The book was cute and fun to read, but it took me until chapter six to get into it. I didn't enjoy the parts with the pranks, and the dual point of view seemed pointless since it was in the third person. Despite these drawbacks, I found it a light and enjoyable read, perfect for Halloween and best enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate.

I've only been reading cozies for about a year. In that year I have come to expect cozies to be light and fun stories that you want to read. The paranormal elements present in some makes them a dynamic escape from the daily grind. The premise for this book sounded like a lot of fun. Admittedly the first few chapters each contained elements that made me continue reading but also elements that left me feeling a bit blah. For example, the opening Scene where Lucys pranks Benedict's hotel was kinda fun but not really appropriate. Piranhas, real or fake, are not a prank, it is disrespectful and could cause series harm even if unintentional. The butterflies from tea cups was cute but i just couldn't get behind the idea of a grown woman being so selfish and childish. That left me with a bitter taste in my mouth toward Lucy who went on to seem whiny. Benedict was better but only slightly. To be honest, I gave up part way through the book. It felt like a slog to keep reading. As another author pointed out, reading should be enjoyable and this was not for me.
I hate to disparage someone else's work especially since I think there are good elements that could be pulled out of this book and recombined to make the story more fun. We don't get al lot of backstory on the town which would have helped, especially when Lucy or Benedict could have been forced out of town. I generally love the small town feel of cozies but this town left me cold. Another elements I love in books is a close family because I can relate and I feel like Lucy's family threw her to the wolves (no pun intended.) Someone, maybe, Gram should have gone to bat for her instead of saying if you get thrown out it will only be for a little while. A little while without family would stink. I think a story about Lucy and Benedict with lighter banter, no criminal pranks and more attention paid to the hunters and the Vatican's role would be a lot of fun and maybe someday we will get that story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I think this fell a little short in the enemies to lovers aspect. The "enemies" part of the relationship was hardly there at all. And it got a little too cheesy for me at the end. But other than that it was a well-written story.

4.5 🌟

The perfect fall witchy read.

I was hooked on this book almost from page 1. The banter between Benedict and Lucinda was perfect and had me LOLing. There isn't a ton of world building in this so I loved that I could just enjoy the story vs trying to keep track of everything. Run and pick this book up when you can.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

Potions and Proposals was the perfect cozy fantasy read!

Plot:
I appreciated being thrown in so quickly! Right off the bat you get the sense of urgency for this arranged marriage and the impact on everyone's lives.
I adored how cozy and "low stakes" it was. While I love intense and action-packed fantasy, I also enjoy reading about a world I would actually like to live in without the fear of dying. This book made me want to move to a small town (but only if I can find a magical one). Though past trauma toward the magical inhabitants was mentioned, I appreciated it being in the past with a focus on healing.
The "magic gone wrong" tension was well-paced and engaging and came to a great resolution.

Romance:
A cozy romance with some heat! I very much appreciated this being an open-door cozy fantasy. Lucinda and Benedict's relationship developed in a well-paced manner that felt believable, relatable, and real. With the help of quirky side characters, they got the Happily Ever After they deserved. I cried.

All-in-all, I will absolutely be recommending this to everyone as their cozy, witchy, fall/winter read this year! It will be very worth it.

I received this ARC from Net Galley. This is my first book by this author. I liked the blurb and it kind of reminded me of Meg Cabot's latest book, "Enchanted to meet you".
The positives include the beautiful cover design and the way the names of the leads, Lucinda and Benedict were decorated. This was a dual POV book about the succession of a town's high priestess. I wish the author would have explained the importance of this title and the entailing job a bit more.... another magical town was mentioned, but we don't know if they have their own high priestess.

The spell cast by our FL's relatives apparently backfired....and this led to the powers of our leads being swapped....this was also never properly explained or confirmed. The FL and ML tried different ways to get their powers back, without letting the elders know....they did succeed finally...
Calling the ones without magic as 'magless' was obvious, mean and not creative. The book has great potential to show a real conflict between the ones who did magic and the magless, same with the town coven and the Order. I am not sure what role did Order member Emerson play apart from making our hero jealous every now and then...even the tragedy that had befallen our ML could have been explained properly...maybe at one go rather than in scattered parts throughout the book....
Another scene had Lucinda reading Emerson's cards and his behaviour was suspicious...but nothing came of it?
And what's with Benedict calling his mom by her given name and never calling her "mother/mom"?

