Sisters Cordleia and Eustace have not seen each other in a while and are brought together after the passing of their Great Aunt Augusta. They have been summoned to her estate as the last living members of the Bone Family. The sisters are orphans as their mother passed away tragically and they never knew their father. They had never met their aunt and were definitely not prepared for what happens upon their arrival to her estate.

The Bone family have always been seen as outsiders. Rumors have circulated forever about witchcraft and evil surrounding the house. Cordelia and Eustace arrive with baggage...literally and figuratively. Both their lives have hit a bump. As they begin to reestablish their relationship as sisters, they also begin to learn about their family history and powers which are within them.

Overall, this is a good Halloween witch vibe read. I have to admit, it took me a while to get into it and took me a lot longer to read than most books. The first bit was a little slow but half way through, I found the story to get much more interesting and attention holding.

The story is told through Cordelia's POV and sprinkles in stories from ghosts of the past. It is a good fantasy read and I found the descriptive writing to be really great. I loved envisioning this grand estate they were in with hidden rooms and secrets.

Perfect Halloween read. Four stars. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for a digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have just finished The witches of bone hill by Ava Morgyn and here are my thoughts.

The Bone sisters had no idea they had an aunt or that she was leaving them the anchestrial home upon her death.

Cordelia needs money after her cheating husband leaves her with his criminal debts. Her sister Eustace needs to get away from her life so they both head off to see what the will contains.

Trouble is, the will is very clear. They can't sell the house. It has to stay in the bone family or they forfeit. The only person who has any kind of clue as to what their aunt was like is the groundskeeper. A sexy broody man who lives in the carriage house.

It soon becomes clear that their family history is full of death and their lineage is much more than they ever knew. When bad things begin to happen in the house, the sisters must unravel the cryptic clues their aunt has left behind.

This book started off a little slow for me. It was probably a ¼ of the way through before I really got hooked. The whole book got very exciting the more we learned about the dark past of the house and all about the family curse did I get so invested that I read until my eyes ached.

It was really well written. The storyline was clever and detailed and the descriptive parts about the house had me tingling with anticipation. I loved how the sisters suddenly came into themselves when they arrived at the house. It was like being away from it had stripped their talents away and being back bought them to life. Loved all the Norse stuff too. So clever and very well done.

Thought the supporting characters could have had a bit more to them but honestly the book was quite brilliant and that's my only gripe.

Book was well paved and thoroughly enjoyable. Great read for the spooky season for sure

4.5 stars thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy.

Out now

The plot of this book sounded fantastic, and I was so excited to finally start on it. Unfortunately, it ended up being a letdown. I had to really push myself to finish it.

I'm not exactly sure where it went wrong. In theory, it has so many elements I love in a book. Magic, ghosts, a spooky old house, and estranged sisters trying to find their way back to each other. Sadly, it just didn't click for me. I had a very hard time connecting with the characters, and the story felt all over the place.

Despite all of that, I did feel like it had a strong ending, and that made up for its deficits in other areas.


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

This is a new to me author, and I believe this is their second book (it is not part of a series). Initially I wasn't sure if the tone was supposed to be comedic or serious. It took several chapters to figure out the characters were not supposed to be funny - which was a little confusing.

Overall I enjoyed this book, although at times it felt like a cross between Practical Magic and Harry Potter. It felt a bit long, and there's a Mafia side plot that truly felt unnecessary but for the most part I liked the story and characters.

This was a great book to read going into Halloween season. It was a creatively written story of new found family while having a large air of mystery surrounding it. There was a great spooky feel to it that fits in with the season quite well. Not just that but there are truly creepy occurrences when Cordelia and Eustace arrive at the family estate.

This is a well-woven tale of family deception, mysterious links to otherworldly beings, what seems to be a family curse, a horrible ex-husband and a promising new love. It truly has a little bit of everything. There's a great deal to it but I don't want to give any of it away because the author does a really nice job of just giving you small pieces of information at a time. This helps to keep the mystery and creep factor strong through most of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I loved the concept of this book. It reminded me a bit of Practical Magic, but much darker with a lot of creepy supernatural elements and a lot of gore. Don't let the whimsical cover fool you, this story is anything but.

There were some side plots that kind of slowed down the storyline and probably could have been left out but overall I really enjoyed this one. I felt the romance to be a little cringey and the villain to be totally predictable but I became so involved with wanting to know more about the Bones that those things were easily overlooked.

If you were a fan of Practical Magic, but wished it had more edge, you should check this one out.

