<b>3.5 stars rounded down</b>

Recommended especially for fans of “Fallen” by Lauren Kate.

“A Witch in Time” is the story of lovers doomed by the mistakes of a well-meaning mother scarred by her own past.

Trigger warnings: adulterous sex with a “willing” minor, rape and urination on the rape victim, unwilling prostitution, suicide, domestic assault, and graphic gore.

The novel progresses across four separate timelines: Juliet, the artist’s muse in 1895; Nora, the streetwise and scrappy actress in Hollywood’s Golden Age; Sandra, a young and hip keyboardist for an up-and-coming rock band in the 1960s; and Helen, a boring and uninteresting character who mostly sleeps during her 2012 interludes or whines about her ex-husband’s hot girlfriend.

Each iteration of Juliet is unique and has interesting-ish life experiences, with Juliet and Nora’s sections being the most engaging. The way that Juliet and Marchant are pulled toward each other and certain careers was enjoyable and kept my interest, barring Sandra and especially Helen’s sections.

The main problem with the novel is the poor writing. Any time an iteration of Juliet has clothes on, there is at least a solid page dedicated to explaining exactly what it looks like and how much she loves her outfit. I don’t care.

There’s also a problematic and poorly explained secondary love interest whose initial interactions during Juliet’s lifespan both don’t make sense and don’t track with what happens afterward. He seemed one dimensional, and I never believed in the attraction between these two characters.

The actual blood magic sequence to initiate the curse was fascinating and very engaging. I’m sad this wasn’t an ongoing thing, and that later blood magic incidents were boring and short.

Overall, the novel felt unbalanced but had redeeming moments, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to fans of “Fallen” in particular.

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a very dark novel that packs a punch. For a debut novel I have nothing but praise. The concept of a woman who has been cursed to relive a tragic love life. The characters have strength and are believable in this fantasy book. One of the things I liked most was that even though the story was relived in each woman’s life you didn’t know the ending.

With all the covid-19 news, I have been struggling to read. I picked up A Witch in Time and devoured the majority of the book in one long sitting! This is the deeply intriguing story of a doomed love story cursed to repeat time and time again. Reminiscent of The Time Traveler’s Wife with a bit of The Mayfair Witches series mixed in. Constance Sayers has written a brilliant debut!

I love books about witches, so how come this one did jot do much for me???
Disappointed a little in this one. I am sorry.

Great concept and enjoyed the dual timelines. Overall I say three stars. It was a little hard to get through for me. Some of the scenes were lengthy and dragged a little bit.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

I have to admit, I was afraid that this book was going to be a bit to witchcrafty for me. I do like a good supernatural or time-travel story, but sometimes they can go a bit off the rails. BUT, Ms. Sayers did a perfect job in my opinion. “A Witch in Time” has just enough of the above to give depth and meaning to the characters without overpowering the storyline or making it comical.

The plot was interesting, and I believe someone else mentioned it reminded her of “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. It does, a bit. This story centers around Juliet/Norma/Sandra/Helen across 4 lifetimes. Without retelling the story, she’s caught in a curse and must relive her life over and has the same doomed relationship again and again. The quirk with her, however, is that she begins to remember her past lives, through dreams. The third person in this story is her “administrator”, basically her handler, who watches out for her. Their relationship through these lives is another storyline. She doesn’t realize she’s a witch or in a curse until her 4th life, so the story is not encumbered with a lot of magic, so if that’s what you are looking for, this might not be the book for you.

I enjoy the back and forth between timelines. I found Helen (I’ll stick with her last incarnation as that’s who starts the narrative), likeable, and I wanted to find out what was happening to her. Her stories were intriguing and I couldn’t put the book down. I’ll never react to my feelings of de Ja vue the same again!

Thank you to the publishers for giving me the opportunity to preview this book, and thank you to Ms. Sayers for writing such a wonderful story!

This book should have been an amazing story however, it ended up being a let down. The story was choppy and I really disliked the characters all together. The romance didn't feel right and the ending was just blah. This one just was not for me at all.

A Witch in Time is a mysteriously haunting story of doomed, enduring love. An intriguingly mesmerizing and thrilling story! The characters are vivid, well-written, and full of mystery. The perfect combination for a truly remarkable read. A Witch in Time was a fast-paced read that I did not want to put down.

Intriguing storyline BUT it dragged at points, was confusing at times and sometimes went too fast so you couldn't keep up. It's a meh read. The type book you would find in a dollar store.

This unfortunately is going to be a big no for me and it makes me incredibly sad.

The romance.

