Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

I've been loving a good witchy urban fantasy/contemporary romance book lately, and have devoured most of those mainstream ones on the market. So I was delighted to get this ARC based on reading the description.

The Cottage Around the Corner has a bit of a rough start, similar to Sarah Hogle's new book, Old Flames and New Fortunes, in the sense that there is a big sensory overload, descriptor world dump at the start. But push through it, and I feel as though the writing flows much better and makes this book easy to zip through!

Our MMC, Fitz, falls into the private, uber-competent, from a rich family but running away, class of male romantic interests. And I have nothing against that. Fitz falls first, going as far as to ask our FMC out to dinner upon their first meeting. He consistently time and time again shows up for our FMC, never wavering in his showing of interest. I didn't necessarily get the clearest sense of why he is so quick to like our heroine - particularly off the heels of a bad breakup. But regardless, this made for a calm book in which many other plot points and magic system things are explained, but we are never left in suspense on where we stand in our relationship. That is, the romance is a stable one, which is always my preference. Our FMC, Charlie, is a bit more frustrating in her tendency to waffle between not being with Fitz because they are arrivals and she equates that with losing her home and business, Chanterelle Cottage. Even at the point when it becomes clear their magic can work in tandem, she perseverates. Similarly, she gets very holed up in her perception of a past failure impacting everyone's view of her. This gets a little tired and repetitive towards the end of the book, but not enough for me to get overly frustrated. I sort of just saw her as an under-therapized girl - though in fairness, with such kind and awesome moms, I'm not entirely sure where her lack of therapizing is coming from.

Ultimately, this book builds up a lovable small-town cast of characters, has diverse representation without bashing you over the head with it, and has thorough current of a building romance and magical hijinks. Perfect for any fans of the witchy contemporary romance drama, especially as a reader who is not always looking to commit to a fully fantastical world of war and high-stakes and royalty, sometimes all I want is calm with a dash of magic -- and this book brings that! I'm looking forward to follow-up books in the series centered around hopefully Fitz's sister!

THEM: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

ME: “…but! when the cover is this stunning, make an exception.”
Seriously, this is the prettiest cover, hats off to the designer on this.

QUICK REVIEW:

Okay let get down to business.
D.L. Soria isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade. The “elevator pitch” is
You’ve Got Mail x Magic.

Add a closed door scene. But also make it feel a little Hallmark worthy if they were having a cozy mystery week.

WHAT I LIKED:

- Sibling love, it’s one of my favorite troops. Yes, I even loved the sibling broom. 😁
- The dialogue.

MINOR TIFFS:

- I wanted less meeting-the-town and deeper fantasy detail. I felt the overall mage magic system a little too vague. I realize though I read a lot of fantasy and my bar is set high in this regard.
- I predicted a few plot turns… and though I’d love to pet myself on the back, I want to be surprised.

FAVORITE PART:

- “ ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,’ ” he quoted, which would have been more frightening if his voice ’weren’t shaking as hard as his legs. He earned himself several harsh looks with that—the market was a mainstay in the witch community. An elderly Latina woman in a nearby booth pointed a bony finger at him and hissed something in Spanish that I’m sure he thought was a bruja curse. (In fact, she told him to fuck off.)”

- But like the banter around the “Goddamn Dickosaurus” is a close second. 😅🦕

RECOMMENDED…
- For Fans of Lovelight Farms (B. K. Borison) & Ashley Poston. Add a sprinkle of Heather Fawcett vibes.
- When you’re mood reading needs some small town drama.
- When you are looking for an easy and smirk-worthy win in the Fall.
- When you need a book that shows love is love is love is love.

3.75/5 Rounded up, because I wish the Chanterelle Cottage was real. 😩

———
Awwwww, it baby’s first #netgalley review. (Sniff, sniff.) My thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC.

Mystery, romance, and witchcraft, oh my! This enemies to lovers was so cute, kept me turning pages and giggling. This is another book I'm adding to reread for spooky season

The Cottage Around the Corner is a delightful book about enemies to lovers. Set in her parents magic shop, Charlie Sparrow hopes to take over running Chanterelle Cottage from. her parents. A mage opens a competing store across the street and they battle it out for survival of their shops. You've Got Mail meets Practical Magic at its best.