Violette Maxwell wants to avoid Lincoln Thorne at all costs - he broke her heart when they were children, and she's not giving him another chance to do the same. But both of them are being pressured to wed, so they strike a deal: pretend to court each other to buy some time to figure out their options. Of course, both of them catch feelings again, but after what happened the last time, Vi isn't sure she can trust Linc.

I enjoyed this book so much and I cannot wait for the next in the series. It was the perfect blend of fun, romantic, quirky (but not campy), and excitement. I'll be checking out April Asher's other books :)

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher
Contemporary paranormal romantic comedy.
Violet is the oldest of the triplets witches of the Maxwell family. She’s called The Dud, by the press because she is apparently without Magic. When the Elder Counsel tells Lincoln he must comply with their rules, he and Violet team up to fake a relationship. Of course, they have history and unpredictable magic and family to muck things up along the journey.

Filled with humor, sass and a flirty werewolf. And charity both in person and financially. 🥰
I loved Vi’s determination in figuring out her magic and even more, the sisters and BFF support. Multiple wins and happy resolutions.

🎧 I listened to a audiobook version after reading an ecopy. The audiobook is narrated by Zora Johnson who performs with a wide range of nuance to the various main characters. Emotions were clear and carries the reader through the frustration, the joy and heartbreak spot on. It did read quite slow for me in dialect. I moved the speed up a couple of times and ended with 1.5 as the best conversational pace.

I received a copy of both an ebook and audiobook from NetGalley, SMP, and Dreamscape Media.

Not The Witch You Wed by April Asher

Tags: Romantic Comedy; Paranormal Romance; Witch Romance; Fake Relationship; Second Chance Romance

Not The Witch You Wed is a second chance, paranormal romcom featuring one of my favorite tropes – fake relationship. Violet Maxwell is the oldest sister of triplets, and the sole triplet with no magic to speak of – from a long line of high standing witches. Lincoln Thorne is a wolf shifter, head of the North American Pack and the one who broke Violet’s teenage heart. Violet and Lincoln find themselves thrown together in a fake relationship to appease some arcane laws having to do with finding a mate within a timeframe. They are in for more than one surprise when old feelings, and new abilities seem to start appearing…

If you enjoy romcoms and paranormals – this is the book for you. Lighthearted and funny – the story is one filled with humor, friendship, a sprinkle of pop culture references and fun chapter titles too. The contemp romance and fantasy elements were there with a nice balance of levity.

The story featured a strong cast of characters and an interesting society that coexists with the ‘norm’ world. The secondary cast was strong, many interesting side characters that I was intrigued by, added to the story, and left plenty of opportunity to explore. (I’d definitely like to see more books! Rose’s story sounds intriguing…)

I enjoyed both of our leads – they both had personality, clear hopes and ideas and chemistry between them. I loved that our heroine was curvy – but that wasn’t a focal point, defining feature or a source of shame. Our hero wanted to effect change and questioned things.

I appreciated the balance of a looking at other issues: outdated outlooks and rules, classism, power dynamics and gender that were sprinkled in but not in a heavy handed way. The mains questioning rules and procedures, looking to move forward and find progress, equity and justice for everyone. Challenging unproductive thought processes such as “boys will be boys”, something having always been done, and a birthright / legacy argument.

I’d say it had some Sabrina The Teenage Witch type vibes, and was in a similar vein to reads like The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling and Witch Please by Ann Aguirre – so fans of those will definitely enjoy.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read an early copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own, and offered freely.

Violet has always been known as the unmagical triplet in the Maxwell family. Yet a chance encounter with an old friend Lincoln Thorne, causes the unthinkable to happen, her magic ignites. Can Violet fight for the right to find her own mate and break a supernatural tradition, and hide her magic? Or does destiny have something else in store for her?

Such a cute book. The characters are extremely likable. Lincoln is the perfect blend of strong and powerful, yet enduring and approachable. Violet has just the right amount of sass. Together they make such a lovely couple. The struggles they face really help to build back a relationship that was broken long ago. I will say that the breaking of the spell was a little bit anticlimactic. Yet I am so glad that Lincoln is able to finally tell Violet what happened all those years ago. I truly hope this is a series as I would love to see the romances play out with all the sisters. So glad Rose was able to end her engagement, he was horrid.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

Fake dating, second chance paranormal romcom
Plus size main character and loaded with pop culture references.
I really enjoyed this story. My only complaints are that this is dual pov and instead of changing chapters for the povs, it is done mid chapter with a page break. The chapters are very long because of this. I personally would have preferred the chapters to switch povs at chapters and have shorter chapters. Another thing was the beginning we are thrown into this world with way to many characters right in the beginning it made it very confusing.

Thoughts
~Witches, wolves, vampires and bears OH MY!