That's my biggest issue. We're following a woman who has to suffer a doomed love affair. It's part of the whole plot which I expected. What I did expect was to find myself reading a particular sex scene involving a 15 year old and a man in his 30's. It was too much for me and yes, this is why her mother curses her because of the disgusting relationship and yes, that specific timeline does take place in the 1800's which was common back then but I have ZERO sympathy for this couple who have to fall in love every time the main character dies tragically in each life she has. I hope others find the moral within this story because honestly, the writing is LUSH. It's very well-written. I just wish I could look past what made me feel uncomfortable.

this was not really my kind of book. it dragged in some places and was too quick in others. I tried so hard to like this but it wasn't able to get there.

4.5 stars.

A Witch in Time is an interesting mash up of genres, with historical fiction, some romance, and some paranormal scifi. A little Moulin Rouge, a little Daisy Jones & the Six, and just a dang good time to read.

This was so much fun! A super intriguing premise with ridiculously rich historical detail. I loved the story and enjoyed the movement from time period to time period. Sayers's ability to set a scene is just plain magical. In addition, the construction of the plot with the use of dreams and flashbacks could have been corny, but it is so well done and super effective.

For some readers, the story may seem mildly contrived in places, but I DIDN'T CARE. I was totally here for ALL of it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Can we talk about how absolutely stunning this cover is? It is breath-taking! This story has such a great and dark plot. I love the time period it was written in. There are a few trigger warnings. Be aware of that! Overall, it was a great story and I loved it!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The nitty-gritty: Lovers cursed by a witch find themselves reliving their lives, over and over, in Constance Sayers’ sparkling and gripping debut.

Don’t let the beautiful, ethereal cover fool you. A Witch in Time has some very dark themes mixed in with a romance plot about a trio of people who are connected through time by a witch’s curse. I really loved this book but it’s very different from what I was expecting. The story follows the short, tragic lives of four different women, starting in 1895 Paris and ending in 2012 Washington D.C. Fans of historical fiction are going to want to consider reading this book, even if you’re not into fantasy/multiple lives stories. Yes, there are supernatural elements at play here, but I found the historical aspects and the fascinating connections among Helen, Juliet, Nora and Sandra to be the main draw. Also, don’t be scared off by the word “romance,” as this definitely isn’t typical for the genre.

The story begins in 2012 Washington D.C. as we meet Helen Lambert, the successful owner of a critically acclaimed magazine called In Focus. Helen is recently divorced from Roger, an art dealer and museum curator, and has reluctantly been pushed into a blind date by a well-meaning co-worker. Her date turns out to be Luke Varner, an enigmatic man who seems to have met Helen before. During their dinner together, Luke drops cryptic comments about unfamiliar people and places that he swears Helen should remember. But of course, Helen has no idea what he’s talking about. 

That is, until she starts to have weird and extremely vivid dreams about a young French girl named Juliet LaCompte in 1895 France. As Helen gradually relives Juliet’s life during these dreams, Luke begins to fill in the blanks, explaining that Helen and her ex-husband Roger are part of a binding curse, cast long ago by Juliet’s mother. Unfortunately, the curse went badly and bound Juliet and her lover Marchant together for eternity. Luke explains that Helen and Roger are the latest reincarnations of Juliet and Marchant, and that Helen is doomed to die on her thirty-fourth birthday, unless she is able to break the curse.

I absolutely loved the format of this story. Sayers jumps back and forth among four different time periods, but it was seamlessly done and very easy to follow. If you are one of those readers who is more comfortable with linear storytelling, I urge you to give this a try. The author uses Helen’s dreams as a way to frame these time jumps, so the present day story of Helen is the anchor for all the other time periods. 

It’s also through Helen’s eyes that the reader learns about Juliet, Nora and Sandra, the other three women in the story. Each woman was carefully depicted and I was fascinated by each of their stories. Juliet is only sixteen when she falls under the spell of the much older painter Auguste Marchant. Their affair is the catalyst for everything else that happens in this story, and Juliet’s death was both shocking and sad. In 1920’s New York, we meet actress Nora Wheeler who falls in love with film director Billy Rapp. Nora’s story moved me the most, for some reason, since her entire adult life is spent trying to escape a horrible, controlling man named Clint. And finally, Sandra Keane is a talented musician in 1970’s Los Angeles. She meets and falls in love with photographer Rick Nash, but their love affair is doomed just like all the others. Making an appearance in each timeline is the mysterious Luke Varner, who we find out is the “administrator” of the curse. Luke acts as a protector for all four women, but his secrets aren’t revealed until nearly the end of the story.

