be dark and twisted.

So it was long past time that the old classic was given a makeover and that is exactly what Catherine is. In this book, the author, Essie Fox, stays very close to Emily Bronte's original text. Her plotlines run parallel with the Bronte classic that we all know, no characters are omitted and all the main events happen as per the original novel.  In this book though, it is the ghost of Catherine herself who is the narrator, rather than the outsider, Mr Lockwood. This gives the novel such a feeling of immediacy and authenticity that, at times, I forgot that I was reading a retelling.  It also helps to make the original Bronte novel much more accessible, as Catherine is well-written but without the extremely convoluted, labyrinthine language of the classic. Whilst all the indigenous twists and turns are still there, they are presented in a much more straight-forward and modern literary way, so the book is a pleasure to read. 

Here we get to know Cathy from her own perspective, rather than through the eyes of the often spiteful Nelly Dean of the classic. It is Cathy who speaks to us of her childhood, of her beloved moors and the vastness of nature that becomes her church, of her relationships and her ever-growing feelings for Heathcliff. We witness her wrestling with her conscience as she tries to be a good influence on her foundling friend, but only ends up having tantrums of her own. We feel the freedom of the moors through her experiences and what a blissful escape from trauma and abuse it was to both her and Heathcliff, and how this shared escape to freedom solidified their emotional bond.  She is still the wilful Cathy that we know and love, yet her voice has softened slightly, as she recounts her story with the benefit of ghostly hindsight.  In this novel, we are Cathy, just as Cathy is Heathcliff!

This POV and first person narrative makes it feel as if you are right at the heart of the story, in a way in which the original novel does not, because Bronte's intention was for the reader to experience the feeling of being the outsider, someone who is always looking in, but never quite included, much as Heathcliff was an outcast. In Catherine, the reader is very much included in the story and so you get to witness it unfold first-hand,  one tragic piece of the puzzle at a time.  

Catherine has been a fantastic read and I ripped through it in just a couple of days. It's a very pretty book, with cover art reminiscent of the Bronte Parsonage in Yorkshire, the home of the Bronte sisters. It also has beautiful end pages and sprayed edges with an avian, corvid theme. If you are a Bronte fan then you will probably enjoy this retelling of Wuthering Heights. It is just the thing to prolong the highly-romanticised Heathcliff vibes from the new movie, which is a must-see as it is such a beautiful and picturesque film. 

However, if you're looking for a film that adheres to the original Bronte text, I recommend the 1992 version with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, which is fabulous and appropriately dark and twisted! 

In the meantime, I'm off to play the new Wuthering Heights soundtrack from the latest movie and make plans for a day out on the Yorkshire Moors. Happy reading.

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher prior to its release for the purposes of review. It was published on February 12th in hardcover, digital and audio formats. 

 

ONCE UPON A DREAM: Valentine's Elven Love Spell

 If Cupid didn't bring you any Valentines this morning, fear not.

Here is one from a beautiful Elven Prince.

No mortal man could ever compete...

Because life has taught me that fantasy is far better than reality.

Happy Valentine's Day

xxx

BOOK NOOK : Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood

" 'Absolutely not. No glitter,' Hal said. He looked accusatorially at Annie. 'If your magic is anything to go by, that damn stuff will get absolutely everywhere and I'll never see the end of it. I've already noticed yours, hanging everywhere around the place.'

'You don't like it?' Annie said, genuinely baffled. As a firm believer in extra sparkle at all times, she had tinkered with her own magic to ensure the glitter lingered a little longer than the average. "

I love reading witchy novels but sometimes those with a slant of history can be a little dark, even a touch depressing. So I was delighted when Pan Macmillan sent me an ARC of this book back in the autumn. Uncharmed is a cosy, witchy fantasy with a hint of romance and magic galore. In this world, witchcraft is hidden but not forbidden and there is no mention of the historical witch hunts of the past. It's a very light hearted and immensely fun read. 

I hadn't read this author before so her work is a new discovery to me and I have to say that I loved Uncharmed right from the opening lines of the very first page. It tells the story of Andromeda Wildwood, or Annie, who runs a beautiful bakery in London, whipping up enchanted pastries and cakes for her unsuspecting customers. She lives in a self-designed world of pure femininity, where everything is pink and pretty, including her bakery and the cakes she creates. Imagine if the Charmed Ones ran a magical branch of Peggy Porschen - that's the vibe of this book. It has echoes of the Joanne Harris novel Chocolat but with way more magic involved. 

