This was a fun witchy read.

It follows Flair who returns to the town where she swore she would give up magic. When Flair returns to her grandmother’s home and bakery, the magic she thought she gave up returns and it leads to complications in all aspects of her life.

There were moments when I felt confused about the story and what happened in the past and how it impacts the current time. But I just kept going and things ended up making sense.

There were also moments when I felt frustrated with Flair and her choice to hold information back from her daughter. Of course nothing good can come from that.

Overall this was entertaining but I have also read better witchy books. (3.5)

The premise of this was so fantastic and I expected all of the best fall and witchy vibes. I really expected this to be chaotic fun along the lines of a magic wielding Finlay Donnavan where the more the FMC tries to control the chaos, the more out of control things get. Unfortunately, the execution of this fell a little flat for me.

Flair abandoned her magic as a teenager but finds herself back in the thick of things with magic when she returns to her grandmother’s hometown and takes over her old storefront creating a very non-magical bakery. She is continuing to fight anything magical related, including Halloween, in the hopes of building a new and magic-free life with her daughter, Lucie.

Flair came across as a bit immature and despite claiming she wanted to work hard to make her business work, out of the gate she seems unwilling to engage with the town and their love of Halloween. It read more like rather than an amusing attempt to contain the chaos of her business, the town, and her family, she was resistant to absolutely everything. It became a bit tedious and felt that each resistance was set up to just move the plot along rather than add to it.

There was so much opportunity here for this to be truly funny, but I ultimately found much of it to be frustrating. That is not to say there were no redeeming qualities. I absolutely loved the magic system and the growth between Flair and her mother. There were some moments where I wanted to just keep reading to find out what happened next, and there were some truly funny moments that made me laugh out loud. It really landed right in the middle at 3 stars for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Once I read “Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic” in the description I knew this book would be a winner.

Flair Hardwicke is in her forties and dealing with a cheating (and cursed ex), a flighty mom, a struggling bakery, and an angsty teen daughter. Not to mention her first love is back in town and seemingly so is the magic she’d sworn off as a teen.

I went in to this book thinking it was going to focus more on the romance and I’m glad it didn’t. This book centers around the Hardwicke women (Flair, Cyn, and Lucie), their relationships with each other, and their magic. One of my favorite things was how heavily tarot played into the story and how well the author weaved it throughout.

It took me a little bit to get into the story but once I did (around the 15% mark) I was hooked and couldn’t put it down until I finished.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Picked this book up for the cozy fall vibes, plus I was promised practical magic meets Gilmore girls. Practical magic I get, Gilmore girls just it wasn’t there for me. I enjoyed the tarot aspect, but the book didn’t really even pickup until way past halfway. Honestly the first 30% I was just confused about what was going on, but it did pick up and was much more enjoyable. It’s a great Cozy fall vibe book, maybe it just missed the mark for me. It’s less of a romance, and more of women going through life together.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc In exchange for a review

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars

This is a really quick read and I thought it was just pretty average until it picked up a little in the end. I do see the comparison to Practical Magic, but I think the Gilmore Girls comparison is a bit of a stretch. I was expecting a strong mother and daughter relationship of some kind for that comparison to be accurate and because there wasn’t, it took away from what I was expecting. I do think overall people would enjoy it and it could be a good read for Halloween.

Would recommend you pick this up from your local library if you’re interested!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin/Putnam for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Okay, first off this is NOT a romance. It doesn't say it is...but I am just telling you it is not. Secondly, I am not sure about this book. I am not sure if I liked any of the characters...Lucie the daughter is often a brat, Flair the main character-doesn't tell the truth-she sort of skirts the issue. Dave her ex is a dweeb. Renee is horrible then turns sort of nice?? What??? It is slow in sections and confusing...then suddenly Magic everything works out. Hmmm 3 stars as I am confused.

This was just not for me. I couldn’t really get into this book. I did like the Halloween vibes though. But I don’t suggest this.

