The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Castle of the Winds

Series: The Secrets of Ormdale #3

Author: Christina Baehr

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Cozy

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

At Midsummer’s Eve, the Red Dragon will choose his bride.

Following this mysterious invitation, Edith sets off on a quest to the Castle of the Winds to find a lost family of dragon keepers in the mountains of Wild Wales. But all is not as it seems. Edith must guard her own hidden power, or she might not return to her friends in Ormdale—including the man who has come to love her. Will Edith make an alliance with the legendary Red Dragon of her dreams to safeguard her ancestral charge, or will she lose everything she has tried to protect? – summary from Goodreads

Castle of the Winds is a thrilling addition to Edith’s story with travel, adventure, a deepening world, and even more dragons!

This book takes a little bit of a darker turn. It’s still very cozy, and nothing is graphically described. I also love how Edith and company handle everything thrown their way. The author does give a warning of contents before the start of the book.

We get much more of a start on the romance side of things this book! I am a romance reader and, while I love fantasy, I adore romance subplots in books. So, while I loved the first two books, I am over the moon about the romance subplot taking off in this book. Edith and Simon are so cute together and just complement each other in wonderful ways. Edith really showed him the outside world in this book, and it was so cute! I also love how protective they both are over each other, but they still let the other do their own thing.

Edith was amazing in this book! I love her adventurous spirit and her narrations. I can’t quite pinpoint what I like so much about her narration, but I adore it. She went on some interesting adventures this book and got to meet new people. She continued her character growth and came to understand and get to know people on a deeper level. She also got a deeper understanding of her world, both the dragon side of things and more worldly side of things. She also came more into her gifts, and the scene where she was a “dragon charmer” was thrilling!

Simon was also amazing; I love him so much! He got to see more of the world. He also moved away from his mother’s sphere of influence a little more. He provided a different perspective of the world to Edith, which deepened their relationship. We got to see the more protective side of Simon, which I enjoyed.

Edith and Simon went on a trip to Wales to visit the Welsh Worm Wardens. I am not super familiar with Wales, so I enjoyed exploring this setting throughout the book. Their dragons were also unique. These dragons were much bigger than their Yorkshire counterparts, so we got to see new ways to handle dragons. The people of this territory were interesting. The common people were super friendly, but the leaders, Arthur and Lord Pendragon, were not the best. I liked Arthur in the beginning, but by the end didn’t really care for him. Lord Pendragon, I didn’t like at all.

Another new character was Meredith, who I actually really liked! She was one of those characters that was irritating, but you couldn’t help but enjoy. Her aunt was also a nice character but played a smaller role and we didn’t get to see as much of her.

Edith’s family wasn’t in this book as much as the previous ones, but they still played an important part. I especially loved how they all supported her when she got back from her adventure.

The historical aspects of this book were amazing! I love how everything was woven together. Some of the history of Wales was part of the story. Growing technological advances were also a big part of the story, and I enjoyed how it was incorporated into the book. The way Christina writes the dragons into this setting is also stunning, and they just fit into these settings in a seamless way.

Castle of the Winds is a wonderful addition to the Secrets of Ormdale series, with new characters, adventures, and more dragons!