I didn't love this one because I think there's a fine line between enemies to lovers and just being a jerk--and I think Memnon flies right over that line and isn't super redeemable or someone I rooted for all that much.

Also how does the 2000 year old warlord have access to a bank account and know how to transfer money electronically??

I loved Laura's Bargainer series so I was really excited to dive into another Fantasy from her. I really loved the entire relationship between Selene and Memnon! The tension and banter were great, and I liked the whole fantasy aspect as well. I could see more books set in this world, so I'm hoping Laura writes more!

I am simply too much of a feminist to continue reading this. Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this long awaited novel by Laura Thalassa, but I unfortunately do not wish to continue.

I love Laura Thalassa and The bargainer series is one of the absolute favorites but this new book Bewitched honestly didn’t do it much for me compared to her other ones :(
I’m going to be honest, I’m not a big fan of the amnesia trope but I love Thalassa so I thought I would give it a try. The MFC would loose her memories everytime she uses magic and this is where the MMC comes even, he’s her husband and did her wrong. I feel like the reason though this didn’t work out for me is bc of the MMC character/love interest. He’s wasn’t very likeable and the romance honestly felt forced. He’s an absolute ass ( and not in a good way ) and doesn’t really feel the need to woe her bc they are fated mates. The whole relationship just threw me off and ending up breaking the books for me.

What I did like though the magic element of the book. I’ve always loved witches/magical creatures type of books and they way she met her familiar was so cute. It was interesting to hear abt the magical system and her powers but unfortunately that’s just not enough for me to be intrigued in a book.

This arc was given to me in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

I loved everything about BEWITCHED, from the premise to the characters. How could anyone not root for the heroic witch with memory problems, a wild cat familiar, and an extremely 🔥 and vengeful ex-husband?

Brilliant characters aside, that pulse-pounding plot! Laura managed to combine Tomb Raider, CSI, and Ninth House, and make the resulting storyline ultra-steamy.

4⭐️

<b> All magic comes at a cost. For sorcerers, it’s their conscience. For shape-shifters, it’s their physical form. For me, it’s my memory.</b>

Selene loses parts of her memory whenever she uses her magic, but it doesn’t stop her from using it. In order to be admitted into the Henbane Coven, Selene must find a familiar and go on a magical quest to commune with her own magic. Selene drunkenly books a flight to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, but she never actually makes it there as chaos ensues and the plane crashes in the rainforest.

Selene is drawn by a strange power away from the site of the crash, and finds an entombed supernatural being and releases him, which may or may not be her best idea. Selene had to deal with a stalker-ish ancient sorcerer in addition to the chaos of her life, and the mysterious murders happening around the coven’s campus.

Thank you, Laura Thalassa, for pulling me out of my reading slump every single time. This book was exactly what I needed after a couple of duds. It’s fast paced and funny, and it has witches, magic, and a mysterious and sexy cursed supernatural being. I like the magic system in this a lot, and I like how different it is while still being super fun and witchy. Also, Selene’s familiar is so badass!! I almost wish we could have gotten a little more of Selene’s quest and I wish she would have actually made it to the Galapagos (but only because I love it there and am totally biased), but seeing her use insanely powerful magic without her even knowing how powerful it was was pretty cool.

I also just love Selene’s character overall. She’s selfless and strong and funny. Memnon, on the other hand, I don’t particularly care for. There were some moments where I was a little confused by the dynamic between Selene and Memnon because he’s so hot and cold, but the moments when he was caring for Selene were nice and infinitely better than the times where he’s spiteful. But overall I really enjoyed this and I’m excited for the next book.

<b>”You and I, Empress, we are eternal.”</b>

Great! Loved Selene and Memnon. Laura knows how to write a great story. I loved the dialogue between Memnon and Selene. The story is intense and interesting. I want more.

I absolutely loved this book. This was a fun paranormal enemies to lovers romance (mild spice) with great characters and an interesting and fun to follow plot. The twists were fun and the cliffhanger ending was delightfully painful. Can't wait for the next book in the series and to see where this series goes.

"I love you, little witch. More than all the world. That is my deepest truth, and it's one I should have told you again and again as I once did."

The premise of this book hooks you right off the bat. When Selene Bowers is desperate to join the Henbane Coven, she is forced to go on a magical quest- their actual requirement. She really doesn't expect for the quest she had planned to lead to her awakening Memnon, an ancient cursed being who insists that Selene is his wife.

After ditching him, Selene gets back and is welcomed into the coven. The only problem is, witches all around her are being found dead, and fingers are pointing at her. It doesn't help that she quite literally loses her memory every time she performs magic... and Memnon somehow followed her. Despite him definitely being insane and overall terrifying, he's the only one that can help her.

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I am a sucker for Laura Thalassa book. Her world building is so rich and captivating, it's easy to get lost in the stories she writes.

