DNF

I was not able to get a chance of reading this before It was archived. However it looks like a book I would love so I will be looking to purchase this book when I come across it in stores.

Fun tale of witches and magic - self-discovery and intrigue. An ages old curse comes to haunt the present - friends and enemies are blurred and lusting after the wrong guy can have disastrous consequences! Or is he really the wrong guy? Maybe the wrong guy is the right guy, but then again. Love the intrigue - love the characters - cant' wait for the next installment!

Ari Black grew up thinking the woman who was brutally murdered was her mother. She not only finds out that the woman wasn't her mother but that she also is a witch, and it is time to come home to her aunt in Valport Springs. Someone wants Ari dead, but after meeting Ludo Cabot, she really isn't sure who she can trust, Ludo or her Aunt Marian. And what happened to Ari's parents? She can't seem to remember but knows it was something bad. If only she can piece everything together before something happens to her.

I was intrigued within the first few pages of this book. That only grew the more I read. When Ari and Ludo are together, the pages just burn with the heat from them. There is seduction, darkness, mystery, forbidden romance, and danger in this book. This book pulled me in and left me wanting more! I can't tell you just how good this book was. You definitely need to read it for yourself!! One small warning: This book does end with a to be continued, no resolution of the issue. In spite of that, the book is well worth the read, even if you hate cliffhangers. It just leaves you anticipating the next book!

Copy received from The Next Step PR. Voluntarily reviewing and all opinions are objective and my own.

DNF @ 20%. I struggled to get into this one. I feel like much of the beginning story/info was repeating and info dumping a bit too much to get into. I was hoping for the romance to kick off sooner and hook me in, but that isn’t the case. Also punctuation got distracting.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC

Black Magic starts as soon as you open the book. You're straight into the story and the action, the first chapter you meet the main character and by chapter two her mother is dead. It is so fast paced which I enjoy when reading.
Throughout the novel we meet new characters and discover they're all not who they propose to be. There's so many twists and turns. I really thought this was a page turner.
The world building was really good and as I say the pacing was excellent, it's definitely a good start to a series.
I really enjoyed it.

I love the characters in this book. Marion is supposed to be Ari's protecter. But doesn't help her with learning how to use her witches power. Luck is acting like he cares.for Arizona but he is the one who killed her mother. I loved this book will definitely be looking for book two. I hope I can get an.Arc of.the continuing story to.find out what secrets Marion has been keep. Very fast read if you love anything about witches this is a good book for you. Kept me.on the edge of my seat but left.me.wanting more. First book ended in a cliff hanger. Come on book two.

Black magic did not disappoint. If you’re in the mood for an atmospheric witchy novel with a little spice id recommend checking this out. It’s got mystery, murder, old gated mansions, and a small town with lots of magical atmosphere. I flew through this book and I’m anxiously waiting for the next one to come out so I can start it asap. My only critique is that I wish we got just a little more insight of the family background and the history of the warring families. But at the same time, not knowing everything also gave a nice mystery to the story and I’m sure more history will be further explained in the second book. I thought this was a great start and good foundation to an interesting witchy series. I really enjoyed my time reading this and can’t wait to see what the second book brings.

*(I received an e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed or influenced my views or opinions.)

This was a hard book for me to rate, or explain why I felt this way.

The plot/premise for the Black Magic sounds great.
Romance ✔️
Curses ✔️
Witches ✔️
Devil ✔️
Decent world building ✔️

All these things drew me in. However, I was instantly annoyed with every character.
Our FMC has zero backbone when it matters. Her internal, and external dialog was not working for me. Actually I felt this way for just about everyone.
I almost DNF this book, I was just so.. underwhelmed with it. It finally started to pick up about half way through. I enjoyed the slow burn/Forbidden aspect of the romance.

Aradia Black returns to her London flat to find her mother brutally murdered. She can sense something moving around the flat - instinct screams to turn and run. Catching her breath, Aradia answers - Marian gives her directions to a safe house.
Finally in Valport Springs, Aradia tries to relax. Only to discover her mum wasnt her mum - and Marian is her aunt magic runs through her body and Valport welcomes her home.
Enter the love interest - Ludo. Aradia feels the danger - but can't fight the attraction.
This is a great start - laying the story, background for the series.