I found this book super cute! I love me some magic. Perfect for spooky season! I was expecting it to be more heavily focuses on a love story (maybe a magic spell of some sort) but it had some family issues as well - which was welcomed.

I found this book hard to get into. It was very slow to start and often would drag. The concept was good but the execution lacking.

Tarot cards, magic, a little love story, a lot of mother/daughter stuff… I liked it.

I requested this on NetGalley because I thought it was romance. But it was not all romance. That wasn’t a bad thing. There was quite a bit of family stuff in it that I really appreciated and enjoyed.

A perfectly good ‘Ber month witchy read!

"Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters.

She gave up on magic. But magic didn't give up on her.
Three generations of magic. Two rogue exes. One Tarot deck.
The perfect recipe for chaos.

Flair Hardwicke knows three things: magic is real, love isn't, and relying on either ends in disaster. So while she's grateful for the chance to take over her grandmother's Kansas bakery after she finally leaves her cheating husband, she won't be embracing Nana's fortune-telling side-hustle. Hers is a strictly no-magic operation - until the innocent batch of Tarot card cookies Flair bakes for the town's Halloween celebration unleashes the power of the family deck, luring Flair's unpredictable mother to town, tempting Flair's magic-obsessed daughter, and bringing back Flair's first love while ensnaring her ex in a curse she can't break.

Flair's attempts to control the chaos only make things worse, playing right into the hands of a powerful witch. Suddenly there's far more at stake than her status as the most reluctant witch in town, and the magic Flair has long rejected becomes the only card she has left to play."

Instead of cottage core can we embrace magic core this fall? Because that is what this book is.

****Publishing September 12, 2023****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Flair, a single mom, moves to Rattleboro, Kansas in order to start over where she inherits her grandmother’s bakery and house. Lucie, her teenage daughter, is less than thrilled and is not happy moving away from friends and family. Lucie is campaigning to move back home to live with her father, David. When David shows up to convince Flair to allow Lucie to live with him, David is put under a curse with spells and tarot cards. Can Flair break the curse?

Rattleboro is known for it’s Halloween decorations and celebrations, but in fact, Flair isn’t a fan of Halloween. From a disagreement about the Halloween decorations to not having a warm welcome by the community, the bakery is not going as well as planned. Can Flair win their hearts despite her family’s history, or will she have to pack up and move on?

From the characters to the storyline, this book will keep you turning the pages and entertained. A fun, witchy, tarot card kind of book! Perfect for your next Halloween read!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam (G.P. Putnam's Sons), I was provided an ARC of Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell'Antonia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Flair Hardwicke comes from a long line of witches but has been trying to deny her powers for most of her life. So when she returns to her hometown and self proclaimed Halloween capital of the Midwest, it’s no surprise that things do not go as planned for Flair and her daughter Lucie.

First and foremost, it is important to know that Playing the Witch Card is not a rom-com. It’s not even a romance. It is the story of mothers and daughters and how, surprise, even with magic, those relationships are sometimes difficult.

This book was just not for me at all. I found the general tone of the book to be overly negative. None of the many characters are likable and the main character Flair has few redeeming qualities. She never tells anyone anything other than half truths and even when confessing everything to her mother and friend, who only want to help her, she leaves out the biggest detail. All of this is in service of the plot so that things are going wrong until the last possible moment. All that combined with a writing style that itched my brain in all the wrong ways and I just could not get into this book. If more than 10% of the sentences in this book are simple ones I’ll be shocked! Dependent clauses everywhere! I would have DNF’d this at 50% if I hadn’t been reviewing it.

If you’re super into tarot cards or already know that the reluctant witch is an actual trope then Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell'Antonia is out 9/12/2023; otherwise, I’d suggest finding your fall vibes somewhere else.

Thanks to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and NetGalley for sending an eARC copy for review. All opinions are my own.

