NEW BOOK REVIEW: Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre

SUMMARY: When Clementine learns a witch hunter is in town, she decides the best thing to do is get to know her enemy. But sparks fly immediately—and it’s getting hard for her to hide who she is and keep her family safe.

This book came out earlier this week, and I liked it! It’s the second in a series, and I enjoyed it because:

✨ It tells an interesting, well-developed story while still managing to be pretty low-key
✨ It covers relatable family/interpersonal drama
✨ It is all about consent, safe sex, and characters who are “into the wine/not the label”
✨ It takes place in a Stars Hollow-esque small town that feels fun

The romance didn’t really do it for me—they pretty much fell for each other right away—but there were so many other things I liked about it! It reminded me of The Ex Hex except the plot actually made sense.

I do think you should read Witch Please first if you want to check out the series. I’ll probably read the next one, too. Overall, they’re fun, light fantasy reads/listens.

>>> The one thing that was low-key annoying about the audio was that the hero's dialogue was done in an accent, but his interior monologue was not, so he kept thinking British slang terms in an American accent: e.g. flat, lift, loo (that last one may not have been an actual example but you get the picture). Anyway, every time it came up I rolled my eyes. Otherwise, it was solid from an audio perspective.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The audio was well executed and the voice of the narrator was pleasant.

The overall story, Boss Witch, was a fun story with interesting characters.

In this story, Clementine Waterhouse is a perfectly logical witch. She doesn't tumble headlong into love. Rather she weighs the pros and cons and decides if a relationship is worth pursuing. At least that's always been her modus operandi before.

She prefers being the one in charge, always the first to walk away when the time is right. Gavin Rhys hates being a witch hunter, but his family honor is on the line, and he needs to prove he's nothing like his grandfather, a traitor who let everyone down. But things in St. Claire aren't what they seem, and Gavin is distracted from the job immediately by a bewitching brunette with a sexy smile and haunting secrets in her eyes.

I didn't know that Aguirre had another book related to this series and I'm so glad this one could stand on it's own so I could read it! I definitely will circle back for Witch Please.
Boss with focuses on Clem who is just beyond lovely. The way she cares for her family above all else even though it's becoming a drain on her shows her true self all the time. She does find ways to advocate and work to lessen that burden but never without the desire to take care of those she loves.
Also Gavin...SWOON..I could eat him up his internal monologue is what I dream about someone thinking about .me. Their relationship is so fun even though it "could never work out". I can't wait to read the next in the series hopefully later this year!

To be honest with you, I don't even know why I said I would read this one. Maybe because I read the first one and thought it was ok? Whatever the reason was, I came to the same conclusion, this one was just ok too. Now that I know there's a third one, I'm still on the fence if I want to read that one. A lot of things just didn't work for me, and I don't see them changing when that one comes out.

I won't do a "recap" of this one because it kind of overlaps with the last one and I don't want to say too much. So I'll just go right into what I thought about the timelines instead. And in short, the TL,DR is I didn't like it. It was basically just seeing things happen from Clem's POV instead of her cousin. But the part I didn't like about it was she still wrote the scenes into the book. Like in the middle of the book there is the party that also happens at the end of book 1. And for whatever reason, that bothered me to no end lol If I knew I could have just read this one instead and got the ending of Book 1, I would have done that.

Now the other thing that didn't sit right with me was the fact that this was about a witch and a witch hunter and there was absolutely nothing thrilling about this at all. They weren't running from him. They weren't gathering together to do things to him. They weren't making weird things happen to him. In fact, the only thing that was happening was the spice that happened regularly. Now normally I wouldn't have a problem with spice, but when it's supposed to be a book about a witch hunter and a witch, I expected something that would make my heart pound or something that would make me clutch my pearls or something. But this made me clutch them in a different way.

The spice in this was weird in my opinion. Although it wasn't something I agreed with, I DID think it was spicy. But it was weird because it seemed like she didn't want to do it? Idk. It felt kinda skeevy to me. I don't know how to explain it. Like it's actual on page sex and it's explicit, but she acted like she was doing it only because her coven was in danger. She said she liked him and their relationship developed over the book, but I started feeling that way from the very beginning and the feeling never went away.

The only thing that saved this for me was Gavin. He was funny and I loved how he was his own person and didn't let anyone (including his father) tell him what to do. And in the profession he was in, I couldn't imagine it was an easy decision to come to. But I guess I wanted more from him. But the author made him so freaking soft. As a hunter I thought there would be some umpt to him. I hope that makes sense.

