The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells tells the story of Carrie Morgan. Carrie is returning to her hometown of Woodsmoke after leaving ten years ago. Her grandmother has passed away and Carrie has returned to settle the cottage her grandmother left to her. Carrie's return is a big deal for the town. Carrie left on the day she was meant to be married. Her ex-fiancé, old best friend, and her great aunt Cora are all affected by Carrie's return. Woodsmoke is a magical place and the mountains have not taken kindly to Carrie's departure. Carrie must juggle the reactions to her return and she also has to decide if she will stay in Woodsmoke. This is further complicated when she meets Matthieu, a stranger that offers to help her renovate the cottage. Aunt Cora has warned Carrie about mysterious strangers, but Carrie ends up falling for Matthieu.

This was a complicated read for me. I slogged through it. I expected magic and romance and instead the book was more of a family drama. The magic was very abstract. The book of spells written by the Morgan women is mentioned often, but the magic was quite simplistic. The romance seemed very rushed and was more of a mystery instead of a true romance. Much of the book is spent on the drama that took place 10 years ago when Carrie left Woodsmoke. This story focuses more on the aftermath and resolution of everything that happened back then.

My expectations for this novel ultimately led to me not enjoying it. While it wasn't for me, there is quite a lot to enjoy if you go in with the right expectations. If you love small cozy towns, family focused stories, and a light magical read, this book would be perfect for you. I think the comparisons to Adrienne Young do have some merit here.

I liked this book but it was not what I was expecting. This was a good combination between magical realism, mystery and love story. I was captured from the beginning and intrigued with the plot. I enjoyed not knowing if it was real or just a result of the main character imagination. I enjoyed the setting, the plot and the characters. But very sad to discover that there wasn't more magic. I think this book is being marketed wrongly by calling it a Fantasy and not magical realism.

Thank you Net Galley, Avon and Harper Voyager for an e-galley of this book.

This did take me some time to get into the story. It felt almost *too* close to practical magic.

Generational books aren't usually my favorite types of stories, mainly because I feel like I need a character map sometimes to remember all the different names. I did enjoy this story though once I made it through about 35% of it. I enjoyed Carrie as a character but I wanted more depth from Matthieu, I suppose that was intentional because we weren't suppose to know whether he was real or not but he felt a little flat for me.

I also wanted more magic. I didn't know if any of the magic was real, we were never shown any, only told through the tales.

Overall I enjoyed it, especially the fairytale like tone to it.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Wood Smoke Book of Women’s Spells is a whimsical, magical, and beautifully written folklore-inspired tale brimming with mystery, family drama, and romance!! But it’s so much more than that! Because it weaves together themes of grief, sacrifice, belonging, redemption, and the longing for home in a deeply emotional and enchanting way. This story captivated me completely, and I wholeheartedly recommend it!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a captivating and unique book about family folk lore, loss, and magic. Disregarding advice (and warnings) from her Aunt Cora, Carrie falls into a world which upends everything she thought she knew. The book is a bit slow and could have used more oomph, but I enjoyed the blending of real life themes of family, romantic love, and self-discovery with magical undertones.

Okay, sometimes this was slow paced and hard to read, but I really did enjoy the overall reading experience. It’s got its moments of joy and sadness. I think this was well written, but it gave me the pace of Weyward…

A spellbinding blend of magic, sisterhood, and mystery. Greenlaw crafts a beautifully atmospheric and empowering tale that will enchant readers from start to finish.

This book fell short for me. I overall enjoyed the read, but the pacing was a bit slow and I think readers should know that going into it, so they ultimately know they should stick with it.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

A wonderful read about finding your place and way back home. I really feel for this main character as she tries takes steps back to a place that holds so many bad memories for her and yet holds theough.

I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting. From the very first page I felt captivated and transported into the story and could vividly picture everything in my mind. I also enjoyed the multiple POV’s and the pacing was perfect! I will definitely be doing a reread in the fall!

This was interesting and kind of sad. It was enchanting, with a touch of romance. It has a good mystery and a really unique magical realism about it.

This story was an interesting story from an author I don’t know or haven’t read before! Will look at finding other things by this author. I am grateful for the early access, thank you to those that allowed it!

Honestly, I found it hard to connect with the characters or stay fully engaged with the story. At times, the pacing felt slow, and certain parts of the story didn’t hold my interest as much as I’d hoped.

I would definitely recommend it to others. I guess that’s not my type of reading.. but I’d still suggest giving it a try !!!!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

This one was a slight letdown. While I usually love multiple POVs, not all of the points of view seemed necessary in this one. I also just wanted more magic and I was hoping for something different for the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for an eARC in exchange for my feedback.

The Morgan women are connected to the mountains surrounding Woodsmoke in a way that they can’t avoid. They are able to harness the power of the maintains and their magic is connected to them. Carrie had left Woodsmoke ten years before, trying to leave her family and their legend and powers behind, but after her grandmother’s death she finds herself back for good. When she returns she meets Matthieu, a handsome stranger who seems as if her straight out of the folklore her grandmother used to tell. When he goes missing Carrie knows he’s in real danger and is willing to do anything to bring him back to safety.

The folklore and magic caught my attention and made me want to pick up this book. I enjoyed how everything was beautifully woven together. The jumping in time between past and present generations and the change of points of view kept this book interesting. The story was well written and put together, but it didn’t pull me in as much as I hoped. This isn’t my typical genre of choice so that had a lot to do with it, but I just couldn’t fully immerse myself in this world. The writing and world building was great, but it just wasn’t for me. If this is your typically genre and the descriptions pulls you in, I think there is a good chance you would love this book. Even though this wasn’t my favorite I’m still glad I read this book. I did enjoy the ending and how everything came together in the end.

I struggled to get into this one - trust me, no one is more bummed about that than me! Just think it wasn't to be tastes, but I definitely can see this being a very enjoyable read for some.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this book, but ultimately struggled to get into the story and ended up only getting to about 30% before deciding it wasn't for me.

This book has an ever more popular theme of women having power in the back mountains of the US. This story is about Carrie and her return to Woodsmoke when her grandmother dies and leaves her the family cabin. She left 10 years ago to paint and explore the world. Now it seems she must live the curse of a man coming to Woodsmoke, falling in love and then he disappears leaving her heartbroken. Can Carrie and Matheiu break the curse? Lots of lore and mountain tales.

This was very well done! As someone who reads a lot of books with witches, I really enjoyed this. The only downside for me was that the pacing was a bit slower than I'd hope for.