I feel like you don't need me to sell this to you. You already saw that this is a hybridized Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic and I'm here to tell you in that respect, it delivers.

Her husband has cheated again - this time with the babysitter - so Flair has no choice but to escape to a small Kansas town to the house and bakery that her grandmother left for her when she passed. She accepts the inheritance of house and business, but refuses to accept the family legacy of magic, mostly concentrated in a special deck of tarot cards passed on from mother to daughter.

Not going to lie to you, the first 60-70% of this was establishing background, yes, but it's mostly just vibes. We hear about a Jack Skellington decoration perched happily outside of the bakery that Flair wants no part in, we hear about her bad husband and the daughter that wants nothing to do with her mom. I don't know if I'd have been nearly as excited if I'd known that there was a kid involved in this, but I don't think that's the book's failing as much as my taste.

The real plot takes a good 50% to get going. Pacing was SUPER weird for me. We learn that there's a special Halloween event that Flair absolutely doesn't want to be a part of, we learn that she's making cookies without remembering why or when in the shape of cards from her family's tarot deck, then boom - her insane mother shows up with her husband in tow, bespelled, which puts a crimp in Flair's plan to reignite a flame with an old love from when she was younger.

The real winning factor of this book was the author's love for tarot, tarot interpretations, and readings. Though the magic system wasn't particularly fleshed out, the tarot magic was beautiful and interesting. I'd have loved more information about other powers. In fact, I'd have loved more information about the other characters overall - while we got a lot of info about Flair, I'm not sure I felt like I could successfully tell one character from the other.

The last 25% of this book really honed in on the Practical Magic vibes, by the way. Sometimes I wondered to myself if I though the book was even a little derivative at points.

That said, there was still a lot to love in this book, just don't go into it expecting romance with fantasy. It's very much a story about women and their family and it's perfect vibes for the Autumnal time of year. Instant preorder!

What a fun story! I loved diving into the world of Flair, Cyn, and Rattleboro, Kansas. Things I did while reading this book: 1- dust off my old tarot cards and start working with them again; 2- google "Rattleboro, KS" to see if it's a real place; 3- research the best places to celebrate Halloween outside of Salem; 4- wishlist all the books referenced in the end notes; 5- eat some cookies.

Although I initially found Flair to be a bit stubborn and exasperating, my feelings evolved as her story unfolded. I was disappointed to have to leave this world and these characters behind when the story ended. I'd definitely be open to a sequel!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an early peek at "Playing the Witch Card".

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

It was a fantastic read.. You are so going to enjoy this one!this is a great romcom! I recommend! 5 stars for me!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook.
I don't know I was excited to read this novel, but wow the story just drags on and on. I don't know if it is just me but I can't stand the main character. I think she is boring and grumpy. She doesn't ever think anything positive she is also putting everyone and everything down.
The author repeats herself over and over and over again. This book could be cut in half. Just a miss for me.

This is the PERFECT book to add to your fall reading list. Set during Halloween time, it has all the spookiness that comes with witches while still being whimsical with a bakery and new beginnings. I loved the little spell twists and generational history that gets revealed throughout the book as Flair gets drawn back into the magical world she thought she had left behind.

[Thank you NetGalley for this Advanced Copy in exchange for my honest review]

This should be a perfectly fine cozy witchy story, but instead draaaaaags you through the one dimensional main character’s messy life. Also, everyone around her is messy and frustrating? There is only one likable character in this, the MC’s friend, that the MC takes full advantage of. She has a poor relationship with her mom, daughter, ex-husband, and work-life balance, and theres no substance to her to make you care about any of it.


The plot isnt worth explaining because it takes you getting 60% through the book to figure out what the plot even is and at that point I hated the characters so I didnt care.

1/5 stars, the characters were just not for me and it put me in a 2 month reading slump.

This was an adorable PNR rom com! I love that we are in our witchy PNR era! This is one to add to your shelves for the fall!

Wow! Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

It was a fantastic ride. You are so going to enjoy this one!

