A Witchly Influence is a great read for an afternoon when you need a quirky, funny pick-me-up. We join Carmen in her new job as an influencer and experience all the obstacles in her way. Wonderful read.

Thank you NetGalley and BHC Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

Carmen Devereaux is a witch, but more importantly, she is a fresh and energetic narrator. Even though she recently divorced her husband, she has a positive outlook on life. Her friends also bring a lot of energy to the story. They use magic as a gimmick, like for a spontaneous night out in Paris. It is refreshing to read about magic this way: as something that brings fun and joy instead of a gift that should be used sparingly to preserve a balance.

Soon after the start of the book Carmen becomes an influencer. She has to influence other people down their better paths and she has to do so without getting any guidelines herself: ‘Fate’ is convinced she’ll know what’s right. Meanwhile, an android (fancier than a robot) takes her place at work.

It makes you feel good to read about someone who helps others to do better at life. The book is off to a good start. Unfortunately, as the book progresses, Carmen becomes less inspirational and somehow doesn’t seem as strong as she was at the beginning of the book. She suddenly lacks maturity and the portrayal of her character feels inconsistent. She doesn’t seem like an influencer but more like your best friend that listens to you and supports you.

Carmen’s attempt at influencing is not subtle enough for my taste and I don’t feel any inspiration coming from her at all; the feeling stays within the book (if it is present at all). The same goes for the ending, which feels like a deus ex machina (or witch ex machina). I was hoping for a more elegant conclusion where two people combine their skills to reach their goals in a joint effort. Now that would inspire me.

The dialogues are witty and the examples of magic use are fun to read about. A Witchly Influence is a light book that certainly gives you the feel-good vibe. It lacked character depth though and the story didn’t linger with me after I finished the book nor did it make me reflect on my life or inspire me. In the end, a book’s rating is based on feelings and because I did enjoy reading the book I’m giving it three stars.

I read all the witch books, and this was light hearted and fun. It's like the tv show Bewitched but for 2020. There are some genuinely funny moments, and several of the characters were charming. I particularly love how the witches talk smack about cupids. So funny! But, the actual story lacked flow. It's an interesting world, but I wanted a more developed storyline.

After the first few pages I found myself wishing I was Caremen Deveraux's best friend. Better than that, I wish I was Carmen Deveraux. I mean who wouldn't want to have the power to snap your fingers and have your housework done? Carmen is a witch who finds herself becoming an Influnencer, she sets people on the path they are supposed to be on. As Carmen tries to navigate her new role she finds herself having to deal with not only the past but her present too. The cast of characters are wonderful and you will find yourself laughing at loud. I hope this is the first of many books by the author.

As a child of the sixties, I grew up desperately attempting to twitch my nose like the beloved witch Samantha on the iconic TV show "Bewitched!" One look at the cover of Stephanie Grey's new book "A Witchly Influence" immediately transported me back to my childhood! So reminiscent was it of the show's opening credits that I actually giggled in anticipation!

With haste, I eagerly opened it's digital pages (wouldn't Darren have been so surprised that his witchy wife had absolutely nothing to do with this newfangled book?!) and began to read. Grey had created a set of magical characters, as well as a series of haplessly clueless mortals to inhabit her magical world. Primarily set in New Bern, North Carolina, we find our updated Samantha (here called Carmen) returning to her childhood home licking her wounds from a recent divorce and harbouring an inability to see where her life at 32 is actually heading. Faster than a nod or a blink, her wizardy boss informs her to "Suck it up, Buttercup!" For it seems as if Fate (yes THAT Fate...you know of mythological fame!) has decided Carmen is to have a new career. Carmen is to be...an Influencer! Two unsuspecting mortals are to have their futures transformed through Carmen's ordinary or magical "influential" interventions. (Bet you were thinking social media and thousands of "friends" liking and reposting, right?!) And with that start, Carmen (and the reader) are off on a magical journey toward purpose and enlightenment...accompanied, of course, by magical yard gnomes, witchly BFFs, various clueless friends and family members, and an enchanted snarky snowman named Lenny! What?!😳You were expecting Olaf the singing Disney snow dude? Please.😜

Okay. Oooookay.

Now is when I offer my honest review. While I could absolutely see how Grey developed her humorous and light-hearted story line and where she wanted it to go, as currently presented I was not quite able to string it all together into a seamlessly flowing total. It had the feel of related episodic scenes that needed just a bit more connectivity. Not to reveal the ending, I do believe said ending was rather precipitous. And by precipitous I mean "BOOM!" Done.

Building on my love of the "Bewitched" connection I sensed in the beginning, I was more than ready to engage with these quirky characters. While the potential was there, as written, however, many characters seemed in need of a bit more development. Grey often "told" us things about her characters by dropping tidbits of information here and there into each character's own dialogue, as opposed to building the reader's rapport with these essential "story people" through both plot and descriptive development. This made for more than a few awkward sentence constructs.

With all of this in mind, for this reader, this story (minus some suggestive conversational moments between characters and the occasional use of "adult" language) seems better targeted for a younger readership than it's general adult fiction designation would suggest.

My thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley
#AWitchlyInfluence

I can't say enough about how much I love Stephanie Grey's writing! She is so talented. Where The Immortal Prudence Blackwood was a dark and twisted, A Witchy Influence is light and fun. Both books are great reads, a tribute to the author's range of talent.

I look forward to more from Stephanie Grey in the future. Thank you to BHC Press and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book. Keep them coming!!

I am trying to figure out what type of book this was...It was not a cozy mystery because there was no mystery... not a romance ... It was just a very fun and cute story, and I loved the characters. The main character is Carmen who is a witch. I really love cute witch book as long as they are done right. This one was done really well. It one have been 5 stars if there was a real mystery the character was solving because I feel that would have brought the book to another level. I really did still loved this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (BHC Press) or author (Stephanie Grey) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that. This book is schedule to come out on 10-1-2020.

A Witchy Influence was a fun, feel-good story about giving your friends and family a little push. Face it, sometimes we all need help getting to where we should be and that’s exactly what Carmen’s new job is. Seeing her maneuver her new job and learn how to influence others to do what’s right for them just makes you want to help out everyone you know too. Thank you so much to the publisher for allowing me to read this, I’m secretly hoping it becomes a series with Carmen influencing different people each book!

I enjoyed this book very much!
Carmen Devereaux is a witch who has been recently promoted to the role of "Influencer". Tasked with “helping” two people gain confidence and thus head towards a happier life she uses magic to help her help them.

Funny and creative — a fast and happy read.

*𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘*

A witchly Influence by Stephanie Grey

Thank you @netgally and @bhcpress for sending me an advanced reader copy for this book .
Carmen, newly divorced... moved back to her home town. No one knows that she and her mom belongs to the witchcraft world. Fate has assigned her a new job as an influencer. She has to help people to find a way in their life. The two people whom she has been assigned to help is Finn, her step brother and Abby, a young teacher for the childern with special needs.
How carmen overcome the obstacles to accomplish her job. How Past, future and other magical characters help her to reach her influenceter goals.This
is what the book is all about.

Its a short, sweet read. Its light, witty and a positive story.
What I loved is, how it incorporated all the fun elements, humor, fantasy, family drama and emotion in a single book. Its like a complete package.
Secondly I just loved how the magic is blended in with everyday life.
I loved the Carmen's character, a kind hearted and a fun loving women.
The last page made me wish for a sequel so I can get to know more about Carmen's life journey.

If you are looking to read something humorous yet meaningful. I would definitely recommend this book.

I loved this book. It had a feel good factor. It was warming and fun. I loved the characters. The book had a way of making you feel like you were part of the story.
It dragged ever so slightly three quarters of the way through but not enough for me to stop reading.
I will definately be reading some more of Stephanie Grey's books.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Great characters, fun world, this book is a feel-good paranormal book of the year. The magic world seems like the 90's series Sabrina the Teenager Wich but with a grown-up feeling and technology from our age. I loved and I´m will be waiting for the series continuation. Said all that I need to point a few details that didn´t work out for me. I like that the magic is more of a fluid thing in this world, with no set of hard rules like books are inclining to do nowadays, but it is maybe too fluid. It doesn't seem that any consequences happen when witches use magic. Another thing that makes me not so happy was the fact that nobody thought about the problem of telling non-magic people, an obvious problem, before the protagonist. And the last thing that bothered me was the many descriptions of famous places without saying the name of the place, When every restaurant and shop that the protagonist enter is compared with a famous place described in you-know-what-I-mean writing, is not fun anymore. Overall, these are just details, and this is a great book to spend a day resting.

Carmen is a witch and none of her family members besides her mom knows about it. After her divorce, she decided to move back home to start over. Since she can work anywhere in the world, the Fate decided she will now be an Influencer. Her first assignment is her stepbrother, Finn, and Abby (no relation). What does she need to influence them to do? She has no idea.

This is a very fun story to jump into. There's a whimsical tone to the story with Carmen's helper Lenny, the snowman, or the French talking pencil, Egbert. I like Carmen's sarcasm personality. I can see that being annoying to some readers, but to me, it's fun and humorous. Carmen's group of friends has many mixed personalities. When reading the story, the setting and dialogue can make a reader feel like they are in the center of the story. It's very real, although, some of the magic can make a reader question the basic physic.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Carmen Devereaux is a witch who just got a divorce and decides to move back to her hometown, but she also has to find another job and she ends up working in a different position: she will work as an Influencer, i.e., she'll help people by guiding them towards the right direction in life. Her first case will be Abby, a schoolteacher and her own stepbrother, Owen.

Well, this was a nice book. I liked how the witches help the world to function, yet the humans have no clue about it. The world-building wasn't a big deal, but it was well done: nothing too complex and easy to keep up with. I also appreciated the humor from the book - especially Carmen's group of friends - and other side characters. However, I have to say that it was a very forgettable book. I read it and enjoyed the reading experience, but two days later I found myself wondering: what was it about again?

So I think it lacks something really special and memorable about it, but overall it's a good book.

Light and fun — a kind of rom-com without the rom. Carmen Devereaux is a witch who has been recently promoted to the role of Influencer. Tasked with “helping” two people gain confidence and thus head towards greater fulfillment she shamelessly uses magic to help her help them.

Funny and creative — a fast and happy read.