Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a fun, cute read to get me ready for autumn! I'm sure it will be ten times better if it was read during October right when Halloween is about to happen since that's when this little collection of short stories takes place. Moon Grove is the idyllic small town you'd see in a Hallmark movie and with that, this book gets 10/10 for the atmosphere and the vibes. I just had a very hard time trying to wrap my head around the idea that the characters were in high school (I believe they're juniors or seniors). I can believe that Ash and True were high schoolers, but the way Onny was written and the way she acted made it seem like she was in middle school and not mature enough compared to her friends and she was the most annoying character out of the three, in my opinion.

This book read much like I'd imagine Salem, Massachusetts feels during Halloween. There was a fall feeling, Halloween magic, and everyday romance to win anyone over.

I loved that this book had an anthology feel (three different stories written by three different authors) except they were all interconnected. Getting to know each friend in The Coven was so much for me. I loved how unique each person was and seeing how their stories shaped up. And, since each character was written by a different author, they each felt different and distinctive from the others.

Also, I can't not point out how funny, and witty, and banter-filled this book was. Even though each character and their story was something new, the wit carried throughout the book. Once again, Chokshi, Skye, and Menon did a fantastic job of weaving the stories together to make it feel like one book.

As well, the side characters in this were so awesome that I wish I could read short stories about them. They were hilariously named and cleverly written. I would happily return to this world anyday.

Overall, this was a fantastic read to get me in the Halloween mood. I liked a couple of the stories better than the third which is why as a whole, I had to give this book four stars.

This book is absolutely adorable, the prefect pre-Halloween read for fans of Gilmore girls and Hocus Pocus! I blazed through it in less than 3 days. Each of the 3 novellas build on each other with such sweetness and just the right balance of coincidence and magic. I especially related hard to True, being the STEM-minded, logical, often spoil-sport of the bunch. The setting definitely lives up to the Stars Hollow premise. Even the side characters, like the parents and the teacher/mayor couple, are cute and well-rounded without overwhelming the leads.

Thank you NetGalley & Wednesday Books for the eARC. My opinions are my own.

Contains a coven, astrology, and magic. A nice, clean, young adult novel.

We follow three friends, Ash, Only, and True, in three different stories. Will they find true love in the town of Moon Ridge?

In this collection we have three stories that follow one of three friends as they attend a Halloween party.

“Three Kisses 'Til Midnight” is an enemies-to-lovers story focusing on Onny & Byron.

“Two Kisses 'Til Midnight” is a love story between Ash and Cassidy, who are too shy to admit their true feelings to one another.

“One Kiss 'Til Midnight” is an insta-love story focusing on True and Orion.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this collection and think it is perfect for the fall season. A bit of love and magic never hurt anyone.

3.75!

Overall, a very cute autumn collection. I will definitely buy a copy when it releases later this month!

🍂🍁🌝❤️

<I> Three Kisses ‘Til Midnight </I>

4.5 stars!

This one was definitely my favorite. I’m almost 100% sure that this story was written by Roshani Chokshi because her authorial voice was so present in this story. Honestly, it would be the shock of a lifetime if this story wasn’t the one she wrote.

I loved Onny. She was so funny and interesting and hopeful and I loved her family and all the autumnal, Halloween vibes in this story. Her family is throwing a massive Halloween party to celebrate the town’s 400th anniversary and the atmosphere was immaculate.

The plot in this first story was also the most interesting.

<I> Two Kisses ‘Til Midnight </I>

2.5 stars.

Easily my least favorite of the three stories. I’m pretty sure this was written by Evelyn Skye and I was hoping she would redeem herself after Circle of Shadows but she…did not. I love The Crown’s Game series but I was so disappointed in Circle of Shadows. Sooooo, I was hoping this could make me want to give her more chances but it just crushed those dreams.

The characters were pretty flat and the plot just wasn’t that interesting. The writing didn’t have much life to it and I felt like it was super rushed and I didn’t believe in the romance at all unfortunately. This story was the one that brought the collection as a whole from 4 stars to 3 stars and I’m so sad about it because Evelyn Skye seems like the nicest person on Earth it’s just that her recent stories aren’t really for me.

