Nope. This was a DNF at 35% from me.

It’s unfortunate, because I loves me some witches. Hedge witches, the kinds that make potions, and healing compounds are particularly good for me. I LOVE books by Alice Hoffman for instance, where magic is part of life and used to help people around them. This book was not that.

Other bloggers have since described it as more of a romance or historical fiction book than a fantasy and I’d have to say that’s a more than fair assessment. Again, unfortunately, I am not really into romance stories for the most part. Especially the one in this book. These two characters have no chemistry, they pretty much hate each other, and as far as I can see the point of the plot is for her to win over his science loving heart to appreciate her witch-y goodness. Yeah, that’s just not … believable? Realistic? It just doesn’t work in this particular story. I hold out no hope for them.

I mildly liked one of the secondary characters, but not enough to continue reading. It’s just a no from me dog. On the other hand if you like a hate-to-love romance type book with a tiny bit of magic, this might be for you, but it’s not something I’d really recommend.

I really enjoyed reading this awesome story. The witchcraft was very fascinating. The murder was interesting.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review

Review on The Reading Fairy

This book was interesting to say. I liked it, but at the same time, up until page 100, I would have gave it like 2 stars because I simply did not care. I didn’t know the characters as much as I wanted too. They were just there, and I barely even understood them.

Elena was a little self-absorbed into her love-interest (totally can’t relate! But my friends are equally as bad. I’m now the third wheel once more) and her character suffered because of that. Like what is her personality minus the fact she is weary and is a vine witch which is pretty awesome by the way.

The characters were really lacking and kinda were one-dimensional, unfortunately. I just wanted more from them.

The plot was decent, minus the fact that most of the book was spent being a prisoner and than being an outlaw and that was it. It kept me entertained, but I’m pretty that’s it. I like the writing, but the world-building needed a bit more work.

3.5 Stars

'The Vine Witch' is the first book in a new fantasy/paranormal series that fans of witch fiction are going to love. I personally adore anything witch or witchcraft related, so I was already excited to read this book. Then I read the description and found out it was set in France. Since I'm also a huge Francophile, I knew I absolutely had to read this novel. Witches in France? I don't know if you can get much better than that in my opinion.

I did generally enjoy the story, although the plot ended up being a little dull for my tastes. I liked getting to know Elena and the other major characters throughout the story. They were all pretty realistic and I could identify with them at least a bit. The two things that I loved the most were what I was most excited about - the magic and the setting. I loved learning everything I could about Elena and her vine magic as well as the other types of magic out there. The setting was perfect and the author did a fantastic job of describing it to the point where I could close my eyes and picture it all perfectly. There were two big issues I had with the book. The first I already mentioned - the plot being boring and not at all what I had been expecting, and the writing style the author chose to write the story. She used the third person point of view with Elena as the main character. I personally don't care much for this style and almost always prefer the first person POV. That definitely was the case with this novel. I honestly believe that if the story had been written in the first person POV with Elena as the narrator, I would've had a completely different reading experience. I think the first person POV would have been perfect for this story and would've let me connect more deeply with Elena and invest in the story on a higher level. Sadly, this wasn't meant to be, so I ended up with a less than great reading experience. Don't get me wrong - these are wholly my own personal opinions and don't reflect on the book itself. I know plenty of other readers won't have the same "issues" that I did and will love the story. Again, this is a completely unbiased and honest review and it represents my own personal opinions. This was an okay start to a new paranormal series that definitely has potential. If I had it my way, the next book would be done a little different, but that's just me and my preferences. I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy paranormal, fantasy, witches, magic, and books set in France.

I loved Vine Witch, though I felt it was a little bit long. The beginning was almost too gross for me, but I am not a fan of frogs so that might have had something to do with it. Once I figured out that it was a cursed witch and that she was breaking the curse by eating her shed skin, I could appreciate the intelligence of the opening, if not the visual it created.

The action in the end made up for some of the length in the build up. The entire end confrontation felt perfectly paced and ended beautifully. Can't wait to read another book by Luanne Smith. It feels like she has more stories to tell.

First book in series. Witches, curses and spells. Book was a good read, but I felt I was missing something. When I finished reading I discovered that the problem was not the idea of the plot , but how ot was developed and presented. Overall 3.5 stars on this one.

Thank you NetGalley and 47 North for an ARC.

The book is set at the vineyards at Château Renard, which have relied on their vine witches to create their wine. Sorcière Elena Boureanu was cursed to live as a toad and the book opens after she's broken the spell. She struggles home only to find the Château has slid into ruin in the seven years that she's been gone.

The premise sounded completely interesting - magic, wine, curses, what more could I ask for? However, I was completely uncompelled by the characters. I found the pacing was really slow. I thought it took too long to reveal why the main character was cursed in the first place and what happened. I gave up around the 20% mark. DNF.

3.5 stars.

I honestly had more expectations out of this book but sadly I was left disappointed. I was expecting more vine growing info and moments, more spells and definitely more of that romance but barely got any of that.

It started off so well until the second half for me. I'm a big fan of enemies to lovers which is what I got in this book, however the author decided to let it develop off screen and just give us glimpses which sucked for me since I wanted more of it.

I was expecting some spell breaking and witch fights, especially at the end but we only got a long ass monologue by the antagonist while Elena just stood there and watched, doing nothing really but listening without interruption while the antagonist continued with her summoning.

The rest of the story is mediocre with the typical plotline to get the story going. I honestly wish the author focused more on the other stuff.

Overall, it wasn't too bad despite it being cliche because the writing style was amazing which made it up for me. The book focused on other stuff besides what the first chapter eluded which is why I was disappointed because it could have been better.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

Oh, this was lovely! I love witches and fin-de-siecle France, so, on the whole, this was right up my alley. I had a very enjoyable time reading this work of historical fiction, and I look forward to the author's other works!

