I was not prepared for this magical but sorrowful and heartfelt book. This is a book that deals with magic and a lot of tarot cards but also separation, being a single parent, and a fraught family past. This is NOT a light and fun witchy romance. Is it a decent book and well written? Yes. If you need a book that gives you all the feelings, this is one can do that. I was unprepared for what the book turned out to be, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

It was right about being marketing as a Gilmore Girls/Practical Magic vibe. It was a pretty cozy read, very light on the romance which wasn't bad.

Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell'Antonia is a fun and spooky book that follows Flair, an ex-witch, as she leaves her husband and returns to her hometown with her daughter, Lucie, in tow. The whole town is obsessed with Halloween, which is too bad for Flair, because she wants nothing to do with it. She just wants to run her bakery and raise her daughter away from David—their less-than-perfect husband and father.

When Flair's mother shows up with an enchanted David, who's willing to follow every command, Flair has to enlist the help of a local witch, Loretta, to provide enough power to undo the spell. Loretta's daughter, Renee, hates Flair for unknown reasons, and Jude, Loretta's son, was Flair's high school sweetheart. As Halloween grows closer, Flair struggles to choose between doing what's right and doing what will keep Lucie with her in Rattleboro.

I thought this was a great book for getting into the Halloween spirit, and I wished throughout the book that I could visit the town. That was, by far, the biggest plus of this story. I also appreciated the nuanced relationships and magic system in this one. I gave this book a four star rating because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend, but I would not read it again.

Loved the title - wished the story was more engaging. Usually, less than the first half of a story will lay down some facts, hint at the plot, enhance the personalities of the characters & tie into the storyline. The first hints prove to be uneventful and loss leads - but certainly spotlighting on "bad" parenting and the main character's inability to decide, waiver & or just plain procrastinate That became the storyline and shadowed over the witchcraft/tarot cards. But if you hang on the last 3rd - the magic gets to have its spotlight.

It’s the time of year when I love reading witchy romances. This one was a mixed bag for me. I loved all of the details about tarot cards and how Flair’s magic, which she’d been denying for years, refused to stay bottled up. Since Flair was a master baker, she just couldn’t stop herself from creating tarot themed cookies, even while refusing to pick up her family’s special, hand painted deck of tarot cards.

However, I had a hard time with Flair’s actions. She was so stubborn and so determined to ignore everything relating to magic that she headed into TSTL territory. She took little responsibility for how her own actions contributed to her problems, from the dynamic in her failed marriage, to the hex placed on her ex, to her distance from her mother and grandmother, and the growing difficulties between her and her young teen daughter.

The book had a touch of romance, but I’d describe it more as women’s fiction, with a focus on Flair resolving her family relationships rather than on the budding second chance romance between her and the boy she was in love with as a teen. I’d place it in the Paranormal Women’s Fiction subgenre even though it isn’t explicitly labeled as such. I liked that Flair was mature and in her late 30’s. The book had some of the cozy vibes I was looking for, with a secondary emphasis on magical town of Rattleboro that goes all in for Halloween and I’d recommend it for that and for the detailed tarot card Magic and lore. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I love Tarot and books filled with magic. I also completely enjoyed KJ Dell'Antonia's previous books In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters. Add in that Playing the Witch Card is being touted as Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls, of course I was excited for Dell'Antonia to be putting out a witchy book this month!

After a divorce, Flair Hardwicke is determined to start over with her teenage daughter. After her grandma's passing, Flair decides to take over her grandmother's bakery and head back to a town she promised to never return to. She's also determined to avoid anything dealing with magic or Halloween which might be hard to do since the town has one of the most prominent Halloween festivals in the country. As the magic winds its way back into Flair's life, she's forced to comes to terms with her magic and what happened 20 years ago.

I love a cozy read in the fall, especially when it pairs with small town magic, but this one missed the mark for me. I'm still giving it 3 stars because it does have fall vibes, but I didn't get the Gilmore Girl and barely got Practical Magic vibes. I also found the first 30% of the book to be slow, and while the Tarot portions of the story were interesting, I need more about the origins of this magic. Flair's reasoning for not using the Tarot or magic also seemed repetitive, and I could have done without the ex-husband bewitched portion of the story.

