Witchy books. We love them, right?

Ugh, guys....this book was...AMAZING!
Listen, I don't hand out 5 stars on goodreads every day. But this one, this one got it. I absolutely adored the magical world that @sophiehmorgan created. And the characters? *chef's kiss*

"Love is a hex of a thing. Former childhood sweethearts fake a relationship in this charming, witchy romcom.

There’s nothing wrong with being a wallflower. Not to Emmaline Bluewater, anyway. Emma may have been born into witch society, but her days of trying to fit in where she doesn’t belong are over—they ended seven years ago, when the man she’d hoped to marry left town without a word. She’s much happier now, living a delightfully mundane human life in Chicago and running her bar, Toil and Trouble.

Until Bastian Truenote walks through the door and announces that he wants her back.

Bastian had his reasons for leaving—even if he can’t tell Emma what they are. Now, to win Emma’s heart, he’s got to face down an adorably goofy dog familiar, a best friend who’s all too eager to hit him with a carefully aimed hex, and a woman who’s far from the meek witch he remembers.

Magical contracts aren’t easily broken, but as far as Emma’s concerned, not even a marriage of convenience will have her falling under Bastian’s spell again…"

I don't know where to start this review except to say both characters suck, but boyyyyyyy does Bastian really suck.

Emmaline and Bastian have been betrothed since they were children, as is normal in witch society. When they were 21, Bastain disappeared. He leaves a note for his parents saying he can't marry Emmaline, and that's it. Now, 7 years later, he waltzes back into Emma's life because he needs something. His mom is sick because he turned his back on the marriage contract, so Emma HAS to marry him now.

Emma is a doormat, so obviously, she agrees. To be fair, she's worried about a woman's health and life, but still. She's grumpy and sets boundaries, but not really. Bastian just steamrolls her and her life while she is having an internal meltdown pretty much constantly.

I DNFd this at 55%. I just couldn't. Bastian barely even likes Emma. It seemed like he used to take her friendship for granted. Emma was head over heels in love with him, and he dropped her like a hot potato, and now that he needs something, he'll be charming. Right. Ok. My problem is that Bastian DOESN'T EVEN REALLY LIKE EMMA. And yet, he keeps making sexual remarks, commenting on her mouth, kissing her, using his telekinetic grabby hands, but then thinking all sorts of unfavorable or judgy thoughts about her. Like c'mon.

This leads us to the next reason for the DNF. The miscommunication trope. This trope is hot garbage, and in this book, it's a flaming dumpster. It's honestly not even miscommunication so much as "I'm just not going to explain anything ever, ok?". The frustration levels were high at this point, and I just had to stop.

I will say I loved the dog, and I loved Emma's relationship with her little sister. The magical world could have been interesting, but it was flat and kind of problematic. I appreciate the ARC opportunity from NetGalley, but this just missed all the marks for me.

🍃🍂 I thought this was a cute fun fall read! Second chance romance between Emmaline Bluewater and Bastian Truenote (yes you read those names correctly). Emma has left the witching world for the muggles, if you will, and tries to steer clear of magic since she isn’t the greatest at it. Her old flame, also old fiancé who walked out on her, comes back into her life.

🌜If one thing drives me crazy it’s the miscommunication or lack of communication and this story was chock full although I still enjoyed the premise of the story and the increasing love between Emma and Bastian. If you’re into a cute young adult witchy read you’d love this one!!

I struggled with connecting with the characters. The miscommunication was too strong upfront. I ended up DNFing it about 20% of the way in.

The Witch is Back is a wonderful sweet, flirty, and fun read! I really enjoyed the lighthearted story - a fun addition to any witchy season read!

This was a cute romance book which I think is good in theory but I didn't love the characters and world-building. I found it to be a little one dimensional, however, if all you are looking for is a cute, easy, romance that distracts from real life this would be the book for you. The author's writing style is nice and easy to read but unfortunately the story wasn't really for me.

Rom-Com with a bit of magic.

This book was a fun, quick read, but it was slow and a few parts. I did like the whole set up/world building, and also the relationships between the FMC and her friends. I do like second chance romances, but the MMC was frustrating at some points for me. I didn’t like how he shows up after years of being away, he ”needs” to marry the FMC.

While I enjoyed the book, I am on the fence about the next book in the series. However, hopefully book two will be edited/paced, to make for a more engaging story.

I absolutely adored this book!

Emma and Bastian were darling, I really enjoyed the push and pull of watching them fall for one another and learn to trust each other!

Emma was so tender, I just wanted to protect her from her vial family every time they were on the page. Emma’s growth was great and I enjoyed watching her come into her own.

Things you’ll find in this book:
-Arranged Marriage of convenience
-Second chance romance
-friends to strangers to lovers
-fairy tale vibes
-evil mothers
-magic and humans
-friend group
-magical nefarious plots
-miscommunication trope

All in all I had some slight grievances with the plot, but nothing too terrible! It was a quick, easy, and enjoyable read!

