Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for providing me with the ARC.

Bewitched is one of my top favorite books for the year 2023. Ever since I'd seen this book on Laura's social media, I wanted to get my hands on it, like, real bad. And when I found it on NetGalley, I HAD TO HAVE IT.

Bewitched is a paranormal romance and the first in the series, featuring a strong heroine, a hero hell-bent on revenge, and a dark and twisted romantic tale, full of suspense.

Laura Thalassa's writing style has a way of pulling you in and keeping you hooked till you reach the end. The story is very unique, The plot and the characters' storyline are developed so well, it kept me on my toes, questioning every action and motive, and the twist in the story at the end!

Selene is a witch, looking to join Henbane Coven, an academy for witches. She's asked to do some tasks after which she would be admitted to the coven. I found Selene to be a really interesting character, The cost of her magic is her memories - every time she casts magic, she loses a random memory. This intrigued me because I wondered how that would come into play, especially when dealing with the anti-hero.

Selene takes up the assignments, which leads her to unlock an ancient being called Memnon. Memnon mistakes her for his wife who has betrayed him and swears to take revenge on her and possess her.

Of course, Selene fights back (or tries to), and therein lies the entire story--which you honestly need to experience for yourself.

Talking about Memnon, OH BOY. Memnon's the classic anti-hero, you'll love to hate and hate to love. You'll doubt his motives, fall for him, hate him, and be intrigued by him. He elicits so many emotions. And with the book in the heroine's POV, you're riding that rollercoaster of emotions and thrill.

Memnon is obsessed with Selene, he believes she was the one who cursed him in their past life and wants her back BUT at the same time wants to take revenge.

Their relationship is FIRE. Selene is scared of him, but she can't deny the connection between the two. And Memnon is all about her - and that's one of my favorite tropes (boy obsessed).

This book is a wild ride to the magical dark side. It is captivating, thrilling, addictive, and leaves you wanting more and more.

I can't wait for Book 2.

I love this. I can't say it enough. I went into this with high hopes because I adore this author. I was not disappointed. The FMC is relatable, and I LOVE that the world they live in makes it so magic comes with a price. I am weak for enemies to lovers, and i adored that this went back to enemies. Slow burns can be frustrating at times, but not this. I loved this. This was wonderful and I can't recommend this enough.

I've really enjoyed the two Laura Thalassa series I've read so far - they're dark, sexy, and engrossing - so I was super excited to receive an ARC of Bewitched and I wasn't disappointed!

Synopsis: Selene is a witch whose power manifests in a very unusual way - whenever she uses her magic, it eats up some of her memories. She's desperate to be accepted into a coven/witch's school but they are hesitant to take her on, suggesting that she should first find an animal familiar and also go on a magical quest through the wilderness. Selene wakes one morning and finds that she has booked a trip to the Galapagos (and has no memory of doing so) for her quest, and while she is on the plane she hears a magical voice calling to her and feels a power pulling down the plane.

Selene uses her magic to safely land the plane but the voice is still calling to her. She follows it through the jungle until she finds a crypt, where she finds who has been calling her and awakens Memnon, an ancient warrior whose wife Roxilana put a curse on him...and he thinks that Selene is Roxilana.

Memnon follows Selene back to the school, where he continues to insist that she is his wife, whom he once loved but now hates for cursing him, and that she has just lost the memories of the truth. To make matters worse, there is a string of murders occurring on campus, and when the police start to look at Selene, her memory issues make her seem like a possible suspect...

Review: This book was so enchanting, the magical world of witches, sorcerers, and shifters was so interesting and not difficult to understand. I really liked Selene's character. Despite the issues her magic causes for her, she is desperate to be part of the coven community and to use her powers, having developed a system to try to write everything down and be able to keep her memories as much as possible.

Memnon of course was SUPER HOT and dark and surly. He obviously loves his wife Roxilana but is incredibly pissed at her for cursing him and is vowing to get his revenge, and those warring feelings make him hot and cold with Selene. It's sexy and frustrating and I loved it. I will say that there wasn't a ton of spice in this book but the couple of spicy scenes were super hot! I think the next book in the series will be amped up for sure.