If you're look for more of a cozy, atmospheric, witchy books, then you'll enjoy this one. I'd definitely read more from Dell'Antonia but this one won't be in my most recommended list.

Playing the Witch Card is out now. Huge thank you to Putnam Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

From Reese's Book Club author KJ Del'Antonia- comes a book not quite her other books- different but still written in her signature style. I love that she delivers a hint of magic and magical realism in Playing the Witch Card is a perfect read for fall or Halloween. Small town vibes, a woman and her daughter starting over in a town known for its Halloween hijinks. Great dynamics, well written and engaging. Overall a fun read

I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

When Flair inherits her grandmother's house and bakery in Rattleboro, KS amidst her divorce, she decides to move herself and her daughter, Lucie, there to start over. But moving back to this town that has so much history for her might make her have to deal with her problems sooner rather than later. When Flair is asked to bring a sample for the yearly Halloween Rattlebones trail, instead of making ghosts and ghouls, she ends up recreating what the tarot cards looked like that have been in her family for years. Flair has tried to keep magic out of her life because it seemed to only cause more trouble than not, but you can't get rid of magic that easily.

If you want the perfect Fall/Halloween read, then this is the book for you! This not only has magic, but we also a taste of enemies to friends, old flames being lit again, crazy moms, and so much magic in the perfect spots, you will be wondering what's going to happen next!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the Advance Reader Copy of Playing the Witch Card!

Following her grandmother's death and finally getting fed up with her husband's cheating ways, Flair Hardwicke moves her and her preteen daughter to her grandmother's home in Rattleboro, Kansas. Flair turns her grandmother's tea shop into her own bakery café as Flair was an accomplished baker back in St. Louis. As a child, Flair would spend every summer with her grandmother learning to become a witch using her family's magic tarot cards. After a disastrous visit when she was 17, Flair swore off magic and has raised her daughter without telling her their family's magical history. But now that she is back in Rattleboro on the eve of its nationally famous Halloween festivities, Flair's magic is done being ignored. Flair's flighty mother shows up in Rattleboro with Flair's soon-to-be-ex husband in tow who she has entranced and now needs help undoing the spell. Flair is forced to change her mind about participating in the Halloween festivities and her daughter begs to be allowed to join in but Flair refuses. Halloween night brings more surprises than anyone expected.

I really enjoyed this story! The magical tarot cookies are such a fun detail and the story definitely has a Gilmore Girls vibe. This is a fun, not spooky Halloween story that I recommend to everyone!

Flair was a strong character who goes through a lot of development in this story. The magic here is light but unique. I really enjoyed the Halloweentown aspects of the novel. I wanted more of Flair reading tarot cards. The romance with Jude was sweet and David was a good contrast. Overall I enjoyed this and would compare it to a Hallmark Halloween movie if those existed.

The setting is amazing and makes me want to visit which is exactly what I would hope from something claiming to be partially Gilmore girls esc. While I enjoyed the characters and setting the storyline was a bit slow for my taste. Took me almost half of the book to really get into it. Definitely not the book for someone in a reading slump

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was clever, fast-paced, fun and suspenseful. It held my interest and I wanted to find out what was going to happen. I enjoyed this book and would read other books by this author.

Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls? I’m in, obviously.

The characters were all interesting but the main character was incredibly insufferable - which made the whole thing difficult to read. Flair had her reasons to mistrust magic, sure, but the girl could benefit from some therapy to get past her childhood trauma. Her inner monologue is dull and repetitive. And up until the very very end does it feel like Flair had learned literally anything.

The story was a bit convoluted (like I’m still not entirely sure why Renee HAD to be so downright rude all the time) but overall a good time. Worldbuilding was basic but did the job because I definitely would check out the Rattlebones Trail (but maybe not because I hate to be scared).

Thanks to NetGalley, KJ Dell’Antonia, and Penguin Group/Putnam for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Flair Hardwicke moved back to the small town of Rattleboro, Kansas, where her grandmother had lived, she just wanted to open a bakery and raise her teenaged daughter Lucie in relative peace. But it’s almost Halloween, and there is nothing Rattleboro celebrates like Halloween. The town matron Loretta Oakes wants Flair to participate, now that she’s back in town, but the Halloween celebration has a lot of memories attached for Flair, and she’s not sure that she wants to jump in.

