I was grateful to receive an ARC of this novel from @htpbooks and the cover is absolutely beautiful. The history of the women and the curse was something that really drew me to this novel. The magical and hoodoo aspects were great, but I wanted more of it. I think incorporating pieces of the spell book or more stories of the success with their clients would have enhanced the novel. The miscommunication trope was at the center of this storyline and it is one of my least favorite to experience as a reader. This negatively impacted my enjoyment of this story, which thankfully may not be the case for others. Although I enjoyed the intergeneration aspects, I felt the storyline progressed very slowly and the multiple POVs made it feel very disjointed. The last 25% did pick up and the ending provided some closure, but at that point I felt as though I was no longer invested in the story.

Thank you @htpbooks for the gifted copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review #htpinfluencer. Although this book wasn’t a good fit for me, I’ve seen a lot of amazing reviews and it’s a @readwithjenna pick, so I’m hopeful others will enjoy this novel.

Slow start, overall an ok read. I wasn't blown away by the story. I found myself getting frustrated with some of the characters and the plot dragged. Victoria was on my last nerve by the end of the book and I just wanted everyone to stop hanging on to the secrets and start talking to each other. Also, I felt there wasn't much depth to the story. I just didn't feel satisfied at the end.

Black Candle Women was an enjoyable read, 3.5 stars for me. I love generational stories with strong women, and in this, the book didn't disappoint. Throw in a curse for good measure (is it real, is it fake, if real can it be broken) and I'm in! Every character is distinctly drawn with unique and colorful personalities, as is the scenery and landscape, whether southern New Orleans or California's Long Beach (I loved the mention of my hometown, Thousand Oaks). Diane Marie Brown is a wonderful storyteller, but the main drawback I had was I found the writing wasn't as strong as I prefer. Too much explaining, summary, telling the reader how characters felt instead of showing the reader how the characters felt. I enjoyed the book, enjoyed the story, but felt a bit disappointed in the writing. Much thanks to NetGalley and Graydon House for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy.

Black Candle Women is a family drama following 4 generations of women. The family is believed to be cursed that any man they love will die. Using hoodoo the women try to control aspects of their lives. The women come together to find the root of the hex and do they break the curse? Spanning from 1950-present and taking place in Los Angeles and New Orleans.

This book is a family drama. I went in thinking curses and hoodoo, but at the root it is a family drama revealing the relationships of the 4 generations of women. At times the book dragged and I was hoping for more spooky curses and voodoo/hoodoo. This book left much to be desired.

There were big differences between what I was expecting from this story and what I actually got. I was sold by the cover but even more so after reading what it was about. Black women, hoodoo, and a family curse? I was all in. This story was more family drama than magic and I think that's what really disappointed me. With a title like Black Candle Women I think I expected more from the hoodoo side of the story. I wasn't expecting magic wands or anything but I was certainly expecting more supernatural than what I actually got. The writing is good. I liked the characters but I kept waiting for something that seemed like it never really came.

Black Candle Women is a novel about a family consisting of four generations of women, all living together in a two story bungalow in California. The Montrose women seem ordinary on the surface, but their family has strong connections to hoodoo and magic. The youngest, Nickie, is unaware of this, and when she finally brings a boy home to meet everyone, she doesn’t realize that by doing that she starts a countdown to the curse looming over her family’s life.

I really loved the premise of this book and there were certain elements that spoke to me: the dynamics between the women, and the daily struggles they had to face. Augusta, the matriarch of the family, was my favorite and I was excited to learn about her story and how the curse came to be. Unfortunately, the rest of the novel made it pretty obvious that this is the author’s debut - the ending was quite unremarkable and lacked the punch that I was hoping for, and the writing felt a bit wooden. I am certain though, that if Brown continues to write and publish, I will love her stories more and more, because the promise is definitely there.

"Some folks struggled disproportionately, carrying things that others couldn't even lift. The Montrose women had taken on an overbalance of grief, but the way Augusta saw it, they'd been given what they were owed. And they were strong enough to endure it."

I wanted so badly to like this book. I was excited by the idea of a family curse and generations of witches. I definitely blame myself for some of my disappointment, as I built it up in my head as something like the Fox Way women in the Raven Cycle series. However, this book was almost a DNF for me. The pacing was odd and the narrative felt disjointed. The shifting POV and time skips both took away from the plot. While the characters eventually grew on me, I didn't feel like they actually grew or underwent any character development. Honestly, after such a subpar resolution, I wish I had DNFed. It honestly felt like nothing happened in this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Graydon House Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the novel Black Candle Women, five women from the same family confront their combined grief as a result of generational trauma. This novel had a lot of positive aspects. I particularly liked the bonds formed between the women who had experienced so much love and sorrow. However, there were some aspects of the novel that didn't make sense, which detracted from my overall enjoyment.

I've never read anything by Diane Marie Brown before, but I'd definitely read more of her work in the future. Brown's writing style kept me intrigued long enough for me to finish the book despite my average opinion of it. I wanted to know what would happen to Victoria, Williow, Augusta, Nickie, and Madelyn. Despite my difficulty with certain aspects of the story, the characters were well-written and intriguing. But, the plot struggled as the book went on. For example, the curse seemed less and less significant, which weakened the entire point of the novel.

