A Circle of Uncommon Witches is a fantasy with romantic elements. A young witch sets out to break a family curse with the 300 year old male witch who cursed her family. So much of this story felt like it was part of a series that I went and looked up all the authors other books to see if it was a continuation. It is a standalone novel. So much of the premise sounded familiar that it leaves the story feeling like you have been dropped into the middle of a timeline. The characters are likable enough and the romantic elements felt inevitable. The story just left me feeling like I was missing something. The book was an okay read over a but feels somewhat rushed over or just incomplete overall. My unbiased, voluntary, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Unfortunately, this one is not for me. I was excited about the premise, but it just didn’t do much for me cause I am just not in the right mood for this! Might try again with the audiobook! Sorry!! The premise was great, the characters seemed fun, and I got like 30% way through and just wasn't in the mood for it anymore!

Get swept into a world where magic, history, and lies intertwine in a race to love.

Doreen MacKinnon, a witch bound by a generational curse to never find true love, seeks to break the spell. The curse was cast by Ambrose MacDonald, a male witch imprisoned in a tempest after his love was cruelly hidden by the MacKinnon witches. Doreen's quest leads her to release Ambrose, who harbors his own vengeful agenda. As they navigate treacherous trials, their uneasy alliance ignites sparks of romance. The novel weaves a tale of adventure, love, and destiny, questioning the true cost of finding one's heart’s desire.

The plot is more intricate than anticipated, revealing a labyrinth of trials and challenges that Doreen and Ambrose must navigate. Their journey is filled with magical creatures, spirits, and traps, which add a layer of complexity to their quest. The narrative does an excellent job of showcasing Doreen's pure heart and the transformative power of honesty, goodness, and love. Readers will be eagerly solving each puzzle alongside the characters, racing to uncover the next clue and advance the plot. Secrets and lies about family dynamics, love, and the very nature of magic itself create a complex web that keeps readers on edge. Each revelation adds depth to the characters and their relationships, making the story as much about uncovering truth as it is about the magical adventure.

Each witch possesses unique abilities and connections to different elements, making their magical powers as varied and intriguing as the characters themselves. This diversity enriches the story, offering fresh perspectives on traditional magical lore and keeping the reader engaged with its originality.

Character relationships are a highlight of this book, particularly the depiction of sisterhood. The bond between Doreen and Margot, as well as Stella and Kayleen, is portrayed with such sensitivity and depth. Their ability to communicate without words and connect across time and worlds is a powerful testament to the strength of female friendships and the impact of close, supportive relationships.

The romance between Doreen and Ambrose adds another layer of intrigue to the story. Their relationship unfolds in a classic hate-to-lovers arc, driven by a mix of instinctual attraction and historical animosity. As they face their trials, their feelings for each other evolve, creating a dynamic tension that adds emotional depth to their interactions.

Overall, this is a spellbinding read that delivers far more than its synopsis suggests. With its richly developed magical world, intricate plot twists, and deeply emotional character relationships, this novel is a must-read for fans of witchy romance.

This was a very solid 3 star read for me. I enjoyed the premise and characters, but wish there had just been a little more development of the world. I think this could have benefitted from being a duology.

Unfortunately this one is not for me. It fell flat and was a bit disappointing. I was excited for the premise, but it just didn’t do much for me. Sorry!!

If you like practical magic this will be decent. However it is unnecessarily complicated and the characters are not super lovable.

Spoiler warning:


There is a curse, but that curse isn’t as bad as this other curse you didn’t even know about. There are trials but these are different from those and you’ll still have to do those trials after these trials.

It’s the ghost of “-____”, but they look don’t like anything like themselves, but I’d know them anywhere! oh but actually it’s not them it’s someone else entirely.

I hate you, but now I love you, actually I’ve loved you from the first moment, even when I hated you.

Ugh. I almost quit reading so many times.

Add this to your spooky holiday reads, a great story with full rich characters to dive into for the 2025 season!

Based on the premise alone, A Circle of Uncommon Witches had me sold. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed reading this. I didn’t love it the way that I wanted to love it. The story itself felt disjointed the entirety of the novel. It felt almost as though I were dropped into the middle of a story already being told, which could be intentional given the long-standing curse that the MacKinnon’s have been contending with, but without a decent amount of exposition, I found it difficult to parse what exactly was happening and at what point in the timeline we were on.