This was an interesting read and I liked the main character and the way the story was presented but it did drag a bit in parts but was overall a good read and i would recommend it

A spooky, dark and atmospheric read, perfect for snuggling up on cold winter days. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

I really wanted to like this book. The worldbuilding elements were there: cool folk-magic, a cultural war between science and magic, a vendetta to fulfill. But I found the execution of those plot/world points a bit lacking. The romance was sort of sprung up from nowhere, the big baddie wasn't all that big or bad, and I felt like the MC didn't grow that much as a character over the course of the book. An evil mage in a circus is intriguing, though, and some part of me still wants to know how it alls turns out, even if I felt like I was lacking info that the characters had (especially about the romance).

I didn't really enjoy this book. I liked the historical aspect, as well as the magic, but I thought the plot dragged a lot , which made me lose interest completely.

This sadly wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t quite connect with the writing style and I wasn’t particularly interested in the characters so I just couldn’t push myself to finish it. I won’t say it was bad and I do think you should try it if you like witch books.

A little hard to get into but once it got going it became interesting. It's a difficult book to assign a genre because there are aspects of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance.

DNF at 35%
Whomever wrote the blurb for this book should be given a talking to. Not once in that entire blurb does it mention romance, love interest, growing attraction, or any of the key words I would expect given the clear and obvious intent of The Vine Witch to be a romance novel. It's okay for it to be a romance novel, but tell me that up-front so that I'm not disappointed.

Luanne G. Smith does a few other disservices to her novel in the first 35% that I read.
Here are a few points that really bothered me:
- Smith assumed that five pages of our lead gal being a frog/toad is enough for us to hate whomever cursed her. We never find out what she might have done wrong or how it came about (up to the 35% point) so I guess we are just supposed to 'trust' that our gal was wrong.
- Similar to the above issue we are presented with a 'bad guy' that is a classic successful business man whom wants to take over everything. Seriously put a guy in a black hat and suit, any bad guy from Dallas or other soap operas and you've got this guy. But again we don't really know what he's done. We know there are some charms that have been put in place; but no one actually establishes they are his or that he is aware of them. Being a shrewd business man doesn't necessarily make you evil. And yet the fierceness with which are lead gal wants his death is somehow supposed to mean something to me...?
- Who buys a property with a locked door and doesn't insist on seeing inside? I mean come on...
- If you want to combine the idea of the science that goes into wine making (which is fairly complex) and magic, I'm okay with it. But I need a way to connect the two. It can't be that science is all out and magic is all in, or the other way around. Find a way to make them harmonious.
- And finally, if you are going to be a romance novel then you need to set the precedent of why our gal or guy might be intrigued or interested in the other. With the exception of proximity and no other characters around of the right age I couldn't figure out what would attract our two characters to one another.

Overall, I'd pass on this one unless you care a lot about wine, silly romances, or revenge magic. Don't let the pretty cover fool you.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This was a wonderful read. Classic fairytale. A curse but in this one she saves herself!! A little gross!! I mean this book has everything. Magic, jinni, good witches, bad witches, unsuspecting human, a dark and dank prison, murder, a pub, a carnival, unlikely friendship, betrayal from a loved one, muder/suicide, a very cool getaway in a car, demons, escapes, love, and a very happily ever after!!! Oh don't let me forget wine!! And it is all put together beautifully!! Now i have to put in here that this book was givin to me on netgalley in return for a review. Thank u very much to the authors and net galley for the chance to read The Vine Witch. The pleasure was all mine.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought the idea of wine and witches was going to be exactly what I signed up for. It wasn't bad, but also, it was that brilliant either.
Elena is a witch cursed to be a toad. Once the curse is broken she's out seeking revenge.
The story is a bit hard to follow, the characters feel flat and the world-building could've implied more detail.

2 stars⭐⭐

⏳𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑:⏳
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬: When vine witch Elena returns from years spent under a curse to her vineyard to find it had been sold to young Jean-Paul Martel, she must figure out how to support her vineyard while also taking revenge on those who cursed her
𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Fascinating concept, plot-line itself was interesting
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: Moved slowly and was sometimes too wordy; I kept getting bored
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Mediocre characterization at first- things picked up but the second half of the novel's characterizations seemed... rushed? underdeveloped? I'm not sure...

👍𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬:👍
-Fascinating concept

👎𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬:👍
-A hint of insta-love
-Slow pacing
-Simplistic plot

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

First off, let me just say that Luanne G. Smiths writing itself is awesome. It's super readable, uses varied word choice and just sucks you in. I started this novel at two o'clock in the afternoon yesterday and finished it that night so let that be an idea of how well done it was. She also had an excellent eye for historical details. It was nice to see the author go for small things that defined the era as well as the large ones. It's a different type of magic that winds its way through the pages, but I was taken in nonetheless.

Unfortunately, I didn’t much care for the telling instead of showing aspect of the novel. Everything is spelled out so much that there isn’t a chance for the reader to try to make these discoveries for ourselves. Character development was also minimal - at least if I am uninspired by the plot I can connect with the characters if I get to see and know them through their interactions. I am told some of the characters knew each other well, and in one case had a loving relationship, but their resultant actions didn't demonstrate it very well. Elena barely develops (more on that later), and the same for Jean-Paul (or, that it comes way too early). The side characters also are very static, which reflects itself heavily on the plot. The lore and world-building is sort of there, but not quite.

Though I do thirst for a little bit more because of how things ended, I can still say that this book wraps itself up nicely. I suspect the following books will build more upon the lore, but as a single book, it wasn’t too bad. Unique and great concept, though the execution felt lacking.