✨Book Thoughts✨
Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell’Antonia
Pub Date: September 12, 2023

Yes, this really did feel a little like Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic! I loved the town, the bakery, and all the characters. If this town was real I’d be lining up to see it in the fall. I really enjoyed learning a little about tarot. It took me a little bit to get into but once I did I was captivated by Flair’s new start in her hometown with an old love interest, a spelled ex-husband, an eccentric mother, a difficult teenage daughter, the town’s Halloween festival, magic reappearing, and warnings of a disaster. It really did take me a while to get into this book and I didn’t like how I felt that reading the beginning felt almost like a chore. I could see a series starting from this story and I would definitely pick up the next to see what else happens.

Thanks to Net Galley and G.P Putnam’s Sons for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect read to start my early spooky season.

Playing The Witch Card was such a cute book for those of us who love all things spooky, Halloween and spiritual. It also was a story of mothers and daughters and how complicated life can be. It was very much a Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girl vibes and I loved it.

The only reason this isn’t 5 full stars from me is that Flair could be a little exhausting. I just needed her to tell the truth to someone and stop muddying all the waters. She could’ve prevented so much and it was annoying when she didn’t. Overall though, it moved the story along and I understand the reasons she kept so many things to herself.

I could definitely see this as a cute little Netflix mini series one day!

Playing the Witch card
BY KJ Dell'Antonia

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Publishing date: 9/12/23

Honestly... I'm an idiot.  I requested this "witchy" book on netgalley, and I have FINALLY learned, I don't like witch books

Goodreads summary:
Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters, the story of one woman’s Halloween homecoming to the town where she swore off magic, and where she must reclaim it in order to create the life she desires and protect everyone she loves from an unexpected threat.

She gave up on magic. But magic didn't give up on her.

Two exes. One misbehaving mother. Surprising magic. The perfect recipe for Halloween chaos.

Flair Hardwicke knows the deal: Magic is real, love isn’t, and relying on either ends in disaster. She’s seen the havoc romance and witchcraft l on her mother’s life, and Flair swore off all of it long ago, after the boy she thought was her destiny ditched her. But then her strictly no-magic life falls apart, and Flair inherits her grandmother’s home and bakery in Rattleboro, Kansas.

When the cookies Flair decorates as Tarot cards unleash the magic of the family deck she stole as a child, luring Flair’s mother to town, tempting Flair’s magic-obsessed daughter, ensnaring Flair’s ex in a curse she can’t break, and bringing Flair’s first love back to town, Flair has to accept that while she may have given up on magic, it refuses to give up on her.

As Flair’s attempts to control the Tarot cards play into the hands of a powerful witch, Flair must find a way to accept her magical heritage in order to save those she loves from a danger she’d never anticipated. Part Gilmore Girls, part Practical Magic, this romp of a tale is KJ Dell’Antonia at her very best.

Review:
Again....it wasn't for me. Since I don't like the genre, it didn't keep my interest, and I was often confused.
BUT don't take my word for it, especially I'd you enjoy Magic! 

I am always thankful for @netgalley and @putnambooks   For the chance to read an arc!

Playing the Witch Card was a 3 and a half star book for me. I really enjoyed Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic series, and this has definite similarities to those, but it felt like almost too many things were being explored, so none of them truly got the attention I wanted to see for it. In the book Flair moves back to her grandmother Marie's small Kansas town of Rattleboro, a Halloween crazy community, with her thirteen year old daughter Lucie reluctantly in tow. But Flair comes from a long line of witches and it's not long before returning to the community brings her powers back to the surface. Powers that she didn't want, and doesn't want to tell Lucie about. Then her absentee mother shows up with Flair's ensorcelled ex in the trunk and her problems magnify. She quickly has her bakery store commandeered into making treats for the annual Halloween event by the local Oakes matriarch, Loretta, while Loretta's children, Renee and Jude cause additional complications for Flair. It kind of feels like too much. While I had fun reading it, I think about half of this could be dropped to create a more engaging story about Flair's relationships with her mother and daughter, and how magic impacted those bonds. I also expected to have more about baking and the bakery, but it almost seems to serve more as a conduit for creating tarot card cookies from Flair's family deck. A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was pitched as Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic - two things I love. Except I didn't love it.