Actually, there is a lot about Rattleboro that holds memories for Flair, and she is struggling. The shop, handed down from her grandmother, still reminds Flair of the times she spent there as a child, and there are still the women coming to the back door not for the teas she had sold but for the tarot card readings she had done in the kitchen. Flair learned to read the cards as a child, but they only brought her pain and heartache, so she stopped. And now Flair turns away all the women who still come to the back door of her bakery, insisting that she has nothing for them.

The front of the store, however, remains empty. Flair bakes and fills the displays with delicious pastries, but no one comes in and shops. Until Flair tries to come up with a treat that can be featured as part of the Halloween trail. She decides on cookies, but she can’t decide how to decorate them. Pumpkins? Black cats? Instead, as she’s still trying to decide whether she’s even going to agree to the Halloween trail, she finds herself coming to and looks around. She made tarot card cookies, decorated beautifully, just like the family tarot cards she’d learned to read as a kid.

Although she doesn’t really know how it had happened, Flair decides to trash all the cookies and refuse to help with the Halloween trail. But instead, her cookies become a huge hit, and suddenly there are customers lined up at her shop. Lucie is excited about working the Halloween trail with her mom and starting to make friends with the girls in her class at school instead of wanting to move back with her dad in St. Louis. Life is finally getting a little easier for Flair.

That is, until her mother shows up with Flair’s ex-husband, and it will take more than tarot card cookies to get things back to the normal that Flair was trying to create for her daughter and herself. In fact, it will take all the magic the town has to set things right for Rattleboro and its future.

Playing the Witch Card is the latest novel from KJ Dell’Antonia, whose Chicken Sisters won her thousands of fans wanting more of her stories. This new novel is about the timeless struggles of mothers and daughters to find the right balance between control and freedom. It’s about the magic we create and when to let go of the spells that turn toxic. It’s about making peace with your past so that it doesn’t keep haunting you as you move into your future.

I really enjoyed Playing the Witch Card. I thought it brought a lot of wisdom and insight into relationships as well as heart and humor. It leans heavily into the idea of witches as the women who create the foundation of a town or a family, but even if you aren’t a fan of witch stories, a lot of the talk of magic also works as a metaphor. If you are a fan of the movie Practical Magic, you’ll find a lot of similarities in this story, and it will remind you to celebrate all the small and ways that magic weaves through our lives and brings happiness, surprises, and love.

Egalleys for Playing the Witch Card were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the digital ARC. This review is my own words. I have enjoyed reading this author previously and while I was well entertained by the witchcraft and characters in this book, I did not enjoy it as much as the others. Halloween, tarot cards, magic, soon to be ex-husband, teenage daughter and an annoying mother figured prominently in this story and it all came together for a fun read. If it wasn't set during Halloween it would be a perfect beach read. I think that the author really must have enjoyed writing this book as it was fun to read.

First of all thank you NetGalley and Putnam books for approving this ARC.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately there were just some parts that just did not hit home for me.

Lets start with the plot of this book

The book is advertised as practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls, I honestly felt it was more Halloweentown and Practical Magic, and that did not bother me.

Flair Hardwicke recently lost her grandmother and has come to find out the shop her Nan ran was left to her. Flair returns to the place she grew up and is desperate to prove she can be normal without having use the magical deck of Tarot cards passed down to each daughter in the family. She just left her husband for cheating on her, because of that has a complicated with her teenage daughter and is skeptical of romance.

One day Flair decides to bake for the annual Town Halloween celebration and makes a batch of cookies similar to the magical deck, after doing so weird things begin to happen, what starts as one problem soon becomes much bigger than what she can actually handle.
She soon finds she will have to choose between her reputation and the risk of using the deck to save the one she loves most and overcome her fear.

Going into the book, I really struggled to stay focused and stay in the story, it was just very slow to start, and that would have been fine but sadly these characters felt very unmemorable, and the choices that were made by the characters were at times not well thought out.

I went into this hoping for some magic and romance, with family and small towns, but sadly the romance was barely existent. As romance reader that was disappointing, would have liked to see a bit more of the romance side .

The parts I did like though were great.

I found the magic of the Tarot cards really interesting, and anytime there was magic involved the story flowed really well, and grabbed my attention.

Despite having a very slow first half, the story really ramped up at end, and I found myself itching to find out what would happen next.

