I found myself in love with the concept of this book, more than the book itself. The plot, the setting, the witches and magic in the fall. Literally the PERFECT fall read. However the execution was not great.

The writing I didn’t personally connect with. I loved the descriptiveness of it but found myself not connecting with the characters. I’m not a huge fan of instant love and Dina and Scott fell for each other too quickly without any reason besides their chance encounters.

I also found that I didn’t love the sex scenes. They felt quick and forced. Like quickies in the closet right after their best friends say I do? I think the fact that they hardly had any history before jumping into bed together. It felt more lustful than love, even though the author said otherwise. I wanted more tension and banter, less sexual innuendos. That would’ve sold the instant love story more.

The ending also fell a bit short. The conflict with her mom and the reveal with her being bisexual was resolved so quickly. It felt as if it wasn’t the biggest issue throughout the whole book.

All this being said, I enjoy myself. I liked, but didn’t love! I read in two days. The fall witchy vibes were perfect. I think other readers who enjoy more the quick falling in love trope will enjoy this story more. I definitely think some of my following will gobble this up. Thank you for the advanced copy! I will be posting my review on Instagram 9/29-10/1. I will come back to add the link to the review once posted.

An cozy, wholesome debut novel that has a magical side! I love that Dina’s magic was incorporated through her bakeshop/coffeeshop. The MC was a museum curator and fed into my Mummy crush I had as a teen on Brandon Frasers character. This book felt like a warm hug and I love how much the book showed her importance of her friendships and connections with her family as well :) A great novel to kick off the cozy autumnal season


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

what a glorious debut novel! Witches and MMC that falls absolutely head over heels first? Yes, please! The perfect cozy fall read full of humor and spice. I can't wait to read more from Nadia El-Fassi!

A fun Fall read to get into witchy season! I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It took me about 20% to get into but after that I crushed this book! There’s so much light fun with Dina’s friend and in her relationship. Scott is so lovable and unexpectedly spicy. There’s also a lot of depth to Dina’s personal journey that I really appreciate. But this ending!?!? Had me in the feels and I know some will really relate to her!

i finished this book on an overnight red-eye (rip sleep) and this was the perfect book to get me into the fall mood!! nadia el-fassi has a beautiful way of writing the details in her story that I felt all of the flavors and aromas coming to life. I also loved how, despite the cozy, witchy vibe, the book still gave spiceeeee.

tropes:
🍂 cozy fall vibes
🥐 kitchen witch/bakery owner fmc x museum curator mmc
❤️ queer rep
🪵 english countryside village

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f paranormal romance
-witchy vibes
-cozy vibes
- curvy rep
-queer rep
-a curse
-praise kink


Best Hex Ever is a romance baked full of coziness, witchy vibes, family, and steaming with sexual tension, wrapped into a hug of a book. Truly a must-read and an author to watch

This book was so much fun! It was full of cozy witchy autumn vibes and just enough spice to keep me on my toes. I loved how Dina’s magic manifested with her baking! I really appreciated her relationship with Immy and Rosemary. They were such fun and unique characters, and as for Scott… he was every magic loving bookish girl’s dream. I mean hello, a sexy museum curator who wears tweed jackets with elbow patches? Yes please! This is a must read for every witchy romance lover who is building their fall tbr!

DNF. This is very slow, and I just did not care for the characters. And based on other reviews, I’m not sure it will wow me.

I loved this so much. The perfect blend of spicy and cutesy! Perfect little rom com for the fall season. There were some references that were a bit too topical, which isn’t really my favorite. But the humor and banter made up for it.

SUCH a cute, cozy romcom! I loved it, I can't wait to tell people to read this! Definitely gave practical magic vibes and I was HERE FOR IT. Such a good book to read this fall!!

If you're a fan of witches, a cozy fall vibe, forced proximity, and dual POV's you will enjoy this book. Dina our FMC is a cafe owner and a kitchen witch. She gets thrown into the chaos of her long time hex while trying to maintain boundaries of her new found friendship to medium burn romance to Scott. She turns to her mothers help to break the hex to save her relationship.....

Scott our MMC is a museum curator who runs into Dina in a cafe in town and then again on the subway on his way to his best friends wedding. Unbeknownst to him, his best friend and soon to be wife arrange for him and Dina to share a cottage for the weekend. A friendship and romance develop but not before strange dangerous situations start happening out of nowhere.

This was such a cute fall read that deals with witchy vibes and spells. If you are looking for a cute easy fall read this is the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a super cute rom-com, and gave me definite Practical Magic vibes. I loved it!

Dina is charming and friendly, and runs a coffee shop where she infuses her products with magic to give them that extra oomph folks sometimes need. Scott, a curator for the British Museum and recently returned home from travels, is a total cinnamon roll (but totally feral for Dina)! He comes into the cafe and causes one of her protection charms to break - not a great start - but sparks immediately fly between the two.

As they keep bumping into each other, their attraction just continues to grow - and so does Dina's fear. Which, I think, led to some great examples of character development and growth.