I really liked the characters in this novel.  Annie is a lot like Elle Woods from the Legally Blonde films and I kept picturing Reese Witherspoon in my mind as I was reading. However, Annie takes perfectionism to a whole new magical level, making Mary Poppins seem like an underachiever! Everything in her life is spot-on and flawless, but as her perfectionism is a trauma response to the loss of her parents, she has a deep seated feeling of being unworthy and not good enough and so she has fallen into the classic trap of becoming a people pleaser. She takes on far too much, running her bakery, offering emotional support to her customers, helping out with her coven and going on blind dates she doesn't want, all because she's too afraid to say no to anyone. She doesn't want to disappoint people. 

So when her coven leader asks her to take on the training of an unschooled teenage witch who has recently come into her powers, Annie feels compelled to say yes, even though she has little time to spare. And that's where all the trouble begins, for young Maeve is in no mood to be trained, least of all by a version of Pink-Witch-Barbie and her wooden spoon! She wants to learn from her own instincts and her love of books, not from a mentor in perfection. Annie has her work cut out and following a particularly disastrous false start, she and Maeve are sent away to a ramshackle cottage in the woods, lost in the middle of nowhere, where the magic lessons can do no further harm.  Cue magical house-makeover montage - fabulous! Very Nicole Kidman in Bewitched. 

This is a novel that explores the true meaning of family, of home, of love and what it means to be a good friend - with a clear depiction of false friendships too by way of comparison. The romance is light and slow burning, there is a hilarious bad day when the magic has lapsed, plus some epic magical battle scenes. In short, it has everything you could wish for from a cosy, witchy fantasy novel.

Uncharmed is a lovely stand-alone story. The vanilla fragranced magic shimmers across the page in a stream of pink glitter and its just so visual in its descriptive passages that it would make a wonderful movie. There is tons of magic in this one - rival covens, some adorable familiars and a few comical mistakes. There were parts of the book that made me laugh out loud, especially the meet-cute with Hal and the bickering relationship that develops between Annie and Maeve. With echoes of Disney's Fantasia and the classic fairytale Snow White, its easy to see where the author found her inspiration, yet she has somehow managed to transform these echoes into something that is entirely her own and altogether charming.  It's a fairytale as much as a witchy novel and it will make your mouth water for Annie's deliciously enchanted pastries. 

If, like me, you believe that everything can be improved with a little bit of shimmer, and if you are a pink witch with a sweet tooth, then you will love this sparkling, brilliant book. But make sure you have a few sweet treats on hand because you will crave a sugar-rush as you read this delightful confection of a novel. Enjoy!

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This novel was sent to me by the publisher Pan Macmillan for the purposes of review. It is available now in hardcover, digital and audio formats. 

BOOK NOOK: The Undoing of Violet Claybourne

 "The snow was soft and powdery and made a satisfying squeaky crunch beneath our feet. The air was clean and brittle. When we reached the small copse, I turned around and drew a breath. Against the white ground and pale grey sky, Thornleigh looked magnificent. With its turrets and jagged edges it appeared like a thorny weed sprung miraculously from the frozen ground. Yet, there was also something foreboding about the way it sat, up there on the mount, watching over us."

The Undoing of Violet Claybourne has been on my shelf for a while now, waiting for when I had time and space to read it.  It is a galloping Gothic novel and I devoured it in two days. I have read lots of Gothic novels as a reviewer, but this one is a real page turner and it kept me gripped throughout. There isn't a single slow moment - the action keeps moving along at a great pace and at times it left me breathless, almost panicked, so authentic is the writing. 

It tells the story of three sisters and Gillian, who is the friend of the youngest sister and the main protagonist. The Claybourne sisters, Emmeline, Laura and young Violet, are from a very affluent family, living on a large country estate. The story begins in the years leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Violet arrives at Heathcomb Boarding School for Girls and becomes Gillian's roommate. To begin with, the novel has quite strong Dark Academia vibes. 

Right from the start Gilly is captivated by Violet and her daredevil, rebellious ways and the two soon become firm friends. Until Violet came along, Gilly was rather a loner, ignored by her father, who is her only surviving parent, and frequently left with an aging aunt for the school holidays. So when Violet invites Gillian to spend the Christmas holidays at her home, Thornleigh Hall, Gilly is delighted to accept. 