The narrator was ok. It wasn't a stand out performance or anything. But her accents were ok and were easy to follow. And since it was only one person doing both voices, I thought it was still impressive. Being a woman and doing a male/male passing voice is hard enough, but add on to that an accent, I thought she did ok.

This book wasn't anything for me to write home about, but it also wasn't terrible. I will probably read the next one if I can get it on audio. If nothing else but to finish out the series. Not because I'm super interested. But it DOES have a wedding in it, so I am a LITTLE intrigued. But we'll see.

I am a little late with my pub day review for this book, it was out yesterday !
This was a cute enemies to lovers story that was already hinted at in the last chapter of last fall’s “Witch Please” the first installment in the Fix-It Witches series by Ann Aguirre. It was a cute and entertaining continuation of the story, after her cousin Danica in Witch Please, the spotlight is now on Clementine Waterhouse and she is trying to distract the witch hunter who has just come to town from finding the other witches - at least that is all there is to it at the start … There is a fun cast of characters including a pet mouse, there are paranormal obstacles to overcome and there is of course all the soul searching and light banter that an enemies to lovers trope brings - if you are looking for a cute story that’ll take your mind of things paranormal romance may be just the way to go ! I definitely enjoyed my time with this one.

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

I enjoyed the first book in this series last year, and was so excited to get approved for this audiobook! I enjoyed the dual perspectives, forbidden romance between Clem and Gavin, and even the little mouse that Gavin has. The chemistry in this second book, was so much better, and I loved how both Clem and Gavin didn’t rush anything. There was more magic in this book, which I really enjoyed! I’m excited that there will be a third book, and can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Boss Witch 🧙‍♀️ pub date April 5th, 2022.

Boss Witch is the second in the Fix-It Witches series, and I feel they are best read in order to fully enjoy the backstory. I liked the first story, Witch Please, which featured Danika and Titus, but I loved this one!

This installment is the love story of Tech witch Clementine and Witch hunter Gavin, who is sent to St Claire to find the source of magic that has been recorded and snuff it out. Clem does her best to distract him from finding her and her coven and ends up in a relationship with her enemy. Can they figure a way to make this work for them before Gavin’s peers take over and rid Clem’s coven of their magic?

Clem and Gavin’s chemistry is deep and on fire. Both were very believable, well developed characters who find themselves in many tricky, funny and heated situations. I highly recommend this paranormal romantic comedy!

Just as good as book one!
Clem is trying to get the witch hunter who arrived in Witch Please away from the coven. So she starts dating him of course! What’s a better distraction than that? Haha! Clem always has to be the responsible and dependable one. She’s the fixer in her family and it certainly begins to weigh on her during the book. I liked seeing her struggle with her role in her family and also with her growing feelings for Gavin.
I liked Gavin. He’s a witch hunter by birth. He’s been pressured by his father and he hates it. So when he meets Clem he takes the opportunity to break away from that. Clem and Gavin have the same struggles.
I liked Clem and Gavin together. They were fun but also forbidden. It left some mystery as to how they were going to get their HEA.
I also thought the narrator was great. She added personality to the characters and kept me engaged in the story.

In this second book in the series, Clem volunteers to figure out a way to get rid of the witch hunter who just showed up. Unfortunately, Clem ends up liking Gavin a little too much.
Gavin is under the illusion that Clem has no idea that he is a witch hunter. He also starts to feel guilty about all of the witches he has hunted when he realizes how harmless this coven is. When information comes to light that changes his views on witches, Gavin must figure out a way to right his wrongs and can only hope that Clem will forgive him.
Opinion
I say this a lot but I LOVE LOVE LOVE paranormal with witches being one of my favorites. This audio book was an absolute joy to listen to. The narrator has an irresistible voice and Gavin's voice is swoon worthy. The flow of the reading was done to perfection.
The story itself is a joy. If you are a fan of enemies to lovers, this book hits the mark with a slow burn. The resolution was not something I saw coming but was quite possibly perfect.
I did not read the first book in the series, unfortunately. However, I thought this book was so good that I ran out and picked it up. It now resides on my short list in my TBR pile.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an ARC of this audio book.

Boss Witch is a fantastic easy read filled with everything from real life family issues to magical societies on opposite sides of what they believe in.

Clementine or Clem as she's known to family and friends may be a witch but she's also a friend, daughter cousin, coven member and overall great person who might be a bit outspoken and brutally honest at times.

Gavin is a witch hunter with a conscience and that doesn't go over well with his boss who happens to be his father. He's tired of going from place to place and never being able to put down roots. With all of that and his own family issues he's started questioning all he does and why he does it.

