Cassie fled her hometown and the setting of her humiliating betrayal by Seth, who was supposed to be her best friend until he fell in with the popular crowd and turned on her. Imagine her astonishment as she’s returned to her beloved late grandmother’s home to find a very grown and very hot Seth trying to break in through a window. After chasing him away, she’s awakened in the night by loud noises, and it’s Seth again mid-B & E, this time his target is the basement.. While Cassie confronts him, Seth begins to look unwell, then downright frightening. It seems he’s been keeping a massive secret from her. Madness and lust ensue. As blasts from the past continue to be placed in Cassie’s past, mostly of the unpleasant variety, she must decide whether whatever attraction they’re harboring toward each other is worth the risk to her heart.

This was an enjoyable, if overlong read. Yes, there is some shaming of Cassie, initially in the prologue, but it’s from high school when many young people are unconscionable twits. Some of them fear their awful heads to continue to run her down, because - surprise! - many grownups are just as abysmal as they were as teenagers. All of this is to say that it’s all contextual, for what it’s worth.

Of note is that the inner and spoken dialogue of the FMC is repetitive and often annoying as all get out, especially her habit of referring to Seth by his full name. One can only assume is an intentional choice by the author, because who among us has concise, linear thinking on the fly or at any given moment?

This reader wouldn’t quite put it in the What We Do in the Shadows category, as it’s billed as that is a perfect, sublime bit of cinema and serial television, but it will certainly appeal to Supernatural fans or those who are SO over the Twilight era and would like something more lighthearted and steamier.

I received an advance reader copy from the author and NetGalley, and I’m sharing my honest review.

I received an E-Arc from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review!

I rarely read werewolves stories but I gave this one a go because my inner voice told me to do it and I am so glad I did. The story was hit the mark on friendship being great at one point then not then slowly turns back into a friendship again but with more emotions.

I will say I think there are some trigger warnings in this book that could be offended by some. There are spicy bits in the book and um..some dirty talk. Just letting you all know. If these things trigger you then this book may not be for you.

Friendship we all know is great but sometimes it can be hit with something had and never can bounce back. That is what I think Cassandra felt. I could see she was holding on to the anger of what had happened with her friend Seth but at the same time (as the story goes on) she learns to let go of that anger. There are lots of things happening in the story but to me it what I felt was that it was focused on Cassandra and Seth.

What I liked about this story is the supernatural/magic elements which was a different take (Goblin marbles, fairies, Pod, and more) the banter and connection between Seth and Cassandra, Cassandra learning about herself and growing strong from within, the adventures these two characters went on and the communication where they took the time to deep dive in it.

I would say the book felt sweet and sexy at the same time. It was almost like a build up to the sexy with magic being involved. I will admit I did think of the one episode of from Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy and Riley got trapped in a loop of magic that was related to spicy time and wondered if that was the same concept for Seth and Cassandra. You'll have to read to find out.

The description really sounded like this book would be a fun read, but I quickly was turned off by the writing style. I tried to keep going but ended up DNF @ 20%

This book really wasn’t for me. This is my second book by this author. I really wasn’t a fan of the first one; but thought this sounded cute and decided to give the author another chance. Unfortunately, it seems the writing style of this author just doesn’t work for me.

There wasn’t really much of a story after the first 20% or so of the book. We went from having an interesting case of self discovery with a bit of enemies to lovers to the same sort of thing over and over again with random bouts of horniness. Then it just kinda became constant sexual stuff with no story progression…

The two main characters were also so sarcastic, I assume in the attempt for creating banter, but in the end, it came off more as just a nuisance. I found myself begging for some sort of serious moment without the comedic follow up.

thank you to the author and netgalley for my review copy.

I loved the idea of a Gilmore Girls in a supernatural world worked with everything that I wanted. The overall plot worked with everything that I was looking for and thought the small town element was strongly done. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and how their romance goes. I really enjoyed how good Charlotte Stein’s writing was and left me wanting to read more.

I received a copy of this for my honest review.

This is a friends to enemies to fated mates story with a witch and a werewolf. Our FMC and MMC were best friends until he joined the "cool" crowd of jerks. They played a trick on her in front of the whole auditorium, causing them to not speak for 10 years. But when her grandmother passed and she decided to go clean out her house they reconnect, in the weirdest manner. He's broken into her house and locks himself in the basement because he is turning. When he apologizes later he lets her know - btw - you're a powerful witch. As he works to re-earn her trust, she is building her magical abilities and helping him deal with his condition. The biggest problem is he tends to turn, when turned on - and she turns him on with every little thing she does. Will they be able to become friends again? Or maybe more as fated-mates? Or will their desires stay hidden?