The mystery around what is happening on campus and who is responsible for the deaths was interesting but I felt like it wasn't quite developed enough to fully keep my attention - I was definitely more focused on Selene and Memnon's relationship and whether or not she was really Roxilana. The mysterious deaths and magic felt a bit slowly developed but hopefully things will become clearer in the next book! I think this book was good at getting everything with the different storylines set up and I think things will be a bit faster paced in the next book, we definitely were left on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
I was so looking forward for this book and it delivered. I really enjoyed it. I loved Selene as a character and the premise is so interesting. As for Memnon I'm conflicted. For the most part I liked him as a character but then I think he got a bit to far with his actions so I'm not sure how everything will resolve and how Selene will be able to forgive him. We didn't really get any answers and that ending killed me. It's going to be an agony waiting for the next book

I really loved the idea behind this and the story in this book. I think it is a good first book to a promising series. Selene, a witch, unfortunately loses her memories in exchange for using her powers. Because everything has a cost when it comes to magic. With that, she is having a difficult time getting accepted into a coven so she takes a trip to find the things that the coven asked her to submit to be accepted in. In this journey, she awakens Memnon, a cursed sorcerer who has been asleep for thousands of years. Once awakened, he believes Selene is his long lost wife who cursed him to his long sleep and now he wants revenge. The story takes off from there with other things going on throughout the book with the romance subplot. This book is slooooww burn, like real slow burn with enemies to lovers to enemies (which i loved). I thought that Selene is such a fun FMC that you like from the start. Memnon is a broody man who instantly has you falling for him, he is also such a good MMC. And when i like the two main characters, I know I am going to enjoy the book and the series going forward. After reading this book, I am very excited for the next one!! I can't wait.

Bewitched by Laura Thalassa is a fantasy romance novel with a subplot of mystery about witches. Our main character is Selene who is a witch working to get accepted at Henbane coven which is a school for witches. Selene has never wanted anything more than to be accepted at Henbane. The only issue is that every time she uses magic, she loses a memory. The more magic she uses, the more memories she loses. Henbane sees this as a problem and tell Selene she needs to complete a magical quest and find a familiar before they will accept her. That is how Selene finds herself on a plane to South America. During her flight she hears a voice in her head and magic seeping through the plane. The next thing she knows, the plane is crashing in the rainforest. This is where the voice draws her to a tomb and she awakens the sorcerer Memnon and finds her familiar in the rainforest. Memnon follows her back to Henbane and thinks she is his long dead wife.
The first thing I have to say about this book is that it would be a great fall/Halloween read. There are lots of spells, potion making, and overall witchy vibes that put me in a fall mood. The romance between Selene and Memnon was also different from anything I have read before. Memnon is convinced Selene is his wife from 2,000 years ago who put him in that tomb. Selene is constantly telling him that there is no way she is his wife Roxilana. However, Selene can't deny the magical connection she feels with him. Memnon basically ends up stalking Selene and is extremely posessive. You can expect things like "touch her and you die" and "who did this to you" which are always great tropes to see. I also enjoyed how Selene's memory loss was written. You would see her experience something at one part in the book and later on see her surprised to hear about it because shes forgotten. These details made everything more realistic. I also really enjoyed Selene's familair who is a panther. Usually familiars are something basic like a house cat and the panther was a surprise that I loved. The only thing I did not love about this book was how spells were cast. In this world, the witches make up a rhyme to do a spell. To me, this just seemed really juvenile in an adult fantasy book. It reminded me of something I would see on a kids TV show and that was cringy to me. The last thing I will say is to beware of the synopsis of this book. I read it and saw something that did not happen until the very end of the book. It would have been a good plot twist if I did not already see it in the synopsis. Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable fantsay that was easily digestible and I highly recommend it. I am now on the lookout for details of the second book since this does end on a cliffhanger.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC in exchange for a review!

I really wanted to give this book a very high rating, but I found it to be pretty average. Laura Thalassa is an author that is hit and miss for me and Bewitched is more of a miss than a hit.

Selene Bowers is a twenty year old witch who is desperately trying to get into the school of Henbane Coven. Thalassa's world building is set up to have supernatural creatures do college through approved supernatural schools and for the most part, this works to convey Selene's age and lifestyle. Selene is also hampered by memory loss every time she does magic. This payment was such a great aspect to the story and I liked the uniqueness that magic does come with a price. Selene is finally accepted into the coven school after pursuing her project of getting a familiar and having a magical journey. Unfortunately, this magical journey consists of a plane crash and the waking of a 2000 year old sorcerer that thinks that Selene is actually his scheming wife in disguise.