Admittedly when I first started reading this book I was not impressed, and almost put it to the side. THANK GOODNESS I did not do that. I was laughing out loud, taking notes of my favorite sayings like “Well, hex me!” “Oh my goddess!”

Our main character Violet Maxwell is a magic-less witch which is why they call her the Maxwell Dud. So rude right?! Unfortunately Vi is at the age where she needs to find a mate. Alpha Wolf Lincoln just happens to be in the same position. It’s not easy for Violet to be around Lincoln after he broke her heart when they were teenagers. Little does she know Lincoln has a good reason for what he did, and he still holds a flame for Vi.

The pair agree to make it seem like they are dating in order to get the elders off their back, and buy them time. Plenty can and will go wrong with this arrangement, but so much more can and will go right! Oh this book! I can’t believe I almost put it down! Run, don't walk to grab your own copy! You won’t regret it!

This was pretty fun! "Not the Witch You Wed" is a paranormal romance following Violet Maxwell, who is one-third of a magical triad, and Lincoln Thorne, a wolf shifter who is the alpha of the North American Pack, and it features beloved rom-com tropes like enemies-to-lovers and fake dating in a more supernatural setting. It also features a second-chance romance.

From a very surface level, this book reminded me of Encanto given that Violet is the only witch in her family who doesn't have powers. I felt invested in Violet and Lincoln's relationship and really enjoyed the side characters like Violet's sisters, Rose and Olive; her friends, Harper and Bax; and her grandmother, Edie. Overall, it was a pretty fun read and a great palate cleanser in between the very academic texts I have been reading lately.

However, at times, I wasn't a big fan of the writing since it seemed a bit childish, particularly with the nicknames given to people and other beings. As a linguist, I also felt the use of interjections, such as Hell's Spells, and constant qualifiers like witchy was a bit contrived. I think that with a bit more worldbuilding, they would have felt more natural. In this sense, the worldbuilding could have been a bit more fleshed out given the heavy emphasis on supernatural politics in the book.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time reading the book, and I loved how it set up a potential second book following Rose in the epilogue. I would definitely read it.

Not the Witch You Wed comes out on February 8, 2022.

Shifters, witches, and fake dating oh my!

This was a cute, cheesy and quick read that can be summed up in the four words above: shifters, witches, and fake dating.

The fake dating trope is such a fun one to read because there’s so much banter, arguing and SPARKS. We also know something that the main character(s) often don’t: that they’ll end up together.

This was a fun romp and a quick read, probably would’ve been more appropriate around October/fall with the witchy business and stuff. However, you’re going into it knowing it’s corny and nothing will probably stand out about it in a year or two from now.

I had a fun time with this book but, I found the writing to miss the mark for me. I found that there were way too many puns and pop culture references for this to stand the rest of time.

This was really fun.
The characters were sassy and well written.
Not too much spice, but enough to be interesting.
The only thing that I didn't care for was the heavy use of the word witch in place of regular words.
It was used so much in the first couple chapters I almost set this aside.
It simmered down a bit after that, but still overused.
Overall pretty good.
Much love to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

“Not the Witch You Wed” by April Asher
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Release Date: 2/8/22
Genre: Fantasy paranormal rom com

Thank you Netgalley for this arc! Wow I’m really surprised as how much fun this was. I’m generally not a fantasy reader outside of Harry Potter, but the storyline and the characters made it super fun!

Violet is a witch with no powers. She’s a dud witch, until she’s not. Violet is 33 and by Supernatural law she needs to find a bonding mate. She finds this absolutely unnecessary since she is Magic-less.
Lincoln is an Alpha shifter. He has one month to find his bonding mate before his 33rd birthday otherwise he will lose his Alpha status or be assigned a mate.
Violet and Lincoln have history. They were sweethearts at 18, but Lincoln broke Violets heart. She wants nothing to do with him. When they keep running into each other at gatherings they find they are forced to talk. They also realize they are in the same predicament. They need to hold off the supernatural board before they are forced into something they don’t want to do. They determine the best thing to do is to fake date. If everyone believes they will bond together they relieve some of the pressure. They quickly realize their chemistry is unavoidable. It’s so powerful it makes the Magic-less witch spark powers. Will this fake relationship work?

Thank you NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not a second chance romance fan, but I do love paranormal romances so I had to give this a shot. It was so cute and fun!! Violet and Linc were so lovable and the spice was great!!

Highly rec for fans of The Ex Hex!

A quick, edgy and enjoyable paranormal romcom.

When magical dud, Violet, goes up against the Elders where old rules force bonds people may not want, her only option of escaping is to team up with wolf Alpha, Lincoln, in a fake-relationship scheme. The only problem is, he once broke her heart and she doesn't trust him much, so how can their fake-relationship appear real?

Nothing is ever as it seems and when old feelings resurface, Vi's magic pushes itself to the surface too and with the boundaries being pushed, maybe their feelings aren't as fake as they've been pretending.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, April Asher and Netgalley for the review copy!