Many sub plots were introduced but left unexplained....like Peter (our ML's ghostly grim reaper brother) and his crush on Faye (a vampire being abused by her vampire husband). The FL's father only showed up at the end...there was more telling than showing after the first few chapters...the one thing that felt real was the fight between Lucinda and her mother regarding their miscast spell...
Benedict was already in love with Lucinda so it didn't really feel like an enemies to lover trope....and Lucinda suddenly started being attracted to him and blamed the miscast spell for it?!
The ML said, "I love you" first....and the FL never said it. She mentioned "love" in passing during their binding ceremony...and it didn't feel enough. Some characters were mentioned only in passing like Lucinda's cat, Chaos, whom I completely forgot about till it made a reappearance in the last chapter. The love scene also felt rushed....and Lucinda getting up suddenly during their conversation after the love scene to give him a surprise didn't feel connected. What made her remember the surprise? It wasn't the topic of their conversation....
Her best friend, Rosie started off as a good supporting character but then completely disappeared. Even after our leads had their first kiss, Benedict doesn't feature in the next few scenes....it was all very confusing. There are multiple typos which I feel the author should fix before the book is released and by the last few chapters, I was struggling to finish the book....I won't be reading the bonus chapter.....
The main disappointment was that there was no real conflict in the book....a book featuring crones, vampires, witches, wolves, coven and an Order controlled by the magless...

If you're in the mood for a cozy, fun and a little steamy read this is definitely the book for you!
Lucinda and Benedict are two rivals that have been going toe-to-toe basically their whole lives, but both their lives change when Benedict is nominated for Lucinda's future position as High Priestess.
I truly enjoyed this book, it was really fun seeing how the characters interacted with each other from the start and the way the magic in this world works. Side characters played important parts in the story and gave life to this witchy town of Foxford; I loved reading what they were up to as much as I enjoyed the MCs trying to go through life with the magical conundrum they were facing.
Kate Callaghan wrote a genuinely funny and romantic book that made me sigh longingly more than a couple of times. It's really nice when the main characters really see each other and understand what the other is feeling, even though they have been at odds since they were kids.
I personally can't wait to read more from Kate and hopefully come back to Foxford sometime in the future!

Still reading, I had personal and medical issues along the way and couldn't finish it on time.

From what I've read so far, I'm having a little trouble to connect with the characters. Benedict is still a little bit of a more 'silent' character in a way, even though I think we will get to know more about him along the way and Lucy/Lucinda is the one who makes me really curious to know more about the character and world!

I've really liked how every family has different perspectives and types of magic to work with, how we get to see what magless think of those who work with magic and how they react to it!

I think I will love this book by the end of it and I can't wait to finish it. I will post my honest and real review on Goodreads!

DNF at 36%.

I simply could not click with this book no matter how hard I tried - and I did try hard, because I loved the concept! The writing is not my thing - the dialogue in particular is poor, very "as you know"-ish - and everything moved so very slowly. I really like witchy rom coms, but they have to be entertaining, and I'm afraid I just didn't find this one to be.

In Foxford, a town full of magic and mythical creatures, Lucinda is about to become High Priestess when she finds out her nemesis Benedict is also nominated for the position. The coven gives them an ultimatum: either become magically bound on All Hallow's Eve or risk one of them losing everything. Without a real choice, they agree to the union. Then the spell Lucinda's family casts to save her from the bond backfires and she and Benedict are magically intertwined in ways the could not have imagined...

Making you feel comfortable from the very beginning, this is a breezy narrative threaded with wonderful humor and whimsical details, that build this small magical town environment in a charming manner. The introduction of the creatures and the magical system is done swimmingly, piquing your interest, not hindering the pace at all.

It's funny that they've 'hated' and pranked one another all their lives, when they have more reasons to like each other. They are both smart, good at what they do and love their town. The both also have something to prove, Benedict because of his family's dark past, Lucinda because of her family's good name. Benedict is the more solemn, slightly grumpy one, except when he's trying to get her flustered, while Lucinda is brightness and being nice, except when she's angry at him. Their interactions are absolutely smile-worthy, mostly deserving of chuckles and sometimes outright laughter.

A reluctant union due to circumstances is always fun, but having it involve magic and spells gone wrong makes it exceedingly more engaging. Comedic mishaps entertain as you realize the consequences of the spell misfiring. I really liked the gradual change and realization of feelings as they deal with these consequences.

Sometimes characters react to things or act like they know things that they shouldn't yet. There are also instances where things done or said seem to be forgotten that were just mentioned or happened and characters do a whole 180 without rhyme or reason. Things that just happened are forgotten to be mentioned or clarified; instead, other things are talked about out of the blue, then suddenly what happened is remembered. These are just little things that niggled at me in this otherwise lovely book.

This story is about taking the time to see what is right in front of you. It is about family and reputation dynamics, discrimination, expectations of others and yourself, and how people can surprise you. This is a cozy magical adventure with terrific enemies plus pranksters to lovers angst, small-town charm, and a love meant to be.

Potions and Proposals by Kate callaghan was an absolute delight. A Witchy, fast-paced, cozy adjacent adult romance with a sort of enemies to definitely lovers arc that I couldn't help but love; This story pulled me in with a delightful cover and kept me hooked with great writing. I can't wait for this one to be available in bookstores so that I can add it to my collection.

I Loved this book! It was cute and funny. I really enjoyed lucinda and benedict’s story, and there were also so many great secondary characters. It’s not perfect but it’s still enjoyable!