And this is where we veer into regular Thalassa territory. My issue with a lot of Thalassa's books is that her characters really don't change from book to book. The female main character is always young and there is an attempt for her to be seen as not like other girls. The male main character is always older, overbearing, and most times veers into AITA territory. This book was just not an exception and that's where it started to lose me.

Memnon and Selene just have no chemistry together. The parts where he invades her dreams to make her see him sexually are just ick, the parts where he invades her life and insists she is the scheming wife are just ick. He gives her no agency and there is no way that I buy any sort of relationship between them.

The other aspect of this book revolves around witches being murdered, but after being the main plot for several chapters, it is left to the background. I'm sure these dangling plot threads will be picked up again, but I'm not sure if I'm invested enough to read the next book.

Overall despite the three star rating, I was rather disappointed in how this book worked for me. I think fans of Thalassa will glom it up, but if you are on the fence, I say to check it out from the library.

I received this book from Sourcebooks Bloom Books for review purposes.

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Laura Thalassa had long become an auto-buy author for me. I can’t recall which series of hers I read first.. maybe it was The Vanishing Girl, but I’m one hundred percent certain it was both The Bargainer series and The Fallen World Series that sealed the deal for me.

The Four Horsemen series was something very different and Laura Thalassa for the most part pulled off writing books with the same plot thread that need to be executed differently. The only book in that series I haven’t read is Death, but even without reading it I know it’s going to be very different from the previous three.

When I read the blurb for Bewitched, I was quite frankly bewitched. The idea sounded so very different from anything she’d written before this and I was super curious how this book would be. I practically fell over when I saw my approval for Bewitched sitting in my mail. I couldn’t wait to dive in and see what world those pages hid for us.

Long story short, I was not disappointed.

The book starts off by setting the tone of the story, the voice of the protagonist and her situation. The base setup was complete within a few chapters and I enjoyed the way Thalassa chose to do that. The chapter after that is an explosion that blasts open doors straight into the meat of the story. From that point onward the book flies.

If you think about it, this book has a very different relationship graph than is typical for a story with romance in it. Typically the couple meet, there’s a trope that is followed and eventually they fall in love. This book follows no such thread. As the blurb says, the heroine is thrown into a situation where she is mistakenly considered the love interest of an ancient being called Memnon, the Cursed. The writing throws everything over its head and Selene lives every day at a time, her optimism and strength pushing her forward despite her circumstance with a dangerous magical being and of course, her personal situation where her using her powers result in her losing her memories.

These two situations are the primary plot threads, but there are many many interesting sub-plots that add to the complexity of the narrative and complicate the nature of the heroine’s life. There’s one beautiful line that Selene thinks to herself, questioning why everything about her must be viewed in the lens of what she doesn’t have, instead of everything she does. I enjoyed that line immensely and hugged that line to my heart.

Laura Thalassa has always been the queen of anti-heroes and she does no different in this book. The graph, again, is very different from what she’s done before and what we may have seen before. Often anti-heroes begin as villains and reveal themselves to be anything but. The graph of Memnon’s presence follows no such pattern. Everything is turned on its head and the book leaves you wondering who betrayed whom in actuality.

The book ends of sorts in a cliffhanger. It’s not devastating, because Thalassa builds to it, but it’s still a cliffhanger nonetheless. The book was about 7K pages on my Kindle, which must be about 500 pages in print format; I devoured it in practically one sitting. It was a breeeeeeze to read. Additionally it was so funny, I couldn’t stop all the giggles. A special mention to Nero, who’s—I feel—the actual protagonist to this whole story.

The writing is as addictive as always and while the book worked on such a serious subject, it didn’t feel heavy most of the time. It was light and a swift read (despite being such a big book filled with so many things that happen). But I have a feeling the sequel to Bewitched is going to be more serious than this one was, given the circumstances that this book ended in.

Five stars. Eaaaaasy. Happy reading and as always check trigger warnings!! I’ve mentioned a few here, highlight to read: There’s blood, violence, gore, drugging and kidnapping of a minor, grotesque creatures, misuse of power, betrayal by a loved one to name a few.

Well.

I'm struggling to rate this. Lots of stuff happens, and yet it felt like nothing happened. It was long and meandering, and I just kind of wanted it to get to the point, but it never really did.

It's frustrating when authors make it blatantly clear that a relationship is incoming and yet insist upon forcing in third wheels, either to inject a bit of sexy bits on the page before the main dish gets together or to try and create a facade of inner romantic turmoil which we all know is a crock.