This book held so much promise for plot, and I really enjoy the way the storyline was delivered, but the characters themselves left much to be desired. I am usually all for the bad/ villainous/ morally grey MMCs, but Memnon didn't really hit the mark for me. We definitely got some good spice, I mean Laura Thalassa never fails to deliver excellent spice, but the romance itself was ... lacking. I think he was almost too much of an ass at times, and I didn't get enough balance for him. I am really hoping that the second book, where we learn more about the past, will reveal a lot more about him. Selene was fine too, but she is very much freshly an adult, twenty years old, finding her footing and stumbling around. I trust that the way the book ended, there is so much room for character development in the sequel so I am very excited for what comes next in that regard.

The saving grace of this book was easily the plot. Losing her memory as she performs magic and supposedly being this ancient creature's wife?! There's so much to unpack, and I think Thalassa paces each reveal really well. Some of the plot when it came to the murders moved really fast, but I think this book sets up the series really well. As much as I hate such an intense cliffhanger, this was done well. I need to know what happens now.

I am a Laura Thalssa girly, and while this didn't check all the boxes, I still am so excited to see how the series unravels.

-3.75 stars

Thank you Netgalley, Laura Thalassa, and Bloom Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the other series’ by this author so I knew I had to read this too. I really enjoyed the premise and liked the characters too. Another good fantasy book by this author and I’m excited to to see where the story goes.

Classic Laura thalassa bringing the fantasy and spice together. The bargainer series was such a favorite group of books for me and this one hit right up that alley. The magic, the mystery, the characters and banter was all so good and I’m so happy I got to read this book. Thank you Laura and NetGalley for the arc!!

Steamy goodness that I ate right on up. I can’t wait to read more from Laura. This was exactly what I needed and I loved every second of it. Characters, storyline, the flow of the book.. perfect.

I have read the author’s four books (the four horsemen) and this book fulfilled the expectations that were increased already. The story is fresh and unexpected, no quick gains, adequate character building and adequate backstory. I am sorry by the end that it is finished..

…I literally don’t have the words to do this justice. This book blew my mind. I absolutely LOVED it

The story follows Selene, a young witch, as she is trying to get into the Henbane Coven. The only problem is that her magic eats away at her memories. To prove herself, she sets out on a quest where she finds a lot more than she bargained for- specifically an ancient man she awakens that claims she is his soulmate who trapped him underground for thousands of years. Memnon follows her home, back to the Henbane Coven, to convince her that she is his, all while witches are starting to be mysteriously murdered all over campus.

Bewitched is a blend all of my favorite parts of fantasy books (plus some nostalgia). I am a sucker for soulmates, especially those lost to time and past lives (shoutout to the Fallen series for starting that). That plus a unique twist to witchy magic added to the overall magic of this world.

And don’t even get me started on the characters ✋🏼 our MMC, Memnon, is the perfect balance of dark morally grey, possessively obsessed, and head over heels in love. Literally touch her, you die vibes and I’m here for it. Selene’s character is amazing too; I thought her magic was so neat. She was so well written too; I imagine it was difficult to write such a well rounded character while the character herself doesn’t even fully know herself due to the constant memory loss each time she uses magic. She was also so brave and kind, and fierce when she needed to be without charting into any morally grey territory.

Something that also made the book stand out for me was the ancient aspects of it. Memnon is from the ancient world and dead languages plays a big part in spell casting. I studied ancient worlds and languages, so to see that used and explored throughout the book was so cool and made it that much more compelling for me!

The only down side to this book is that it’s the first in a series- and it was only just released 😔 so now I have to wait another year for more Memnon and Selene and to get answers to the mystery of why Selene locked him away for thousands of years. I already have some theories brewing if anyone wants to scheme together 😌

Another brilliant fantasy romance by Laura Thalassa! Fun, sexy and addictive - highly recommended!!

Laura simply gets “the female gaze” and writes such captivating stories full of attraction and seduction. I loved the premise of lost memories and alternate story lines, the coven was an imaginative setting and the world building was nicely detailed. The main character Selene was well explored and her relationship with Memnon was genuinely intriguing. Looking forward to the next book!

I want to thank Laura Thalassa , Bloom Books and Netgalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion of this book.


Having loved the author's series, I was eager to see what it reserved for us for this new book.

I liked several elements of this book: the explanations, the very personal and different magic for each witch, the memory loss element that forges the main character, the friendship, and especially the mystery. Until the end of the book, we wait for answers to the various problems that Selene encounters and we wait for our answers!

The romance in this book is more complex than what the author has previously written. I can’t tell if I’m a fan of the romance between our two characters, if I have to expect a reversal of situation, see maybe a love triangle? I am looking forward to Volume 2 to be able to have more information and more context, and especially more scenes of lovers than enemies

A huge thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for giving me the chance to read Bewitched by Laura Thalassa in exchange for my honest review.

