It was hard for me to get into Not Your Crush's Cauldron for several reasons. The first is that it is the third book in the series, a series of which I haven't read the first two books - and wasn't aware that it was part of a series when I started. Some books can be read as standalones with little context lost, but not here. I feel like I missed out on a lot of backstory about a supernatural world, and a lot about the relationships this friend group centered around the Maxwell triplets. Even if it hadn't been for that, I struggled to like the book because it just felt really dopey to me. Bax gets assigned to be a guardian angel for Olive, the woman he has feelings for, after he invites her to move in with him. The reason he gets assigned to protect her is because she decides that if she's going to ask her students to step outside their comfort zones, then she needs to be willing to do the same herself. Fair, but when stepping outside of your comfort zone includes doing things like attending a gala, participating in a dance competition and doing karaoke, I struggle with how those items are so dangerous they need someone keeping an eye on you. I didn't really love the maturity level of the characters, especially since they're supposed to be in their mid-thirties, but act more like college students. And while I love the trend of romance novels where the male characters are more thoughtful and considerate to the person they're in love with, a few of them, including this one, start tilting too much in the direction of the man shouldering all of the blame and being the one expected to make amends when there's a rift in the relationship. This book is probably perfect for someone who has read the previous books in the series, and enjoys light-hearted, steamy supernatural stories. It just didn't quite work for me. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love all books witchy, and I really enjoyed the first two books in this series so I was STOKED to be able to read the third one. I absolutely adored it, but there were a couple of things that kept me from being able to give it a full 5 stars.

I wish that the book had more magic - that's one of the main reasons I love this series! Bax definitely is magical (I mean, he's a Guardian Angel), and Olive uses her magic...but it's sparingly at best. I also didn't really understand him being appointed to guard Olive since she wasn't doing anything that could really be considered "dangerous". Additionally, the whole project that she was presenting to the committee didn't really make sense, and the conversation Olive had with Iliana about it felt stilted and awkward.

Things I loved included the chemistry between Bax and Olive; the fact that he called her "angel"; and that first kiss was just...*chef's kiss*. Bax was also adorable when he was jealous, and I appreciated how protective he was over Olive. They really are just super cute together. Also, I really want to go to a rage room...

All in all, I'm not sorry I read this book. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that Harper will get her own book to finish out the series, so...we'll see! Definitely a book worth reading!

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 - 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘕𝘋 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵."


Olive is my spirit witch 🧙🏻‍♀️ so I was SUPER excited for this book! and I love, love, LOVE her and Bax!

This book is book 3 of the Supernatural Singles series, and comes out in February 2024!

Olive and Bax's story centers strongly about both stepping out of your comfort zone, and also learning who you are/want to be versus who you're expected to be.

You also have the entire paranormal found family, with a heaping dose of forced proximity, friends to lovers, and lots of spice!

Thank you to @stmartinspress, @smpromance and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!
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Bad Boy Angel + Good Girl Witch = Smoking Hot Romance

Olive has long been my favorite Maxwell sister (maybe because I too prefer books over people) and I was thrilled to get her story, and the author did not disappoint. I loved getting to know this character, seeing the fun, quirky, brave side she kept hidden from everyone except her sisters, and then watching her fall HARD for bad boy Bax. Oh, mamma mia! These two together were perfection. Bax has to be my favorite hero in this world so far (and I really loved the other two). He was so closed off, but underneath…there was just so much ooey, gooey, goodness waiting for the right woman.

The story was fun and funny, smoking hot and yet totally sweet, and while we were swept off our feet, we were also reminded to step outside of our comfort zones because you never know what a wonderful thing is waiting just out of reach.

Can’t wait for the next one because I love all the characters in this world.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one. A forced proximity friends to lovers romance. This one focuses a lot on Olive’s growth, it has some good steam, and it is a fun read.

Loved it. Great palate cleanser in between dark romances, yet still paranormal! I look forward to more books from this author.