Clem finds out a hunter is in town and decides to take matters into her own hands, a staged meeting will change both of their lives and the lives of the people around them forever.

Ann Aguire has written a fun, light hearted rom-com full of laughs, zingy one liners and just the right amount of spice.

Our Narrator Ava Lucas was wonderful, able to create the perfect amount of tension, humor or romance in any given moment. I personally loved the voices she used for each character, all of out characters had a unique voice and the Narrator is a big part of that.

I can't recommend this none enough, it was exactly what I didn't know I needed.

4/5 - #2 of the Fix-It Witches Series

Sooo, I was super excited for this story as its previously acknowledged in book #1, and it didn’t disappoint. I love Clem - her authority and take lead to her family, she is independent to a fault. Gavin’s storyline as a witch hunter brings a bit of an exciting thriller-esque theme, that make the book very difficult to put down.

Brief Plot (Includes Plot Twist fo Book #1): Clem is defending her family, and witch coven, when she plots to trick witch hunter Gavin Rhys out of town, and aware from the other members of her coven. But as Gavin grapples with his loyalty to his commitment to the witch hunter league, Clem is falling for the man that should be her nemesis. As Gavin finds out more of the league, to include the mysterious disappearance of his father, Clem and Gavin work together to save both themselves, and her coven.

Spice: 2/5 - Detailed, a bit of kink and dirty talk, but nothing wild. (Falls very in line with contempt. romance spice)

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca & Net Galley for access to BOTH the eARC and the eARC Audiobook of Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre (Narrated by Ava Lucas). This is my honest review in exchange.

I really loved this book, 4.5 ⭐ I loved Witch Please a little more though.

This one follows Clem and Gavin when they first meet. This book actually overlaps in timeline with the first book, but you see different perspectives. I'd say the first 25% or so overlaps, and I actually think it works out really well. Because we get to see the first interactions between Clem and Gavin, their motivations, and how her method of distracting Gavin goes. I don't think it would've worked as well if the book started after the timeline of the first book, so I really enjoyed seeing the beginning stages.

If you are wanting a rivals to lovers, paranormal romance, then look no further. I also love the LGBTQ rep in this book and in this series (even though none of the characters in this book are explicitly stating their preference).

Both characters have their own struggles. Gavin with his profession of witch hunting. And Clem with family drama (Gram!) and struggling with her reasons for seeing Gavin. We get to see them grow and they have to determine if they want to stand up for what they want vs what their family wants for them.

I kind of called a plot twist/reveal (no spoilers), but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book at all. I loved how that all played out and how it resolved that issue.

We also see Leanne and Trevor meet in this book, maybe halfway through. Since the next book is about their relationship, I'm guessing it will have the overlapping timelines as well. I will definitely continue reading on in this series.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook arc of Boss Witch. I didn’t think I would love Boss Witch as much as Witch Please but I was wrong!

Boss Witch happens at the same time as Witch Please, but we get to see how Clementine is distracting the witch hunter Gavin Rhys.

I loved the banter between Gavin and Clem. I also loved that we were able to see more magic in this book.

That twist at the end! I was like “Wait what?!” and proceeded to rewind the audiobook because I wasn’t expecting that! I loved it!

I think I may love Boss Witch more than Witch Please! Again don’t let the cover fool you, Boss Witch had more spicy scenes than Witch Please! I’m so excited for the next book in this series!

So, maybe it wasn't the best idea to read Boss Witch right after reading Witch Please because it made certain character traits of Danica and Clem read completely different and I'm still struggling with how to really interpret that. On the one hand, excellent characterization because are we not all the Main Character in our own story and therefore inclined to see things from only our perspective? On the other hand, it's really hard to read book one where Clem seems so driven and focused on... Her idea of right vs. wrong, I suppose, and she comes across as harsh and unsupportive. Then in Boss Witch she doesn't really ever seem to reckon fully with that interpretation of her actions and almost doubles down, aside from when she has this two sentence realization that maybe grandma's thoughts and indoctrination had more of an impact on her than she realized. And so in Boss Witch we see Danica being careless and thoughtless about many of her actions, which makes sense from Clem's point of view, but is sort of hard to read about because you can't then see her grow because her book is already over. And obviously, people don't end a book and go from messy to perfect, but it's just sort of disconcerting.

