If you’re looking for a book that screams autumn with comfy cafe vibes, witchy Samhain moments, and recurrent run-ins escalating into delectable spicy scenes with plenty of praise, This is your book.

Dina Whitlock owns a magical café where she embeds her teas, coffees, and baked goods with warmth, happiness, and coziness. One morning, Scott Mason walks in, and their connection is electric from their first meeting. Yet, Dina fights her growing attraction because she cursed and after miss using her magic in her youth

Enter forced proximity, a wedding, a full moon, and a man who loves to please. It is spicy and funny, full of yummy baked goods and plenty of magic. The witch elements flowed well within the story, adding to the fall vibes.

I loved Dina's complexities, including her insecurities and constant grappling with her identity as both a bisexual woman and Moracan and having parents with “traditional” values. She had a bit of growth, and I enjoyed seeing her get there.

In contrast, I felt Scott was less developed. While the reader still got plenty of his inner thoughts, they were mostly praise for Dina. I would have loved to explore his anxiety a bit more.

Overall, This is a captivating witchy debut, and I cannot wait to read her future work! It

Kitchen witch Dina enjoys running her cafe in London when she meets handsome customer Scott. Dina hasn’t had much romantic luck since a hex was placed on her making any of her romantic partners have terrible accidents. So when Dina and Scott realize they are the maid of honor and best man at their friends’ wedding Dina is conflicted. There is definitely something between her and Scott but how much havoc will the hex cause if she wants a weekend fling? But when life threatening accidents start happening to Scott, Dina must break the hex once and for all.

With a supportive group of friends and family along with some magic this was such a fun witchy romance! And I very much appreciated the main message of learning to love and accept all parts of ourselves!

Fantastic premise and characters! I loved the setting and the forced proximity. It was filled with sexy scenes. I always get a little annoyed with books that rely so heavily on a conceit that could be resolved with simple communication but the rest of this one was strong enough to overcome it. Recommend this witchy read!

A sweet, cozy, incredibly spice witchy romance. The heat not only kicked-up in the kitchen but between Dina and Scott. I struggle with insta-love stories, and the lust level went of the rails as soon it started. Turn the burner down, and let's build a relationship that's believable.

Perfect for fall, good debut and look forward to checking out future works by this author.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell

This book started off great; a cute story and it had a wonderful feel to it. I loved her parent’s house! I loved learning about some of Dina's culture. The characters were interesting and I was rooting for Dina and Scott. Then, they started having sex. A lot! A huge chunk of the book. I’m fine with sex, but it felt like filler because there was so much. Then, toward the end it turned back into the lovely book it was in the beginning.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

MF
Bisexual rep
Witchy magic
Cozy fall vibes
Insta-love
Dual POV

Rating: 2/5 - not sure why I finished this, it wasn't for me
🌶️: 4/5 - there were more than a handful of explicit intimate scenes
🎃: 4/5 - magic, fall weather, warm drinks, Halloween

TLDR: If insta-love doesn't bother you, you might enjoy this book.

I don't like insta-love in my books. The main characters knew each other for days before they were in love. That just doesn't work for me. They really had nothing but intimate relations between them and I want to see a couple have chemistry in other aspects of their relationship. As the reader, I didn't really get to experience them dating/bonding. The reader is just told it's happening. The vibes are delightfully spooky season though. It's cozy and there's magic in the fall time. Don't let the cozy fall vibes fool you though, this book is decently spicy.

Ultimately, if you're looking for a fall vibes book and don't mind insta-love, you should consider giving this one a shot.

This was so cute and cozy for fall!!!! My only thing was it was soooo insta-lovey. Usually I don’t care, but I wanted a little more build up.

Didn’t stop me from really enjoying it though!!

Boy was I glad I gave this book a chance. I wasn't necessarily feeling the first 100 pages then it clicked and I couldn't put the book down. I loved both of the main characters and how true they stayed to their own ideals, while allowing the other to grow. It was truly refreshing. The last act did things I've seen in many other romance books, but the way it was done left me going OKAY THAT"S A REALISTIC REACTION! I wasn't mad at all it. Their friends were so wholesome and so were their families. All around very cozy book written from the third person POV. It was dual narration and it thankfully actually sounded like two distinct characters. I loved the bi sexual representation and the things that go along with it when you're considering entering into a heterosexual (from an outside perspective) relationship. I was honestly surprised at how spicy this book got, it really painted a picture without it getting too explicit but whew, does this author know how to whip around their words.

Adult | Romance | Paranormal aspects
If this book were a movie it'd be rated: NC-17

I absolutely loved this book! Best Hex Ever is such a cozy fall read with just the right amount of modern realness. I adored the main character, Dina, who struggles with fully accepting and expressing her sexuality, all while trying to run a business, being a witch, and finding love!
The magic system in this book was so interesting to me, as most fantasy books I read typically lean heavily into the fantastical world building. It was so nice reading about magic in a modern-day world.

