Before taking over the family business in New Orleans, Gabriel has to live three months with reduced magic. He ends up working at an animal shelter in Chicago with Leah. Best friends with two witches and co-owner of a bar, Leah is a human who isn't supposed to know about witches...

This witchy rom-com has:
Grumpy/Sunshine
Forbidden romance
Cinderella
Cute animals!

I read The Witch Is Back last year and think reading them in order enhances the experience. I can't wait to read the next book in the series! I'm hoping we see Tia and Henry again ;)

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Open Door / Spicy

Thank to NetGalley, Harlequin, and the author for this eARC!

I finished the book in less than 8 hours!!!

This was such a cute standalone book in a series and I will definitely be going back to read the first book as well!

I enjoyed Gabriel and Leah’s love story and their dry banter was so much fun to read. It was cute to see them brought together over time and to see Gabriel lower his shields and walls and defenses for her.

However, I will say that I felt a pang of hurt for Kole, whom I’ll probably hear more about when I read the first book and now I pray Book 3 is about Tia and Book 4 is about him bc he needs someone to love that will love him back!!

Thank you Sophie H. Morgan for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before the release date in exchange for my opinion. I loved this one. This is the second book in the series. Leah is human, she isn’t supposed to know about the supernatural but she does. Her best friends are witches. Gabriel gets hired on at the same place where Leah works. His magic is bound because he has to spend time with the humans before being allowed into the family business. This is a grumpy/sunshine, slow burn romance. But they aren’t from the same world so they have to figure out if it is important enough to them to make it work through balance.

Leah is one of the best female leads. I absolutely loved her, even when she's a little bit bonkers. After book one, I wanted her with Kole. But this book surpassed what I had been thinking.

Gabriel takes longer to warm up to, but once he clicked for me, he was perfect. I loved the backgrounds and being at an animal shelter. This book had so much heart. I loved it.

GRUMPYxSUNSHINE AND DONE PERFECTLY?!!? OH MY GOD!! i cannot wait to have a physical copy in my collection! i have nothing negative to say about this title!

This was adorable! Love a good witchy romcom.

In order to inherit the family business, Gabriel must live among humans for 3 months with minimal access to his magic. The grumpy warlock goes to Chicago to work at a witch-owned bar and prove to the board that he can co-exist with humans.

Leah is a part owner of this bar. She also happens to be human and not suppose to know about witches, warlocks, and magic. But she does, obvi. She regularly volunteers at an animal shelter, where Gabriel gets roped into working as well.

There’s dogs, magic, and a small town feeling. We also know someone is sabotaging the run down shelter AND doesn’t want Gabriel to succeed…

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!!

In the second book in the Toil and Trouble series by Sophie H. Morgan, De-Witched follows human, Leah Turner, as she operates on the perimeter of witch society. Her best friends are witches, but per witch law, she isn't supposed to know anything about them...
Gabriel Goodnight, orphaned at a young age, is forced by a clause in his human-loving parent's will to spend time amongst humans before he can take over the family business.
With his magic bound, Gabriel takes a job in Leah's bar, and a grumpy/sunshine, slow burn relationship starts to form. Soon, they are both forced to decide what matters the most to them. Balanced between the two worlds, can they make a life together work?

Thank you #NetGalley and #HarlequinRomance for early access to read De-Witched by Sophia H. Morgan in exchange for an honest review. It was cute and made me laugh out loud. If you love cozy fantasy/ romance novels, check this series out!

I enjoy this author’s world-building, where humans don’t know that witches and warlocks live among them. This book can be read as a stand-alone, although it’s great to see characters from the first book in the series again (“The Witch is Back”). Leah is a human partner in a bar, with two close friends who are witches. Their bar caters to humans. Her friends broke strict rules and told Leah about magic, swearing her to secrecy. Gabriel is a rigid and wealthy warlock, who is forced to associate with humans for a few months before he can assume control of his deceased parents’ business empire. Gabriel pulls strings to get a job in the bar, not knowing a human co-owns it. Leah’s crush on the hot warlock grumpily working undercover is quickly repressed by his apparent dislike of her. The bar’s customers also aren’t fans of his bad attitude. Gabriel ends up working at a struggling pet shelter that Leah also manages. As Leah and Gabriel’s relationship grows, there are some interesting plot twists. The story is well-written, with some adult heat and a HEA. I’m adding this author to my favorites and hoping for another book in this series! I received a free copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.