Totally loved this book and can’t wait for the next installment. The twist and turns in this story make you feel sad for aradia and totally excited for her ,with her man ludo who is utterly delicious and dangerous . I can’t wait to see what’s in store for these two in the next book especially when she’s cursed and well he’s from hell.

3.5 Stars
Black Magic is the first book in The Witches of Valport Springs series. I had mixed feelings about this book and I almost dnf'd but I stuck it out. I did not care for the main character Aradia at the start of this book. Without giving too much spoilers, her attitude was a bit of a turn off and in my opinion her lack of remorse for what she did at the start made her not likable. Additionally the story felt a bit slow in the beginning and only picked up half way through.
Filled with witches, curses, suspense and mystery this novel did have and interesting story line. I thought the suspense element was intriguing and I am interested to find out more. The two main characters had fantastic chemistry even though there was a forbidden element to them being together. I liked the secondary characters who all added to the story.
The novel was short and fast paced and ends in a cliff hanger. I'm hoping we'll get more interactions between the characters and learn more about them in the next book. I will continue with the series to see how the story progresses. I will recommend this novel to those looking for a short paranormal romance.

Favorite quotes:

"''I don't know what is happening right now.' He smirks. 'That's how all the best stories begin...Who in this world even knows what anything is about?’”

"The world has fully lost touch with the old ways. Magic has always stayed so well hidden and out of sight that now it's nothing but a myth. The preposterous, and the unthinkable."

"Go Marian. I guess life really does begin at forty."

I love books with elements of magic and witches and had high hopes for this book.

Cross paints a world that pops off the pages - there were times that I could almost hear the trees blowing in the wind and see the spirits in them as if they were outside my window. I could imagine what the potions mixed up would taste like and see the glow coming off Aradia.

While I would not call this a love story, the lust and fire between Aradia and Ludo is fierce. Fierce enough that I read this book in one sitting even though I really should have stopped halfway through to go to sleep at a reasonable time.

My wish for this book is for more - more character development. More background into how Aradia and her family came to be so powerful. More background into the world of demons and shifters and how they fit in with other magical beings. More reasons to be on Aradia’s side despite her flaws.

This is the first in a series and I will be reading more of what Kassandra Cross publishes.

I mean I don't know if I would read it again but the imagery and writing was pretty good, however the book just kept going on and on and on and I had to keep pushing myself to finish it. The idea of it seemed overdone with little to none of a new twist but I guess I liked it?

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC. This book has so many elements that I love - witches, magic, demons, shifters, and romance. It was a fun and fast paced read which is always good but I didn’t feel super connected to the characters or the story. However I think the story has enough potential that I would consider continuing the series and would like to see how the romance between Aradia and Ludo develops.

Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op & Kassandra Cross for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This is a story of magic, darkness, lust, and romance.

PLOT: After witnessing a horrible murder at her home in London, Arcadia Black's life changes forever. She discovers that she is a witch, and she has to go back home to Valport Springs, a mysterious, forest town. It's there where she starts discovering the truth about who she really is, her legacy, and the curse that has been haunting the Black women for centuries. It is there that she also meets Ludo, a dark, mysterious man that may or may not bring many troubles into her life.

THOUGHTS: I like the neo-gothic surroundings, the mystery of the town, and the secrets. I like the secondary characters and what they can be in the next books. They haven't been unfolded yet, so we have still a lot to learn. The paranormal element, the darkness, the romance are some of the things I really enjoyed.

What I would like to see more is Arcadia's character. I think it felt a bit bland how she faces some things that are happening. I would like to see her more tortured about what happened in London; and more curious as well. She is just accepting mostly everything with not many questions asked, and it seems bizarre to me.

I wouldn't mind learning more about Ludo as well. It seems little information so far, but I expect this to happen in the next book.