Highly recommend.

Five stars!!

The fall vibes are strong in this one. I can see myself rereading it comes this fall with a cozy hot drink and a Halloween themed cookie. I am a fan of witchy goodness and tarot cards, so this book was straight up my alley.

The beginning is definitely slow, it takes awhile to understand who all the characters are and what exactly is going on. After you get closer to the end, it definitely speeds up in pace.

Flair, mother to Lucie, is a soon to be single mother who has moved them to a magical town that she spent a good amount of her childhood in. Flair has a distaste for magic, and blames it for her bad upbringing and her mom's issues. This seems to be a common theme with Flair, her blaming other things for her issues/problems. Most of my issues with this book are because of Flair. I did not vibe with her that much.
Once the book picks up, there are some twists and turns, and Flair faces her feelings towards magic and the such. All in all, vibes are good, Flair a little not my taste, and I am a sucker for fall and Halloween. 3.75 stars

Such a fun and exciting book! Who doesn't love magic and family drama? Well, there's plenty of both in this book, along with hints of romance. When a woman who has denied her magic and built a life elsewhere returns to her family home, the denial can no longer last. I enjoyed this book and recommend it for readers who like magic, romance and drama. I read this book on Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

A perfect fall book contains a small town, a cozy home inherited from a grandparent, a shop that’s been in the family for generations, and a witch or two. And Playing the Witch Card has all of the above! Like The Chicken Sisters, this story focuses on our main character returning to their hometown, ready to face what they’ve left behind. Flair left the town of Rattlesboro when she was a teenager after spending her summers there, learning about her magic that has been passed down through her family. Now, years later, she’s back in town, and trying to hide her magical past. I enjoyed this book, and it definitely kept my attention, weaving small town and mother-daughter tropes together into a cozy mystery of sorts. The action in the book seemed to happen all at once right at the end, leaving me wishing I’d had more time to enjoy the intensity. Overall, it’s a fun Halloween read that anyone would enjoy. For a more detailed review, check out my blog! Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book about family and accepting the cards you've been dealt. 5 ⭐️ and I definitely recommend for fans of small town witchy magic.

What a charming read!! KJ Dell’Antonia’s latest novel Playing the Witch Card combines the women’s fiction and romance genres sprinkled with a topping of magic --LOVE that! KJ Dell’Antonia has become an automatic read for me and one of my favorite parts about her writing is that she constantly reinvents herself and this gem is the perfect example of that! The character development was fantastic and I honestly wish she would turn this into a series because I would really enjoy if some of the supporting characters had their own novels. I love that Playing the Witch Card will come out this autumn because the the whole magical aspect of this book would be perfect accompaniment to the Halloween season!!

This was a very cute story. I enjoyed it. Not many cozy mysteries take place in my home state of Kansas. The characters were likable and the villains were just the right amount of unlikable. I would recommend this book especially if you need a fun read after a heavier book.

Playing the Witch Card feels like Gilmore Girls meets Hocus Pocus with a touch of Sabrina.

This is the classic Hallmark story of a woman who moves to a small town to start over after a jerk ex implodes their lives but with a paranormal twist. Flair’s descended from witches but a tragic accident in her past made her give it up. But now she’s back in Rattleboro, the town her witchy ancestors helped found and the magic isn’t willing to be ignored any longer.

Flair already has a lot on her plate - dealing with a struggling business, an angry and angsty teen daughter, a flaky mom, and a jerk ex. Now tarot cards are haunting her with visions and then a magical disaster involving her mom and ex happens with a looming Halloween deadline.

The writing is gorgeously atmospheric and descriptive, you can practically smell autumn magic and baking in the air. I love that Rattleboro goes so hard at Halloween that they spray glitter on the sidewalks.

The relationships - especially between Flair, her mother, and her daughter - are complex and complicated, a study in contrasts. Flair isn’t close with her mom, Cyn, who was always chasing the next sure thing based on the tarot cards. This in turn has made Flair want stability and control with nothing left chance - making her daughter Lucie feel smothered.