I absolutely loved all the connections between the characters, which are revealed slowly over the course of the story. In each timeline, Juliet/Nora/Sandra/Helen is a piano virtuoso, and I loved the way Sayers used music as a binding thread through all their lives. The Marchant/Billy/Rick/Roger characters all have similarities as well, but I won’t spoil the surprise and let you discover those for yourself! There is a secret painting of Juliet that makes an appearance throughout the story, which I thought was another brilliant way of tying everything together. And in the present day, as Helen is coming to terms with what’s happening to her, she visits the Hanover Collection, Roger’s obsession and the real reason for their divorce, and sees the evidence from each of her lives gathered in one place. Some of these scenes were simply magical and gave me goosebumps.

Sayers picks time periods that really resonated with me, from the beauty of the French countryside and the excitement of turn-of-the-century Paris, to the dazzling lives of 1920s film stars in Hollywood, to the music scene in 1970s Los Angeles. Sandra and her band hang out on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood and rehearse and smoke pot (of course!) in the famous Laurel Canyon area, and there’s lots of name dropping of musicians of that time, like Janis Joplin, Elton John and Jimi Hendrix. You would think with so many different places and times, the story would become confusing or bogged down in too many details, but I thought the author did a masterful job of wrangling all these elements into a cohesive story.

I usually love stories about witches and the supernatural, but for some reason the scenes involving the curse almost felt out of place. The ritual that Juliet’s mother performs, which involves making a deal with a demon, was so odd and horrifying that it could have put me off the story completely. Luckily, though, it had the opposite effect on me. I was so shocked that I couldn’t tear my eyes away! There is also one jarring scene near the end that happens in Sandra’s timeline that was completely unnecessary, in my opinion. I can’t really talk about it specifically, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it ends in a tragic and bloody way, and I think it could have easily been left out.

Which leads me to a few trigger warnings. I was surprised how dark this story was in places. For example, Juliet, a sweet and innocent young girl, is being forced to marry a boy named Michel Busson, who turns out to be a horrible bully and rapist. Because Juliet doesn’t have any power herself, she has no way to stop this abuse. And poor Nora! Nora also has a controlling bully to deal with, a truly vile man named Clint who manipulates her and dogs her every footstep until—you guessed it—Luke turns up to save her. I’ve got a full list of trigger warnings below for those that might be interested. 

Overall, I’m so glad I read this book, and that ending gave me chills. If you are looking for an unusual love story that veers more towards the tragic, with a touch of the supernatural, then I highly recommend A Witch in Time.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

What I Loved:
I LOVED this book. Every single word, every page, every character. Can I also just throw in my massive cover-love for this one! It was a wonderful, exciting ride filled with a witch’s curse, a romance that spans lifetimes, secrets, and so much more!


How I Felt:
This book just grabbed me from the start. I love it when a book does that because I’m immediately invested and find myself flying through the pages. With A Witch in Time, I never stopped being invested and it was wonderful.

The Characters: The main characters are a bit mixed up in this story because this is about a woman cursed to relive her life forever. In each life, she is a different person with a different name, but essentially, she loves the same man over and over, and she is destined to die young over and over. The book starts with Helen. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is living the fourth life of Juliet LaCompte. I liked Helen a lot. She was feisty and determined, but what I really connected me to her was her compassion and forgiveness. She had so much character growth as she learned more about her history. All around, she was just a lovely character. Luke Varner is the male lead in this story. I loved him. He is protective and caring. He is bound to carry out his job, but he does so many extra things that made me enjoy his character overall.

The characters in A Witch in Time could easily become a confusing mess, but Constance Sayers did a great job of slowly introducing the reader to each new character. Here’s why it can get confusing. In 1895, Juliet LaCompte is accidentally bound to a curse meant for her lover, Auguste Marchant. The curse binds the two together, forever, making them live a new life each time they die. They will forever find each other and hurt each other. They are new people with new names and lives in each lifetime though. Auguste does not remember his past lives, but Juliet begins to remember at some point in each life.

The Writing: This book just blew me away. It’s a fantasy with a romance storyline, but it’s also a beautiful story of self-discovery for Helen. When Helen begins to remember her past lives, she essentially dreams about them. These dreams/memories were somewhat long, giving the reader a chance to fully immerse in the new portion of the story. I was so impressed with how Constance Sayers’s writing managed to capture my attention immediately with each new piece of the story. She was able to weave all of these beautiful stories together into one amazing book.

Content Warnings: Abuse, murder, witchcraft, child-loss, infertility, rape.

Overall: A Witch in Time is a well-written and exciting story that I enjoyed so much. The characters are easy to connect to, the plot is fascinating, there is some mystery, and some danger as well, adding some thrilling elements to the story. I am already sure that this will be on my top 2020 reads list.

