This was a cozy, witchy read. The premise sounded really intriguing, but the execution fell slightly flat for me. I would have enjoyed more magic. The story’s flow felt somewhat choppy due to multiple points of view and timelines. However, this was still an atmospheric and interesting book, especially nice for this time of year.

Thanks to Avon for the gifted copy of this book!

A witch my story in the veins of Adrienne Young, WOODSMOKE WOMEN is an atmospheric and lyrical read with small town drama, mysterious woods, and magic. This was definitely on the slower side, and I had a hard time really connecting with cheering for the main characters. I was also hoping that the magic would interweave with a story in a more powerful way. Definitely a good recommendation if you enjoy small town reads or Practical Magic.

A beautiful story of loss, friendship, belief in magic, and the pull of home. The characters all struggle with past mistakes and the serious course they took for each one. Their belief in the power of mountain magic and lore deeply shadowed the truth of mistakes, failure, regret. A simply wonderful novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Praised for its atmospheric writing similar to Adrienne Young, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 combines magical realism with a small mountain town’s folktale about a mysterious stranger who appears with the first frost and disappears after the last. Her grandma’s death forces Carrie to return home and finally come to terms with her past. What she also finds is Matthieu.

Each chapter started off with a small insert from her family’s Book of Spells, which I loved and hoped that Carrie would learn from. The problem was the amount of girl drama, especially between the sisters, that made up the book. Many eyeroll moments from me when they need to communicate better.

However, never before have I questioned the existence of a character as much as I did with Mattieu. Part of me wanted him to be the mountain’s magic, and part of me wanted him to be real. Between that and buddy read with Emily, it kept me turning pages.

Details: Rachel Greenlaw • 320 pages • October 22, 2024 • Gifted: @avonbooks @netgalley

I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of this one! The romance plays more of a secondary role in the book, with the main focus exploring the friendship and familial bonds between women through the relationships between Carrie and her great aunt, Cora, and ex-best friend, Jess. I enjoyed how it was slowly revealed why Carrie left Woodsmoke. I like how the book kept you guessing on if Matthieu was real or a figment of the mountain. The magical realism was great for reading in October!

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells was a unique and fascinating read of magic, romance, and the ripple effect that decisions have on the future. I loved the themes surrounding reconnecting and rekindling past friendships as well as finding love. I also found Greenlaw’s writing to be beautiful and descriptive. It really felt like we as readers were in the scene at times because the writing was that vivid. The story as a whole was fairly cozy, though, I did find it to be missing some of the magic I was hoping for. I also found Greenlaw’s way of presenting the plot to be engaging between different character POVs and different timelines. This book also hit at just the right time. It’s well worth the read, but if you’re a mood reader, I recommend reading it during the fall/winter timeframe for peak coziness and atmosphere.

I don't know what to think of the book but it felt like something was missing, or maybe my expectations were misaligned. I was expecting a cozy mystery with a bit of romance and bit of magic/fantasy/supernatural element sprinkled in. But this read completely different to me and I don't know how to describe it...other than to say the storyline felt passive and a bit disjointed. Perhaps it's because there are 3 POVs and multiple timelines, and I'm not always the biggest of that but in many novels it works. And I don't think it entirely worked in this novel or for me and that all made this book very slow moving, especially in the first half. What I did like was the concept of the Morgan women having a book of spells, and certain 'powers' that go with it. The power of the mountains and the concept of paying something to receive your wish. It's the execution that didn't work for me but I'm sure another reader would better appreciate. 2.5 stars for me.

This book was like a warm blanket on a cool day.

With a non-linear timeline and different POV's, this is usually not the kind of book I would give a good rating. I feel like going from one POV to another and bouncing around in different time periods is confusing...but...this one drew me in and I fell in love with the story.

A love story, a cautionary tale, living life, coming home, all surrounded by the inherited familial magic of Cora and Carrie. Find a quiet afternoon to immerse yourself in this story.

Well written with a compelling storyline and characters you won’t soon forget, Rachel Greenlaw weaves this story masterfully.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw is the perfect cozy read for witchy season. Greenlaw combines magical realism with folklore in this enchanting tale of finding one’s path and place of belonging. I found myself drawn to the mountains right along with Carrie Morgan and not wanting to leave. All of the relationships Carrie must navigate in order to find her own roots in a small town were thoughtfully crafted. From spells to curses and lost loves to new romances, this book kept me guessing and wondering what relationships would thaw and grow stronger after the winter frosts.
Thank you, NetGalley, Rachel Greenlaw, Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! This was the perfect read for getting cozy by a fire (and maybe motivate me to do some home projects).