When I saw De-Witched come out as an ARC I jumped at the chance to read it because I loved The Witch is Back, the first book in the series, so much. This book was just as good. It follows Leah who is the human friend of Emma from the first book and co-owner of the bar Toil and Trouble with two other witches(one being Emma). She has an instant attraction to Gabriel who is nervous around humans because his parents were killed by them while working with them years ago. Gabriel is forced to work in the human world in order to become CEO of his parents company to build empathy for the people his company helps. He asks Emma and the other owner Tia to work at the bar but is a horrible bartender. Leah steps in to help him by offering him a place at the shelter. They grow fonder of each other and realize that their connection might be worth fighting for.

I really liked the premise of the book, human hates warlock but then they end up falling for each other while trying to save the shelter and Gabriel’s position with his company. Leah was a ray of sunshine and I loved how emotionally mature she is while Gabriel is very stunted emotionally. What I struggled with a bit is how temporary their relationship always felt. Overall the book had me hooked from early on and I really enjoyed reading this sequel.

I’ve really been enjoying witch stories lately and Sophie Morgan did not disappoint. Leah is a human who’s obsessed with the witch world, even though she shouldn’t know about it. Gabriel is a distant warlock who blames humans for killing his parents. As a condition of taking over as CEO of his parent’s company, he must live among humans for 3 months without his magic. His intense annoyance with Leah slowly turns to interest. Bit by bit, he begins to see that humans aren’t the monsters he’d made them out to be.

The fact that Leah tried to kill grumpy Gabe with kindness was just delightful. I also loved that Leah put him on notice about his hot and cold behaviour once he’d decided he wanted to be friends with her. Gotta love a girl with firm boundaries! There was a simmering tension between them from their first meeting and that undercurrent made every interaction they had deepen the bond that was forming between them. I liked watching Gabe thaw as they got to know one another. The intermingling of magic in their daily lives was just enough to remind the reader he had magic without being overbearing. I loved Leah’s friends, Tia and Emma, and how fiercely they loved her. I thought this was a great story and I will absolutely check out other books in this series and by this author.

*** Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin and Sophie H. Morgan. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I LOVED THIS! When I started this series, I knew this was going to be good! Leah was a complete sweetheart (I'm a sucker for animals)! As the only human owner of the witch themed bar, she feels pretty isolated. Gabriel has a bone to pick with humanity so in order to inherit his family's company. The only place to get a human job, Leah's bar. Having to hide her knowledge of magic from him is one of the best aspects of this plot. Having previously interacting with each other (him unknowing it was her), they had a connection that could not be helped! I enjoyed learning more about the magical system through the eyes of a human as well as the setup for the next book in the series. It lagged a little in spots but it was enjoyable to read and catch up with characters from the first book! Emma, Leah, and Tia hold my heart so I cannot wait to continue!

✨Book Review✨

This grumpy sunshine was a nice read with decent plot. There was decent character development and spice in this book. Overall this book wasn’t bad but I definitely preferred the first book in the series more. I will definitely be reading the next book.

This is definitely a grumpy x sunshine book which is one of my favorite tropes. The magic system was fun and seeing how the magic system interacted with the non magic world was interesting.

This was so cute.
I read The Witch is Back last year and immediately fell in love with the writing style, so when I saw that De-Witched was on Netgalley I was so excited!
This book met my expectations and then some, anyone who knows me knows I am a HUGE fan of witchy rom-coms- it's easily one of my favourite genres. This one was so cozy!
Gabriel Goodnight is a stick in the mud to say the least- better known as 'the warlock of contempt' he is all work and no play. Enter Leah Turner, 1/3 owner in a witch themed bar with her best friends and animal shelter volunteer extraordinaire, she is everything that Gabriel is not. So when Gabriel is sent to live with humans for three months to fulfill his contract to take over his parents company, Leah because a guiding hand and thorn in his side.
The dynamic between these two was precious, Gabriel truly embodied the grumpy of the grumpy/sunshine trope (one of the best tropes ever). Leah dragged him out of his shell again and again and it was so cute to read.
If you are a fan of found families and angst this is the book for you.

3.5 Magical Stars!
3 Spicy Chili Peppers

The first book in this series blew me away. So much so that it ended my romance hiatus last year that I was going through. Sophie H. Morgan has such a talent for writing and the way this series sucks you into their world is nothing short of magical.

Here's how I'm feeling:

Friendships: Still completely loving Emma, Leah, and Tia but in this book, Bastian got a little boys' club with Henry and Gabriel... and to say I was obsessed with THAT is an understatement! They are fiercely loyal to one another and would take torment, and ridicule, and may even die for each other. They are the ultimate found family and they're all so cute.