Upon arrival she is soon swept away by the grandeur of the estate, where one is expected to dress for dinner each evening, expensive shopping trips are put 'on account' and where lavish balls are planned for the festive period. It is a place where the elites thrive, a place of hunting, shooting and fishing on the lake and Gillian soaks it all up. She is especially enthralled by Violet's glamourous older sisters - Emmeline, the sophisticated and studious eldest sister who is an Oxford student, and Laura, the fun-loving, jazz-playing middle sister who has quite a Flapper-esque feel about her reminiscent of the roaring twenties, rather than the 1930s. Gillian is full of admiration for both the older girls and the exciting lives that they lead, studying, hunting, shopping, drinking and dancing. 

She is seduced by the appearance of generational wealth, the routines of the household, for instance, having tea in the library by a huge open fire, the talk of coming out balls, handsome suitors and engagements, and the prospect of participating in the Christmas festivities at such a grand home as Thornleigh Hall. She is desperate to be included, accepted and welcomed as some sort of adopted sister, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to win the approval of the sisters, especially Emmeline. 

However, things take a turn for the worse when events during the Boxing Day Hunt go terribly awry, sealing the four young women in a relationship that they could never have predicted and can't escape. From then on the novel gets increasingly darker and the Gothic tropes are deployed thick and fast - secrets, lies, madness, incarceration, scapegoats, power and control. The novel simply strides along, following the four women from their last youthful and disastrous Christmas, right up until they are  old ladies in their seventies, but the pacing never slows down. There are some fantastic red herrings and brilliant twists in the tale that I never saw coming! 

In some ways this book reminded me of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, or maybe the first book in the S.T.A.G.S series by M A Bennet, because it has that same theme of a poor young woman seduced by the affluence and wealth of the elite class, so if you like either of those books then you will probably enjoy The Undoing of Violet Claybourne too.  It is certainly a very harrowing read at times and it made me feel very glad that I have never had any sisters, because the sisterly bonds in this book are torturous! It is an excellent psychological thriller, set in an affluent world of privilege, all with serious Gothic undertones.  Enjoy!

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This book was sent to me by the publisher, Bonnier Books, for the purposes of review. It is available now in all formats. 

ONCE UPON A DREAM: I'm Back at Oxford!

 

I wasn't planning on returning to university. I finished my year of studying at Oxford University in December 2024, which marked the end of ten years of studying. I received the news that I had passed the course in January 2025 and I thought that was that. I thought that I was done with my studies. I'd already achieved all that I had wanted to achieve academically and I was happy to just take that knowledge forward and get on with my life.  Although I felt a slight touch of fomo back in September when all the back-to-uni vibes were buzzing, I personally had no intention of jumping back into it at all.

However, as soon as I realised that some people were irritated by my academic achievements, I felt like they were waving a red rag to a bull.  My rebellious Bruce heart was roused and I immediately applied to another university course! I was accepted back in October 2025 and duly paid my course fees. There's no denying I did it for devilment. I did it to prove a point. The point being, no-one puts limits on what I can achieve. No-one tells me what I can and can't do. I decide those things for myself. Its called autonomy and I'm actually rather good at it! Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

I also really enjoy studying. I love the scholarly life, the lectures, the study groups, the common room chit-chat and so on. To a certain degree, I even quite enjoy writing essays - not because they are enjoyable, but because I like to see for myself how much learning I have absorbed and what kind of sense I can make of it. This reputation for having a scholarly approach has also brought in additional writing opportunities that I might not have received otherwise, so studying has been great for my work as a writer.

The thing about studying at university level is that -  its like a game. The tutors, whilst very supportive and lovely, will push you and stretch you to see if you break under pressure. Academics has its own language and you will not be given a glossary of terms or a crib sheet to explain it all. You are expected to learn the language under your own initiative.  You are expected to come to lectures with a reasonable foundation of scholastic learning to begin with. If you don't already have that in place, its your job to do the ground work, and do it quickly! That's why peer support and study groups are so useful, because you can learn from other one another. If you have been out of education for some time, university can be very intimidating, but it is meant to be, especially at somewhere like Oxford, which has its own rep to protect. The onus is on the student to bring themselves up to par. 

When I first began studying the psychotherapy course back in autumn 2013, I realised that I didn't have a full understanding of the academic lingo. I didn't have an A-level, only my GCSEs, and I was jumping straight in at university level. That was a significant academic gap for me to bridge. I loved books, but I had to learn how to do more detailed close-reading of texts, breaking them apart, finding the key structure and thesis, formulating my own argument and using the text as simply a jumping off point for my own hypotheses. I knew how to meet a deadline, but academic research was quite new to me and not something I had done very much of in the past. It was quite a learning curve, but one that I enjoyed immensely. I studied the art of studying, alongside my actual course studies, learning what makes a great essay, what pitfalls to watch out for, how to construct an argument and so on. None of these things were taught in class by our tutors. They were things I taught myself through self-study outside of the lecture hall.   