The family vibes, the character relationships and dynamics - not just between Dina and Scott, but between their friends as well - all really made for an easy-to-read, cozy romance that pulls you into the story from the very start, and keeps you hooked.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi!

Dina is a witch that owns a bakery and never a wants to fall in love because of a hex one of her exes put on her. The person who falls in love with her will get hurt and not want to be with her.

Scott is a curator at a museum and stops into her bakery one day. They both can’t stop thinking about the other.

They end up out of town together for their friends wedding.

This book has all the fall vibes with witches, spells, hexes and love.

4.5/5 stars
2.5/5 spice

Tropes:
Witches and magic
Fall cozy vibes
Forced proximity
Safe place/ trust
Strong female friendships
Medium burn
Dual POV

Love this book so much! It has all the fall and witchy vibes for the season. I was immediately drawn into the story and characters. The group of friends was a breath of fresh air and heartwarming. Scott was such a likable character with an amazing mind. I loved how nerdy he got talking about his job... it was so cute. Dina was the kind of person you just wanted to have long conversations with over a warm cup of something. I would love to eat one of her baked goods.

These two felt meant to be from the very first meet cute. I was rooting for these two and loved seeing their growing romance grow. The burn and build up was medium paced for me because they both had some dirty thoughts that created the best pining and tension. Loved it!

This is the perfect book for the fall vibes, and I highly recommend this for anyone who likes rom com, witch romances, and found family vibes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

so wholesome, comforting and a little spicy

I tore through this book so easily, the writing is fast paced and well done with just enough magic to give the perfect witchy vibe you want this time of year.

If you’re looking for a quick, cosy, and spicy fall book to read look no further! The book gives the perfect fall vibes. I particularly loved the relationship between Nour and Dina. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book.

I enjoyed this book! The beginning was a little slow and the jump into spice felt abrupt, but I can’t explain why. I got a little irritated at the FMC for being so convinced she wasn’t worthy of love, but that may just be due to the fact that I relate 😅

Overall, an entertaining, cozy, witchy read! Perfect for fall.

First off, thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this book!

TL;DR - A fun, witchy romance that's perfect for the fall season.

World Building/Storytelling: I deeply appreciated the world building throughout the entire story - I felt that the author was really building this world so that we could possibly anticipate some of the non-main characters getting their own book in a series. I loved that the world was built in magical realism, rather than extreme fantasy - I could engage with the characters without feeling like I had to learn an entirely new vocabulary. And, thank you for bisexual representation - this made me so happy!

I loved how a key plot line was explored at the beginning of the book, and then subtlely simmered under the surface throughout the book without being too heavily explored until later in the book. A lot of the story pacing felt appropriate at the beginning of the story.

Spice: Yay, there's spice! I was really pleased that the book has spice, because you never know before you get into a story. That being said, there were times when the spice level felt slightly out of sync with the story, or it felt as if the spice came out of left field in multiple moments. The primary initiation of spice went from 0 to 100 - I audibly said "WOAH" to myself because I really felt like it took me by surprise.

Additionally, I felt that many of the spicy moments followed the same pattern and were lopsided. It was hard to feel immersed in the spicy moments when they all felt so similar to one another. There were times when the building tension either went too fast, or the actual...deed...wasn't explored as much as I expected. I also felt like some of the MMC's spicy banter was too spicy for the character as he'd been written before.

Challenging Moments: Two details took me out of the story - one was how quickly the characters said they loved each other, and the other was about emergency contact information. I find it extremely difficult to believe that someone would change their emergency contact info to someone they're dating after three weeks of knowing each other. I know that love can happen quickly, so I'm less put off by that, but the emergency contact part felt a little unwarranted based on the relationship the two main characters had.

Overall, I would recommend this book, especially for people who like witchy romances (or romance in general) because I think the book is such a cozy escape into another world.

#BestHexEver #NetGalley

The only thing I love more than fall reads? Witchy fall reads! Before I looked at a single page I figured I would like this book.

And it delivered! Best Hex Ever is a fun and quick read following Dina, bakery owner and kitchen witch. I loved Dinas character and all of her interactions with both her customer and friends. The MMC, Scott, is a local museum curator who falls for our female lead. I loved Scott. Is it partly because he reminds me of my husband who is also named Scott? Yes, probably. But I also felt he had a strong character and his feelings for the FMC were very obvious. The spice was good.

I did take 1 point away for a few points. First, I understand she is a 'kitchen witch' but there is just a little bit too much insta-love for my taste. Let us see SOME of these relationships develop. I also would have loved more 'witchy things'.

This super cute romance had all the fall and spooky vibes, and I loved the cozy aspects of Dina as a kitchen witch. I was reading with a big smile on my face for most of the book. I’m not usually a big romance reader so the spice was spicy for me in a great way, if a little repetitive in the verbiage. That said, most of the connection I felt from the characters was purely physical and I feel like I almost would have preferred a clean romance where the connection the characters instantly felt was actually built on some sort of communication. Then again, why can’t we have both?! 😉

Overall this was adorable and happy and launched me right into the fall season. I liked the way all of life’s little magics showed up as real magic. Great representation too!