⋆⋆½ — lovely prose, reminiscent of maggie stiefvater and adrienne young. an atmosphere that resembles that of zella day's song hypnotic. the angsty, nostalgic small-town magical realism would usually be right up my alley, but i couldn't connect to the characters this time. a problem because this was definitely a character study and had no semblance of anything close to a plot. the story was mainly about carrie's homecoming, and her slowly learning to love her hometown again. she wasn't a particularly interesting character, but jess and cora were even more irritating, and being forced to read from their povs every other chapter very much lowered whatever enjoyment i had in the earlier chapters. jess especially. i do not care about her tradwife marital problems. for a book where all three povs are female, it's odd that the book seems to be 60% about men? i wouldn't classify this as a romance, and yet. so. many. men. i'm sure even straight women have other topics to consider?

thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

This book was not at all what I expected. It was more magical realism than cozy fantasy. I thought it was going to be more witchy as well. I liked the 3 main characters in the book however I did not need all 3 of their POVs and think the book would have flowed better if there were only 1 or 2 narrators. I wish that the romance was more than a subplot and was better developed. However, I really enjoyed how the female relationships developed. It was well written and a good concept, but I thought it could have been executed better.

Told from three women’s points of view, The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells crafts a tale filled with romance, self-discovery, second chances, and a bit of folklore and magic.

Overall, I adored the theme of the book at its core—a story about finding yourself, closure, and your way back home. With the small-town setting, seasonal changes, mysterious mountains, and tall tales, the atmosphere of the novel was also really intriguing and kept luring me back in. I also am a sucker for a sweet romance, and I loved this one!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

“The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells” is an enticing tale of magic, friendship, and facing the past. This one is for fans of Adrienne Young’s adult novels. Carrie returns to her mystical hometown, after 10 years of absence, to fix up her grandmother’s cottage. She left her fiancé, her best friend and her family many years ago and now she must face them. I was immediately drawn into the mysteries of this story. It was intriguing to place the events of the past and understand the characters and their intertwining relationships. This book also has some magical elements and curses that unfold throughout the story. I really enjoyed this one! It’s perfect for the autumn and winter seasons!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Morgan women are deeply connected to the mountains of Woodsmoke, with the ability to share the power of the town with townspeople who need their help. Carrie left the small town years ago, only to return when her grandmother dies and stipulates that Carrie must stay in her cottage and restore it over one winter. Carrie left behind her great aunt and her ex best friend, and coming home brings multiple complications to her life.

This beautifully written story is incredibly atmospheric and evocative, with the mist rolling in off the mountains and the lyrical descriptions. Greenlaw's writing sets an enchanting mood, putting the reader in the right spirit for magic.

At its core, it is a story about family, obligations, and finding our own path. Carrie is reluctant to come home and be seen as one of the Morgan women again, with all of the rumors and responsibilities that go along with her last name. She finds a distraction in a beautiful man who comes down from the mountains one morning, pouring connection and romance into this read.

This book had me completely captivated, and I finished it in a single day simply because I couldn't put it down. It would be a fantastic one to add to your fall reads if you enjoy family stories, tales of finding yourself, and a little bit of magic

While I enjoyed The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells, I felt some undefined something was missing. The story of a stranger who appears with the frost and is gone with the spring thaw was interesting, and the snippets of Carrie's ancestors' lives made me want to know more about them. However, I kept waiting for something, I'm not sure what, to happen or appear. Still a very enjoyable read.

The Morgan women are so different, and they have lived in a town where they have never been accepted. And Carrie has always felt that, even though she has tried to fit in she knew she was just different, and she would do anything to leave. And she did and 10 years later she’s back in her hometown trying to find her HOME and renovating everything her grandmother left for her. This book gave witchy vibes when it came to her great aunt Cora who has this crazy obsession with the Book, that was handed down to the oldest Morgan daughter, there is a story behind THAT and I love how the book goes back years and years between Cora and Ivy and Carrie and her upbringing, until now and how it all connects and the sacrifices that were made, especially when it comes to Cora. I don’t know what I was expecting when I started to read this book, I loved the mystery of a “folklore” that haunts these women and the mountains. It was pretty awesome, and so heartfelt, especially toward the end.