Better in concept than execution. I felt like there were too many moving parts at times. Some of the time dedicated to establishing other character’s stories would’ve been better suited to developing the romance between the two main characters.

this was the most adorable, small town, magical rivals/enemies to lovers; i really enjoyed this book (eARC from netgalley <3).
: ̗̀➛ i'm not usually one for a romance driven story, but the presence of magical creatures, vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts, along with our very compelling fmc and mmc with strong personalities makes the plot a very lovely one to read.
: ̗̀➛ after a magical mishap, lucinda and benedict have to put aside their grudges stemming from childhood in order to keep their secrets and keep the peace until october 31st. the way their relationship developed was very believable, and time was given to both of them to grow and develop - though lucinda was particularly great to read from.
: ̗̀➛ the side characters were just fine, lucinda's group of friends are around for about one scene and then disappear, but her grams was a delight and the other family members worked well for their roles in the story.
: ̗̀➛ the vibes were often immaculate; think small town, halloween all the time, oranges and browns and falling in love with your childhood enemy˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚
a high 3 stars!

・❥・enemies to lovers; small town; witches, vampires, werewolves; forced proximity

Potions and Proposal is a contemporary, fantasy romcom set in the mythical Foxford Village – a sanctuary town for the magical and supernatural. It was a cozy, fairly easy-going novel overall. This is a good, relaxed read between heavier reads.

Lucy and Benedict are both witches that come from long-standing Foxford families but have been prankster-enemies for as long as anyone can remember. Their antics have escalated and started to affect the entire town though, putting the safety of the town and all the magical occupants at risk. When it is time for the current coven High Priestess to retire, the two must prove their loyalty to the town and their ability to lead the local coven. The pair are given an ultimatum: stop the antics, prove that you can work together, and become magically bound to another in a month's time, or one of you will be voted new coven leader and the other will be banished from Foxford.

Overall, I mostly enjoyed my read of Potions And Proposals. The storyline has a lot of potential. I would have liked to have felt that that characters and world-building were more fleshed-out and nuanced though. If there is another novel released in the Foxford Village setting, I will likely read it to see how it evolves. If the setting/characters are more developed than in this novel, I would likely continue with any future books in the series.

Thank you to author Kate Callaghan and to Net Galley for the free e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book.
While I liked the setting and even the slightly preposterous plot, I could not get past two main cons:
- Lucinda's impulsiveness or utter disregard for other people in the way she kept on with her pranks (for example the one at the beginning, at his hotel), the way she didn't seem to care about how her actions might affect others in a way that made her feel either immature or just... closed in her bubble?
- the scene on the rooftop of the hotel at night was my stopping point.
I am sure in general the rest of the story will have fun and cute moments but it just wasn't for me.

I have not been this embraced in a fantasy since I read tracy Wolff's crave series over a year ago. I loved it and I need more immediately.

I was expecting it to be way more cozy and cute than it turned out to be.
Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the characters, which were too immature for my taste and for being 27 years old.
The world building and the story were nothing extraordinary, I felt like I read quite a lot of books with the same things.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review of Potions and Proposals by Kate Callaghan
My thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review this book and provide my honest opinion.

Benedict Matherson and Lucinda Hawthorne have been engaging in prank wars since they were children, each determined to one up the other. Whether it’s spelling piranhas into Benedict’s family hotels fountain or melting Lucinda’s bike tyres, the pair refuse to give up their years old grudge. But when their silliness begins to affect the tourism that Foxford Village relies on, the towns Coven gives the two an ultimatum- bind themselves together and get over their petty grievances for the good of Foxford, or one will be banished and forced to leave their home.

This paranormal rom-com was light and fun to read, and was full of magic and small town charm. I loved the playlist as the beginning of the book that increases my reading enjoyment and the plethora of magical inhabitants who live in Foxford, including witches, vampires & sirens.
Lucinda and Benedict were the perfect enemies-to-lovers, and the book also included forced proximity and forced marriage. I also really liked that we got chapters from both characters and thoroughly enjoyed this journey to Foxford.

A romance between an endearingly quibbling couple that will make you laugh.
Autumn feels, lively banter, intense dream sequence, power couple (my fav) and a All Hollow's Eve wedding. This book has everything.

Benedict and Lucinda are hilarious in their pranks, opposite in everyway. One is black, the other is a rainbow, One is fire, other is water. And yet, they are two sides of the same coin, the same magical town, the same community. Both of them are so dear to my heart. It is one of those chemistry you WILL fall in love with.

Potions and Proposals is enemies-to-lovers done right. If you are an enemies to lovers reader, this has to be the book to break your slumps and get you back into magical books. The story has used elemental magic well. Very. Very Well.

The plot and characters are so well entwined that one cannot be talked about without the other.

However, I wish there was conclusive wrap for the secondary couple as much as the first couple. But I can always hold my hopes out for the second standalone book in the Foxford Village series. I will still come to read about Ben and Lucy even if they were in the background.