This book is an excellent lesson in "Don't judge a book by its cover." I thought I was getting into a campy witchy eom com, but instead it turned out to be a Gothic horror novel that was dark, macabre and filled with blood.... and I was all in for it. This book is terrifying, I was thrilled and scared. It is a perfect book for a rainy October afternoon. This book also had strong women, a loving sisterly bond, and some of that campy romance I originally planned for. Besides making me cringe, it also made me laugh.

I have it 4 stars because there was a brutal animal death scene. It made sense with the story and was needed, but I had a hard time stomaching it.

Thank you to the author, Ava Morgyn, the publisher St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is was a fun witchy book to kick off October! Overall I enjoyed the story but felt it dragged a bit

Book Review
The Witches of Bone Hill by Ava Morgyn

Whats its Got
✅Family secrets
✅Twins
✅Animals
✅Spooky okd Victorian home
✅A curse
✅ Witches
✅ dead relatives
✅ mafia goons

Characters
Eustace- the older Bone sister, pot grower, business minded
Cordelia- house flipper, wife, interior designer
Gordon- sexy tattooed retired rock star turned groundskeeper
Marvel- a fox
The White Lady aka Augusta- a formidable woman alive or dead
The Toger family- the gatekeepers, protectors

Thoughts
The house, estate and legacy represent an opportunity for new beginnings. A curse that needs to be lifted, wrongs to be righted. Family history to learn. This aspect of the book was done well, very atmospheric, perfect for spooky season and lovers of Practical Magic but……..
The only part of the story line I didnt love was the whole mafia, fraud, asshat cheating husband . I get how it creates urgency and the reason “why” Cordy needs her inheritance buuuttttt it just didnt feel right- like a shoe a half size too small- it doesnt fit the ambience of the story

Still, a highly enjoyable read!!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

I have mixed thoughts on this one. It was a great setting and I loved the set up of the book, but I got lost several times during it and felt a bit bored and that the pacing was off. Overall I’m glad I read it and think there will be lots of people will absolutely love it! Something just didn’t click for me personally.

This book has so many great elements.
An old haunted Mansion.
Family secrets to uncover.
Discovering that family bonds can run deep, and sometimes you can't escape them.
An inheritance that comes with stipulations.
Cordelia, the main character struggles with her newfound powers and how to harness them.
Eustace, her sister. A side character but even so a strong one.
Ghosts.
An origin story of how the Bone family came to be and their powers.
Forgiveness.
A second chance at life.
Familiars.

All of the above make this book, well magical. Cordelia has run all her life. Her mom had her and her sister constantly moving and running from... something. When she has the chance to build a "normal" life with her husband, she dives in head first. She builds a successful business. Basically has the white picket fence. Along with her husband's mistress, that is. He takes off with the mistress, all of their funds, and even clients from the business. Cordelia is left with his debt, and the mob on her tail for something her soon-to-be ex did. She is the main character. Desperate to get out from under debt and the mob that wants payment- in some form or another she receives a call from her estranged sister saying that they have just inherited a family home. From the family that they never met. Family their mom never wanted them to meet. No matter, Cordelia hops on a plane so she can quickly put whatever house is waiting on the other end of the line up for sale to start to get her life back in order.
The house of course is a masion. Cordelia sees dollar signs. The lawyer who has managed the family trust lays out the stipulations that must be met before the sisters can inherit the mansion and the fortune.
The story is suspenseful in a creepy, not jump-out-of-your-seat scary way. It is exciting and interesting. Though a slow burn.
What I didn't like were all the other elements that just bogged down the story. The mob. Like Cordelia's life wasn't already in shambles. The mob side story didn't even interest me. It was just more to sort through to get to the real story. The "sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past". This part of the story just wasn't really believable, the characters were not believable. The groundskeeper did about as much as the mob did for me as far as adding depth and interest to the story.
Still, this was an entertaining read. The author Ava Morgyn wove so many magical elements together beautifully.

Trigger warning: death, murder, animal cruelty, suicide.


Description
Ava Morgyn's The Witches of Bone Hill is a spellbinding, romantic novel about family secrets and two young women who discover they're Nordic witches.

Cordelia Bone's meticulously crafted life and career in Dallas are crashing down around her thanks to a philandering husband with criminal debts. When her older, carefree sister, Eustace—a cannabis grower in Boulder—calls to inform her that the great aunt they never met has died and they must travel to a small town in Connecticut to deal with the estate, she sees an opportunity to unload the house and save herself.

But once there, the sisters learn they are getting much more than they bargained for. The Victorian mansion they stand to inherit is bound in a dynasty trust controlled by their late aunt's aging attorney, who insists they retain and inhabit the house but keeps them in the dark about the peculiar rituals of their ancestors. Not to mention a sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past who refuses to leave the carriage house and a crypt full of dead relatives looming at the property line.