3.5 stars rounded up! I enjoyed this one a lot! It was a little too insta-love for me, but I really liked the way it approached death and grief, and actually made me think about some of my own thoughts surrounding death in a new way. No one knows for sure what happens after death, and it really made me feel good to think the process in this story might actually take place when someone dies. Nora and Garret both seemed a little bit too much in the way that they fell for each other. It seemed really fast that they were saying “I love you”, and were completely set on being together forever. The love triangle also seemed like an afterthought. I felt like it would have still made the same amount of sense with a slower paced relationship. Overall I did like the story and the epilogue was really sweet!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I'm clearly in my autumn romcom era because I finished this book in half a day. It was such a beautiful breath of fresh air to read about a SWANA (Moroccan) witch with practices rooted in Pre-Islamic Amazigh tradition. Our FMC is a Queer Brown woman with kitchen witch magic that the entire city of London benefits from! I was craving croissants the entire time l read this book
The chemistry between Dina and Scott was electric.
While I'm not a huge fan of insta-love, it absolutely worked for these two. We get such a complete backstory for each character that we can't help but become completely invested in their romance. This story also handles some pretty heavy elements of self-healing and overcoming relationship traumas in an accessible and relatable way. I had my own epiphanies when we find out the truth about the Dina's Hex, which I think is a testament to extremely powerful storytelling.
I see myself re-reading this book before the year is over because I enjoyed it THAT much (y'all know I barely ever re-read books!)
Highly recommend this book for anyone trying to diversify their Witchy reads, and for those who appreciate equal portions of wholesome and spice!

This is a creative story about a woman named Dina, a kitchen witch who runs a cafe with delicious food. Her love life sucks because the women of her family were hexed so anyone they get close to has a string of terrible luck. When she meets Scott, a curator for the British Museum, their chemistry is off the charts. When they attend the same wedding in the country and spend time together, they know they’ve got something special.
Dina desperately wants to break the curse, can she succeed before Scott gets hurt? This is an enjoyable book that I recommend!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you are fan of insta-love and you are looking for a cozy romcom sprinkled with magic, I think this is something you might enjoy. Nadia was able to create a special combination of sweetness and spiciness in this spellbinding novel.

This was my most anticipated book for this fall, but I was disappointed to discover that this is an insta-love book which is not one of my favorite tropes. I was also expecting more cozy, baking and witch elements and felt that the story was too heavy on the love story. It was too focused on making the book spicy and less in creating a magical love story. I understand that these are expectations set by me, but they still deterred the the full enjoyment I was expecting from this book. I feel like when you see a cover like this and themes of baking and witches, you expect a little bit more of magic.

3 stars ✨⭐️

This book was fine, and I'd even consider it a good pass-time. I do enjoy books where the main characters are chefs, but I just could't get into this book as much because I didn't feel much connection to the characters. BUT this definitely is a cute book to read if you want to get into the Halloween season.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me an e-book arc 💖

I felt as though Best Hex ever was poorly written or at least poorly edited. There was a lot of jumping around from point to point, over dramatizations. and just overall felt more unbelievable than usual.

This was such a cute and cozy read! Perfect to get bundled up with some sweet treats and warm drink!

Our fmc Dina is dealing with a witchy situation that creates a bit of a bumpy ride with her love life. Enter Scott, the charming love interest who’s enthralled by Dina since their first encounter. It has a bit of an insta-love situation but it is written in a way where I didn't feel off putted by it because there was enough hints of chemistry to where I was able to see where these feelings were coming from.

Nadia's writing is beautifully descriptive; you can practically see, smell, and taste the pastries that Dina makes in the kitchen. This book made me crave cinnamon rolls SO BAD and now I want a Dina recipe book lol. I really loved how the story explores Dina's relationships with her family and her journey of self-acceptance. We get to see her navigate her feelings about her Moroccan heritage and the challenges of family expectations. Not only did we get a good talk about contraception but we also got open discussions around not having children which I think should be discussed more in romance books. These moments add so much depth to the story, making it feel really relatable and impactful. While the third act conflict is a bit predictable but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment at all. It was wrapped up quickly and efficiently as well which I enjoyed,

Overall, highly recommend this book! :)

thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for a copy of this arc for a honest review :)

Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi is another excellent witchy read this season, so let's talk about it!

Our FMC, Dina, is a witch who owns a charming little café in London where she serves magic-infused baked goods. Not many people know about her powers or the hex plaguing her love life. The curse is simple yet devastating: whenever someone develops feelings for Dina, they’re hit with terrible luck until they break up with her.

Enter Scott, our handsome MMC, who wanders into her bakery one day. He's been traveling the world, trying to recover from heartbreak. After another chance encounter on a train with Dina and the eventual realization that they’re both attending the same wedding—Scott as the best man and Dina as the maid of honor—they spend a steamy weekend together and fall head over heels.

But the hex still looms, threatening Scott’s safety. Dina tries everything to break it, and the only solution seems to be ending their relationship. But this is a romance, after all. 😉

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a 4 ½ star read for me (rounded it up to 5). The diverse representation really stood out: Dina’s Moroccan heritage, Scott’s adoption and upbringing by lesbian moms, and Dina’s bisexuality all added depth to the story. The magical elements were whimsical and cozy, especially Dina’s childhood home. And the spice? Definitely more than I expected—and I loved it!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers, for the ARC ebook!

I DNF'd this book at the 43% mark. I enjoyed the beginning cozy vibes but then things got too steamy for my preferences. I know some readers will enjoy it, but the blend of sweet and spicy felt jarring to me.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved how it went from a missed connection to a meet- cute. The pacing of the book was great as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read this book!

This book had potential but I think was maybe too underdeveloped for my personal taste. It's sweet, the smut is great, and the characters are interesting, but no one aspect is really delved into *enough* to feel like it had the desired impact.

I wanted more magic. I wanted to know more about their friends and family. I wanted more development of the romance in a way that wasn't quite so insta-lovey (I tend to prefer a slower burn, and soulmates by choice). I wanted to feel more from Dina's journey of self-acceptance, particularly where her queerness was concerned, but that too was underdeveloped.

Not a bad read for autumn, sweet and light with a little sizzle if that's what you're looking for!