Gabriel: Okay, here's my controversy - I was under the impression that this book's MCs were going to be Leah and Kole. Instead, Gabriel was introduced and I couldn't stop thinking about how hurt Kole would be or how their flirty witty chemistry was perfect in the first book. It was chalked up to a sibling-like relationship. Understandingly, Sophie H. Morgan is clearly going to give Kole his own book so I'm not that upset. Plus, you learn to genuinely like Gabriel, especially when he's around Bastian and Henry, She's very stern and stoic otherwise. Her also gave off neuro-divergent tendencies. I don't know if that was the author's intention but it made me like and appreciate Gabriel more. I could relate to his logic.

Magic: Once again, there was just enough magic to make it interesting but it didn't overpower the book and I love that!

Cover: No notes! I love it.

Big thank you(!) to Sophie H, Morgan, Harlequin, and NetGalley for this eARC. I cannot wait for the next in the series!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to review De-Witched by Sophie H Morgan. This book was lots of fun. Leah is a human who knows about witches because of her two best friends/ business partners (they own a bar). It is apparently a big no no for humans to know about witches. Gabriel Goodnight is a snobby warlock that hates humans. But in order to become CEO of the family business (it makes slightly magic remedies for humans) Gabriel has to have his magic bound and live and work with humans for three months. Not surprisingly the two clash in the beginning. But Leah has a big heart and recognizes a fellow lonely person, so she barrels through hi defenses and they become friends and then lovers. The banter is witty and the steam is steamy. The characters are all people you would want to have a beer with. (It’s is very much found family centric). It is not life changing, but it is a great rainy day magical read.

Leah takes a huge risk sneaking into a witch high-society masked ball. She also promised to follow to simple rules: 1. Do not draw attention to yourself and 2. Do not talk to anyone. She then takes a bigger risk by by talking to Gabriel who is a higher family warlock. As much as she wanted to show him who she was she had to flee the ball before anyone discovered her secret. Gabriel in order to inherit his family business will have to live among the humans, for three full months and he has to do this without his powers.

This is definitely a grumpy x sunshine book which is one of my favorite tropes. I also likes how the MMC was the one with powers when typically I feel like the female is the witch in these types of stories. The magic system was fun and seeing how the magic system interacted with the non magic world was interesting. The mystery aspect of this book was lacking a little bit for me because it just didn't feel like there were enough stakes. The relationship between the characters was good and you got to see how they were working on improving individually which led to them working together and stronger. Overall this book is a fun little cozy romance filled with magic hijinks and forbidden romance.

I loved this book! It begins with Leah knowing the big witch secret...which she is not allowed to know.

Gabriel, a very rigid warlock, learns he has to live among humans, without magic, for 3 month in order to become CEO of his late parents ' company. When he starts working at Leah's bar, he's a hot mess, but Leah is smitten.

What follows is filled with magic, hijinks, and a forbidden romance. Inloved the characters and the craziness of the witch world.

If you enjoy the genre, you will love this book. While this is the author's second novel, she writes like a seasoned professional and is an author whose work I'll be following.

The Toil and Trouble trio is back in Sophie Morgan's De-Witched! I loved the magical universe that Morgan created in The Witch is Back and how the magical world interacts with the human world. In this book, we follow Leah, the human owner of Toil and Trouble, and even though she's human, we still get to enjoy plenty of magic.
Leah Turner convinced her friends to let her go to a witch masked ball as long as she promised to be careful and not reveal that she is human. The consequences of being found out could be dire. While she doesn't get discovered, she does make an impression on a handsome warlock and he makes an impression on her. Fast-forward a few months to that same handsome warlock needing a short-term job in the human world and he decides Toil and Trouble would be the perfect place to lay low and "do his time" in the human world. Leah is thrilled even though she knows he won't recognize her. Unfortunately, Gabriel is not the charming Warlock that she met on the balcony at the party and he lives up to the nickname "Warlock of Contempt." He also really doesn't like humans...
I don't know how Morgan wove this enemies to lovers romance so seamlessly but she did! Their chemistry was on point and the relationship development was perfect. I can't wait for more in this series!

I wanted to like this one more than I did. The elements were there - grumpy/sunshine, witchy magic and sweet doggos.

Still, after 40 percent, the pull to read and root for the characters was gone. Some dialogue was too saccharine and the “mystery” was lackluster.

I wanted to finish it though, despite it not living up to book 1.