I was immediately pulled into this young adult-ish romance set in a magically reimagined version of Miami—and Penelope and Gil’s story did not disappoint.

With some of my favorite tropes—fake dating, mistaken identity, and grumpy/sunshine—this book was such a fun ride. Penelope and Gil (PenGil, anyone?) are exactly the kind of main characters I love: flawed, kind, and completely easy to root for.

There’s a lot of spell-casting talk with little explanation around the magical rules, which might throw some readers off, but it didn’t bother me one bit. I was fully along for the ride and hoping we get more stories set in this world!

#WitchYouWould
#NetGalley

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read the ARC of this book.

I witch you would…give this book a shot this fall. See what I did there?

In all seriousness this book was absolutely adorable and pretty close to everything I want in a light and fluffy romance book. My husband and I watch quite a lot of competition shows from cooking to blacksmithing so as soon as I read the synopsis and saw that the basis behind this book was a competition show but with magic I was set. Penelope and Leandro Presto are partnered up on a show called Cast Judgement. Penelope is a by the book caster buuuttttt Leandro is know for his comical magical mix ups. Throw in a little secret identities and hidden crushes and you’re definitely in for a good time.

One of my favorite things about this book was the added Cuban culture. I love anything where I get to peak into a culture that isn’t my own.

My only mild complaint is that there is a LOT of gen z slang, which is fine, but it felt borderline too much. However, that didn’t stop me from enjoying it and honestly the more I think about it the more I feel it possibly made it more realistic. I felt like the main character felt like real people that made it more enjoyable.

Overall I really felt like this book was well done and would be a great read during the fall months. I’ll be rereading it for certain and recommending it for bookclub also.

Also, there are a lot of puns in this book and I love puns. It might annoy other people but I am here for it.

Thank you so much to Lia Amador and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for the eARC of this book. One of the tropes, which is my favorite, is Fake dating with enemies to lovers. It is a great fall/halloween time vibe book. The magic elements and puns are great. It definitely could use a bit more world building but overall a great book!

stage magicians have been ruined for me forever 😭 i think this book had too much going on—either stick to spells and magic or to stage magicians and pranks.

This is the perfect fall romance book! It would be a great Halloween book! The romance was wonderful and banter filled.

Witch You Would by Lia Amador is a great contemporary romance that I really enjoyed.

Who doesn’t love a good romance with a witchy vibe? This a cute contemporary romance that has humor, magic, Cuban flare, and a miscommunication/“ You’ve Got Mail vibe.

I liked the dialogue with serious and comedic moments and definitely liked the two main characters and their chemistry. It was a fun and enjoyable ride.

4.5/ 5 stars

Thank you NG and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 9/2/25.

I adored the magic elements and all the puns in this book! I wish there was a little more backstory to the actual magic system and maybe some world building. Other than that I had a lot of fun with this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

I absolutely adored this one! It's Bewitched meets Top Chef in possibly the cutest witchy rom-com I've ever met.

This book had me cackling out loud multiple times. The puns were on point and it was just giggle after giggle.

There was also <i>some</i> miscommunication, but not in the way that typically drives me insane. This kept the story moving, provided entertainment, but didn't bog the story down with unnecessary drama.

Unlike manyyyy romances that use miscommunication to stage a messy break up like the MCs are middle schoolers, both Penelope and Leandro actually talk to each other with good intentions and don't make dumb decisions to hide shit that will, inevitably, blow up in their faces.

I also loved the inclusion of Cuban culture. My only complaint is really that there weren't translations for a lot of the Spanish used, so I either had to google it or just gloss over it.

I highly, highly recommend this one! It's cute and funny and everything you could want in a witchy rom-com.

3.75 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins and the author for the ARC in exchange for review!

The premise of this book was so intriguing to me, a young witch enters a spellcasting competition where she's paired with a "Spellebrity" for a chance to win $100,000 and a year long internship at a prestigious spellcasting studio. Penelope, our FMC, is paired with Leandro Presto, a self-proclaimed derpy guy who has a huge online following for his purposeful mistakes in magic. Penelope has always been wary of his magic as she feels his mistakes could get someone seriously hurt. However, Leandro isn't just a goofy guy online, that's just his stage name. In real life, he's Gil, the sweet, technical guy that Penelope has been emailing for months! These two must work together to win the spellcasting competition and further both of their careers.

Things I loved about this book: the infusion of Cuban history and culture, all the magic, the chemistry between Penelope and Gil, the relationship our leads have with their grandparents, and the dealing with past trauma with their parents.

Things I wanted more of: I wish we had a little more world building. I wanted a little more backstory on the magic system. Is everyone magic? Or only some people? And what determines how strong you are magically? Practice? Genetics?

Things that weren't quite a home run for me: As a millennial, there was a lot of Gen Z slang and it felt a little juvenile mixed in with the spicy scenes.

All in all, this was a fun read that will be perfect to reread around Halloween. It was sweet and cute and proves that you don't always need to win to get what you need!

Cast Judgment es un concurso de hechicería en el que Penelope Delmar ve la oportunidad de cambiar su vida. Para ganar los $100,000 y dejar su aburrido trabajo, necesita un compañero confiable. Sin embargo, su compañero, Leandro Presto, es conocido por sus ridículos videos de hechizos fallidos, y Penelope no lo soporta. Lo que ella no sabe es que Leandro es en realidad, su amigo por correo con quien ha compartido secretos y sentimientos, pero él no puede decirle quién es y dejar de actuar como su torpe personaje. Mientras ambos intentan ganar el concurso y salvar una causa importante para Gil, los hechizos mal lanzados y las intrigas del programa pondrán a prueba no solo su magia, sino también sus corazones.



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