4 ⭐️ 2.5 🌶

This was another fun witchy read from April Asher. The Maxwell sisters never fail to entertain. This story follows the youngest Maxwell sister, Professor Olive on her Dare I Docket journey. Her sidekick and love interest is the elusive Guardian Angel, Bax Donovan. I loved their banter and chemistry. Coupled with the strong friendships of the other Maxwell sisters, they’re significant others, and lest we not forget the fabulously funny succubus Harper.

Thank you netgalley and St. Marten’s Press for the ARC. All opinions here are my own.

Highlights:
🧙‍♀️ Witchy heroine
🪽 Sexy Guardian Angel
🌃 Roomates
🗣️ Hilarious banter
👯‍♀️ Sisterly love

I read this around Halloween and it was absolutely perfect! It was atmospheric and so cute! The banter between the love interest was adorable, and this book had a lot of very funny moments too!!

This is the third installment in the Maxwell sister's series. I truly believe they just keep getting better and the development in between them is truly incredible. You’ll experience emotional moments but then you’ll be laughing your butt off at other times.

Like the prior books, I enjoyed the banter and character development in this one as well. I found myself enjoying the familiarity of this book. It is a true rom-com! You have the bad boy with a soft side, swoon worth romance and the paranormal aspects that come with the witchy side. Bax treats Olive like the witchy goddess she is and makes you long for that type of treatment. Can you truly expect anything other than heavenly treatment from an angel?!?

At this point I will literally read anything April Asher writes. I loved the first two books in the series, and this one drew me in just the same. Olive and Bax's banter is to die for and the spice is absolutely spicin'. I love everything about the chemistry between this Guardian Angel and Witch. The Dare I Docket really made me think about what I can do in my own life that helps me step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. That being said, each book is very similar as far as the triplet's personalities goes- the confidence, the sass, the level of intimacy, etc... I loved that we got to see all three of the triplets, but I didn't see much of a difference between them. But again, I loved every second of this book and would love to see the series continue!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ //5

Not Your Crush’s Cauldron
by: April Asher

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book showed up for me just in time for Halloween & had been praying on a miracle! I couldn’t even set this book down. How much fun was that! I love a book about spicy little witches and this book delivered. Baxter and Oliver are delicious. I loved the first two in this series and this was just the cherry on top. The love, the spice, the tension—it’ll keep you wanting more, more & more until the very end. So fun, so cute & perfect for the season! I cannot wait for its release so I can purchase AND recommend to all of my book girls!!!

I love these sisters. This book is just chiefs kiss. I can’t pick which sister is my favorite story line but they are each so fun and so spooky!

I wanted to love this book (and I quite liked the previous one in the series) but I couldn't get into it. The early chapters had so many characters I couldn't follow what was happening and who everyone was (we already knew most of the characters from earlier in the series, but either easing in or having more of a refresher would have been useful).
I wanted a bit more excitement from Olive's list, which surprises me, since I am someone who stays in my comfort zone and would honestly probably have a relatively similar list. I think part of it is that it didn't feel like it was exciting enough to Olive, so that excitement didn't translate to me.
I also found myself not getting into Olive and Bax's banter. The fact he kept calling her angel, when he's a literal angel (and other people refer to him as angel) threw me off, as well.

Not Your Crush's Cauldron definitely had its sweet moments and I was very intrigued by the premise--and it sounds like exactly the kind of book I would love--but overall I just couldn't get into it. I think it would work well for someone looking for something super cozy with a lot of light (and at times kind of cheesy) banter. I definitely think this book has an audience, it just wasn't me.

I loved Bax and Olive, and I adore this series - it's the perfect mix of supernatural and everyday fun rom-com.

It was fun to be back in this world with the Maxwell sisters! I love that supernaturals and humans coexist in NYC.

I feel like Olive and Bax’s story was definitely foreshadowed in the previous books and it was fun to see it play out. I enjoyed watching these two exit their comfort zones and come together! It was such a fun read!

Read if you like:
🪄witches and angels- paranormal romance
🪄friends/roommates to lovers
🪄found family
🪄doing what makes you happy

This one comes out Feb 13 and if you haven’t read the others in this series, now is the perfect time! I hope that this book foreshadowed a book 4! I did receive and early copy of this book; all opinions are my own.