Also, maybe the entirety of the above paragraph is not something that is actually that important to you or to the story and I can certainly see why it wouldn't bother anyone else besides me, so let's talk about some of the other aspects of Boss Witch. So, as indicated by the set up of this book in Witch Please, a witch hunter has come to town and he's clearly going to be Clem's love interest in Boss Witch. And in fact, we pick up a little back in time from where Witch Please ends and spend about half of the book covering the period of time we saw glimpses of in Witch Please. I don't always love books that cover similar ground as the prior book in the series, so that could have been part of my issue here. But I think more than that, it's the fact that this deception paired with the fact that (at least theoretically) a witch hunter is trying to, you know, HUNT witches and a witch is falling for him, should be a little more angsty than this was? I'm not sure I can really explain how I wish that this book had handled that plot line better, but for me, it just didn't quite give me the feelings I was hoping and thought that it would.

Turning now to the audio narration because I was lucky enough to receive an advanced listening copy via Netgalley... I liked the narration for this book a lot! I think I would have been tempted to DNF actually if I hadn't been listening to it, but it was a good time and it made me accomplish a lot of chores and just kept me company on a Saturday. So I would recommend picking up the audio if you're going to read this book!

Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre first grabbed me with it's incredible narrator of Ava Lucas. I found the premise of the book to pull me in. I enjoy steamy listens with vivid descriptions and forbidden attraction. This book is part of the Waterhouse witches and features Clementine and Gavin (aka English). The banter between characters was humorous. I loved the twist in the story that threw me for a loop. Kudos to the author! Thank you #NetGalley and #Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to this pre-release audiobook at my request. I really enjoyed it.

I love the witches of St. Claire! And cannot wait to read more about them and their lives!
Boss Witch is the story of Clem and the witch hunter we hear about in the first book. I was so happy when I started listening to this book and figured out it was about them!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook! This is my honest voluntary review!

🔊Song Pairing: A Little Wicked - Valerie Broussard

💭What I thought would happen:

Hello! More nutty situations from my favourite entrepreneurial witches!

📖What actually happens:

The witches who fix your little ol’ appliances are back with another witchy romance. This time Clementine is in the spicy hot seat when she decides to slay the recent witch hunter who has come to town with the magic of her vagina.

What Clementine doesn’t expect is to actually enjoy the company with this hunter (whom
I love key pictured Owen Hunt from Grey’s for no reason as how he’s described but the brain wants what it wants)

🗯Thoughts:

If you like enemies to lovers, titillating deception and baby goats with a hint of magic…this book may just be for you.

I couldn’t wait to read this as I loved Clementine (fabulous name) in Witch, Please so I expected a lot of attitude and wit. However, she had attitude that borderline matched my own and I kind of wanted to be like giiirl stahp.

I loved how Clementine takes it upon herself to seduce the witch hunter in town to leave her and her family the f@ck alone and then gets enraptured by his charm and accent. Yes please!

This book dragged on by about 50 pages too long. Sorry not sorry. Just had sooo many ways of ending but chose to be never ending. Witch, no.

⚠️ Stop if you haven’t read the first of the fix-it witches series

This low key kind of made me dislike Danica because she has dropped her coven to be obsessed with Titus, the cinnamon bun king who had the sexual allure of a pineapple. (Still think he’s a secret serial killer). Anywho…the divide that grows between Clem and Danny made my heart sad.

After reading the first book in this series, I was beyond thrilled to find out that it wasn't going to be a stand alone and I equally enjoyed this one (if not more). When this plot line began unfolding in the first book, it was something that immediately caught my attention because it was a "secret friends to lovers" (where one of them had no idea that the other one hated them).

I think this really won me over with the twist that is revealed and the redemption that happens. Also, his grandfather is one of my favorite "side characters" because of the character growth that happens through their reconnection.

The timeline of this book overlaps with the first book, Witch Please. This book cannot be read as a stand-alone. It’s essentially a companion to the first book.

I enjoyed the narrator.

I did not like the time jump in the last chapter because it totally spoiled things from the third book, which hasn’t even came out yet.

Overall, this was pretty disappointing compared to the first book.

Boss Witch is about Clem, a witch who fixes the towns gadgets and feels like she must also fix her families problems. There is a reluctant witch hunter in town and Clem has fallen for him. She has even gifted him a little mouse named Benson. Even though Clem knows she cannot be with Gavin, nor does she want a long term relationship, she cannot stay away.

I enjoyed Clem and Gavin's relationship but I absolutely adored Gavin's time with the Coffee Clatch crew.

Did I realize this was book 2? Nope.
Will I go back and read book 1? Yep!
I do feel like I was scrambling to connect a few dots, but that is on me.

I was completely entertained by the audiobook, the narrators did a wonderful job.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ARC audiobook.