This was such a cute childhood friends to lovers romance. Emma and Bastian are really great together, and the side characters witch, human, and animal are all fantastic!
I'm seriously hoping Leah and Tia get their happily ever afters, too.

The Witch Is Back was witchy,charming,sexy, and a pleasure to read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

ARC review for NetGalley

I enjoyed this book-- it was a light read and easy to get through in a few hours. Featuring second chances romance trope (and a few others), and witchcraft, the book has a cast of characters that is probably setting up future romances in the series (which I am looking forward to!). Emma was easily identifiable with as a main character.

3.5⭐, 2.5🌶️

I started this book excited to get in the mood for witchy fall romances, and while this wasn't THE book for me, I enjoyed the unique plot premise of it with their "forced" marriage. Emma and Bastian's past history was interesting to me, but at times I got a tad confused but the basic premise was pretty simple to follow. We can all agree that Emma's mother was vile, and Bastian is at heart a sweetie, but the book is definitely a rollercoaster of emotions and I found it hard to stay connected throughout the full book.

Thank you NetGalley and HARLEQUIN Publishing for an eARC of The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan. This is my honest, free review!

Emmaline "Emma" Bluewater and Bastian Truenote are members of the secret witch society living amongst humans. The two childhood friends were betrothed when their parents signed a marriage contract, but when the time comes, Bastian flees. Seven years later he returns, seeking out Emma in her new life as part owner of a bar in Chicago. He's ready to marry her now, because if he doesn't very bad things will happen. Emma's mother, a truely evil being, is both thrilled and smug at the renewed wedding plans, browbeating Emma at every opportunity to live up to her own expectations of what a high society witch should be.
I have trouble evaluating this book. I enjoy some of the tropes- 2nd chance romance, family relationships, finding oneself , mixed magic and romance - but there were too many contrived bits for me to really get caught up. When Bastian returns he offers no explanation for his disappearance and, even when it becomes clear that there's a hex preventing him from doing so, the reasoning falls flat and Emma never pushes for information. Emma's friend holds too much hate towards Bastian too long into the story even though Emma tells her to back down. Emma's mother and other family members are over-the-top scheming and mean to her. I understand why she has self-image problems, but the mother's behavior, in particular, is almost comical in its extremes.
I did enjoy seeing Emma's growth and the evolution of her various relationships, so it was a fun enough read. That said, I would put it in the middle of my to-read pile rather than near the top.

The Witch is Back was a pretty quick read for me, but still one that I think had some pacing issues in the middle. It is one of the rare books where the characters are keeping huge secrets from one another that didn't lead me to an immediate desire to DNF because too often I hate when characters do that. Essentially, this book follows a witch who has a terrible mother who has moved to Chicago and opened a bar where she works with a mundane and a fellow witch. She and her childhood best friend/ex-fiancé haven't spoken in YEARS when suddenly he shows up and oopsies, he needs her to marry him. Then a whole lot of mystery and shenanigans spiral from there.

The beginning was quickly paced and engaging and the end was quick. In the middle, there was a lot of good and then a lot of just... too much. There is actually just a lot of plot in this book and I'm not sure if it's that it got too inflated or if the pacing and my mood just weren't working. But ultimately, for me, I thought this book was just a little bit too long. Regardless, I enjoyed the ride and think it's quite likely that I'll pick up the next in the series as I'm hopeful that the next book will improve.

Cute and sweet. Dragged at points, but I loved it at the end. Absolutely one I would recommend for a sweet read.

Seven years after Bastian disappeared without a word, effectively ending their engagement, Emma finds herself living a happily mundane life in Chicago running her bar, Toil and Trouble, with her two best friends (one witch, one human). The last thing she ever expected was for him to walk in and ask for her to take him back. Can she forgive him after such a betrayal?

I have mixed emotions about this one--I liked it, but also found myself frustrated with a lot of it. The writing was great and I felt drawn into the story, the world, and the characters immediately, however, if I had known this included miscommunication, I would have run for the hills (my fault for not reading reviews beforehand, I guess). It's a huge pet peeve of mine when characters refuse to talk to each other or blindly follow assumptions. I also didn't think the FMC was the most likeable (it took her way too long to stand up for herself). I liked her two friends a lot better and hope they get their own stories. I would still give this one a shot if you don't mind miscommunication and are looking to read a cute, witchy romance.

I loved this book. It’s witchy book season, and this is the best of the bunch I’ve read so far. The characters are compelling and the plot kept me reading into the night. It requires that the reader suspend belief, but this is a book about magic!

Emma and Bastian were set in a marriage contract by their parents when they were teenagers. Emma was head over heels for him until he left town and never came back. In the intervening years, Emma found out that her greedy mother had inserted a clause that meant that Emma (and therefore her mother), would have access to Bastian’s much more powerful magic.