A cozy Small town spooky/witchy book that will tick every fall vibe you’re seeking for spooky season. It’s a delightful, atmospheric read that has interesting relationships spanning multigenerations in the same setting. I would classify this as magical realism, but the magic is somewhat understated. Similar to practical magic in a way. There is a nice little mystery taking place throughout the story with just a dash of romance.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw is a book about longings and belonging, and not-belonging, about families, love, friendship, community and heritage. I had some frustrations with each of the viewpoint characters, and I’m uneasy with some of the conflict resolutions, but overall, it was an easy and mildly spooky read.

The book opens with Carrie Morgan returning to her hometown of Woodsmoke after a 10-year absence — or rather, to the cabin she just inherited from her late mother Ida. It’s a while before she works up the courage to actually go into town, because she’d left quite abruptly, leaving her fiance Tom at the altar and never so much as writing a postcard to her best friend Jess as she traveled around Europe. Her plan is to renovate the cabin, sell it, and leave again.

Her great-aunt, Cora, has other ideas. The Morgan women have a long tradition of making bargains with the mountains, along with making folk remedies, giving warnings never to step off the paths into the wilds, and basically meddling with the townsfolks’ lives to try to protect them. Cora wants Carrie to stay forever and take up the Morgan mantle, and their inherited book of spells, remedies and stories.

Meanwhile, Carrie meets a mysterious stranger, Matthieu, and hires him to help with the renovations. She initially scoffs at Cora’s warning that this man may be a mountain manifestation who’ll break her heart and vanish when the frost melts. As Cora’s tentative relationship with Matthieu deepens, we also see flashbacks revealing backstory including the beginnings of Cora’s courtship by Howard, plus the challenges they now face as an aging couple, along with the rising tensions between the now-married Jess and Tom that surfaced with Carrie’s return.

Although I started out with little sympathy for Carrie’s abandonment of her roots and friendships, I came to understand that this was partly due to unconscious reactions from her life having been meddled with before. Everyone else but Howard has secrets about bargains they’ve made in the past, and there is very little openness about what people really want. There is a lot of blame going around from people who are far from guiltless themselves. But given how things resolve mostly happily at the end, there is some hope that the next generation will learn to talk about their feelings before things go bad.

Despite the many references to “the mountains” and plants that grow around them, I didn’t get a strong sense of place — no mountain is individually named, for instance (fake names for fake mountains would have been fine with me, but I don’t think they’d be so nebulous for the inhabitants). In fact, for quite a while I assumed this was set in the Appalachians instead of England, until I was clued in by words like “greengrocer” being used.

Moreover, Carrie is an artist, but she’s creatively blocked, so we never see her process, although it’s stated that she has started to sketch again, off-camera, by the end. For these and other reasons, the novel never felt quite grounded to me. But that fits quite well with Carrie’s emotional state, as she struggles to decide what’s real and what’s not, and whether she can trust herself and others, and with the mental and emotional turmoil of the other characters. The arguments did feel pretty real, although I was often offering counter-arguments to them in my head.

This is a pretty light read, but then again, it’s not trying to be a heavy book. It’s primarily a semi-supernatural romance, blended with mystery, home renovations, inheritances, and homecoming. If that sounds like your kind of thing, it may be a good choice for reading this October.

After 10 years away, Carrie Morgan must return to her hometown to renovate the cabin her grandmother left her after she passed. However, it is not a warm homecoming. Carrie ran away 10 years ago on her wedding day and has not talked to anyone since. Oh, and the man she was meant to marry is now married (with a kid) to her childhood best friend. And if that's not enough, the Morgan family is known to have magic and the mountains make bargains with the Morgan family only.... but there is always a price.

I was really intrigued by this premise and I enjoyed the multiple points of view. I think I had a really hard time with Jess, Tom, and Carrie. I felt like the relationships were really broken and quite antagonistic and don't feel like it resolved in a super realistic way, especially given the timing. I just wish there was more interaction between our characters (narrators) because they're all in the same small town but they're never with one another but are always thinking about one another.

It's definitely a fun, fall book. I just wish I got a little more. A little more into the family lore, a little more into the relationships, a little more into the stories at the beginning of the chapters. It feels like there was a lot of potential that wasn't necessarily tapped.