With quite a few humorous situations, Olive and Bax go from friends to lovers. However, the development of their relationship was inconsistent. I usually enjoy supernatural romances but this one wasn’t quite up to my expectations. I felt there was something missing, although I can’t quite identify what that was. This can be read as a standalone without any confusion.

This series will live on my shelf for eternity for anytime I need a paranormal romance that will bring me joy. Olivie and Bax are soo good. And let’s not even mention all the piercing. 🤤 and then we throw in the teacher look. I loved it all and so blessed to read the ARC. Can’t wait to buy the hard copy.

This is the third installment in the Supernatural Singles series, focusing on the third triplet of the sisters, Olive. Olive is a studious and shy professor who moves in with her sexy, tattooed and pierced Guardian Angel friend, Bax, when he offers his available room. Olive moves in, and she assigns her class a Dare Docket to go out of their comfort zone, and she decides it’s only fair if she makes one for herself to stretch her own comfort zone. In the midst of this, Bax gets assigned a case at the GAA - to his surprise, it’s his longtime crush and new roomie, Olive.

I enjoyed the romance between Olive and Bax, even if the plot points didn’t always make sense or felt overly convenient. Their chemistry was super hot and I loved it when they were together. Their “pining/angst” phase didn’t do much for me since that already started odd. Bax is super flirty and sexual with Olive from the very beginning, but then would get weird and shy when they had romantic moments? Then go back to winking? They were one of the rare times I preferred them together since that felt the most natural.

I had quite a few gripes with this:
-While I understand that Bax was assigned to Olive as her guardian angel, her “risks” felt so inconsequential and ridiculous. I think having Bax’s job explained better might have mitigated this. It doesn’t feel thought through. His job is to watch people have fun, but not too much fun? Or get injured by accident? I’m confused how this is a legitimate job?
-At the end of the novel, the sisters are all ‘poof’ing around, aka teleporting. If you have this ability, why wouldn’t you at least ‘poof’ to and from work instead of taking the subway? It’s alluded to earlier that it takes a lot of energy, but why not at least poof once to get to work earlier or back home faster? Bax transports her a bit with his wings, but without him, would you be ‘poof’ing?
-I love this world, but I do want to understand more of how it works. The magic wasn’t touched on as much as I’d like - we know Bax can fly and has some heightened senses, but is that all angels have? Olive is a witch, but how does she use her witch powers? It just seems like they “fire” up when she’s overwhelmed/overcome with emotion. The lack of magic in this was underwhelming.
-The exchange ceremony was not explained. Again, we want to know more about this world and how magic works. Show us the ceremony and explain it! Missed opportunity.
-Same with the dancing competition - c’mon!
-My biggest ick was that Bax’s nickname for Olive was “angel”. Not only did he call her that well before they were an item, but why would you nickname anyone “angel” when you’re the literal angel?

I hope Harper gets the next book! I would love to see the sexy succubus get hit by cupid ;)

**Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!**

Thank you @smpromance for the complimentary ebook.

Not Your Crush’s Cauldron is book 3 in the Supernatural Singles series. Here’s a snipped of my review from book 2 which is pretty much the same words I had noted down for this book.

“I loved Rose’s relationships with her friends and her sisters, they were so supportive of each other while calling bullsh*t where necessary. Speaking of her sisters, Olive was my favourite, and I’m hoping there will be a book 3 about her. I would absolutely read it! I recommend this to those who like sweet and super spicy romances, or if you need something to lift your spirits after a heavier read.”

Well I got my book about Olivie! I still adore the sisters’ relationship, and Olive is still my favorite character! This was also a super sweet and spicy read. I’m hoping there will be a book 4 about Harper. FYI – don’t look up Jacob’s Ladder piercings in public, at work, or with kids around. Maybe I’ve been living under a rock and I’m the only person that didn’t know what that is. 😂If you’re looking for a spicy witchy romance this October I highly recommend this series. Definitely read in order though, I read book 2 first and it was a struggle at the start. I think part of the reason I enjoyed this one so much more was because I knew the dynamic and back story already.

For whatever reason, this one really just didn’t work for me. I’m bummed, but I just haven’t been able to get into it.