Because the overall plot structure was off from the jump, the pacing the book also felt out of line with the story that was being told. There were moments that I found dragged on forever, and others that felt like a momentary blip that needed to be expounded upon a lot further.

That isn’t to say, however, that the premise of the novel wasn’t good because it was. However, the execution was severely lacking compared to this novel’s contemporaries. I think with a drawn-out plot and story-telling structure, paired with an enriched diligence in expressing the lore of the MacKinnon’s, we could have had a tale that withstood the test of time. A Circle of Uncommon Witches, in its current form, is not that. And I think that’s where my primary grievance lies. This felt almost like a rough draft of a grander tale. Something that needed to be spot-checked and polished before being read.

I also found our main character, Doreen, supremely unlikeable, because it didn’t feel as though she had much depth, beyond a driving urge to unpack and understand the curse put on her family so that she can undo it and go about her life as she desired, rather resigning herself to a cruel and loveless fate as the other women in her line before her. Ambrose, too, was equally unlikeable and it felt as though the two were playing a continuous game of hot and cold throughout the greater part of the book. An equally stunning notion when paired with the fact that the two were prone to the insta-love the moment they lay eyes on one another.

I won’t say that the book wasn’t enjoyable, because it was, in its own way. Like I said, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I think this book would have been phenomenal were it designed more as a slow burn epic of curse breaking and undeniable romance, rather than the quick conflict resolution that we received. All in all, this book read more like a palate cleanser after reading such a tale, rather than the epic that it seems to be at first glance.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Paige Crutcher & St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Overall, I’d give this a 2.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up to 3 for its potential.

✨ARC Review✨

I love a witchy book no matter the season, but this past weekend felt distinctly fall-ish here in Michigan. Time to embrace it.

This is not a cozy, cottage core witchy book. There are high stakes and life-threatening adventures.

Doreen MacKinnon’s family has been cursed for three hundred years to never know true, romantic love, but if they’re not married by thirty, they’ll die. Yikes! So, Doreen is determined to break this curse because she won’t settle for anything but love and obviously, she doesn’t want to die.

Clearly this means she has to rescue Ambrose MacDonald, the very witch who cursed her family and has been kept in a torture tornado for three hundred years. Let’s see how this works out!

Ambrose tells her he cannot break the curse. They have to seek out this creepy thousand year old witch creature who says the curse can only be broken by taking part in the trials, a series of things supposedly impossible to do. I think you know how this is going to go.

There’s actually a lot more to this story and I appreciate how it’s all layered in. We have family dynamics, spellcasting, romantic and non- romantic love and perilous situations.

Thanks to #netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC. All thoughts are mine alone.

#romance #romancebooks #witchyromance #contemporaryromance #arc #acircleofuncommonwitches #paigecrutcher

I thoroughly enjoyed this book filled with witches, curses, love spells and family betrayal. There's a lot going on with many years of history that can be a bit of a challenge to keep up with but the stakes are high. There's a journey with trials that are necessary to break the curse and creature a future of free will and chances for true love for the Mac Kinnon witches. Help comes from unexpected sources with add to the drama. I read this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had some great ideas and interesting characters, but it just didn't resonate with me. The story was chaotic and hard to follow, even though we knew how it would end. I couldn't tell if there were clues about the ending or if there were gaps in the plot because everything felt jumbled.

There were some beautiful quotes, but they got lost in the writing. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to create memorable lines in every paragraph, which made it tough to read. I often found myself rereading sections multiple times just to grasp what was happening. By the time the big moments came, I was too exhausted to care. The points of view were inconsistent and didn't flow well.

The characters were intriguing and had interesting relationships, though some felt a bit exaggerated. The main character and her family had a great dynamic that could have been explored further. However, the chemistry between the main characters was lacking, which made the romantic moments feel awkward instead of exciting.

Overall, this story had potential, but it needed more focus on development and less over-the-top writing. Still, it did carry a good message.

I received this ARC for and honest review.


3.5 stars

A Circle of Uncommon Witches is about Doreen who is stubborn, strong, and genuinely good, and wants to break the family curse. As the a daughter of the 13th line she is particularly strong and has a unique magic.

This book is also about Ambrose, who cursed Doreen's line centuries ago and has been suspended in his own curse in all that time.