A fun second chance romance between VIolet- a witch without powers- and Lincoln- a werewolf. I liked that no one took themselves seriously in this love story that took several tropes and threw in the paranormal to make a new and entertaining scenario. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's light, it's fun, it might be just the thing you need on a dreary day (made me smile).

This one unfortunately didn’t work as well for me as I would have hoped, I think part of the reason is the season, I probably would have enjoyed this more back in September/October. Also, the humor didn’t quite hit for me. I do plan to listen to the audiobook during the fall to see if that helps because I’ve heard a lot of really good things and this one has all the components of a book I’d normally love.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Not the Witch You Wed is really cute! While I’ve found these paranormal romcoms tend to be very hit-or-miss for me, this is one of the gems. The humor is on point, exactly what I want from a story that purports to casually throw supernatural creatures into the real world. And there’s just enough world building and lore that it felt plausible, without bogging down the pacing too much. And there’s a glossary of terms, which somehow manages to make the very concept humorous, even laugh-out-loud-worthy, in its example usage of each term, as opposed to staid and to-the-point.
The characters and their dynamic are charming. Violet and Linc are former lovers who may or may not still have feelings for each other, and the chemistry and banter between them are excellent. While they are (as you’d expect) slow on the uptake in admitting their feelings, the fun is in watching them pretend to be lovers again, and slowly come to the realization of the truth.
This is a tropey, fun take on the paranormal romcom trend, and one I’d recommend to other interested readers, whether they’ve tried the subgenre before or not.

Well, color me surprised when I found out that April Asher is also April Hunt. I was borderline obsessed with a series that April Hunt wrote and I was beside myself when I saw that this was also her.

I love love loved Violet. She's snarky and smart and loyal. I enjoyed her bond with her sisters and the love that was shared between them. Lincoln is definitely a puffed up alpha, but he's fair and not an asshole know it all jerk. He listens and hears what people are saying before reacting (most of the time). Together, these two have banter for days and a lot of history that's battling the chemistry. Oh and there are some great BFFs in Harper, Bax, and Adrian and I hope we get more from them. And let's not forget that awesomeness that is Violet's gran.

Plot wise, it is a bit much. There's a good amount of info dumping that also somehow didn't share enough for me to understand exactly how this world works. There are a lot of moving pieces and at times it made it hard for me to get into, but the characters more than made up for it. By the time I got to the end, I wanted a little more because I was greedy. However, I am very excited for the set up of the next book and can't wait to get my hands on it.

Overall, it was a fun story with characters who were easy to root for.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

April Asher is a new to me author and after reading this book, I will be checking out her other books. This is such a fun paranormal rom-com.

Violet is the oldest of her triplet sisters and grew up as the only one without witch magic. Lincoln is a wolf shifter and Alpha (leader) of the North American Pack). They were friends growing up, but she wants nothing to do with him after an incident that happened when they were 18. Due to a series of circumstances, they are thrown together 14 years later and are fighting the attraction. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that there will books for her sisters.

I received a free copy of this book to review through NetGalley.

This was so fun! It's perfect for any supernatural fans as it includes a plethora of interesting creatures. From shifters, witches, demons and angels, it covers many a species. We hit the ground running with the Maxwell triplets taking command of an all supernatural party. Violet is the only one of the three who doesnt have any powers and loves staying out of the spotlight. Political intrigue abounds when the council forces Lincoln, Alpha shifter, and Violet into a corner with archaic rules. These former frenemies join forces and land into a faux relationship that is anything but. The hilarious antics of the two mixed in with their meddling friends serve some seriously great plot points. I can't wait for the rest of the series because this sets up plenty of twists and adventures for the rest of the group.

Not the Witch You Wed is a fake dating, second-chance romance between magic-less witch, Violet, and shape-shifting wolf, Lincoln. When supernatural laws require them to find mates, Lincoln and Violet turn to each other to try to buy themselves time. Only they soon realize they may have some unresolved feelings from their past.

I got really into paranormal romances in October and got super excited and requested a bunch on NetGalley. Not the Witch You Wed was one of those requests. What I have found is that I am definitely a seasonal reader and paranormal romances are definitely more my thing during spooky season and not so much during Valentine’s season.I think I would have enjoyed this one much more during that time of year, but I struggled getting into it. There wasn’t anything I disliked about it at all, I just was not in the mood for this one at this time. That being said, if you like paranormal romances year round or if you decide to save this one for spooky season it has a lot to offer:
A curvy MC who loves the way she looks
Lots of wit, humor and pop culture references
A complex, well-developed supernatural universe
2 of my favorite tropes: 2nd chance romance and fake dating
So many great side characters - the friends and family here really added so much personality to the story

I’m definitely open to reading more from this series, especially during spooky season. I mean the series is called Supernatural Singles which is the best series title.