To Read or Not To Read:
A Witch in Time should appeal to a variety of readers. The witchcraft for the fantasy readers, doomed romance AND the unending love Luke has for Juliet for the romance readers, and the reliving of lives for the paranormal fans.

Readers that enjoy any of the below will like this book:
⇝ A bit of witchcraft
⇝ A romance sub-plot
⇝ A story set in multiple eras
⇝ A mystery to solve

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This is a little like those movies "Happy Death Day" or "Groundhog's Day" Someone must repeat time in order to change it. Add in a little witchy stuff and you have this book.

It's good, but not....mind altering. I feel like this is more YA than Adult fiction, but still enjoyed it none the less.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. **
When I pick up a book that says its about a curse, magic, and a demon, I expect to find those elements to be prominent parts of the story. Although the curse is a large part, the magic and the demon are maybe 5 percent of this story. Instead i was left with a heroine who is selfish and self destructive throughout her many incarnations. The main relationship is between a teenager and a man in his 30's who is married and has a baby on the way.. There are so many instances of power imbalances all in favor of men.
The heroines obsession with name brands as distracting and completely unnecessary to the story. I did not like Juliette. I did not like the relationship she kept reliving. I did like that the curse had an overseer who was responsible for it's execution.
This one was a big miss for me.

A Witch in Time is short on magic and long on unnecessary descriptions and details that do nothing to move the storyline along. Do we need all of the designer clothing mentions? A play by play of the records played during dinner? I was excited at the concept of this book and was fine with Helen & Juliet. Then Nora appeared and I actually enjoyed her the most. The book's downfall, in my opinion, was the stereotypical 1970s Sunset Strip wannabe rocker, Sandra. Her story felt rushed and yet seemed to drag on for.ev.er & what she learned could have easily been folded into another life. This book went on for too long and wasn't interesting enough to sustain the length.

A twistedly dark magical historical fiction, spiraling across a multi layered past, cursed doomed Mismatched lovers. Complex live triangle.

In this, her debut novel, Sayers has written a twistedly dark magical historical fiction, spiraling across a multi layered past, cursed doomed Mismatched lovers. Complex live triangle.

When Helen Lambert meets her blind date, Luke Varner, at a trendy D.C. bar, little does she know they’ve met beforeactually over several lifetimes...
Intriguing storyline and magical elements adds to this storyline

I featured this one as my CWW pick a little while back and was so excited when I received it to read and it was so good and worth the wait!

A With in Time is the story of a lesser witch who only wants to protect her young daughter from the likes of an older man by casting a spell, only it backfires and becomes a curse for her daughter. A curse that spans decades. Juliet has to relive her life many times, each time having to learn about the curse all over again, but it is also with the help of a mystery man who knows her well because he has been through every lifetime. The most recent reincarnation Helen isn’t going to the the curse lying down and seeks a way to break the curse once and for all.

The story mainly surrounds Helen who the present day Juliet. She’s recently divorced and trying to pick up the pieces of her life when a mysterious man name Luke who she was set up on a blind date know things that he shouldn’t. And she feels drawn to him somehow. He slowly makes her understand their history and learns how she has lived lives as Juliet, Nora and Sandra, all who meet a tragic end to their lives. Of course she isn’t easy to convince of this tale he is telling her. But the dreams start and she has no choice but to believe him.

The story is told from Helen point of view but through the dreams she has we get to learn about each of her past lives ranging from the 1890’s, 1930’s, 1970’s to the present day. Each of four women are all similar in way one or another to each other but have their difference as well. Each woman has their own loves and heartache. And they each have to learn over time what fate lies ahead for them. And each have a connection to Luke too. It was very captivating getting to know each of them and had me turning the pages to see if in the end Helen would learn a way to break the curse.

The reincarnations aspect was done so well and each era of time was so vividly describes that it was like being there with each woman. And I felt for the women and what they went through with each new life. But with each life, these women get stronger and have some special ability. There is of course romance but the romance that transpires isn’t a fairytale type romance, it was a little on the dark side and heartbreaking. But when there are demons and magic involved, it sometime is. There is a lot that goes on and I wish I could tell you everything but I will not spoil anything else. I will say that the ending was what I was expecting and hoping for but with a little but of a twist to it. Loved it!

A Witch in Time is a love story that transcends time, it is filled with mystery, magic realism, time travel and and demons and course heartbreak. The characters were compelling each in their own ways and I adored each of them. Overall, this was such a wonderful read and I hope it is one that you’ll give a try.