Doreen frees him and embarks on an adventure to break both their curses, even if it means losing her family to save them. But nothing is as it seems and Doreen and Ambrose must go through further trials to succeed.

Not sure if there will be a sequel but it does not end in a cliffhanger and I think can be read as a standalone.

I liked the concept, and I liked how the story progressed. Some descriptions were too witchy in the way it sounded metaphorical but turned out to be literal. Otherwise, very cozy read just in time for autumn.

Thank You netgally and Paige cutter for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.

I didn't hate this book but it also wasn't a favourite of mine, I felt like there was a alot of jumping, and not a lot of explaining of the curse and what was going on in the book. I feel like it could of been more. I especially feel like their was no love between Doreen and Ambrose, Like i feel like they didn't talk at all and all of sudden they were in love? and the trails felt rushed and not explained, like how were they even trails. . Her whole mother plot didn't get explained either? what happen to her? Where did she go? I just wish this book had more. I didn't hate it but it wouldn't be a book I would pick up again .

The summary for this sounds terrible and cheesy. In reality, it’s compelling and sweet. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a little too high stakes to be cozy fantasy IMO, but it’s also not pulse-pounding adventure, high heat Romantasy. It has strong Practical Magic vibes. I liked the characters, the way the generational stories wove together, and the magic. The ties to music seemed stronger in the second half and therefore felt a little overdone. I would have liked more balance, not just with that, but in the overall pacing. As much as I enjoyed the book, there were sections where my focus drifted.

I really wished that I enjoyed this book more based on the synopsis, but I felt like the pacing was off. Some explanations of the past were given at unusual times in the book. I also felt like certain parts were rushed and characters moved through the world at odd speeds.
I also felt like the romance was less enemies to lover and more at first glance. Even when the author tried to make it seem like Ambrose didn’t like Doreen (via Doreen’s POV) you could still see that it was just her POV. That is fine except I was expecting more of an enemy to lovers’ kind of book.
I overall think maybe this should have been spaced into 2 books or even been a bit long because it felt rushed at the end. I did love the sisterly bonds in the book. I also would recommend it as a quick cozy read, but would not market it as an enemy to lovers trope.

A Circle of Uncommon Witches is a fun and whimsical tale of an ancient curse and the witch who wants to break it. It took a few chapters to get going but once it did I didn't want to stop reading it. The setting and characters are intriguing.
Thanks to NetGalley and St, Martin's Press for my ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this book had so much potential but unfortunately wasn’t executed very well. The romance was a SLOOWWWW burn and when the romance did happen it was “insta love” which isn’t my cup of tea. The first half of this book was extremely slow I found myself struggling to continue. I did enjoy the last 100 pages or so a lot but unfortunately I just wasn’t a fan of the slow burn.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book and had high hopes. I wanted it to feel like Practical Magic but with a twist, but I had an issue with the pacing. The characters were great, and the storyline was interesting, but I think I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had been longer and edited a bit more! I'll pick another of Paige Crutcher's books, though!

I liked the premise of the book but unfortunately I just couldn't get into the story the way I was hoping to. It was all a bit convoluted and difficult to follow. Doreen and Ambrose were both individually great characters, but I wish I had felt more of their chemistry. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

HOLY SMOKES!
It's giving "Masters of Death" by Olivie Blake and fantastic, century-old love curse!

So the beginning was a lot to get the book off the ground and was heavy to read, but then the trials, the twists, THE ENDING- THAT LAST SENTENCE?!

Like WHAT JUST HAPPEN!? Blew my mind wide open! Perfect rain/fall moody reading week we had

Definitely going to be a story that haunts me and will be re-read like certain journals from the novel 😉

Doreen wants real, honest-to-goodness, true love and is willing to die for it. Literally. She & her cousin, Margot are the 13th generation & meant to be the strongest witches yet. Doreen goes on a heroes quest and discovers the truth of love. Whether it's philia, storge, or eros, love has the power to either lift or destroy. Through the mists and quests, Doreen discovers so much about her power, her family, and the history of the three clans.

The beginning was a lot at once trying to build up the world and lay the stones of history. After the first quarter, the book found its footing, and the world grew on a melody. I can't wait to have a physical copy! Oh? That ending- the last sentence- you'll just have to wait and see!!!