I turned the whole thing into a game, competing not against my fellow students, but against myself, to see how clever I could become, how learned I could make myself feel. And that is where the buzz of academics kicked in - because there is a buzz to developing your own intellect and to leaving a class, a lecture or a course, a bit smarter than you were when you started. I learnt that I was clever, but I had to work hard for that knowledge, pushing through impostor syndrome, fear of failure and inadequacy until I slowly began to trust my own intelligence.  I loved that my mind was being stretched and the feeling of neuroplasticity that gave me. The academic buzz was strong!

So the idea of returning to university to do another course wasn't distasteful to me, and like I said, I had a point to prove! I do what I want, I achieve what I want and if people don't like me for it that's just tough. I'm always going to press ahead - its in the Bruce blood. 

I began my current course with Oxford a few weeks ago, at the start of Hilary term and it will continue until early summer. Its a topic that has fascinated me for many, many years and I am enjoying studying the subject academically.  There are, of course, more essays to write and presentations to give, but for the most part I am excited by the course rather than apprehensive about it. Having spent the whole of 2024 studying at Oxford, I know what to expect, so I feel that I am well prepared and I have a firm grounding in how Oxford University works, what the Professors expect etc. The subject is one close to my heart and it's making me rethink what I thought I knew about it, which is always a good thing. I have lectures a couple of times a week, plus study group and common room,  and our Professors are lovely. It can be a little dry at times, but that's Oxford for you! Its just all part of the academic sphere.

My first formative essay is due in mid-February so I am currently in the note-taking phase of planning that out. It is rather fun and I get to be a scholar all over again, which is nice. I do think though, that having been a university student for over a decade, across various courses and subjects, that I will always be a scholar now. It's how I have programmed my mind to work and that is no bad thing. Plus its really good for my writing career which is an added bonus. 

Until next time, Dominus illuminatio mea.

Serene Blessings

Marie x

 

BOOK NOOK: Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory

 'She has a pretty face,' I say simply. 'But it's not a false face. And he's seen nothing but false faces and painted smiles for all his life. D'you think he wants an honest woman now? Does any man want an honest woman as his wife? Don't you all prefer liars?'

I have just finished reading Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory and I feel quite moved by it. I have read all of Gregory's Tudor Court and Cousins War novels and I love how immersive they are. The writing is so rich and full of tiny little details about daily life in the Tudor court, that you feel as if you are a part of that world.  This novel is just as strong, throwing you into the story in the midst of Anne Boleyn's fateful marriage to King Henry VIII and leading you through the fates of his next three successive wives. 

I have no liking for Henry VIII. He was a terrible abuser of women, even by the standards of his own time. He was a despotic, misogynistic individual who ruled on a whim and was prone to childish tantrums. Like many overindulged spoilt brats, he only got worse as time went on, keeping his wives in a perpetual state of anxiety, insecurity, panic and fear for their lives. There is no doubt that he was a highly abusive husband who treated all of his wives appallingly, lining up the next wife before he'd even dispatched the previous one! Disgusting man! He was a real-life Bluebeard, murdering wives and quickly seeking out another, by way of replacement.

In this novel however, we follow the story of a woman who oversaw the Queen's Rooms throughout these tumultuous events. Jane Boleyn was Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law, wife to George Boleyn, and the women who managed to keep her head when they did not.  Indeed, Jane is a staple of the Queen's Rooms, keeping everything running smoothly despite the upheaval of having to welcome one wife after another. She is the Chief Lady in Waiting to the Queen - any queen, whoever the king's itch of the moment happens to be. Her allegiance is to the Crown, to herself and her patron, Thomas Cromwell. In short, Jane is a spy, using her place among the queen's ladies to glean information and pass it back to Lord Cromwell.

As such she is a rather duplicitous character and while I wouldn't say that I liked her, I did find myself having some empathy for her, especially towards the end.  You know you are reading a great author when you dislike a character but still find yourself sympathising with them. It is one of the signifiers of excellent writing. 

As first one queen and then another falls and is dispatched, Jane is on hand to usher in the new queen and to serve her as a friend and advisor. The problem is that Jane is a false friend and a bad advisor, her judgement being skewed by her own personal ambition. She is clever, but perhaps not quite as clever as she thinks she is. There is more than a touch of hubris about her and she is prideful because she is very book-learned and she can speak Latin and Greek with the powerful men of court.  Jane convinces herself that while the queens might be disposable, she is indispensable.  

