I love witchy romcoms but this one did not work for me, I'm afraid! It's very badly Brit-picked right from the get-go (has the author ever actually seen a badger??), and something about the writing feels very unpolished, but the nail in the coffin for me was the voice of the male lead, which sounds incredibly like a teenage girl's narration and is almost indistinguishable from the female lead. DNF at 10%.

The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic is a cute contemporary magical romance about kinda enemies who end up competing against each other to win ownership of a huge magical garden. I love plants, contemporary magic, and cozy romances, so I was excited for this one!

Things I liked: there is a badger familiar named Boris!!!! He was great and stole every scene. I liked the premise and the magical competition. The descriptions of plants and potions were also nice and gave me cozy witch vibes. There are also some very cute and unique magical creatures that I loved hearing about! I also enjoyed Aria's grandmother, I hope I'm as cool as her when I'm older!

What I didn't like: This book was just a little too trope-y for me and I wasn't super into the romance. The two meet when the female main character is 17 and the male main character is 21. He then THINKS ABOUT HER for the next 8 years and we're supposed to think that is sweet! Nooooo!!!!! Why on earth couldn't they have aged her up to 18? An adult lusting after a 17 year old girl is super creepy!! I had a hard time forgetting that part when he talked about how he couldn't get her out of his mind and how no other woman could compare. Ick!

I'm not a huge fan of romances, but I do really like contemporary magical stories so I hoped that this one would be a good balance. I'd say it's more on the romance than magical side, which was not quite what I was hoping for. I ended up skimming a lot of this book because I was bored by how fluffy it was, but at the end I realized that I was probably being too harsh and went back to more closely read some other parts. I'm glad that I did because I liked it a lot better on a closer read. So, I'd go into this one ready to go for the fluffy ride and just autocorrect 17 to 18 in your mind to enjoy it more.

Overall, I liked parts of this book and recommend it to anyone who loves magical romances! 3.5 stars from me rounded down to 3. thank you to Bonnie Doon Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this book! I loved it!

From start to finish I was engaged in this book and didn’t want to put it down. I loved both main characters so much and would love to see even more of them and I did notice this was going to be a series! I cannot wait for the next book. I loved all the magic and made up beings in this book. The author is so imaginative and it was really well written and followed a clear plan. I love that there was no third act break up because it’s always so inevitable.

✨ 4.5 stars ✨
I really enjoyed this quick and cozy read. it was so refreshing to read a sweet magical book that also included my favorite tropes. Between the one sided hate to love and the message of growth and rinding your own strength I really felt connected with the main character Aria. Although she is a little childish in the beginning I really felt like we were on the journey together. Callan was such a charmer and even though this wasn't a hate to love relationship for him, i appreciated how much he respected Aria.

I love that this story constantly reminded me that no matter what you're going through you will always be able to very on those around you to help. Even at your darkest times, those who love you will be Rooting for you even from miles away.

I have to end this review with a shout out to my favorite character Boris! Thank you for bringing the constant sass and reminding me to eat <3

Thank you Netgalley, Linsey Hall, and the publisher for the arc read! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Aria’s grandmother’s potion store, Seaside Spells, is at risk of closing down unless Aria can return home and win a competition to inherit the town’s Enchanted Garden. But Aria’s magic is ‘broken’ and Callen, the most powerful mage (and Witch Weekly’s Sexiest Man of the Year) is also entering the competition. Can Aria learn to control her magic in time to save her family’s shop?

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Magic was the cozy hug I didn’t know I needed. Beautifully written, transformative seaside setting, small-town charm, fun magical competition, crackling romanctic tension,
and a foul-mouthed snarky familiar!! Perfection! I am thrilled this is the start of a new series, and know that returned to Charming Cove will feel like pulling on my new favorite cardigan. Lovers of magical realism, Gilmore Girls, and Practical Magic will adore this book; available now in stores and on Kindle Unlimited.

Such a fun and magical read! Perfect atmosphere and the banter was top tier! I couldn’t get through it fast enough yet I never wanted it to end!

