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.

Potions and Proposals was such a cute and enjoyable read. It really made me long for Fall and all things pumpkin. The enemies to lovers and arranged marriage themes were nicely done and the book had a creative setting with lovable characters. I definitely look forward to more books to come in this series.
Thank you NetGalley and Kate Callaghan for the opportunity to read this arc.

I loved reading this book. The magical town of Foxglove and all of the characters were great. When Lucy and Benedict are childhood rivalries and suddenly thrown together to lead the town, they have to learn to like each other. The pranks they played on each other were pretty funny. Can’t wait to read the next one. Thank you NetGalley, BoodGoSocial and Kate Callaghan for the ARC.

Potions and Proposals
4.5 ⭐️

This was just the cutest and coziest fall fantasy romance story! I first found Kate Callaghan through the Naughty or Nice Claus and this was just as perfectly seasonal as that book.

Lucy and Benedict have been rivals in school all the way into their adult lives in a small magic filled town. Everything turns upside down when these two are forced together into an arranged marriage and end up swapping magical elements.

I loved the whole town and its wonderful cast of magical characters. The dual perspectives brought so much to Benedict and Lucy’s story.

Read this if you liked the Ex Hex or any fall witchy book! Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

I loved this book! The characters were fun and the pranks were hilarious! The town was so charming. I wish O could go to the manor and the festival!! My only criticism is I think Lucy was too forgiving to some people. I can't wait to see some of the storylines setup for the future to unfold.

I looooooved this book so much, and I blew through it in one sitting. I just did not want to put it down. At no point did I get bored or rush to get to the end. In fact, I found myself wishing that it wouldn't end.

I do have a few notes though. The time line between enemies to lovers was very fast, but I didn't have that much of a problem with it because they've known each other for a long time (since childhood) and bonded over their pranks. It was just slightly unrealistic, and some people may have a problem with that. However, this is a fiction fantasy romance book, and we aren't here for realism.

The next note that I have was that I did wish there was a little more bonding over the two of them learning how to control each other's power when they switched their powers. I think that some of those scenes would have been really cute and added to the transition from enemies to lovers.

I can't wait until the next book and see if a certain suspicious character shows more of what is underneath their polite exterior....

What can I say, I'm such a sucker for the "Enemies to lovers, but not really because I've loved you forever, and you have no idea" trope, and paired with the arranged marriage trope? This book was a match made in heaven and I was lucky enough to get approved for an eARC.

Thank you to Kate Callaghan, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Loved this enemies to lovers novel! I really enjoyed Lucinda and Benedict’s love story. There were also so many great side characters. I’m hoping Rosie or Peter get a book next.

Love this introduction to this magical world and the town of Foxglove. Lucy and Benedict will enchant you into rooting for them before they event realize what is meant to be. There is twists and turns, love potions, high stakes and true love that will fix everything. If you like love stories and the magical creatures of all sorts this is a book for you. Thank you Netgallery, Callaghanwriter, and Kate Callaghan for choosing me to be an arc reader for this book.

I adored this book!

The cosy vibes it gives off and the humour is amazing.

So many giggling and kicking feet moments!

I love how it’s set in a small town containing all sorts of creatures run by founding witch families and I could really picture how the town looked and felt with Kate Callaghan’s writing.

I really don’t want to give too much away it’s such a good book! Small bit of spice as well for all you spice lovers but also not too much so it won’t put off non spice readers! This book is for everyone who loves magic and romance!

Brief plot:

Lucy and Benedict have been rivals/enemies since they were children playing pranks on each other. When a prank goes a little too far the coven intervenes and arranges them to be bound in order for them to lead the coven.

How will they survive each other’s company and what has her mother and grandmother gotten them into!

With small town twists, turns and problems to solve how will they navigate the lead up to the binding , will it even go through?

I cannot wait for the next book! These are interconnected stand alone’s so no cliff hangers here! Makes a nice change! ❤️

Big thank you for NetGalley for allowing me to read this!