It has been quite a while since I have settled down with a good rom-com, and fortunately for me Hex Appeal did not disappoint.

The story itself was well executed, whimsical, wonderfully witchy, and vibrantly detailed. It has been awhile since I have found the setting itself be so thoroughly charming as I did Beldam House, with its roaming goats, ever changing rooms, and an atrium filled with monstrous plants and flying glass parrots.

The characters were fleshed out enough to care about them, but also made you wish for a sequel to dive into the histories of some of the home’s other residents next. (Especially Avery, the non-binary manifester of one’s dreams, and occasional medicine maker)

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harpers Collins UK, One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.5 stars

From the plot I had very high expectations but they were not very satisfied. For the first 20% of the book I loved everything but then it was a continuous flop. The story gradually got lost and what the plot promised vanished in the middle of reading. I initially liked the characters but they slowly became boring. The writing, on the other hand, seemed to me quite good and fluent even if it often failed to capture me in the story. Definitely a perfect read for autumn, full of witches, spells and autumn vibes but it didn't satisfy me and I don't feel like recommending it.

I received this book from NetGalley and One More Chapter Publishing in exchange for my free and honest review. Josh has just assumed ownership of his family property in Essex. Unfortunately it turns out the estate is a money pit, with tenants who have contracts to only pay a pittance. But.. one property he can't find.... one with rent that hasn't been paid since the 1700's. The property happens to be the home of Essie, and her coven of witches. Essie's particular power is to bring winter, and well may occasionally freeze other things.


Personally one of my biggest issues with this book is until we got some revelations that happen fairly late in the book, I couldn't connect with Josh. He's prickly and standoffish but obsessed with Essie. After the reveals, well I still don't love him but I was more okay with why he was the way he was. I personally liked Essie way more. She felt more developed to me and we got more time with her actually explaining her hang-ups and issues instead of dancing around them like with Josh.

I loved the little town of Good Winter, and I'd love a more detailed explanation of the game that they played in the pub.

One of my favorite characters is Avery. They are a nonbinary individual that shifts their appearance to however they are feeling on a particular day. They are also the cook of the coven and can dish-up exactly what you need. There is also Blessing, the midwife, Maude who knits the future and Prudence who stuck around after being hung in the 18th century. I'd love to get to know more about the other coven members, potentially in future books.

I really loved the time travel elements and the people who ended up being from/ going to different time periods. The way it was handled was perfect and just the right type of soft magic for my tastes.

This is a cute witchy romance perfect for spooky season. It just released at the beginning of the month and is definitely worth checking out.

I love a good witchy romance and with the gorgeous cover, I couldn’t not request this book.

Essie is a witch living in Essex in a place called Beldam House, a magical disappearing house that everyone forgets about. Enter Josh, an American who has recently inherited property in Essex and is now the landlord of Beldam… if only he could locate it. Throw in a centuries old supernatural threat, time travel, and a quirky coven of witches and this book was a fun time.

While I enjoyed this book, I found myself more invested in the supernatural conflict than the romance between Essie and Josh. This book was heavy on the magical/fantasy elements and less on the romance which I was not expecting. Had the relationship between the couple been more fleshed out and not so back and forth (keep in mind the book takes place over a few weeks), I probably would’ve been more invested.

Overall, this was an interesting, spooky, and fast-paced read but the romance itself missed the mark for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

I was looking for a book with a fall feel and this one did the trick! If you are looking for Hocus Pocus meets cutesy vibes, this is the book for you.

I loved both of the main characters. Josh and Essie had such a fun vibe with their flirty back and forth.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

Essie Winterscale lives in Good Winters in Beldearn house with a wide variety of other witches who vary greatly in ages that spam over centurys. You find a bit about each witch as the novel progresses, and their various powers. There is great characterisation in this book which helps sets up the seem from the very beginning.

Josh Henderson is from Searle but has ended up in Good Winters because his father left him a number of properties here. The only problem is here can't find one of them and they'd not paid rent in over 300 years! Additionally His sister Siena, turns up on his doorstop and we soon learn more about Josh and how his sister has inherited all the familys all the money.