(To Publisher: I will not be posting this review on my Bookstagram as it was a book that I will not be rating highly - please let me know if you would prefer me to post regardless. I will be posting to my GoodReads.)

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

I requested this ARC as the book itself had a lovely premise: a young woman struggles to control her magic, finds man along the way in an enemies-to-lovers situation with good romps and a playful tone along the way. This seems like your standard romcom read with some witty banter and a little bit of spice (and a little bit of magic, of course).

However, this did not do it for me for a couple reasons:

- While the book is set in the UK, it reads as someone from the US wrote it and thus the dialogue and references are choppy and made me cringe as an American who lived in the UK for some time. It would have greatly benefitted from localization efforts or even a British editor.

- The romance seemed very "bleh". I wasn't really invested since the romance seemed mostly one-sided and, in my opinion, I think it had to do with the development of Aria's character. She has her difficulties but we still dont get an idea of what her personality *actually* is. It suffers from a generic templated romance heroine, which really just killed my interest in the story. Callan is a dashing hero, but we also don't get much into his character or the foundation of their romance as a whole, so the entire romance seems like it comes out of nowhere.

- The execution of the plot was very limited in its engagement. The pacing was really slow, and because the characters are not very substantial, you aren't very invested in the plot.

There were some cute aspects to the story (the badger and Grandma duo are fantastic) but I really was disappointed with the premise and the following execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for the ARC in exchange for this review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Linsey Hall, and Bonnie Doon Press for the eARC. All opinons are my own.

3.5/5 ⭐️

This is the adorable magical story of Aria on her way back to her roots, both historically and literally. It was a very fluffy, heartwarming, feel-good read with a little romance mixed in.

The supporting characters were a bit flat and didn’t really give off independent voices and the conflict wasn’t really conflict. Everything was basically on the surface and I found myself wishing there were more depth of all aspects of the story. All that being said, I did very much enjoy this book.

This was a great palate cleanser after reading something else complex. I would definitely read more of the story if it continued, but I probably wouldn’t reread this first book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnie Doon Press and Linsey Hall for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had to DNF this book. I found it uncomfortable and also unnecessary that Aria was only 17 when she meets Callan for the first time and he is 21. He insinuates that he had romantic and intimate thoughts towards Aria. I tried to look past that but I found a few more references to her being small and childlike in comparison to him. It was just a little too close to inappropriate for my comfort. I felt like it wouldn’t have affected the story to age Aria up to 18 and would’ve avoided some unnecessary gross feelings towards her being underage.

Sadly, I found the writing to be juvenile for an adult novel and the characters felt hollow and underdeveloped.

That being said, I did like the concept of a cute little magic neighborhood in the sea side and this concept was adorable and the novel was close to likeable but the execution was lacking.

Charming is right on the money with this one. There wasn't a single moment while reading this that I didn't feel so genuinely good. I was completely sucked into this sweet little town and its charming (there we go again with that word) characters. And for an enemies(ish) to lovers plot, it was written in such a way that I liked both Aria and Callan from the start and immediately saw the chemistry, which I did think was very organic. But I have to be honest—as much as I like our two main characters, Catrina really had my heart. That little girl is going to grow up to take over the world, I swear, and we'll probably all thank her for it.

Watching Aria grow from a self-doubting, struggling witch to the confident, magical plant mom that she did was such a fun journey, and Callan's belief in and support of her was really sweet, too. I'd probably come back to this book when I need something to make me feel good, and I've already recommended it to at least 3 of my friends.

I received an ARC provided by Victory Editing. All opinions expressed are my own.

Aria is a witch that's rather bad at her craft. She's never learnt how to use her magic without chaos. After years of bullying, Aria chooses to leave the magical village of Charming Cove and strike out in London. Sure she never learns how to manage her magic, and the resulting fall-out means she has to find a new job and apartments every couple of months, but she's not disappointing anyone, not really.