I found this novel to be very chilling in places. There are scenes that depict the smooth running of the court, the Queen's Rooms especially, which go on in the same routine, regardless of who is the current queen, regardless of the current religion which oscillates between Catholicism and Protestantism and back again. Nothing else ever changes here, except the woman who wears the crown and her position is always precarious. There is no mourning when one queen is disposed of and another comes in to take her place.  There is no change in the routine, no change in the wardrobe - the new queen is expected to wear the jewels and attire of all the former queens with a smile of gratitude on her face. I'm surprised they even changed the bed sheets! Its all so cold, so cruel and unfeeling, like Henry himself is. There is an undercurrent of fear and distrust throughout the book, for how can a man who so easily switches from one wife to the next ever be trusted? He can't. His word is false, his temper is short and his love is only for himself. Sadly there are still men like that around today, who seem just as quick to trade in one wife for another.

Jane has to try and navigate all this, while passing information back to her mentor, Cromwell, and keeping herself as safe as possible in the treacherously unsafe world that is King Henry's court.  Jane Boleyn has been much maligned throughout history, often depicted as the original nosy Parker (her maiden name) and shown to be vindictive and vengeful. In Boleyn Traitor however, she is treated with far more sympathy than she is in say, Emily Purdy's The Tudor Wife, which holds fast to the propaganda of Jane as a spiteful, spurned wife. This is what I love about Philippa Gregory's work - she does her research thoroughly enough to be able to turn such propaganda on its head, presenting historical women in a more nuanced and multi-dimensional way, and while I did enjoy Purdy's novel, I prefer this one and the Jane Boleyn that Gregory portrays. Both novels are cracking reads, particularly if you enjoy Tudor court fiction.

I especially liked the way in which the court masques are used as a metaphor for the duplicity of the community and of the king. In Henry's court, everyone must wear a mask in order to survive and his love of play-acting and mumming is legendary. Gregory uses this historical detail as a plot device to great effect. There is also the significance of May Day and what it meant within Henry's court - the contrast between the seasonal merry-making and the betrayals that were playing out in the midst of all the revelry is truly shocking, as well-loved companions of the king ride away smiling, only to discover that favour has turned against them. This is masterful storytelling and I will never see May Day in quite the same way again!

As the novel progresses the tension increases and I had a growing sense of dread as I turned the pages. Even though I already knew how Jane's story ended, it didn't soften the blow when her luck eventually runs out. Of course her luck would run out - she was a woman, after all, and Henry really didn't like women. Her fate was in part self-inflicted, but I do believe that she would have suffered either way, by virtue of her being a women in the court of a misogynist king, as all the queens that she served suffered before her. It is impossible not to be moved by her story as she tried her best to survive in impossibly dangerous circumstances. 

Boleyn Traitor is a fantastic historical novel and it has kept me gripped late into the night. And just look at that cover! It is both beautiful and horrific - just as King Henry's court would have been. Enjoy the intrigues of this spectacular novel - and whatever you do, don't let your mask slip - you never know who might be watching...

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory is published by HarperCollins and is out now in hardcover, digital and audio formats. 

ONCE UPON A DREAM: Quiet Ambition

 

"Ambition is not a vice of little people."

Michel de Montaigne

I have often been ridiculed for my ambition. When I worked at the vets my success as a writer was smirked at and quickly dismissed by some of my colleagues as no more than a pipedream, something that would never happen. I remember the day when they all gathered around a computer and one of them Googled my name. I distinctly recall the silent shock that followed when all my traditionally published books appeared on Amazon and Waterstones websites and it became clear to them that I was already a highly successful author! This was no pipe dream - this was my life's work - and it was staring them in the face in black and white. I drove the point home by repeating that the vets was simply a student job to me while I completed my Masters Degree and that I would return to working from home and writing books again as soon as I had the Master of Arts under my belt.  Their attitude seemed to be that I should be content to be a receptionist, that I was very lucky to be working there doing twelve to fourteen hour days for minimum wage. 

This attitude continued even after I left the vet hospital to write new books for my current publisher, with one of my former veterinary colleagues using Facebook to remind me that working at the vet hospital had been my bread and butter and that I should never forget that fact, the implication being that it should completely define who I am as a person. As if! I rolled my eyes and pointed out once again, that it had only ever been a student job, that my real job was in publishing and always had been. It just goes to show though that there will always be those crabs in a bucket who try to pull you down, no matter what you do. 