Memnon is an asshole alpha, tall and buff and dark and brooding and all the things we love about asshole MMCs. He acts like a macho stereotype jackass, and whatever, that's fine, because that's who he is.

What I hated was how vehemently Selene loathed his actions and then turned into a puddle of goo because wang. It made it so that I couldn't possible respect her, and I actually grew to really dislike her and wish the worst for her. AND we aren't even given any graphic banging to offset it. I could maybe almost sort of understand if she was dickmatized to some degree, but she never actually gets the dick. (spoiler)

Yada yada yada, I don't want to read the next one.

A great start to a new series!

Selene Bowers has been desperately trying to enter Henbane Coven. Due to a quirk with her magic where she loses a memory every time she casts a spell, the Academy has denied her applications.
This time however she is told if she completes a magic quest and finds her familiar she could be admitted.
While on her quest she awakens Memnon the Cursed who believes she is his beloved.
I truly love a great bad boy and Memnone definitely doesn’t disappoint! Hie has a mysterious history with Selene….can his love for her win or will his anger over being cursed ruin them both?
I loved how Selene finds ways to work around her disability! She’s strong, clever and determined. I really admired her strength!
A steamy enemies to lovers romance with plenty of action and plot twists to keep you turning the pagesI I can’t wait for the next book!
*Warning there is a cliff hanger ending.
I received an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

If I had to describe this book in 3 words?
✨ Magical
😀 Fun and…
🔥 HOT

Young witch, Selene, yearnsssss to be apart of Henbane coven. All she has to do is go on an epic quest and find her familiar. She does both on a trip to South America, but she also kind of releases a smokin’ hot dude from a tomb. Enter Memnon the Cursed 😈

Do you like possessive, dominant, two-thousand-year-old sorcerers? Cuz same. This man was HOTTTTT. And so were his interactions with Selene, who he SWEARS is his beloved, Roxilana.

Between dealing with Memnon, taking coven classes, trying to keep her memories (oh yeah, using her magic makes her forget things), and figuring out who is murdering witches.. Selene’s story is a fast-paced, unique, witchy adventure.

I’d say my only gripe is maybe there were a few TOO many plot points? I’d also have liked a bit more backstory/context. However, these things make me even more excited for book #2.

This was my first book by LT, but it certainly won’t be my last (I actually have Rhapsodic on my physical TBR!)

Laura Thalassa’s writing is just so engrossing. She’s unlike any other romance author out there, in that her books can be dark and complicated but they’re somehow so relatable and accessible while tackling these complicated issues of humanity and good and evil. I’ll admit I was reluctant to read her “four horseman” series, but curiosity got me and once I started, I was hooked. It’s the way she writes about the human experience that really makes her special. She can take these fantastical themes such as dogma, witchcraft, theology, etc. and spin them effortlessly into daily life in a way that makes you feel like you are the main character and you’re the one having this profound adventure.
Bewitched follows Selene, a witch who is a bit of a hot mess. She desperately wants to be welcomed into Henbane Coven (which is like a college), but she has a problem with her magic. When she uses it, she loses memories. She is given one last chance to prove herself worthy of entry and finds herself in an airplane about to go down somewhere in the Pacific. (This part sounds exciting but is a bit choppy to get through so stay with it!)
After their crash landing, Selene is lured deep into the jungle, following a voice and a bit of magic. What she finds is trouble in the form of an ancient, and damn sexy, ancient sorcerer who believes she, Selene, is his wife; his empress.
TBA- he’s obnoxious and irked me a lot but I’m now invested in this story and will read the series because for sure he will find his humanity and be tender and loving eventually, right?!

Are you still with me?! I know- it’s a lot. Now once Selene is back home and finally in her coven, murders start happening and she finds herself at the center of it. Memnon still is harassing her in a sexy but still annoying way, and her memory is still choppy at best. But it’s ok because at this point you basically are absolutely addicted to this book and would volunteer as tribute for Memnon any day, and/or would beg to party with the shifters next door…… 4 ⭐️

Did the book have a cliffhanger ending? Yes, yes it did. Will I preorder it immediately? Yes, yes I will,

Also, I want a Panther. Thank yew.

Thank you NetGalley, and the publisher for the chance to review this arc!!

Book 1 of Bewitched gives you exactly what you need: FMC Selene, a witch who loses a bit of her memory every time she uses magic. She wants to join a coven, ending up taking a trip and uncovers a crypt with an ancient evil sorcerer who thinks that she is his wife who betrayed him and now wants revenge!