As both women grapple with their current predicament, they come face to face with a haunting family secret, the truth of what happened to their mother, and the enemy that's been stalking them from the shadows for generations. In a twisting torrent of terror and blood, the sisters must uncover the power within them to heal their fractured relationship, reverse their mysteriously declining health, and claim the lineage they wanted to escape but now must embrace if they are to survive at Bone Hill.

I haven't read this one yet. I messed up and hit review.......................................................................................

A creepy, darker than expected story about estranged sisters reuniting, family secrets, and a little romance. If you don’t mind some gore, put this one on your spooky season tbr!

This is the perfect book for the start-up of spooky season. I enjoyed this book and the two sisters and their character development throughout the book. You will definitely enjoy if you like haunted eerie haunted house stories. The writing is beautiful and will definitely be reading this author again. Thank you for the copy of this e-arc
4 star

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an ARC version of this book!

I really enjoyed this book, watching two sisters mend a broken relationship while learning about their family history is right up my alley. The book had the right amount of spooky for anyone who is not into horror.

I gave this book 4 stars because there were a few places where I felt confused. Mainly during Cordelia’s visions/dreams. I found myself having to reread those parts to follow along better

Would read another by this author!

This was unfortunately a pretty big miss for me.

All were things that should have ticked my boxes (and normally do!) :
-woman getting her life back after a major upheaval
-estranged family members
-a house that’s basically a character on its own.
-witchy powers
-a slight mystery
-a touch of romance

But it all just fell flat. The pacing was slow and then erratic, the main character was difficult to relate to or empathize with, the romance was too sudden, and all of the drama felt very brushed over. I feel like we sort of floated along the surface of the story when I desperately wanted to find the depths of it all.

Happy Spooky SZN, y’all!

Normally, I see a book tagged horror and run the other way as fast as I can. Whoops, didn’t see it and thought [b:Witches of Bone Hill|65214066] by [a:Ava Morgyn|16973182] was a witchy romance (which it was!) but be warned, this does get a little icky and very creepy.

Given that I am a wimp when it comes to horror, I was surprised at how much I did end up enjoying it. The romance didn’t do much for me, but he relationship between the two sisters and their discovery of their family’s legacy and their witchy inheritance was moving and fascinating. The lore Ava Morgyn creates (pulling in various historical myths and creating something that seems pretty original) was just the right amount of creepy and badass. And the ~vibes~ are excellent – she gets a TON of mileage out of the actually haunted house the two sisters inherit and where the majority of the story takes place.

CW: Suicide, murder and attempted murder, killing of animals in gruesome ways, killing of people in gruesome ways, cancer (in the past, off page).

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I enjoyed the characters but the plot was confusing. Maybe I'm just too stupid to understand it but a lot of it didn't make sense. I think it should have been multiple pov's, that would have helped tremendously. The romance was there but it was very underdeveloped, I wanted more from it.

I received an arc through netgalley.

An unfortunate miss for me.

The writing itself is fine.

The story is a lot of drama. Cordelia, who is a mess but not in an especially entertaining way, is our only POV character. I think we (readers) and the story would have benefited from having Eustace’s POV, as well.

The mansion would have been a fascinating place to explore, but we don’t do much of that.

When we get to the magic, it just sort of happens. No explanation or buildup. Like one day you wake up with powers, just shrug and say, “Cool.”

There’s a mob subplot that is ridiculous and pointless.

The “mystery” of everything happening is obvious from the start.

The “romance” is instalust.

And watch where you step, because plot holes…

Cordelia Bone is having some trouble -- she's getting divorced and there are lots of bills to pay. When she finds out she's inherited a large estate with her sister Eustace, that just might be her ticket out of her money troubles.

Only it isn't that simple. The sisters are forced to live in the Victorian mansion in Connecticut to fulfill the requirements of the will and in the process they learn all about their history. There's juicy secrets galore here. Witches as the title might suggest and all that comes with what witches do. And there's the yummy caretaker to add a little bit of romance to the mix.

The synopsis was certainly interesting and this is the time of year for some good scary stories. There's a bit of horror in this one too to make it extra creepy. I liked that about it, although I could have done without the animal cruelty.

I also enjoyed the mythology used in this story, along with the relationship between Cordelia and her sister. Although there were slow spots and most of the real action happened at the end, I thought the Witches of Bone Hill delivered a suspenseful story of witches with a dash of horror. It's a solid debut in adult fiction.