I wanted to love this but I only liked it. I love a curvy FMC that is celebrated for her body, and I loved the paranormal and fall vibes but that was really it.

I had fun watching Merle and Liberty fall in love! I loved that they were both in places in their life where they were very established and they found the ways to incorporate the other person into their life and interests. Merle introducing Liberty to D&D and Liberty introducing him to her witchcraft practices. It was sweet.

I also appreciated the way the conflict of Liberty’s biological dad, her Nan, and Merle’s family was handled. All of those situations are difficult and nuanced and the working out of those issues didn’t feel rushed.

What did feel rushed at times were the intimate scenes. They felt disjointed from the rest of the book to me but were still well-written! Overall, I enjoyed this book and it’s perfect to have read at this time of year!

I consider myself a nerd but I didn't love this one. I just couldn't vibe with the story, but the idea was good.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Nothing better than the relationships between witch sisters! Love a good angsty witchy romance! So much tension! Loved this one!!

DNF

I made it about 15% into the book. The writing was trying to be witty and fun, but instead was forced and felt over the top. I couldn't get into the story of the characters. I just think this author's writing style is not for me.

Book: How to Charm a Nerd
Author: Katherine Garbera
Format Used: switched between physical book and e-book

The story centers on Liberty Wakefield, a witch deeply connected to tarot, nature, herbs, and spells. Coming from a lineage of witches—her mother and grandmother before her—she's confident, curvy, and unafraid to speak her mind. Lately, her magical powers are off-balance, possibly due to her grandmother's dementia or the revelation of her biological father's identity. Sensing that Merle Rutland, the nerdy tech guy and Dungeon Master cousin of one of her best friends, can help, she enlists his aid. They've been flirting for years, and as they team up to find her father, their relationship deepens. With Samhain approaching, the question is whether Merle can help Liberty find equilibrium.

I loved the idea behind this book. Liberty is a well-developed character—she's in tune with her magic, and her struggles add depth to the story. The autumn vibes and the sexy parts were definite highlights that I enjoyed. However, I just didn't find myself caring about her, Merle, or any of the other characters for that matter. The book became a bit of a slog, and I didn't find myself reaching for it eagerly.

As a Dungeons and Dragons fan, the premise caught my attention, but I felt the book wasn't really for people who already know the game. It spends a lot of time explaining what D&D is and leans into Merle's "nerd" stereotype, which might be helpful for newcomers but left me wanting more. The parts I was most excited about didn't engage me as much as I'd hoped.

While it wasn't entirely my cup of tea, I think others might enjoy it, especially if they're new to Dungeons and Dragons or looking for a romance with a touch of magic. I'd give it about 2.75 stars out of 5, rounding up to 3.

How do I rate this?

Everything in the description speaks to me. This sounds SO cute and SO fun. In theory, it is. But I never found myself enjoying reading this. It just felt... tumblr-ish.

I'm going to have to go with 3 stars.

The premise of this book had so much potential. A witch and a d&d nerd in a banter filled romance perfect for the earliest days of spooky season. How could this go wrong? And it didn’t! It’s exactly what it advertises, and I can’t fault it for that. But I think I just wanted a little more.

I felt Liberty and Merle were just a little too surface level. They used “witch” and “nerd” as pseudo pet names in their flirting, but that’s really all they were. They felt like caricatures of those things more than fully realized characters. And there were so many interesting threads like Liberty’s grandmother’s health, Merle standing up to his family, and Liberty searching for her absentee father, that didn’t really get the depth they deserved. Everything just wrapped up really quickly or didn’t even feel resolved at all, other than the romance. Which in itself was fine but didn’t really give me the warm fuzzies either.

Such a fun follow up! I love the witchy business and friend circle at the heart of this book. The romance is full of great chemistry and sweet characters.

This series is so fun! These stories are quick and love the witchy vibes! This is the second in the series. Liberty and Merle have been dancing around each other for awhile. They are very into each other but they haven’t gotten close. I just love that his name is Merle it’s such an old fashioned name. He’s tall and nerdy with his d&d campaigns and computer job. Liberty and her friends have a witch shop where she does spells for people.
Liberty hired Merle to help her find her father since she finally got a name and he’s good at finding people or at least now’s where to look. They get close fast. I love that he agrees to help her only if she will join his d&d campaign for 6 weeks. He hides his “nerd” side from his coach dad who’s always disappointed. They both have some family happenings while they are becoming a couple.
Love a good witchy book and this felt witchy with all the music and the vibes and it felt crisp.

The perfect book to start my early fall reads. I loved the first in this series and was excited when I saw the next one was available. Merle and Liberty were adorable. I love how he called her witch. I feel like I could hear a small grumble in his voice backed by affection as I read the words. This story was everything a witchy romance needs to be.

Rating: 3.5/5⭐⭐⭐

Genre ~ Rom-Com

Series ~ WICKed Sisters Book #2

Others in the series ~ The Bookbinder's Guide to Love- I read and gave 3⭐

Setting ~ Birch Lake, Maine

Publication date ~ August 20, 2024, Read~ August 21,2024

Est Page Count ~270 pgs.

POV ~ dual, 3rd person

Featuring ~ insta-lust, forced proximity, body positivity, found family, family drama

⚠️TW: grief, Alzheimer's disease-h's grandmother, parental abandonment

Liberty Wakefield is a witch who practices tarot reading and the occult. When she gets information about her never met father from her grandmother, she wants to find him. Enter Merle Rutland, a self-proclaimed nerd and Dungeons& Dragons enthusiast. He has known Liberty for a while and always had a crush on her, so when she asks for his help- he jumps at the chance. He will help her find her biological father in exchange she will join his D&D campaigns.