And it wouldn’t be Hallmark-esque without the gorgeous high school BF turning up for a sweet, second-chance romance.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

Playing the Witch Card was a fun read, full of small town charm and witchy vibes. The story moved along at a nice place with a few surprises to be found. I enjoyed Flairs journey of self acceptance, especially with her daughter Lucie. It would make a great fall read!

This was an enjoyable read. Perfect amount of magic and witchiness. I can see how it was compared to Gilmore Girls with the family vibes and banter/qualms between Flair, her daughter and grandma. Love that the town focuses so heavily on Halloween.

Leaving a cheating husband behind, Flair Hardwicke and daughter Lucie start over in Rattleboro, Kansas, the town that once broke Flair’s heart. With a failing bakery and a daughter intent on moving home, Flair’s life hasn’t been easy lately. Add her chaotic mother, cursed ex, cute first love, and crazy family secrets, the stakes are higher than ever.

The vibe of Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic is a spot on description for this book.. It masterfully brings magic into the day to day life of mothers and daughters, with the twist of magic and heavy secrets Getting to explore love, friendship, taking control of power and the grips of fate, this book really accomplishes so much in so few pages. I loved the contrasting relationships of Cynthia/Flair vs. Flair/Lucie, as well as the romantic relationships of Flair/David vs. Flair/Jude. From the characters to the plot to the magic system, this book was well thought out and executed. It lacked a little build up of the world and the magic at first, but the twists and turns and never quite knowing what was coming really made up for that.

Like a warm hug of magical goodness, Playing the Witch Card is the ultimate October read. I cannot recommend enough.

I love all things witchy, magical, and Halloween-y, and this book did not disappoint. It will be a great fall read when it comes out in September. I did get Practical Magic vibes; David = Jimmy Angelov, pretty much. I can definitely see them making a 2nd book, but from Lucie's perspective, and her starting to learn magic from her mother and grandmother. Before reading this book, I knew a little about tarot, and this has made me want to learn more. Overall a good read. I wanted to give this one 4, but it's more of a 3.5 for me. Was a little slow at the beginning, but it picked up. Has all the witchy, magical, charming vibes needed for a fun Halloween read with just a dash of romance. I just wish I had read it in the fall, and not the spring.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP
Putnam for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

It took me awhile to get into this book. The first 25% was really confusing. It’s slow until around 45%, and then really picks up at 75%. The end is pretty packed with cool witchy Halloween tarot / magic goodness. I don’t love slow builds so in my opinion the first half of the book needed to be edited better or have a bit more action.
Basically, we have a main character (the mom) who spends the entire book blaming everyone else for her problems, doesn’t take responsibility for her parenting mistakes, avoids her magic for *reasons* despite moving back to the TOWN OF MAGIC and is terrible to her kid in the guise of protecting her from a mysterious bad fate we all know will happen regardless because it’s a book. Then boom, the *bad thing* happens and mom goes oh shiz my magic is dope and why am I the way I am and why did I spend the first 85% of this story/my whole life in denial about myself and why was I lying to my child about magic I should have told her the truth from the beginning. Smdh. The book had two big twists I didn’t see coming, even though I knew a bad thing was coming, I didn’t know what bad thing it would be and that part was pretty cool.
There was potential For the backstory to be way cooler if it was presented in a way less confusing way. The random memories made Marie (mom’s grandma) - seem to have multiple personalities and the animosity with Renee was all weird hints and slights with no depth. Jude was not a believable human let alone character, but he rounded out the book and I love that he existed because warm fuzzies for the man who puts up with all of this insanity. Josie is either the most amazing friend everyone needs or a total doormat of a human, but main character mom would have been totally screwed with out her. I wish we had more than the one person pov, I think that would have really helped me because the Mom was just really annoying and stubborn. 3.75 stars cause while it was a good read, it had a few flaws I couldn’t get past to fully enjoy the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.