Not really sure what I expected with this one but not what I had in mind.

Don’t get me wrong I love mysteries, missing persons and everything creepy. But this one was a bit more witchy than I was expecting. The ending kinda got a little rushed and parts left me a little confused as far as logistics.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC

Under Her Spell is a creepy horror thriller that will keep you turning the pages.

Liv gets a note from her former best friend Sam, saying she's in trouble and needs help. She goes back to her hometown to find that Sam has disappeared. The story alternates between now and then, their high school senior year, when they meet. Sam in the now timeline is working with Cora and Eden, whom she had avoided in high school, when Cora and Eden were considered weird and a bit creepy. But now, they run Beloved, the best wedding planning business of the area.

Liv is engaged to Noah, and her family gets her an appointment at Beloved. But she isn't sure about marrying Noah, nor is sure about why Eden and Cora still have a draw over her. Is it magic that she senses when she sees beetles, strange eyes, and rooms that change before her eyes?

If you loved The Craft, this is the book for you. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

There were some interesting elements to this book. The premise is interesting, the character history with the missing woman and MC’s history. The witches history was sort of random, then their abilities were shown as to an automatic 100. The story jumped from a missing person to random murders quite quickly. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite read or my least favorite. Someone else might enjoy this more than me.

3.75 stars
This was an interesting book. Then turns I took I wasn’t guessing at some points. The main character Liz returns back to her hometown when her friend goes missing. She is determined to find her and make amends for what happened when they were in high school. Her friend was working and living with a group from high school that seemed unreachable. Along the way liv discovers some eery things.

This is such a twisty read. Liv as a narrator is so unreliable, and not that likeable as a character but honestly I really enjoyed the story.

I liked the way the chapters would rotate between the present day and the past. Especially the way that Liv and Sam got close their senior year of high school, compared to Sam being missing eight years later.

The Sisterhood was the highlight of this story for me, I loved the mystery behind these witchy women. Eden and Cora especially were such interesting characters.

Thank you Random House Ballantine for the earc, all opinions are my own.

Liv needs to return to her small town after a strange note from a friend. She is planning a wedding and doing some secret sleuthing while there. I found it a bit hard to keep track bouncing back and forth between the present and the past in the different chapters.

A quick read that is possibly more of a YA book. School age teens, friendship, witchcraft, and magic combined with missing persons and murder.. Liv receives a mysterious note from a long lost best friend, Sam. When she discovers that Sam is missing, she cannot stop herself from trying to find her friend even at the risk of her own life.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. This book is not what I expected from the synopsis. The longer I read the more unreliable the main character/narrator seemed to be. It picked up speed at the end but also took some strange turns along the way to get there.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.

This story involves an engaged woman (Liv) who receives a letter from an old high school friend asking for help, and who has since been reported missing. Liv returns to her roots in search of her friend and encounters old frenemies from her past. The story alternates between events of the past and present. Liv comes to a crossroads and is forced to make hard decisions in her pursuit of the truth.

The book is entertaining, with touches of the supernatural and unexplainable when it comes to the meaning of “sisterhood”.

Dark witchy magic sums this book up, I thought the writing was creative and spell bounding. The cover of this book is beautiful, I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Liv Edwards has everything a handsome fiancé, apartment in Boston and new career in law. But all that is about to change when she receives a message back home from her childhood best friend Sam. Haunted by her past and not sure if she is ready to face it, she owes to her friend to help her. When she returns to her hometown it is to late Sam has disappeared and all things point to foul play. Sam has changed to, for one she was living with the strange girls from school. Under the cover of a bridal store they run holds dark secrets, Liv is determined figure out what is happening, but will she reveal dark things about herself that she has been hiding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for a copy of this book for my honest review.

Mystery, magic, and spooky thrills- this book had me on the edge of my seat! This was definitely a fun read for spooky season but, in the end, I was left wanting more!