<I> One Kiss ‘Til Midnight </I>

4 stars!

This one was pretty great! Not as amazing as the first story but definitely an improvement from the second.

I really liked True and I liked the romance that developed! The lore in here was really interesting and, again, the vibes were much appreciated haha.

This was just so heartwarming and adorable I can’t!

To be honest, it’s been a while since I read a YA contemporary romance, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this short story collection. It was just exactly what I needed at the time.

I think all three stories were absolutely adorable and super fast paced, but my favorite I think has to be True’s. It had different romance tropes, and though they were a bit too short, I think we could get a grasp of the characters and their love stories. Each had a unique and different personality, and their romances were so well done!

I’m pretty surprised by how much I liked them, and I will for sure read more about these authors in the future (especially Roshani Chokshi because she has written some of my favorite books!).

Three Kisses, One Midnight follows three friends and one love potion on Halloween. The book has three parts, each following a different character as they find love on their favorite night of the year. I loved the characters. They each had flaws that made them unique but likable. The writing for each section was phenomenal.

We see Onny, Ash, and True bonding with other characters throughout the day until their stories finally converge once each has used their love potion. It was cute, fun, and atmospheric. It felt like watching a cute Christmas romance, but during Halloween.

Such a cute Halloween anthology. Amazing fall-witchy vibes and darling little romances. The stories focused on a friend group-each story was the pov of a different friend in the group around Halloween time each looking for love. I absolutely loved Onny and her personality throughout the book and hers was my favorite story but all were very good.
Very Practical Magic meets fluffy ya. Super cute.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an eARC of this book!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

So, technically these are like three stories in one. That being said, I'm going to review all three separately because I think there were some magickal things happening in each story that the individual author should be praised for!

Onny & Byron
MAGIC IS HAPPENING here! Enemies to Lovers in a contemporary, witchy way! While expected, I loved the tension that is built between Onny and Byron; and even the thrill of Alexander the Great-Looking (which I thought was soo adorably creative!). Out of all three, I think Onny & Byron were my favorite love story of the entire piece, mostly because we really get to know Onny, whereas in the other two sections with Ash and True, we don't really meet them the way we do Onny. I love her background story with her grandmother and she's really the entire force behind the whole story convincing her friends to partake in a love potion — not to make someone fall in love with you, but to make the feelings already there even stronger. I liked Byron a lot too - the skeptic vs the optimist was super cute, and even though I knew what was going to happen, it still gave me butterflies.

Ash & Cassidy
This was cute little love-story. Two people in love from the start and both too timid to go for it. I did like the interaction between Ash and Cassidy, and I love that Cassidy has a lung transplant that she overcomes. It gave her a neat little back story; but I felt like we really only met Ash and Cassidy on a surface level. Especially with Ash's art, I wanted to know a little more about his workshop - particularly how Cassidy got her little figurine in there and then pretended she had never been inside. I thought it was so sweet, the little origami swans! I wanted a little more tension though in the reveal behind who was creating these little paper pieces.

True & Orion
Insta-Love for True and Orion. This was probably my least favorite of the three stories because True felt so ANTI-Insta-Love and yet that is exactly the direction this story took. Orion was a fun character - in the right place at the right time, with the right body and some charm, but True came off very in-authentic in her immediate swoon. That being said, the adventure of tracking down the creepy halloween doll and the interaction between True and her ex was a nice touch. It was nice to see a change in True - being confronted by someone from her past that continued to bring her down, and her recognizing the poor behavior was empowering. Also, just a weird spot for me was Orion's willingness to drink some weird potion out of True's pocket … that's like party rule number one: NO FOREIGN SUBSTANCES. But, still cute and overall: everyone got their happy endings.

This short story collection was a feel-good, positive-magic, teenage-romance novel. It wrapped a few solid tropes in the YA genre: insta-love, enemies to lovers, star-crossed lover-feel, together with a sweet take on romance and magic, and it was delightful. Easy to read, quick to devour, and makes you feel a bit lighter at the end: all things are possible in love. This story shouts it from the rooftops: you don't need a potion for true love, just a magical evening and truth.