Ambition is often viewed as a dangerous thing, something to be nipped in the bud and discouraged at all costs. While ambition that over-reaches talent is a bit conceited, unless steps are being taken to improve that talent with training and education; and while it can certainly be very dangerous when top jobs are given to self-serving individuals whose personal ambition outweighs the greater good of all, say for instance a President or a Prime Minister; in general I believe that ambition is a very good thing and we should be encouraging it, especially in young people. We should also encourage ambition in older people too, helping them to grow and develop and reach their full potential, because what you were born to is not necessarily the same as what you are meant for.  Growth is a natural aspect of life and it should be nurtured. 

I have always been quietly ambitious. By this I mean that I tend to keep a lot to myself. This is partially because I am a Scorpio and Scorpios are naturally very private, some might even say secretive. I have a very rich internal life that no-one knows anything about. I know what I am hoping to achieve, I know who my network consists of, I know what I want to do with my time and the kind of legacy I want to leave behind. I just don't talk about it. I keep it to myself and I quietly take the gentle steps I need to take in order to give myself the best chance of achieving those goals.  While I have never been interested in the red carpet lifestyle and I am definitely not dazzled by wealth, I still have my own sense of quiet, gentle ambition. I am interested in a much softer form of success, one that better suits my personality as an introvert and a woman who is bookish and cobwebby! I just keep it to myself. 

As an example, when I was a student of psychotherapy, everyone made the assumption that I wanted to work in the field as a counsellor, but that was never my plan. My ambition was to qualify, specifically so that I could add another string to my writing bow in the form of psychology writing, and I have achieved that goal. I now write psychology books under my first name, Jacqueline Bruce. Goal achieved. I allowed people to keep their assumptions. I didn't correct anyone or tell them my real plans. I just stuck with five years of training, qualified and then set about writing and publishing psychology books. As a result, while most of my fellow students have since bemoaned the fact that there are no paid jobs for counsellors and they are expected to work for free, I have been generating an income from writing about psychotherapy and helping people via my books, and occasionally in private practice where I have more control over the type of clients I work with. 

This is how quiet ambition works. It isn't loud. It isn't brash and boastful. It just sets the goal and then moves in silence to achieve it. Often the first anyone hears of it is after the goal has already been achieved. Once its a done deal, it is up for discussion, but not before. I find that this is the best way to focus on something, because there are no external opinions and distractions to contend with. As I said earlier, some people will go out of their way to try and tear you down, so by keeping your plans to yourself, you give them no opportunity to do so. By the time they hear of your ambitions, it should already be a goal achieved. 

I have also been berated for my success. In the past I have been accused of making things look easy, be this equestrianism, ice-skating, publishing, academics etc and I would say that this is the only downside to quiet ambition. Because if you are not talking about your goals, then you are also keeping your struggles to yourself. No-one will see the labour and consistent effort you put in, they will only see the triumph, in the same way that people see the swan gliding effortlessly on the water and fail to recognise the hard work that is going on beneath the surface as the swan's feet work like pistons in a factory! Some people only want to see the glide, the beauty, the grace. Smart people look beneath the surface to see how much work is actually involved! 

If people are not smart enough to look closely, they can quickly find themselves out of their depth as they suddenly realise that actually, its not that easy. It's bloody hard work! Such people might also blame you for the difficulty they are having in trying to achieve the same goals or enjoy the same hobbies as you, but that's on them. They obviously have a lot of personal growth to do. However, this is something I have had to deal with time and time again. It has proved to be the end of friendships and acquaintances,  as people try to emulate my achievements, only to discover through personal experience just how hard I had to work to achieve them! Nothing has just come to me. I have worked hard for everything I do, be that horse-riding, ice-skating, publishing my books or succeeding academically at university and post-graduate level. I'm just a very determined and driven person. I don't give up easily and I feel the need to press ahead. Achievement makes me happy. 

I think the reason behind such chagrin is that people mistake the sting of competition for a genuine ambition. They might be inspired to try and achieve a similar goal to me, or even the exact same one, but if they allow themselves to start seeing me and my achievements as their personal competition, someone to beat, to outshine, to outsmart, then they are only doing themselves a disservice. They are taking inspiration and transforming it into a form of toxic competition between me and them. But it isn't a competition, and for the most part I have no idea that they are feeling this type of way about my achievements until they start bitching at me about it! Then it becomes clear that they are feeling competitive towards me, convincing themselves that I've had such an easy ride, while they are having to work so hard for the same goal. Its the world's smallest violin! Because I didn't have an easy ride. I just kept the moments of struggle to myself. I chose to share only the triumph of the victory. But that doesn't mean that I didn't work hard for it. I did. 

