I never thought I’d enjoy witchy romances, but this book with its engaging characters - and a dog and a cat - was thoroughly enjoyable. It has all the twists and complications you’d expect from a romance and some magic.

Loved this magical witchy romcom! It was an easy read. Full of fun and entertaining characters. Emma’s character development made me happy. I loved it when she finally stood up for her self!
I really hope there’s a sequel for Tia, Leah, Sloane, and Kole. As well one for Emma and Bastian. I don’t feel like their story is complete.
I’d recommend this book to other witchy romance readers!

“It was like holding fire and he considered himself lucky to be burned."

Bastian is a powerful warlock from a wealthy and influential family. Emma is a shy witch from a family just on the edge of society. They have had a marriage contract in place since they were kids, but Bastian leaves. Leaves Emma, their marriage, his family, and society life. 7 years later he shows up in the bar Emma owns and begs her to marry him.

This is romance story that also deals with grieving of past relationships, abuse from a family member, and rebuilding of trust. Emma has also been treated like she is less than, while Bastian is praised for being perfect in every aspect. Emma struggled to feel like she was good enough for Bastian 7 years ago and now she isn’t interested in having a real relationship with him. Emma built fortress level walls to protect herself from Bastian and he slowly chips away at them with his love, kindness, and understanding. Bastian longs for Emma and truly desires to love her, but he is scared of her secrets.

I am so obsessed with their story. Second-chance romances always work for me. I love seeing the longing (especially from the MMC)!!!!!! The spicy scenes were amazing and emotional, but there could always be more🤷🏼‍♀️🌶️ I am excited to see what is next from this author. I would love a story about Sloane when she’s older and maybe a warlock?!?!?!

The Witch is Back is such an excellent book, and I truly enjoyed reading it. I was hoping for a book with themes of character growth, second chance romance, action and adventure and this books did not disappoint. Sophie wrote an amazing book where the characters grow and develop all the way through instead of all at once. The romance at the heart of this story is slow burning but strong, and I couldn't stop the smile on my face whenever Emma and Bastian came together a little bit more, whether through circumstance or with a little push.

The characters are the heart of the story, and each one shines in different ways; we watch Emma struggle to come to terms with Bastian back in her life and how she can trust him, her family issues and her personal strength. Bastian has to take responsibility after running from it his entire life. Tia, Sloane, and Leah all had growth of their own (and honestly I'm really hoping they each get their own stories!), which made them interesting secondary characters that didn't fade into the background.

All considered, I would rate this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars, and I am so excited to see what Sophie writes next!

This was a really adorable rom com about second chances.
Tropes to look out for
Second chances
Forced proximity
Friends to lovers
Opposite attracts

Great steamy romance

This book was so adorable. There is nothing more that I love then a witchy rom com. The world and word building in this book was perfect. I loved every minute that I read this book.

This was a very fun book and one that surprised me! The opening was not very strong, but as the plot got going I got increasingly invested in the characters, their relationships, and the mystery at the core of their backstory. As someone who gets deeply annoyed by unnecessary misunderstandings plots, I appreciated that the major miscommunication couldn't be cleared up because of a literal magical hex on one side and some very understandable trauma on the other.

The life that Emma built outside of the bounds of magical high society is wonderful -- I loved the sections showing her interacting with her friends and those of her siblings who are on her side -- and the reader can understand the lengths she'd go to to protect it. Likewise, Bastian's love for his parents and his turmoil around the curse he's under and his erstwhile friendship with Emma make his POV sections particularly tasty to read.

And the way the problem with their marriage contract is solved is very satisfying!

All in all, I do recommend this book. You might just need to give it a couple chapter to really get going.

What a great fun read. I really liked the romance, the story arc, the side characters, and the wit. All of it. It was a fun romance with a great story to relax to. I have several patrons in mind already, so we will be purchasing for the collection.

This is a book filled with lots of charming and witty characters. There is also romance and family and learning to trust again.
This is a fun book that I would read others set here about these characters again.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I really loved the way the story and romance between Emma and Bastian unfolded. The supporting characters enhanced their journey to get over their past. The details about the magic system and witch society were also really interesting and I would be interested in learning more about it.

This was a great little romance. Engaging characters. I really like the MFC - she was spunky and funny. You cheered for her when she finally stood up for herself with her overbearing mother. Her two best friends makes you wish you had friends like that that always had your back. Loved the interaction between the MFC and MMC - watching them realize they had deep feelings for each other. Would love it if there was a sequel to see what else happens with Tia, Leah, Sloane, Kole, Emma and Bastian. Would definitely recommend.