Selene was frustrating and a badass FMC. Her familiar is a Panther and AMAZING! Memnon, who isn’t necessarily a hero but not a villain and he’s so intriguing and you’ll love every moment with him on the page. With exceptional world building and magic throughout the story with a touch of dark academia you’re going to be pulled in and awaiting the next! In all you need to read this if you love magic, witches, enemies to lovers, werewolves and steamy/spice scenes with obsession!

I received this ARC for an honest review. This is not my first book from author Laura Thalassa. I really enjoyed her Four Horseman series so I gave Bewitched a try. This story is about Selene and Mennon The Cursed. It is set in the same world as the Bargainer and Unearthly series.. It started off exciting with Selene going on a magical quest and trying to find her familiar. Selene decides to go to Galápagos Islands for her quest. On her flight to the islands, a magical attack that hit the plane. Selene used her magic to help out with the crash. Once on the ground, she kept getting magically pulled into the forest. What happened next? You must read the book to find out.
After the beginning of the book, the story slowed a little then the action picked up. It’s a good story. Just get passed the one slow spot.
With quality of writing and world building, Laura Thalassa is obviously extremely talented. Her characters are multidimensional and you want to continue reading.

3.5 stars.
Well guys... Bewitched by Laura Thalassa did not live up to the legacy of the Bargainer or Four Horsemen series this author is known for.
✨️
Selene is a college-aged witch who desperately wants into the Henbane Coven. Problem is, every time Selene does magic, she loses memories. This magical disease leaves her vulnerable, but she doesn't care. She wants what she wants, consequences be damned. In order to secure her spot, she goes on a magical quest. Find a familiar and use some serious magic. Well, she does both. She gets a badåšs panther named Nero for a familiar, and she opens the tomb of a man named Memnon the Cursed. Sound like a bad idea? It totally is. She gets way more than she bargained for when Memnon is convinced Selene is his wife, Roxilana, and he'll stop at nothing to have her by his side.
🐈‍⬛
So. I was super pumped about this book ,and it was just...not great. It felt incredibly disjointed. Like witchy college vibes mixing with the ancient fated love and history, and then throw in some mysterious műrďerŝ. It didn't mesh well for me a,d I felt yanked out of the story when I'd go from Memnon's history to a witchy party.
🤔
For what spice there was it,was pretty decent. More than what you get in the Bargainer series. Memnon is orally fixated and loves to worship the 🐈. And he has no problem denying Selene what she needs until he gets his way. My biggest complaint is Memnon may be at my villain limit for a love interest. I need the villain MMC to still treat the FMC like he loves her. Not just flowery words and $5000 for cat food. That doesn't negate his vengeance. There do have to be some lines in enemies to lovers that aren't crossed. And Selene needs a backbone. Maybe a new one, built from scratch.
🙄
I may still continue the series. The cliffhanger has me interested,but I'm also annoyed so idk. I appreciate the ARC opportunity from NetGalley though.

In true Laura Thalassa style, Bewitched has captured my heart and soul from the first page. This enemies to lovers fantasy romance left me breathless and completely enamored with Selene and Memnon. A fantastic world of witches, sorcerers and supernaturals was crafted here with beautiful and fascinating details. I was transported to a world full of secrets, twists and suspense. The soulmates from ages turned into enemies. A bond that shimmers, sizzles and just refused to die. Dark magic, dangerous curses, sinful passion and an epic love that's messy and all consuming. And everything comes together spectacularly through Laura Thalassa's epic writing to create a fantasy masterpiece.

What happens when a witch books a trip to Galapogas Island for her required magic quest and familiar so that she can be accepted in the coven..and then set free an "evil" sorcerer-conquerer from the cursed tomb who claims she is his queen who also betrayed him? You get it..chaos ensues.

This one was a mix of magic, fantasy, action and obviously all consuming emotions. I am a sucker of soulmates and reincarnation because there is something so inherently romantic about two people finding each other over again after centuries! I love-hate-love Memnon. He is obviously obsessed with his queen. He comes with "you are mine" and "touch her and die" vibes. But he is also enraged with Selene because she is the queen who has cursed him. He needs the curse to be lifted. He needs her to remember. But Selene doesn’t remember. She is sweet and witty and strong. So strong. Her magic comes at the great cost of her memories but she will risk everything for the right and the fair. She definitely holds all the Regal qualities. This story comes with the angst of some kind of unrequited love. The connection between Selene and Memnon is palpable but Selene doesn’t want to give in. The slow burn chemistry was epic. The thing is..there are so many unresolved things between them. And Memnon can be really cruel and manipulative and conniving when required. It's hard for Selene to accept that she loved a heartless monster but she also cannot deny that Memnon holds some kind of unexplainable power over her heart. He is the kind of hero who takes you right at the line between love and hate, obsession and disdain, pain and pleasure. You can feel that his love is larger than anything in this world. I can just pray that they find it soon..in next book.