Josh and Essie's lust for one another starts very early on in this book, Josh stating how Essie 'has curves in all the right places' and Essie characters resiprocates this by daring to say 'He filled out those jeans rather nicely, and with his warm brown eyes and open smile he was pretty darn easy on the eye'. This is definitely not your typical rom-com book, with both descriptive scenes such as this and the fairy elements, I don't know who the target audience is.

This book does have negative points, a lot of the ideas seem to be copied from other authors, such as the moving staircase seems to be taken right out of the Harry Potter books as well as how the portraits move around. Also the powers Essie has to freeze things appears to be very much like you see in Disney 's Frozen film. Is there no other shop in witches novels to come up with new ideas?

Nevertheless I found this to be a refreshing quick sand easy read even going adults, especially if your looking for a witch element is is the book for you.

Many thanks  to NetGalley and the publishers as I recieved a digital complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this book.
Parts were confusing and there was one huge theme that I actually didn’t feel was necessary, but I guess it added an edge to the story.
In the end, it was a witchy rom-com with a LOT of external details.

2.5/5 stars- This book was okay. It was a bit silly, a bit witchy, a bit romantic-comedy, and a bit boring. I like the house shifts and wished for a bit more focus on the *cool stuff*. I don't know that a huge Big Bad was necessary to cram in for the kind of book it was, but it added an urgency I suppose. The doorway to time felt a bit "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis, which I enjoyed - could have probably been an entire book on its own! I think a lot of this book could've been fleshed out to fill more depth, but overall a fun sort of witchy tale.

Sadly, I just couldn't get into this one. I've read a lot of witchy romance this past month and this one just wasn't holding my attention like others have. The beginning almost confused me- too much was happening, too many names thrown around and I wasn't following. Some may love this one, but it's just wasn't for me!

Delightful! This was the perfect read for fall. Generation of witches. A magical house. A swoon worthy suitor. Lastly, a wonderful heroine.

I didn’t like this line “Essie was - he tried to think of a polite way to put it - a substantially built woman”

It really angered me. There’s nothing wrong with being fat or plus sized and this was rude

Hex Appeal was such an excellent book. If you like smart stories about witches with some romance thrown in, this is the book for you. It is about a woman, Essie, who is a witch, and what happens when her new landlord turns out to be so much more. There is a lot to love about this one, from the awesome house that provides what you need and has a time travel door, to the coolest bunch of witches I have come across in a long time. The romance part starts up kind of fast for two people who don't like dating, but really is solid and you find yourself rooting for them both. I really hated for this one to end, I wanted to stay among Essie, Josh, Avery, and Blessing for a little longer. I look forward to reading more by this author and really hope she writes more about this fantastic cast of characters.

This was… so boring. I’m sorry. Thanks as always to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC!

There were promising themes, but there was just way too much happening. It prevented me from really engaging with any of them. And, because of that, I barely felt any chemistry between the leads. I think Josh actually notices Blessing’s beauty first?

I think this might work for cozy fantasy readers, but I’m not even really sure because the magic plot was secondary to the romance (I think?) and fragmented.

The world building was cool - mixing Essex with magic and the past. Also, the author kept writing twentieth century… but they had iPhones, so I’m pretty sure it’s the twenty-first century.

Huge thank you to One More Chapter for this ARC. Hex Appeal is a very sweet, funny romance and Essie and Josh are perfect. I really hope there’s more in this series, I just wish there was slightly higher stakes in the storyline. But, overall I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a fun enjoyable read about Essie, Bedlam House and the town of Good Winter and Josh who is new to withches.
Love the cat and dog and all the characters and magic.
Just a fun magical witchy romance.
Would be a good series
Voluntarily reviewed.

I wanted something fun and seasonally appropriate and this book gave me just that. It was fun!