This was a fun, lighthearted set of rom com stories that were entirely enjoyable. I enjoyed each of the three characters in The Coven friend group and found all of their budding romances to be enjoyable. With three authors of color and three main characters of color, I would have loved to see these characters' cultures and backgrounds highlighted just a tiny bit more as it is so uncommon to see an intertwined collection like this entirely by authors of color. I was maybe expecting this to be more like Blackout, which was a sweet, fun story but also definitely embodied a clear focus on the fact that each of the main characters is Black. Nonetheless, this book was a quick read, which I will buy for my HS library and the romance fans that I know will love it.

#netgalleyarc This was a super cute and quick read. Three stories about three friends, witchy themed with romance throw in. This story collection is the perfect fall read for my high school students. I’ll be purchasing the this title for sure.

This book will have something for every reader.

We follow a group of three friends on as they find love during the events of a Halloween party. Each friend in this group has a section dedicated to their story, and each story has different tropes.

We first focus on Onny, whose story was my favorite. Onny’s grandmother was a witch, and as a wish to be closer to her after her death, Onny decides she’s going to make the love potion she finds in her grandma’s spellbook. She plans on giving the love potion to “Alexander the Great-Looking”, but finds her plans thwarted when her rival, Byron, ends up messing up everything she’s worked so hard on.

Next, we focus on Ash, who has been crushing hard on the girl next door, Cassidy. So hard, in fact, that he just can’t figure out how to speak in front of her. But when she and her little brothers accidentally knock down the fence between her house and Ash’s house on Halloween, Ash is forced to talk to his crush. The horrors!

Finally, we have True, who is very much against anything supernatural. During the Halloween party, she is tasked with watching her science teacher’s mannequin with a ghost hunter from another school, Orion, only for it to get stolen. The two must now travel through the mansion, which may or may not be haunted, in order to get back the science teacher’s beloved.

No matter whose story you are more interested in, this entire book will definitely be a fun read! It is packed full of cheesy and corny writing that makes it hard to not absolutely love it from the very first pages.

The only thing I need to warn you of? This book will have you wanting to have your own big Halloween party. I got a review copy of this book in June. I am indignant at being made to want Halloween by these three authors four months before Halloween even occurs.

A young woman died when the town of Moon Ridge was founded. Four hundred years later, the Lady of the Moon descends for one day every century to walk among the people with an aura for those willing to follow their hearts. This year at Moon Ridge High, Onny, True, and Ash seek affection, acceptance, and healing that can only come from romance—with a little help from Onny’s grandmother’s love potion. It's not as simple as it seems, and it'll take more than a spell at midnight for their wish to come true.

We open with Onny musing about magic, her grandmother telling her that words are magic and special, and that true love is always special. Her voice is so much fun to read, as are the texts she and her friends send each other. We also see the science teacher and mayor, the grumpy and sunshine tropes; if they were like this in real life, it would be ridiculous, but the silliness is fun to read. If you read many romantic stories, you know Onny’s situation better than she does and we're along for the ride until she realizes what her truth is. Ash is shy around his crush, but is a skilled artist and notices a lot. Over the course of his day, he gets to see how stepping forward and being brave can get him the opportunities he needs. For True, her insistence on all things scientific and factual in response to past heartbreak has held her back. Of course, not all boys are terrible and intimidated by her intelligence, and letting go of her self-doubt, even for a moment, helps her see that.

This is a young feeling YA with witchy & folklore elements, that hit me like a Halloween version of Cinderella.  Three friends are attending the town’s annual masquerade gala and are intent on finding true love prior to midnight.  It was a little silly but magical and cute overall, and I think that younger YA readers will enjoy the book

...

The synopsis sounded a little not-my-style but I’ll read anything that Roshani Chokshi writes.  The first friend, Onny, has an insanely rich family and her parents host the Moon Ridge founding day gala every year.  Since it’s the 400th anniversary they are sparing no expense and creating the most magical, amazing celebration ever.

There was a good overall mood and setting, I would totally go to that masquerade.

I think the best part was also the most jarring part – Chokshi’s prose.  The other authors wrote the dialogue and stories, and then her lyrical and magic descriptions were tagged into paragraphs.   Text, Text, text, “and it was like *insert block of Chokshi prose*”.