Aria's grandmother arrives to inform her Aria has been invited to compete for the prized magical garden in Charming Cove. If she loses, the grandmother's magic potion shop will be forced to close. Aria returns to compete, and quickly finds herself competing against a couple of her high school nemesis and Callan, the person she hates most in the world.

As the competition heats up, she finds Callan might not actually be a terrible person, and she might have more magical ability then even she thought possible.

I really enjoyed reading the first half of the book, but the last half was to saccharine and needed some grit, some depth to provide balance and add realism to the story.

A cute witchy quick read. And what’s more, it’s set in Cornwall!

I did however find that it felt like it was trying too hard to have British swears? Over use of the word ‘wanker’- it felt unnecessary 😅 could have done with throwing in the word ‘dreckly’ to make it feel more authentic 😂

This book had a sweet romance, and I thought it was great to see our FMC flourish and accept herself. Unfortunately I felt we could have done with a bit more chemistry between the characters- It fell a bit flat for me, but it was an okay read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this charming and adventurous story of magic and love!
This was a heartwarming, funny, and light book! It put me in a good mood and kept me sucked in! The book had witches, sexy billionaires, and heart!
I can't recommend this paranormal romance more! I'm so excited to read more!

I was intrigued by the cozy fantasy/romance vibes promised by "The Modern Girls Guide to Magic." Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. It just didn't draw me in and I felt the overall plot and characters were a bit lackluster.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

I adore a Linsey Hall book, so I was so excited to receive an e-ARC of The Modern Girls Guide to Magic. It has everything I love from Linsey, wonderful writing, world building and magic systems, characters with so much banter and fun, I love a strong leading woman and Linsey doesn’t do women who can’t look after themselves. We also get alpha males, but ones that aren’t misogynistic and understand a strong woman , and oh so much wonderful chemistry, it’s why I dive into these books every time, Linsey is an auto buy author because I know I’ll get a 5 star read that leaves me entertained, happy and satisfied, I always feel like I’ve had a satisfying cuddle. I can’t wait for the next and I’m always eager to see where Linsey will take me next

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Meh.
This book intrigued me with its cozy fantasy x romance plotline but unfortunately I didn’t end up loving it, mostly due to the writing style. The cozy fantasy part was cute as our main character participates in a community garden challenge and explores her own magical skills, but felt underdeveloped overall.

The romance part was not interesting AT ALL, and I think that’s mainly because of Callan, the love interest. The book starts off as what seems to be a second chance type of thing because the two main characters have met previously, but this begins the book on a sour note for me because it was when Aria was a minor and Callan was older '(and this doesn't even end up becoming a plot line?).

I don't know. Overall ended up being bored and disinterested.

The Modern Girl’s Guide To Magic was a very sweet and cozy read. I always love cozy witch stories and this book is no exception. I particularly loved how this one was about magic gardens (MY FAV). The town and the characters were all very charming, especially the badger! Overall, I really enjoyed this book!!

Thank you to Linsey Hall and NetGalley for this arc copy of The Modern Girls Guide to Magic.

3.75/5

This was a cozy witchy read. Something right up my alley. I did enjoy the magical elements and characters, but the writing style held me back some. There were a lot of dialogue/explanations that didn’t need to be written out completely. A lot of it could have been implied. It kept drawing me out of the story, and I feel that I would have rated it at least a 4 if so much of the story wasn’t written this way. I did love the whole setting and how enchanting it felt.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves forced proximity, one bed, and cozy fantasy elements! I would enjoy coming back to Charming Cove in a sequel.

This book was like a big witchy hug. I couldn't help but curl up under my fuzzy blanket and devour this. It was a great twist on a rom com for those of us Halloween obsessed. I absolutely adored all the familiars and Aria was just so likable. It was easy to relate to her because of how clumsily her magic was casted. Overall it was wonderful!!

Another fantastic witchy read. A quick read, a witchy romance and cozy settings what more can you ask for!

Enemies to lovers is my favourite trope so I was sure to love this one! The story was very surface level but in my opinion sometimes that's definitely all that's needed in a lighthearted romance.

Really cute and whimsy world building - will definitely be reading more from this author!