I love Charlotte Stein and I always will. That being said, I found this book tough to get through. It was the slow burn-iest of slow burns. At a certain point, I just lost patience waiting for them to Get It Together Already. There are no fireworks (*ahem*) until the 80% mark which is just too long to wait, especially when there isn't much else going on in the plot. It felt like a lot of unnecessary angst just to keep them apart and it got to be quite tedious after a while. In addition, Cassie's main motivational driver was her low self esteem and that just didn't hit right for me. She's a freaking POWERFUL WITCH! Like... woah. That should change how you see yourself at least a little, right?!?!?! But she kept basically repeating 'I'm too pathetic for seth to love me' and she said it so much, I almost started to agree.

Anyway, I will say that the world=building was quirky and adorable. Her conjuring up spells and the raccoon familiar were cute little touches. I would like a lot more of a deeper dive into the magical world than the book gave, however. I felt like we were skating around the outside of the most interesting aspect of the story. Maybe future books will give us more of the magical world stuff.

*Thank you for the opportunity to review the book; I will post my review on amazon when the book releases.*

I DNF’ed around 30% I just wasn’t buying it. The FMC inner monologue was funny but it just wasn’t enough to keep me hooked. Thank you for the opportunity to try this ARC

This was an interesting read. I don't normally lean towards fantasy or supernatural genres but I did like this book. I will say I was hoping for more of a punch, explosion, fireworks etc in the big (finally!) spicy scene! I liked both main characters and I'm actually looking forward to more in this series.

This one had me at Gilmore Girls in the description. None the less, I enjoyed the partnership of the characters in this book. It was one that kept me turning pages, wanting to know how it would all end up. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

3.5 ⭐️

This book is as very entertaining. The FMC inner monologue was really witty and funny. I love a friends, to enemies, to lovers story. I had a really good time reading.
If you are looking for a cozy, funny and low stakes paranormal romance this book is definitely for you.

A friend turned bully turned werewolf turned friend turned lover is a lot of changes for a person.

I wanted to love this book. That being said, the miscommunication between the main characters was always annoying. It felt like at every step they worked hard to not tell each other things while also just assuming they knew what the other would say.

I will say the way she called him her mortal enemy and then dropped it so quick was kind of a disappointment. I understand the self esteem issues but still.

The book was well written. It just maybe wasn't for me.

I really had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately I DNF’d at 20%. First, I could not get through forgiving a man who bullied you so horrifically. Second the banter felt forced and disjointed. I wanted to love them and the dynamic, I did. Unfortunately, it just missed the mark for me.

As a Gilmore girls fan, the summary had me curious about the book. It was cheesy but like in a cute way. It gave some cozy feels and I kept turning the pages cause I wanted to know how it would end

Oh I loved this. The setting was interesting and the romance felt genuine. It’s almost like my perfect paranormal romance book. I’m very excited to read more of this series.

I wasn't exactly sure what I got into when I first started this book. I was concerned a great deal about scorned Cassandra and her dislike of, well...everything. The first third was a bit slow going as we began to build/rebuild the relations between Seth and Cassandra. However, damn did we end well! I was eating up the second two thirds and could not get enough. The wit alone for Seth and Cassandra as they navigate their common issues was both frustrating, and delightful.

I also really liked the representation of a curvy character. I always love when characters look like me!

I am greatly looking forward to more from the series.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. All thoughts are solely my own.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this one even though the concept sounded so fun. I couldn't connect with the writing style and wasn't a huge fan of the characterization.

I could not get into this book. I really tried, but it was not grabbing me. I love supernatural romances, but this just felt a little boring? It didn’t hook me. I stopped reading about 40% in. I’m sure it’s someone else’s cup of tea but it’s not mine!

3 ⭐

This was...okay. It was entertaining and the story idea itself was a good one. An unknown witch and a weird werewolf, best friends to enemies to best friends again. I love a good paranormal blend to a modern world...I really liked the integration of the fantasy/paranormal to the town and the differences that she saw once the veil was lifted.

BUT THE PACING - omg, the pacing was like whiplash. Everything was going about 100 miles an hour and there was no downtime to really get to know the characters. The dialogue could be funny at times, but there were moments where it was nothing but volleying retorts that felt forced.

Oh, and definitely recommend reading the trigger warnings - there is some highly fatphobic commentary going on and the main characters downs herself a lot because of her weight which could difficult for some readers.

I was excited by the summary of this book. Seemed like it’d be right up by alley. However I couldn’t even pay attention to the plot because the grammar and writing quality of this book is horrific. I’m rereading every other sentence multiple times just to try to figure out what she means. The second sentence of the book was “But though she’d hated the way she’d responded.” What?? Where was your editor? Almost every sentence either features a comma or hyphen when there should’ve just been two sentences or the sentences is a complete or grammatically correct sentence. I’m FAR from an English expert, so my bar for basic grammar is pretty low, and this book can’t even see the bar from how far below it is.