Competition can quickly become very toxic. It can eat you up inside, leading to jealousy and envy, possibly even sabotage and disagreements. It can end relationships and friendships. It can lead to family feuds and sibling squabbles. Ambition should be nurtured and encouraged, yes, but if you are feeling overly competitive towards someone you claim to care about, you need to nip that toxic competition in the bud before it destroy your relationship with that person. Telling yourself that everything came so easily to them is a clear indication that toxic competition is in play and you are now seeing them as a rival, rather than a friend. 

Personally, I only ever compete against myself. I want to do better than I have done before. I want to beat my own achievements, so I'm not really focussing on what anyone else might be doing. I'm too busy living my own life and achieving my own goals, by myself, for myself. No competition required. I am the only competition I need to think about. How can I be better, do better, achieve more than I have before? How can I keep growing, keep expanding, keep challenging myself, even in small and gentle ways?  Where is my ambition taking me and is that the direction I want my life to go? Is it time to let the fire-horse of ambition have a free head or do I need to rein it in a little? What do I want my next achievement to be, and the next, and the next? Where does my personal Victory lie and what must I do to fight for it and attain it? How can I schedule in some positive rest? What does the space between achievements look like for me? What will I do, how will I recover from the labour of a big goal achieved? How can I learnt to fly peacefully and serenely, soaring through the clouds like a dove?

This is quiet ambition in action. Move in silence. Keep things to yourself. Don't mistake the sting of competition for a genuine ambition. Schedule recovery time. Compete only against yourself and know where and what your personal victory point is. Most of all, remember than successful people in any field have worked very hard to achieve their success. If that triggers you, you need to do some personal growth work and self-reflection to discover why.  

People will not stop succeeding and growing just because it makes you feel uncomfortable or threatened in some way. 

And I certainly won't! 

I'll use your chagrin as fuel to achieve even more! Thanks for the motivation. 

Serene Blessings

Marie x

WRITER'S DREAM: My Manifestation Workbook Journal!

 

"You may have heard that you must fight for what you want, but what if you could write for what you want instead..?"

Throughout my career as an author I have wanted to write about the alchemical magic and transformation of having a writing practise, in particular a journaling practise.  Many years ago I noticed that the things I wrote about in my diary as if they were pipedreams, would later manifest into my reality. For instance, back in 2003 I wrote "I wish I could write and sing my own album of pagan songs and melodies! That would be so cool!"  Fast-forward to 2007 and I was asked by Paradise Music to write and create an album of pagan and witchy songs that could be used in ritual, leading on to my album Moon Chants being released on Samhain 2009.  I didn't do anything to bring about this opportunity, other than write about the possibility of composing and singing my own songs in my diary a few years earlier.  The point is, I wrote about it and it happened. 

The same thing occurred again when I wrote in 2005 "I'd love to be a witchy columnist in a magazine and write for them each month!"  Then in 2008 an editor contacted me with a suggestion that I become their new columnist and I spent the next eight years writing my Witching Hour column with the top esoteric magazine in the UK, Spirit&Destiny. Again, this opportunity came out of nowhere. I wrote about it in my diary and it just happened. That is the alchemy of a journal writing practise.

Over the years I have also wished for the chance to write about the benefits of writing, journaling and keeping a diary of thoughts, dreams, feelings and ambitions, so I couldn't be more thrilled that I am now creating new Journals for people to use in their own lives. My gratitude Journal, I Am Grateful, was published last year under my first name of Jacqueline Bruce and it explores the concept of gratitude as a tool of emotional regulation and mental well being. More recently, two more of my Journals have just been published too and I wanted to jump on my blog and tell you a bit more about them.

The Manifestation Workbook by Marie Bruce is, in my opinion, the prettiest one of the bunch so far! It was published at the start of January 2026 and I am very excited for its release into the wild.  The floral cover is just beautiful and represents the potential blooming and blossoming of your life as you work your way through the Journal.  It is a soft book, full of pretty pastel shades and dreamy floral watermark imagery that sits quietly in the background of the pages, ready for you to script out your dreams and help them to bloom. The artwork isn't intrusive, rather it is designed to enhance your own written contributions to each page, with beautiful borders and watercolour images inspired by nature.  