I defintely enjoyed the book, and I will read the next one. I hope to see more character evolution.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. The blurb grabbed me enough to take a chance on it and the setting of Valport Springs sounded intriguing, all darkly mysterious and secretive but I think if I’m being completely honest a lot of my doubt is to do with the heroine Aradia. She’s been hidden away for years, for reasons why aren’t really gone into in much detail other than it was for her own protection. She grows up completely unaware of what she is until something happens and she learns the truth - she’s a witch. And this is where it falls a bit flat for me. Ari is such a one dimensional character. She doesn’t ask any questions about what happened to her real parents just accepts everything and is more concerned about what she can do to amuse herself at night. At times I felt like i was only getting half the story because of the lack of depth and I kept going back to see if I’d maybe skipped a chapter. The only time Ari seems to come to life is with Ludo, an enigmatic man of mystery who comes across as a bit of a Svengali, manipulating Ari for his own nefarious ends. The one saving grace for me with this book was Aunt Marion. What’s not to love about a classy cougar of an aunt with a toy boy shifter as a friend with benefits

4 stars. Great world-building, slow burn romance, had a slow start but still worth the read.
I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent less time actually exploring the romance between Aradia and Ludo than other novels I read. Sure, that is because this is first book and the focus is on establishing the history and what is going on but there is a romance in this novel. Throughout the book, there are a few scenes where they meet, chat, flirt some more, sleep together, but Aradia is very hesistant due to history behind both of their families and her aunt forbidding her to stay away from him because of the prophecy that exists between the families.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of Aradia, who discovers she is the most powerful Dark witch and her ties to Valport Springs. Despite the book focusing more on history and establishing a very tense slow burn between the two characters, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because then reader would not understand what is happening so I am so glad the author took the time to establish a story first while also giving us that steamy romance as well.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed how the author built the world, loved the town setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. I suggest to all the romance readers to take a chance on this book, because Aradia's and Ludo's story is not done yet so there is more romance to come. But if you enjoy a solid background story about two magical families, dark magic, and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I really really struggled with the book. It felt underdeveloped and not very well planned. I wish I liked it because the over all story line was fairly interesting, and I enjoyed the main character well enough. I guess the writing style just wasn’t for me.

Aradia Black returns to her home town. She finds her legacy is that of a witch and she must learn to navigate this discovery. The truth about her and her family will open her life in ways she never expected.

The book has a strong premise and the writing is very readable. The open action moved quickly and pulled the reader immediately into a sense of danger and urgency, but too many plot holes and a weakly developed protagonist left this reader with more questions, but no desire to read another book to find out the answers.
What's good: the use of some standard strong elements for a paranormal story. A lost heiress, lost in the sense that she's been sent away for her own protection, but also loss in the sense that her memories are lost to her returns to claim her birthright, but only after she defeats the prophecy of doom hanging over her. A secluded, secret town shielded from the outside world that is peopled with witches, demons and possibly other creatures creates a great setting for what should be a dramatic build up to a climatic showdown between good and evil. But here's where it goes wrong. The protagonist isn't really good; not that her being a witch makes her bad, no it's the seemingly shallow, disregard for anyone other than herself. Or maybe it's her willingness to walk blindly into a situation all the while saying I know someone is out to get me, but right now I just want to party, and if my arch nemesis happens to be there, oh well. And sure, I'll take a basket of apples from you my demon-lover because surely no one ever was harmed by eating an apple or using one in a ritual. No, is the reader supposed to think she's too trusting or just plain dumb. {Impossible to see her as trusting since her internal monolog continues reminds the reader that she expects he will kill her at any moment.} The love interest is just creepy and not in a good/intriguing way; he's violent, rude and condescending. He seems to want to kill her and is practically looking forward to it, but in the meantime, sure let's have sex and I'll call you "Little girl" while we do. ICK The secondary characters are like set pieces, there for the atmosphere, but really providing nothing except random guideposts that aren't really needed.

As for the setting, well having sequoias growing on the East Coast was the first no--sure the author explains these are special sequoias that grow magically in this place, pay no attention to the fact that they are a West Coast species. It felt more like someone had given an editorial note to the fact that these trees don't belong here, but the author was determined to have them and made up some random explanation without developing a strong plot-connected point for them. And there are other moments where it felt like the author realized that the plot made no sense--like how the protagonist was able to leave England following a gruesome murder without any police investigation--and just causally offers a rationale out of context. (Magical co-conspirators cleared away any signs of the murder--but what about the disappearance of two people or are we to assume no one, questioned why Aradria suddenly left the country). There were just too many disconnected pieces and characters that just weren't likable. The plot could use some drastic editing; too many loose threads keeps the reader from focusing on what should have been the introduction into this world.