So delightful!! Would be a fantastic read around fall and Halloween, but is also a great summer read!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This was a decent story. I loved the chemistry between Gabriel and Leah. I enjoyed the back and forth between them, and the build up to their relationship.

2.5/5 on the spicy level in my opinion. If spice isn't for you, there's definitely enough story plot to skip those scenes and not miss anything.

I really liked Gabriel and Leah's story. It was an interesting concept of the two diverse cultures. I also like how unbending Gabriel became more human and Leah was not afraid to be with witches. Fun secondary characters.

I loved this one! It was the grumpy x sunshine slow burn of my dreams! I can’t wait to buy myself a physical copy so I can annotate my favorite parts 😍

Gabriel Goodnight can I take you home please and thank you!!! I loved DeWitched as much if not more than The Witch is Back. The Toil and Trouble series is well written and developed with great characters, romance and a sprinkling of drama. Cannot wait for more from the author.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC, this was a wonderful read that I'll recommend to all.

This was a cute grumpy x sunshine, slow burn, forced proximity book with some magical elements. Even though this is book #2 in the Toil and Trouble series, I read it as a standalone, and it didn't take away from my reading experience. I enjoyed seeing Gabe slowly defrost around Leah. The secret villain felt a bit forced and underwhelming, but I'm glad it wasn't overly cliché.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC!

I had to DNF this it was so cringey. The characters seemed way too forced, the word “witch” was used too many times. The magic structure was far too in-your-face and the FMC was just annoying me. Why does Emma need to “take car of her” or “worry about her”?

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.