The first installment of Laura Thalassa's new paranormal romance series, Bewitched definetely starts off strong with Selene, a witch that loses her memories every time she uses her magic, and Memnon the terrible evil that she unleashes on her quest to connect more with her powers.
Needless to say tropes include enemies-to-lovers, who-did-this-to-you, sexual tension
In this world of magic and witches, ancient evil and shifters, passion and vengeance run wild throughout the pages, making for a fast pacing and easy to follow plotline : witches end up murderered and Selene is suspected due to her memory loss and she has none other to trust than Memnon.
Memnon who is an ancient broody sorcerer that was betrayed once before and won't let the past repeat itself no matter what, but at the same time will stop at nothing to make Selene his. Might I also add he calls her "Empress" as a pet name ?I mean...what more need I say ?
The book ends with a cliffhanger and I already can't wait for the second book to come out !

Imagine as a witch your power eats up your memories. This is exactly what happens to Selene Bowers. Selene wants to be accepted into the Henbane Coven, which is an academy for young witches. Her only problem is her memories, but she is given a chance of finally proving herself to the Coven that even with her magic eating away her memories, she can still be a great witch and asset. She is given the task to go on a quest, which ends up taking her to South America. On her way to South America, a strange call and magic calls to her on the airplane, which in the end makes it crash. Selene uses her magic to save those on the plane, but once on ground, she follows the mysterious call and magic. She ends up finding her familiar (a panther that she names Nero) and then she wakes up a super-hot centuries man who is called Memnon the Cursed. Memnon becomes convinced that Selene is Roxilana is estranged wife that cursed him to sleep for centuries and who betrayed him. She is able to escape him and go back to the States to where everything seems like it will be okay, and she does end up being accepted into the Henbane Coven. However, Memnon finds Selene as havoc rages around the Coven and her life.

I went back and forth on what I wanted to rate Bewitched. I settled on 3.5 stars, but I could not decide if it should have been a 3 or 4 star read.

Bewitched hooks you from the start and has you wanting to know if Selene is really Roxilana like Memnon thinks or if she is something else. The memory loss due to magic was interesting and kept me wondering if she would somehow get them back and it made me want to know what the root cause was for this type of magic that Selene has. I really enjoyed a good chunk of the scenes between Selene and Memnon.

Speaking of Selene and Memnon, I wanted to slap them upside the head so much. Well, moreover I wanted to slap Memnon upside the head because he would not believe or really listen to Selene for the first quarter to half of the book, which just ended up being so infuriating. I think for a good chunk of the book, Selene and Memnon did not have a connection and lacked chemistry. It does start to have a few sparks start to ignite towards the last quarter of the book.

I really wanted to see more page time of Selene interacting with others and her relationship growth with her best friend.

I feel like this book has a lot of potential and is a great steppingstone to set up the future books in the series. There is definitely a bigger story arc in play for the rest of the series, which makes me curious about what is going to happen. I want to see the progression of how Memnon and Selene as characters individually and together with their romantic relationship.

The reveal and the plot twist were done well in the end. The book does end in a cliffhanger that makes you crave book two right away. I seriously need to know what will happen next and how a certain character will get out of their predicament and what other ulterior motives are coming into play. Then, there were somethings that occurred in the story that have not fully been explored all the way, so it makes me curious if those things will be addressed in the future books.

All in all, I do think this book has potential and I am curious if the rest of the series gets better and better. I am really looking forward to knowing what happens so I will continue on with this series.

I received an ARC and voluntarily am leaving a review.

BEWITCHED is perfect if you want a steamy, college-age, fantasy. The mythology behind the story was intriguing.

It was heading toward being too steamy for me, and I DNFed. I don't normally leave reviews when I don't finish, but thought I could give a heads up for content to fit you. Because, really, some people want it steamy.

I recommend this for steamy fantasy lovers.

Happy reading!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was a real obsession, I couldn't stop reading!

The plot is so interesting, the magic system was one of the things that I liked the most about the story. This world of witches with their familiars, of werewolves and sorcerers, all within our own modern world. Every detail related to witchcraft and its laws was so fascinating, I really liked this whole dark academia context and in particular the influence of black magic. The author did a great job building every detail.

On the other hand, I loved that this book had a strong and resilient protagonist, an optimistic fighter who never gives up, even knowing that every time she uses her magic, she loses some of her memories. I loved this idea that using powers comes with a price, that everything needs a balance. Also, I loved Selene's spicy personality. There are a lot of funny scenes in this book.

When on a journey she awakens a mysterious and extremely powerful man from an ancient curse, things start to get complicated for her. Especially when he claims that she is his wife and the one responsible for said curse, so now he will seek revenge. But at the same time, there is a very special connection between the two. Memnon is such a fascinating character, although I'm not sure how to feel about him because I loved him so much in the first half of the book, and I hated him in the second half... but I still have a weakness for him.

Anyway, the romance in this book is SO INTENSE. Every interaction between these two is so spicy and they also share some very sweet moments. There's also a lot of drama in this book and some really shocking revelations. It's the kind of story that has a little bit of everything. And it has very good twists and turns! There is a series of mysterious murders that bring a lot of intrigue to the plot and that made me think of a lot of theories.

And then the last few chapters were complete madness. I was devouring the pages, wanting to know what was going to happen. That jaw-dropping ending left me desperate to read the next book. Seriously, I need it NOW! I just loved this book! Without a doubt, it has become one of my favorites of the year.