There are Power Insights, Journal Prompts that promote self-reflection and personal growth, inspirational quotations from both ancient philosophers and modern celebrities, as well as plenty of space for you to dream on the page and write your future into being. I also wanted there to be space for you to get creative, so there are pretty boxes where you can draw, paint, stick in lists, photos, postcards and tickets from trips that inspired you and so on.  In addition, there is a double page spread specifically designed so that you can create your own portable vision board that aligns with your personal ambitions, right within the heart of the book.

Personally, I always get a little annoyed when I buy a guided journal, only to realise that there is actually very little space for me to write in it, meaning that I have to run out and buy a separate note book to use with the journal. Psychologically, a cramped writing space also makes for a confined way of thinking, so I always want my Journals to have plenty of space for you to dream vastly upon the page! Life is huge, its a big world and your ambitions should be large enough to take up space. I want people to use my Journals to help them dream vastly and expansively. 

I am frequently asked how it is that I tend to get the things that I want and achieve all my goals. The Manifestation Workbook answers that question, because it is largely based on my own life and the things that have worked well for me. It is basically a blueprint of my own strategies for success and how I keep my mind on track so that I achieve my personal goals. It is a tool for making your dreams come to fruition and for daring to allow yourself to dream big. It is designed to nurture your personal ambition and the prompts have been very carefully worded in order to bring to the surface the deepest desires of your heart. 

Like everything I write these days, my numerous years of psychotherapy training is at the epicentre of all my Journals and each one contains tried and tested psychological tools for you to try out, be that the concept of Free Play, Time Structuring, Self-Reflection or something else.  In fact, the act of journaling is in itself, a form of Scripting, which is a series of written exercises, letters and prompts that we use in psychotherapy to help people assimilate their past, present and future selves. It is a powerful psychological technique and it is present to some degree in all of my Journals.  

I think this is important to stress, because we live in a world of Pseudo-Psychologists who populate social media and offer advice and techniques that they are not really qualified to give, so you do have to be careful. Rest assured that my own Journals are the result of five years of university training in Psychotherapy and Therapeutic Counselling, with the graduate degree to match and the subsequent experience in practice with clients, so I know what I'm talking about!

In light of this, my third Journal, which was also published recently, is one of self-reflection. The Me and Mine Journal by Jacqueline Bruce is specifically designed to help you get to know yourself on a much deeper level. It is also meant to deepen your relationships with family and friends, as well as showing you how to navigate your way through a world that can often seem too loud, when all you want is peace. This is a Journal of self-discovery, asking you to consider exactly what your needs are, and if they are currently being met to the high standard that you deserve? The Me and Mine Journal will help you to rediscover Yourself and Your Inner Child, as well as key areas of your life such as Seasonal Changes, Relationships,  Ambitions and Hobbies, Emotional Intelligence and so on.  Again, there is plenty of space within the Journal for you to respond to the psychotherapy based prompts, and the unintrusive art work is soft pen and ink drawings of leaves, flowers and aspects of nature. 

These Journals are meant to be a collaboration between me and you and the universe. They are a place of co-creation, where you play a vital role in the completion of these books. In all of my Guided Journals, my authorial voice is much softer, more of a gentle whisper in the background, urging you to fill out the pages yourself.  That, I feel, is how a Guided Journal works best.  These are the books where I, the author, step back, while you, the reader, become the main author of the work - and indeed, of your life. Because in these books, it is your contribution that forms the most important word count! You will get out of them as much as you choose to put in. 

My hope is that you will come to love these Journals that I have created and that you will come to see them as close bookish friends and companions through life. All my Journals are timeless, so they are not attuned to a specific year or seasonal cycle, meaning that you can pick them up and dive right in whenever and wherever you happen to discover them. 

Much like my blog, they are a soft, safe space for you to turn to when life gets a little fraught and hectic and you need a gentle reminder that it is okay to slow down, to take a  moment, to reflect and observe, and most of all, to enjoy all the days of your life. I hope that you will embrace these Guided Journals, hold them close to your heart and treasure them as the precious tools of insight and transformation they were designed to become, and that you will make a sacred ritual out of your journaling practise. Happy Journal writing!

Serene Blessings

Marie x

AD: This post promotes my own work as detailed below:

The Manifestation Workbook by Marie Bruce was published on 1st January 2026 and is available now.

The Me and Mine Journal by Jacqueline Bruce was published on 30th September 2025 and is available now. 

The I Am Grateful Journal by Jacqueline Bruce was published on 1st October 2025 and is available now.