My main complaint was that there was simply too much going on. The premise of a hoodoo-practicing family drew me to the novel in the first place, and since a curse dominated the narrative, I expected the plot to fully embrace the practice. However, it appeared that the author was never fully committed to that aspect, so all references to spells and wrongdoings from the past were less significant than they should have been. In addition, there were several pointless characters in the book, and many of the secondary plots that were supposed to complement the main plot instead detracted from it. Nonetheless, on a high level, it was a good story and a quick read. Would I recommend it to others? Let's just say I'd recommend doing your own research before deciding whether or not this book is right for you.

The Montrose women all share the same magical gift, but it comes at a particular cost.... the men that they fall in love with must die! This curse, dating back to the 1950s, dictates the way that 4 generation of women live their lives. Secrets, lies, and spells surround this peculiar family, as they navigate their complicated family ties.
Readers beware: if, like me, you hate the miscommunication trope, this book may not be for you! Even though, I particularly enjoyed the 1950s flashbacks and the voodoo magic, most of the problems in the family could have been solved by basic communication. Each character was incredibly frustrating in its own way, and it was hard at times to care about every little petty argument. The pace was pretty slow and it only picked up in the last quarter of the book.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House & NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley.

It took a while for me to get through this book. The third person POV sometimes made it difficult to tell whose part I was on, so I had to reread lines often. Listening to a bit of the audiobook helped to get me back into the book.

I loved that the book talked about the curse through the multiple generations that lived in the home. Im from south Louisiana (Lafayette) and we are naturally a superstitious people. There was so much that I could relate to and see other relatives through the characters in the book.

While I didn’t fall in love with the book the way I hoped, I could definitely see this adapted into a tv series. A movie wouldn’t do it justice. This is why I’m rating it 4 stars. I really a network or streaming service picks this up and goes into detail of each woman’s story (and please try to get authentic people from Louisiana to play the parts! And do actual research on the food and the history of it all)!

Disappointed in this Jenna pick—may have brought her joy but not me.
Sweet story but the writing was lackluster.
The book felt long and seemed to drag & unfortunately I was not enthusiastic to continue reading.

With thanks to NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for this e-ARC!

Reminiscent of a modern day Practical Magic, Black Candle Women brings together multiple generations of Montrose women into a house in California. A curse has followed them across the country, over the years from mother to daughter and has kept them from finding happiness. What happens when you upset a voodoo priestess? The man that falls in love with you dies. That’s not ominous at all!🫣

I enjoyed the story overall, but it took a lot to keep me focused on it. At times I felt it to be too slow, which is sad because I was listening to the audio book and Bahni Turpin is one of my favorite audio actors.

Black Candle Women is an intriguing debut novel, following the Montrose women as they navigated some dark family history. They are thought to be cursed as the men they love, end up dead.

This is a character driven novel with themes of family and "hoodoo!" The beginning was a bit slow but I appreciated the insight into each of the characters. It picks up nicely about a third of the way in as the layers are peeled back and secrets are revealed. I must say, the lack of communication in this family was astounding. IYKYK

Overall, this is a good read and very timely for Women's History Month.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy. Reviews are my own.

This book had its ups and it had its downs. It’s a multigenerational familial story, with New Orleans culture, and a unique blend of past and present. It’s also has a little voodoo thrown into the mix.

There are some things that I loved, the flashbacks to 50s era New Orleans, the history of voodoo and how the curse came to be through the eyes of the matriarch.

The present seemed very stressful and muddled; and I’m not sure if it was meant to be that way on purpose. There are times in the story where the lives of the women seemed to be at a standstill and months would pass, but it’s like the plot lines weren’t fully developed. I feel like this should be a series maybe, that way sleep get the full perspectives of all the ladies and not just the main matriarch.

Overall, it was enjoyable. But you’re gonna be left wanting more. 3/5 stars

I am not a massive fan of the "miscommunication" trope. While the story was interesting, I grew frustrated as the story moved along because of the lack of communication. On the other hand, I loved the multiple povs and how it flows between different time periods. The lack of communication just got to me, though.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, based off the cover and title alone. I deduced it was a multigenerational story, and I'm a sucker for those. I went in blind and while I don't want to spoil the intrigue for everyone, I have a few things to sayyy.

This is a story that focuses on four women from three generations of a family tree, and they're cursed with the death of every man they fall in love with. I'm not done with the book so I don't know the cause of the curse yet. They're also magically gifted so one woman in every generation gets a gift.

I wanted this book to focus on the women and their power. I mean, look at that cover. So far, it's doing a lot of focusing on their relationships with men and not much highlight on their power as well. It's also a story with multiple timelines and I enjoy the past timeline in New Orleans more.

Once I know what Jenna's pick of the month is I aim to read it sooner than later. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy for the purpose of this review. It was not my favorite but it was well written and that cover is gorgeous. Brown did wonderful stuff with the characters.

Review: 3.75⭐️

A good family drama. The secrets these women carried was deep. There was betrayal, a controlling mother, trauma and love with hoodoo mixed in. I will say that Madelyn was my favorite character. Overall it was an enjoyable read.

4.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this one! The Montrose women are varied in their lives and their beliefs about the “family curse”.
I saw so much of my own relationship with my mother in Nikkie and her mom. It’s so strange how, no matter how much a parent “trusts” their kid, they almost always inevitably do something to push the kid away before realizing the error of their ways.

I thought the dynamics between the family generations was very relatable. The multiple POVs present us with unique perspectives and difficult decisions (and a little miscommunication *sigh*). But the Montrose women have a lot to offer. The mystery plot was interesting but the flashbacks pushed me away when I was really getting into a certain character POV. I enjoyed the fantasy elements and the past setting of magical new orleans was great.