Emma left, moved to Chicago, and opened a bar to get away from her family. One day, Bastian walks through the door and basically tells Emma they have to get married, or his mother will die, due to another sneaky clause that’s making her sick already.
That’s the start of the story, and the rest of the book is a fun ride. I highly recommend it, 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

The last witch Emmaline Bluewater expects to see walk though the door of Toil and Trouble, the Chicago bar she part owns with her best friends, is Bastian Truenote. It’s been almost seven years since her fiancé, and best friend, abandoned her without so much of a word, and in his absence Emma’s made a life for herself among humans, far from the disapproval of Witch Society, and her mother.
Bastian literally can’t tell Emmaline why he left her seven years ago but, with his mother suffering from the ill effects of his and Emma’s expired cursed engagement contract, he needs her to marry him now. He’s grateful when Emma agrees, but surprised when she demands the marriage be in name only.

The Witch is Back is a second-chance romance by Sophie H. Morgan. I was hoping to be pleasantly distracted by a lighthearted, low stakes story laced with magic, and I was in part, but there were elements of this novel that I found disappointing.

To begin with I was baffled as to how Bastian could believe that Emma would welcome his return with open arms after no contact for seven years, and why Emma wouldn’t demand an explanation the moment she saw him again. I found it really hard to move past this introduction as it flatters neither character and it’s never really resolved.

I found it easier to forgive Emma, whose issues are clearly the fault of her horrifyingly abusive mother. With not a single redeeming feature, Clarissa puts the ‘b’ in witch and everything that has gone wrong between Emma and Bastian can be traced to her really.

However, though a hex may have prevented Bastian from justifying his reasons for leaving, to do so without some sort of excuse for Emma was cruel. It takes Bastian far too long to apologise when he should have been well aware of what the consequences of him absconding would be for her.

I was also puzzled as to how Emmaline didn’t recognise the signs of the silencing spell that prevents Bastian from telling Emma the secret he is keeping. I would have thought the violent coughing and choking would have been a clue. Emma’s secrets are both benign and not, but she at least is proactive about the more damning of the two, which again is not her fault but her mother’s.

If you can skate over all of that, the romantic tension between Emma and Bastian works, and the spice is gratifying. I enjoyed the scenes where Emma spends time with her besties, Tia and Leah. It’s not difficult to see that Morgan probably has plans for Leah and Emma’s brother, Kole, for a future book.

Morgan’s world building is interesting too, but the upper echelons of Witch Society are really not pleasant, Morgan describes a world largely of grasping, power hungry socialites. The type and strength of magic varies between individuals, Bastian for example is a Higher Born son, a strong magic wielder with a particular talent for mind magic such as telekinesis, while Emma’s abilities are not very powerful. I did like the magic involved in the Divining, a process that determines the compatibility and power of a betrothed couple, though the hierarchical judgement seems a bit harsh.

Hovering around the ‘OK’ rating for me, The Witch is Back wasn’t the spellbinding read I hoped for.

Second-chance romances are hit-and-miss for me, but this one worked well (probably because of the magical elements involved). Both Bastian and Emma are well-intentioned but have some growing to do, and their growth arcs are full of depth. There are some annoying bits of miscommunication, but overall their relationship feels realistic (for, you know, one between two magical beings) and supportive (Bastian's takedown of Emma's mom is AWESOME). I also loved the cozy, witchy atmosphere of the book--I want to know more about the magical society in which Bastian and Emma grew up.

I"m not sure if this will end up being a series, but I'd love to read about Tia, Leah, and their respective love interests!

When you are incredibly shy and everyone in your life has made you believe that it is the ultimate weakness, it is hard to believe that anyone could see past that trait causing Emma to become an outcast. Of course, it doesn't help that the groom that you were contracted to wed did a runner just to get away from you. As the groom who did the runner, what happens when you come back to set things right, but no one believes that you mean to stick this time or that you won't just take the easy way out? Apparently even witches need to communicate better! A wonderful and witchy paranormal romance that has more depth than you would think as well as a meaningful message of quality communication. This second chance, or is it third chance, romance is a fabulous way to step away from the real world while being wrapped in a witchy love story. I am really hopeful that this will become a series as there are other characters that could easily step into the main character roles and continue to delight readers in this wonderful witchy world. I really enjoyed these characters and they were extremely relatable thus making you want to find out what happens to them and leaves you wanting even more! Let's hope the author sees my review and indeed brings us more from this world!

The Witch is Back is a great second chance romance by Sophie H. Morgan. Arranged marriages are a thing of the past and but not in the magical realm. Bastian and Emma were best friend until Bastian left without a word. Bastian leaving hurt Emma so badly that she moved and decided to live among humans. After years of being apart and not hearing a word from Bastian, he all of a sudden face to face with Emma. Their reconnection and reconciliation is vital to how the two of them will continue to live their lives.
I really enjoyed the characters and would love more stories about them.