I think they should have melded it together a little better somehow but it really did flow well overall.

Split into three sections, a section for each friend, we get to see how each teen embraces both the literal and figurative magic of the night.  I was surprised to enjoy the third story the most – True had an amazing personality and I feel like the authors gave us a rough idea of her at first, so I got to overcome my first impression of her as she also had her own struggles.  I liked her story the most too.

Each teen had a little adventure and I think True had the best one.  Each character was good though, I didn’t particularly dislike any character or segment.  Ash’s was slowest but interesting, Onny was insufferable and had to learn to look under the surface of people, and I already talked about True!

There are good youth friendly themes of being yourself, honoring family, accepting yourself and others, and others.

Overall, I’m pretty excited that these authors got together.  I do think some of the content isn’t quite as cute as they intended it to be, which is why I went with my neutral rating.  I do appreciate that they kept the main characters to kissing only. The characters tend to talk and text like 12 year olds and they are intended to be 17+! Like I said, I would recommend for the younger YA spectrum and also have no trouble giving this to a strong middle grader.

Thanks again to Wednesday Books for my advanced copy, all opinions are my own

Three Kisses, One Midnight: A Novel
by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, & Evelyn Skye
St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books
Pub. Date: 30 Aug 2022

This is a sweetly magical novel with three complete stories each told from the perspective of a different member of a friend group known as "The Coven." The stories intertwine while revolving around a town's supernatural mythology, three friends, Halloween, a love potion, and love.

I enjoyed all three stories almost equally. The writing is well done, easy to follow, and delightfully magical. The stories do not delve too far into the characters, but as they are all set in one day/night it is to be expected. Readers get enough information to get an understanding of the characters in order to believe their motivations, the plots, and each story's conclusion.
If you are looking for a sweet, magical set of stories that you can kind of sink into for a few hours then this work is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books (St. Martin's Press), and authors for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book so much! But I flew through these stories, wanting to know how each ended and what would happen at midnight.

This book is a fun, cute set of three romance stories set around Halloween. The setting is absolutely perfect for this book with the ghost-story founding and all the cozy, small town vibes. It's basically a Halloween-themed version of Stars Hollow and I adored it.

Each story is super adorable and fits perfectly with the characters Roshani, Sandhya, and Evelyn created. I appreciate that each focuses on a different kind of romantic trope. It was so fun to see how everything played out with the "love potions" and the "kisses until midnight" aspect. These ladies really outdid themselves on these stories, making them feel like a full story together with how they overlap and continue throughout the night of Halloween. I did wish some parts overlapped a little more, but that didn't bother me enough to keep me from enjoying it.

The entire concept for this is super fun and adorable. Fans of Halloween themed films like Hocus Pocus or the Addams Family or even It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will definitely enjoy this cute, romance-centered book.

This was a really cute Halloween romance! Three romances, actually, as best friends Onny, Asher, and True take a dose of Onny's grandmother's love potion and work on finding true love before midnight on Halloween. Of course it doesn't always work out as expected, but most of the time it's even better than expected. There is just enough magic woven through it to help with the Halloween feel. Highly recommended for grades 8 & up. The perfect fall read!

Loved this YA Halloween Romance anthology! I read it in a few hours because once I started I didn’t want to stop. It’s a PERFECT Halloween read for teens.

Three Kisses, One Midnight is three short stories about a trio of friends - Onny, True and Ash - the self proclaimed Coven. Halloween is always special in Moon Ridge, but this year the celebration is bigger than ever as it is the town’s quartercentenary. Onny’s beloved grandmother left her the recipe for a love potion and Onny wants each of the friends to use it to find true love by midnight. Sounds cheesy but in its execution it’s a wonderfully fun read. Sweet and often funny, with major Halloween vibes, the Three Kisses stories are about friendship, finding yourself and love. My favorite story was Onny’s she is such a wonderful character and her dialogue made me laugh out loud all the time!!! I also really loved Ash. This book has some really great side characters, the teacher and his husband the mayor were fantastic! I would love for them to get their own story. I seriously really really enjoyed this and definitely recommend it for when you want to get into the Halloween spirit!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC! Three Kisses, One Midnight will be out August 30!