This book has a lot of my favorite tropes, second chance romance, forced proximity, and marriage of convenience.

Emma and Bastian had an arranged marriage of sorts planned from the time they were kids. Emma was the shy, quiet type while Bastian was not, she was in love with him but never really knew how he felt for her. When it came time to start planning the wedding, something happens and Bastian flees town saying he can't go through with it. Emma is devastated but uses the pain as an opportunity to make changes in her life. Years later Bastian returns and wants to move forward with the marriage for reasons that would be a spoiler to explain. The story then follows the two of them trying to rebuild a friendship and go from there.

There are so many good moments in this book. I loved the relationship between Emma and her friends, I imagine we might get books for them next. I loved Emma and her brother together, you could tell that they were just two people trying to make it in a family of assholes. I also enjoyed Bastian's relationship with his family and seeing how much they loved each other. Bastian being into archaeology was really cool, I'm dying for a good love story based on a dig site.

The only thing I disliked about this book was that the whole time you are reading it, you know what the conflict is. But when the conflict actually came, I was surprised by a part of it because it did have a nice twist in it.

Overall, this was a really fun book to read. The characters and their growth are worth picking this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Morgan, and HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada), for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch is Back is not your typical fake relationship rom com. To me this one was a little heavier in that the relationship with our MCs was so complicated. That being said, I did enjoy this book very much. I went from strongly disliking Bastian to absolutely loving him! And man, did my heart break for him a couple of times in this story. Emma was a little more difficult for me. But I’m not a huge fan of characters that hold onto past grudges so rigidly. But her character was so complex and well written, and her mother’s abuse made her personality make complete sense. These two together were perfect. Where she is stiff and boring, Bastian is determined to get her out of her comfort zone and try new things. She causes him to look at things more seriously. There’s some wit and banter, drama and angst, and spice! I would definitely recommend this book!

This book made my heart happy! It was full of charming characters, flirty banter, surprising plot twists, and all of the witchy goodness that I was hoping to get. I really enjoyed the world building and getting to learn about the magic system and politics.

This was a fun witchy read. I very much enjoyed the journey with these characters looking forward to more books from this author

This was an absolutely adorable read. It was fun and lighthearted. I enjoyed the magic and friendships.
This is one of my favorite witchy books this year!

It was cute but needed better humor and a better reason for conflict. The villain is very flat and could've been more interested if she were layered and complicated.

Withcy romcoms are my thing and this one certainly fits in well with all the other amazing witchy books that I've read recently. So much so that I know I'll need a copy for my bookshelves once it releases! Highly recommend for anyone who loves this genre of romcoms.

The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan was a pleasant surprise as Morgan is a new author for me. While some of the character felt like they lacked enough development to keep me engaged; it was a pleasant read.

I had high hopes for The Witch is Back - the cover is absolutely stunning and the blurb sounds like the most cozy, witchy rom-com (which are my go-to in October).

This was a very quick read, and I was able to finish in a day! Once I got started, I was immediately sucked in - there was a lot going on at once (character introductions for both MCs and supporting characters, backstory, immediate plot points, etc). It felt very overwhelming at times, which was a turn off.

I liked these characters! Both of them have personality and dimension that allowed for growth throughout the novel. HOWEVER, I felt like the relationship between the MC’s was extremely flat and there was very little chemistry between them. At the 70% mark, I was still trying to determine if the MMC liked the FMC or if his motivations had changed. It really wasn’t clear. This seemed like a good way to incorporate some pining, but the author gave us nothing!! A few short pieces of dialogue do not equate to being enough to portray to readers that the MMC is head over heels for the FMC.

This also made for bland spicy scenes! It felt as though the first intimate scene was written by an AI - too systematic, the language used was technical and didn’t feel passionate, and it came across as physical only for the MC’s and not an emotional experience for them (something I was expecting since they are supposed to be falling in love).

I was mostly unhappy about how the entire novel felt like one big miscommunication trope - so much of the plot was simply due to the MC’s not being upfront with each other. There’s so much information withholding across the board, it just gets to be annoying and repetitive.

One thing this author did really well was developing subplots! I adored the supporting characters, the FMC’s secret sister, and the use of magic (although I would’ve liked a little more of this since the premise is meant to be “witchy”)

Overall, this ranked at around a 3 star for me.