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily

Laura Thalassa is a favorite author of mine. When I found out that she was writing a new series, I jumped at the chance to read it. And boy did this book, BEWITCHED, OUT APRIL 18, not disappoint. It’s got romance, magic, suspense, drama, and throw in some spice and you have a winner story.

Part of what I loved most about this story is it’s newer take on the romance between Selene, the FMC who is charming, optimistic, and a lovable hot mess, and the sorcerer who she awakens from his cursed tomb, Memnon. He’s a badass villain who thinks Selene is his long lost wife who locked him in said cursed tomb. It was like the grumpy sunshine trope, but with magic and if the grump was a 2,000 year old powerful sorcerer who not only worships the ground you walk on, but also wants you to pay for that betrayal.

I think that dynamic was different than some of the other morally grey romances I’ve been reading and I was really entertained. Here is this guy who is obsessed with Selene, values her, but still seeks revenge in most places. Its a new relationship dynamic I haven’t seen often in romance, where the person who is supposed to be your ride or die, who is supposed to love you, support you, and cherish you doesn’t have a conscience and is actually the villain. I thought that was interesting and unique and that Selene is realistic in her struggles with that dynamic, even if she drove me nuts sometimes.

I will say I found some parts of the plot repetitive, but because the story flowed well, I was entertained, and I enjoyed the characters, this wasn’t a deal breaker for me or even an issue. But it might be to other readers.

Overall, I highly recommend this book and you should read it if you like:

✅ Villain, alpha MMC
✅ Witch FMC
✅ Enemies to lovers
✅ Touch her and die
✅ Amnesia/ mistaken identity
✅ Power Struggles
✅ Magic and familiars

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this book in exchange for an honest review. And thanks Laura Thassala for writing this fabulous book.

Selene has been desperate to get into her coven of choice for years but when her magic takes memories, this has not been an easy journey for her. Undertaking a quest and finding a familiar is the key. Easy, right? The quest takes a turn when Selene releases Memnon the cursed. Does this mean she is now cursed? Is she responsible for Memnon? And why does he feel so right??

Memnon has been asleep for over 2000 years and in this time the world has forgotten his conquests, his kingdom and his irreplaceable soulmate. He is intense, but who could blame the poor guy. The love of his life, his soulmate, doesn't remember him even though he remembers everything about Roxilana. He will go to any length to make the world and his soulmate remember.

But when witches are being murdered and Selene can't remember where she was last week or even yesterday, what lengths will they have to go to? Will Selene's magic continue to take her memories? Can Memnon restore Selene's memories, and his kingdom and glory? And who is killing these witches?

This was so good! There were some great one liner's. So great that I had to send them to others who were also reading this book! It was fun, it was spicy, it was witchy, and it includes a drop dead gorgeous sorcerer. What more can you ask for. I CANNOT wait for Laura to release the second novel in the series!

Big thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks bloom books and Laura Thalassa for this ARC.

Instagram posted on 16/04/2023 (AEST)

This was so good! It got off to a weird start if I’m being honest but slowly but surely developed into a really interesting story. I absolutely love Laura Thalassa’s take on enemies to lovers in this one because it’s not really enemies to lovers at all, it’s enemies and lovers all at once. We get all the tropes we love (who did this to you, fated mates, etc) but in a completely new way that feels just as much like romance as it does like a violent power struggle. It’s so interesting and tense and idk how I’m supposed to wait for book 2 now 😭😭

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloom for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review and the biggest thanks to Laura for writing yet another amazing novel!

I was so disappointed because I was seriously looking forward to reading this early with my ARC copy. I wanted to give this a good review but I have to be honest. I just didn't enjoy this book. It was kind of cheesy and not what I was expecting. The "witchy" stuff was so cliche that I just couldn't stick with it. I feel like apologizing to the author because I loved "The Bargainer" series SO much and I was hoping to love this one too. It just didn't live up to the other series, for me.