I liked the descriptions of Liberty's beliefs and practices. Most people already have an idea of what a witch is and does, but Liberty followed in her mother Lourdes and grandmother Nan's footsteps. I believe Liberty knew looking for her father John Jones was a mistake, but I understood the need to know where you came from.

Merle, a computer programmer and gamer had family issues because he wasn't like them. His parents and brothers honor sports and athleticism, not being a dungeon master. Through his relationship with Liberty, he could be himself without judgement.

Overall, this was a sexy, cozy, witch/nerd romance with an anticlimactic end to Liberty's quest. Her and Merle's relationship turned sexual quickly, and didn't get much development. I loved how supportive Liberty's BFFs Poppy and Sera were and can't wait for Poppy's book!

Series notes:
Merle is Liberty's BFF Poppy's cousin.

🙏🏽Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Romance | Afterglow Books for this ARC💛! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Quirky and fun...

Liberty is a witch, tarot card reading, witch. She's reluctantly researching her biological father, with the help of her crush, Merle.
Merle is a nerd. A D&D playing, momma -calling, sweet nerd. Who has a major jones for Liberty.
A fun read, It felt like a very different Katherine Garbera book, and I was there for it.
Recommend.

I enjoyed reading Liberty and Merle story. I liked how they helped each other be their true self. He didn’t have to be three different versions of himself to fit his various circles of friends and family and she was to realize you don’t have to have it all together and it’s is okay to lean on your friends.

The only reason this was not a four star read for me was that there was such a build up of finding out who her father was so I that it was going to be this thing but was let down. I was expecting a animatronic display of fireworks and it was more like a dud of a single firecracker surrounding the father drama.

Overall it was a cute and easy read. Definitely in time for fall with the fall setting in the book.

Tropes:
- witchy vibes
- forced proximity
- found family
- thick girl rep
- best friends cousin

I'm not going to say I loved this book but I'm also not going to say I hated it. I enjoyed the story itself, but it was the writing that took me out of it. It felt like the spicy scenes were thrown in to satiate BookTok's need for spice but weren't exactly thought out and none of the characters felt fully developed to me. The transitions between POVs or scenes was also very confusing to follow. Sometimes a new chapter meant a whole new scene, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes a break in the chapter itself meant a whole new scene, sometimes it meant we were just switching POVs right in the middle. This made things a little confusing to follow, since I was never really sure if we were picking right back up in the same conversation or a totally new one (sometimes two weeks later in the same chapter, despite the whole book happening over the course of just a couple months).

Liberty and Merle were cute together, but I did find them to be similar copies of Sera and Wes from The Bookbinder's Guide to Love, the first book in the WiCKed Sisters series. They both seemed a little emotionally stunted (see: constipated) but that was really a result of the writing.

Liberty's relationship with her friends was the real standout of this book (and the same goes for the first in this series). I would almost rather read this as a series about a coven of witches and their own character development with each other and themselves. I feel like Liberty's relationship with her father would have felt more conclusive and we could have known more about Nan and her condition.

Merle and his "I'm not what my parents want me to be" sub-trope was pretty much a direct copy of Wes from book 1, just with slightly more development. I could have used more of him working or playing D&D to really solidify his "Nerd" status but that just me.

Overall, this book gets 3 stars as I really did like the story itself, it just felt incomplete.

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin and NetGalley for the chance to read an advance review copy of this book.

What a fascinating and creative story! This is the second in a series, but the first one that I have read. Ms. Garbera did an outstanding job making sure that this reader had the necessary background to follow the story as a stand alone. Her contemporary universe with its "witchy" connections, is so convincing that I came away thinking that's what my everyday world is actually like (and I just didn't know it before). Merle and Liberty both have a ton of emotional baggage (of course) that affects their burgeoning relationship, and the insights they bring to the events and to help each other make for a wonderful read. There is a terrific found family of Liberty's long time friends who are also business partners and Merle's Dungeon and Dragons cohorts who are all people I wish were real so I could meet them. The support and assistance they all provide throughout the story make me wish I could consult them myself. I suspect there will be further additions to this series, and I am definitely ready to read them!


I was given an ARC of this book and asked to write a review, which I was pleased to do.

I loved reading book one The Bookbinder's Guide to Love.
I was thrilled to jump right into book two in the Wicked Sisters Series How to Charm a Nerd by Katherine Garbera.
The well-developed characters and plot that was so enchanting. Made for an amazing story.
Such a unique twist on witchy romance.
The writing sucked me in and held me captive till the very end.
A spellbinding story with spice, magic, and love.
Katherine Garbera left me wanting more with this inventive friends to lovers romance.

Thank You NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I love a good witchy romance and as we end out the month of August, this book spoke to me. I really liked the premise of the book, a witch using a computer nerd friend or find her father while dealing with the grief of her Nan being terminally ill. I loved Merle as an MMC, he was understanding, supportive and steady. Liberty was also unashamedly herself and I really enjoyed that. Her found family of witch sisters were also great.

Where I struggled with this book is in how slowly the story moved forward. I also found the writing style to be a bit choppy and awkward in my opinion at times and the descriptions dragged on. I really had to work to finish the story as it did not hook me throughout. I did enjoy reading parts of this book but it’s not one I will probably go back and read again.

This book is a simple and fun romance between a grumpy witch and a nerdy guy. There's an awful lot of suspension of belief that the reader has to do to embrace and the writing is lackluster -- a lot of showing and not telling and its a bit difficult to see how the characters transition from their instalust to actual affection. At best a palate cleanser, nothing new or interesting being done in this text.