This book was very humorous and I found myself laughing out loud anytime hilarity ensued and was overall very well written.

One of my favorite examples of this was when you first find out the husband is under a spell.

While this was not a personal favorite I do believe that a lot of people would enjoy this story and the themes would resonate with them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a story about motherhood and healing from your childhood pains with magic and dash of romance.

This book is perfect for any Halloweentown or Practical Magic fan who wants something cozy and simple for the spooky season.

Many thanks to the publisher for the e-ARC!

This was a whimsical book filled with delicious baked goods, unexpected magic, and complex family relationships! I must admit, the writing style threw me off initially, as the description of the magic system was complicated. After the first 40 percent mark, things started to get really INTERESTING.

I liked how layered Flair's character was. Seeing her grow and accept her magical abilities (all over again), as well as the town of Rattleboro was really uplifting! The mother-daughter relationship between Flair and Lucie stood out to me too. Small-town vibes never fail to amaze me, and Playing The Witch Card was full of that! The unexpected twists and turns added a fun outline to the story.

I'd recommend the story if you're a Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic fan! <3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

@kjda how do you continue to surprise me?! Each and every one of your books has been so different from one another! I love the way this author continues to craft stories that center around self-discovery, growth, and love.

The latest KJDA Book, Playing The Witch Card has the mystical vibes that are perfect as Spooky Season draws closer!

Quick synopsis:
🎃 Flair has returned to take over her grandmother’s bakery.
👻 She isn’t loving the random people knocking on her back door for “different” advice
🦇Magic is real and Flair has sworn it off
🕸️As she tries to get the bakery off the ground, Flair is forced to confront her complex relationship with her family’s gift.

I loved the characters and I appreciated that at times this book made me laugh out loud. Generations of Hardwicke women are in this novel and I love generational themes.

KJDA has the ability to create magic on paper and this book made me really feel like magic is all around me every day!

🔮A huge thank you to @putnambooks, @netgalley, and @prhaudio for granting me access to this title!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Playing the Witch Card comes out on September 12th, 2023
3/5 Stars

This story follows Flair, a woman who has split from her cheating husband and returned to her hometown with her teenage daughter, Lucie, to turn the tea shop she inherited from her late grandmother into a bakery. Halloween is the highlight of the year in Rattleboro, but Flair is hesitant to get involved in the festivities and finds that not everyone wants her to participate. In fact, one of the few people who seem happy to see her is her former high school crush, Jude, who has come back to town to help his family with the Halloween festivities. Things take a turn when Flair makes a batch of sugar cookies that look just like her family's deck of tarot cards, which have been hidden away for many years. Flair has no intention of resurrecting the past and tapping into her family's power, but the cookies seem to have a mind of their own. Can Flair escape the magic of the tarot cards, or will she embrace her past as Halloween approaches and wield their power to stop a sinister force of magic?

I found this to be a fun, easy seasonal read but it is honestly not a book that I would return to and I don't think I would have liked it as much if I had read it during a different time of year. While I did enjoy the smalltown charm and Flair's kookie mom, this book seemed a little unsure of what it wanted to be. It was mostly a family drama surrounding Flair, Lucie, and Flair's ex-husband with a little bit of second-chance romance mixed in. I got very tired of the ex-husband plotline and found Flair to be very immature in how she handled it (I often had to remind myself that she was (supposedly) a forty-something year old woman). I did like the dynamic with Flair and Jude, but didn't think it received enough airtime to feel fully earned at the end.

Overall, this was a fairly quick read and one that I would put on par with The Ex Hex from a few years ago. I imagine that people with an appreciation for tarot cards would get even more enjoyment out of the story.

Highlights:
Small town setting
Witchy/Halloween vibes
Magical Tarot cards
Mother/daughter relationship
Second chance (mature) romance.

Playing the Witch Card has a fun witchy premise, perfect for the fall season. I wanted to love this book, but it didn't quite work. I found the story confusing because I struggled with the writing style, especially in the beginning. The main focus is on the mother/daughter relationship and moving on after divorce. I wanted more romance, but romance was not the main focus. Also, the romance is very chaste. The premise of a witchy small town and magical Tarot cards were my favorite parts of the book. I recommend Playing the Witch Card to readers looking for Halloween-themed women's fiction with a touch of romance.