This book has everything I usually love in a book. Magic, romance, small towns, a bakery, and Halloween! And there are some really good high points to note. Specifically the tarot deck is referred to as the Waite-Smith deck (I personally use Smith-Waite, as that is the order of contribution). The opening was a struggle for me. It didn't hook me at first, and it took me a while to figure out why. Finally figured it out when I had to read, re-read, and read for a third time the same sentence to make sure I understood it. Blame the ADHD or whatever, but 87 words in one sentence is a bit much.

"They're just cookies. Flair repeated it over and over like a mantra as she drove to Loretta's house, a short trip as the crow flies made longer by the need to drive out to the edge of town, past the riverside woods where the trail would take place, and around two corners of a huge cornfield before doubling back to the driveway of what had once been a simple farmhouse but had long since grown enough to guest wings and outbuildings and landscaping to turn into something far more glamourous."

I started realizing that this book has a ton of exceptionally long winded sentences. On top of that, it just seemed to drag on and on. At one point it felt like a high school paper that had a word count, "Just add a few filler sentences to bump up to the required amount!"

Was it the worst book I've ever read? No. Not at all. But I'm not sure I'll be back to read any more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Given the hype around witchy books, going into Playing the Witch Card, was a bit nerve-wracking. Aside from the comp titles though, the concept and plot of this book is enough to hook you. Set in a small town in Kansas, Flair is starting over after the death of her grandmother, a divorce, and the start of a failing bakery.

While things seem grim at first, Flair’s return to her small town anchored her connection to her magical roots. It begins with her baking and decorating cookies like her tarot cards and seeing how her magic affects those who eat them. Then we find out that her mother is involved much more. Coupled with her mother, Flair is also dealing with her frustrating ex-husband and her teenage daughter who is full of angst.

Playing the Witch Card splits the difference here as we’re watching Flair tries to push back her witchy side while also using it for her business. We’re also seeing her trying to run her business and be a parent along with possibly reconnecting with a former flame. It’s a lot for anyone but Flair handles it as best as she can.

What I enjoyed was how Dell’Antonia wrote her characters. Each of them felt so real as they were all dealing with their struggles while also having magic. I will say that the magical “twist” wasn’t one I saw coming but I loved it. As far as witchy books go, I can see this being a favorite when October rolls out or being on a Gilmore Girls book recommendations post.

Ultimately, Playing the Witch Card was fun and witchy but I would have liked to see more of the bakery and Flair running her business. I know that wasn’t the point of the story, but I enjoyed seeing her working especially on the cookies. Like I said though, I’m sure this one is going to be one lot of people flock to this spooky season.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House/Putnam for sending me an ARC of Playing the Witch Card in exchange for an honest review.

This book is going to be the perfect edition to everyone's spooky season reading list this year!

Our story is set in a charming small town that takes Halloween very, very seriously. But as time goes on, you start to find out that the Halloween magic...is actually magic. Flair has a difficult family history with magic, having left this town behind as a teenager. But after her Grandmother passes away, and her marriage ends, she comes back to take over her Grandmother's house and tea shop, which she turns into a bakery called Buttersweet. But now that she's back, can she really avoid the magic she left behind years ago?

This book has a lot of great elements. You have childhood best friends, you have a difficult mother/daughter relationship, you have a little splash of second-chance romance, and while all of that's happening, you have a magic spell gone awry and Halloween coming right around the corner.

This book definitely had a couple of twists and turns that I did NOT see coming, which kept me reading to find out how it would all end. I really loved how the magic system worked, how people had different specialties or had magic tied to different objects.

If you like any of these, this will be the book for you:
- Cozy small town settings
- Baking (or eating!) delicious themed cookies
- Very low spice (flirting and kisses only)
- Family drama
- Magic and generational curses
- Books that take place during the holiday itself