This was darker than I was expecting it to be, and the premise was great. However, it just seemed like it was missing something. I was very intrigued by everything happening, but the main character was a little hard to like. There were many plot points that felt disjointed, especially things involving her fiance. With so much going, it seemed like certain things didn't get wrapped up in the end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Liv Edward is 26 years old. She lives with her fiancé and planning to enroll in law school. Then she receives a message from her estranged high school best friend, Sam Mendez: “I need help and I don’t know who else to turn to.” An internet search reveals that Sam is missing. Liv rushes home to Guilford, Mass., to find her. When Liv arrives home, her mother and sister are more interested in signing her up for a consultation at Beloved, a cultish bridal boutique owned by two of Liv’s former classmates — Eden and Cora. Her mother and sister don’t seem interested in helping her find Sam. Soon, Liv learns that Sam was working at Beloved before she disappeared. Eden invites Liz to join the Sisterhood. She decides to as she hopes it will help her find Sam. Eden and Cora teach her to harness the qualities that have always made her feel different, Liv discovers that a much darker reality may be lurking in herself and her hometown. Will Liz find Sam?

A mystery that is supernatural , mysterious and creates more questions than answers. I was compelled to read this book as I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Liz was a character that I found to be an interesting person as she didn’t give up on finding Sam. I would had like more background on Sam and the Sisterhood. The magical elements were creative. The author wrote a creative book.

Under Her Spell
By K. L. Cerra

I'm not sure what to call this book. It is a mystery, a fantasy, involves dark magic – and even darker emotions. It begins when Liv Edwards, a recently unemployed, engaged woman receives a cryptic note from her best friend from high school, Sam, asking for her help. Since they have been estranged for years, Liv is taken aback, but decides she must go back to try and help her friend.

Alas, by the time she arrives, Sam has disappeared. Thus the mystery. But there is more here than just Sam's disappearance. What has she been doing? Why has she been involved with two girls from high school that she previously loathed and feared? As the story progresses and Liv gets sucked in to Eden and Cora's sphere, it take on a darker and darker feel.

There is a lot here that is weird and unexplained. At first I found the storyline interesting, but I really didn't like any of the characters all that much, and I felt let down by the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of this book.

Hm. This has promise I think, and maybe Im the wrong crowd. I will say its not boring, but definitely too urban for me. Maybe if i were in a different state of mind of had different assumptions going into this I would feel differently. So o for me.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℍ𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕝𝕝
𝗞.𝗟. 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮
Thriller
368 pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
Liv is content with her life until she receives a letter from her old best friend requesting her help.

Liv heads to her hometown in search of her friend. This is when strange things begin to happen.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
Although the plot is interesting, I struggled to get into this one.

Under Her Spell is a dark and tangled story that alternates between the past and present. The author takes us back in time to learn about events relevant to what is happening now.

There is an eerie vibe as what’s called “The Sisterhood” comes to the forefront of the story, and the New England setting is a fantastic backdrop for this witchy story.

I found the characters and their actions odd, even for women with powers. It felt a bit like the story glazed over the surface, missing details I wanted to know. The ending also kind of left me hanging.

💕Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

Cerra’s Under Her Spell is the perfect book for spooky season. It’s an edge-of-your-seat mystery with themes of revenge, friendship and magical/witch elements. Trigger warning for some DV content.

This is a decent and interesting read. I love books where someone has to return to their hometown to solve a mystery. I also loved learning about the fallout between the girls. It was okay.
Thanks for the ARC. I am always excited to read them.

If you like an eerie, spooky witchy fantasy thriller then this is right up your alley. It didn’t grab me like I had hoped with the dual mysteries but maybe it’ll be a book for someone else who loves it.

A creepy book that horror genre lovers should read around Halloween! This is one of those books that can make the reader want to yell at the naive protagonist for continuing to walk into traps and horrible situations. In this case, Liz is a young woman who receives a mysterious letter from her former high school bestie, Sam who then disappears. There are a lot of things that don’t make sense in this book if you examine them closely such as Liv’s sister’s role which seemed totally unnecessary and out of place. In spite of all the warning signs around the “sisterhood”, Liv just keeps blindly stumbling into danger - it reminded me of what I imagine to be a B-rated horror flick. And parts of the story are downright creepy. The book is heavy on magical realism which I usually enjoy without all the creepiness. Otherwise, I am rounding my rating up for the constant action and entertainment value.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Opinions are my own.