I am a sucker for a witchy story involving a found family. I adored the found family vibes from this book, all of the witches were just such good characters. I liked them all, even Essie’s mum who could be a bit…abrupt but it sort of felt a little justified under the circumstances.

The magical world felt really well explained. I understood the rules and the stakes. I feel like that is so absolutely imperative in a magical book, I need to know if there are repercussions.

Essie was a wee lamb. She deserved way better than Josh who was limp lettuce personified. You know, the old bag of salad leave at the back of the fridge that was Josh. He was boring, he was unbelievably passive, and he was annoying. The time to ask questions is not when you’re facing death, make a mental note to ask later. After survival. I hated Josh, he was such a strange love interest as he had almost no personality but he had a cool sister. I know I hated Josh but the other characters more than made up for him being super dull.

The twists were really enjoyable and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen. You know it’s a good book when you want to keep going. I read this for some reading sprints because I was not going to bed without closure.

The setting of a quaint little village in England was such a perfect setting. I loved Bedlam House, I love an almost sentient building. That’s a bit of a scamp and likes to join in with the fun

There was a moment, half way through the book where I felt that it was going in a specific direction. In the direction of one of my most hated tropes and I would have been so disappointed if it did…but a twist happened and it didn’t go where I thought it was going.

This book had spice. I thought it was a clean romance book at first, which it totally fine. Although, around the 70% mark, that all changed! This was no longer the sweet romance I thought it was. It got steamy and as is tradition, I performed a dramatic reading of the sexy bits to my partner who struggled to make out the words through my cackles.

This book make me cackle with laughter which felt right for an October read. It was fun, it was lovely, I whizzed thought it and it was really enjoyable. This book made me very happy. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. It was a great combination of paranormal and romance without being too over the top with either of them. This was a super fast read and had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing and enjoying the overall storyline. I really hope there is a sequel to this because I felt like I could read several more books in the same "universe". Overall, a fantastic 5 star read just in time for Halloween!

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sharing a digital ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Josh has just moved from America to England where he will move into an inherited estate. However when he arrives there are tenants living in and they own him .... 300 years' worth of rent. This is where Josh and Essie meet.
.
This book was a freaking ride! I loved Essie and Josh so much and getting to see them slowly fall in love with each other. The book itself was quirky and chaotic a was giving all of the fall vibes. The small town setting amazing and so refreshing and comforting. The atmosphere was what made this book for me, I loved all of the descriptions that made me want to go to small-town England and hang out with some witches. I desperately need this book to be made into a series (even a duology) I feel like there could be more world-building and a deeper dive into our characters and their world and powers.
.
overall this was such a warm cozy read perfect for the month of October.

This was a fun read! Essie is a witch living in Good Winter, Essex with obligations. Josh is an American who moved toGoodwinter to escape an unfufilling life and to fix up he house he inherited from his father. Their meeting is chance, sparks fly, and magical adventure and misadventure ensue.

I really enjoyed both the main characters and the supporting cast. This book has an endearing humor. The homage to the history of the persecution of witches in England is well done. There are nice surprises in this one.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Whimsical, magical, and just a little confusing (but what good witchy book isn't?), HEX APPEAL is a delightful addition to any spooky season TBR pile.

Life has thrown Josh Henderson, former lawyer and American, a pretty steep curveball when he finds himself the landlord of several decrepit properties in Good Winter, England. Struggling to find a new life in his new country, he's swept up into the whirlwind of Essie Winterscale.

Essie, her own life practically one big curveball, has found herself secluded in her childhood home of Beldam House. And while the house and her family are magical (literally magical), she can't help but feel like her existance is held together by nothing more than a threading shoestring and a spell.

What follows is a crazy story that involves goats, time traveling, steamy kisses in the rain, and amnesia. In a similar vein to The Ex Hex, Johnson taps into the massive desire for a modern witchy stories. Is the plot confusing at times? Yes. The story's pacing was a bit off, and it felt like there were too many plot lines for a single book. However, at it's heart this story is charming and a wonderful choice for a light read!