I’m a big lover of fantasy novels and modern romance, but did not love this book (sorry!)—unfortunately, the writing, plot and characters were all a bit lackluster. I found myself bored throughout the story. The cat as a narrator was intriguing, and I wish it had more of that.

I also find it difficult to believe how callous the cousins are toward one another—especially
with Tannith. It’s a bizarre relationship and I don’t find any of the characters to be compelling or particularly redeeming. I wish I had better feedback!

Cute story!!

Description
Bewitched meets Practical Magic in this sparkling and quirky rom-com with an enchanted twist. When romance problems cause their powers to go berserk, a trio of witches whose family was banned from practicing magic risk getting in serious trouble with the Grand Council. Can they get their magic—and their love lives—in order before it’s too late?

“An enchanting paranormal rom-com…Fans of Practical Magic will be delighted.” —Publishers Weekly

Goodreads Hottest Romance of January

Nearly a century ago, Gwen Engel’s great-great-grandfather cast a spell with catastrophic side-effects. As a result, the Grand Council of Witches forbade his descendants from practicing witchcraft. The Council even planted anonymous snitches called Watchers in the community to report any errant spellcasting…

Yet magic may still be alive and not so well in Zenobia. Gwen and her cousins, Trudy and Milo, receive a letter from Gwen’s adopted sister, Tannith, informing them that she’s bewitched one of their partners and will run away with him at the end of the week. While Gwen frets about whether to trust her scientist boyfriend, currently out of town on a beetle-studying trip, she’s worried that local grad student Jeremy is secretly a Watcher doing his own research.

Cousin Trudy is so stressed that she accidentally enchants her cupcakes, creating havoc among her bakery customers—and in her marriage. Perhaps it’s time the family took back control and figured out how to harness their powers. How else can Gwen decide whether her growing feelings for Jeremy are real—or the result of too many of Trudy’s cupcakes?

Comedy and witchcraft make a bit of a goofy mix in this one.

So Much happening. So much.

It felt like every two pages more characters were running on stage to inject more sitcom-type wildness.

The 'Bewitched' comparison is actually pretty good - but sometimes situations/jokes need to breathe.


Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are my own.

I am really thankful for the copy and chance to read it however I had to DNF. The cat right in the beginning really creeped me out. He just sounded very lustful after his human and from there I just couldn't get into it. It didn't work for me but maybe it will for someone else.

This is a light and fun read. It’s also hilarious. I’ve read a paranormal rom coms before, and this one was very enjoyable. It does have plot holes and the characters can be a bit exaggerated, but it was a nice break for me from my normal reads. I recommend to anyone looking something fun.

Such a great atmospheric book for Fall. I'll definitely be revisiting this one in falls to come. I love anything Witchy and this one is another winner.

This was such a cute book. The characters were fun and diverse and the storyline was complex enough to keep me interested while still being easy to follow. Highly recommend this witchy fantasy!

A Letter to Three Witches starts with exactly that - mischievous witch Tannith sending a malicious letter to three of her cousins that she hopes will sow discord within her family.

Chaos ensues. Family members get turned into rabbits. Cupcakes become enchanted. A spouse of one of the cousins may or may not be under the influence of a love spell. These events probably wouldn't be quite so distressing for normal witches, except that their family line is forbidden from doing magic. If word of any of it gets out, the cousins could be in serious trouble.

I'm pretty sure I requested this ARC believing it to be a witchy rom-com. It's definitely witchy, and there were quite a few moments that made me chuckle, but this book could have done without the romance subplot and been almost entirely the same. I actually quite liked that this story was more focused on familial relationships, it reminds me a bit of Charmed and Practical Magic, but I think it was a bit mis-marketed so I don't know if it will necessarily find its right audience.

Overall, this was a fun and charming time. It seems like it might be the beginning of a series which I wasn't expecting but I'd definitely be open to checking out any further installments.

Bonus points for the delightful kitty familiar POV in which he learns via daytime talk shows that his relationship with his mistress is potentially toxic. Poor Griz.

A laugh out loud endearing read. What a fun book to dig your teeth into! The characters are zany the plot is a little crazy . I could not put this book down! This is a lovely light read and for all you witch lovers it’s the perfect combo of fun magic and romance!

I love witches! This was a quick fun read, which I have recommended to all my witchy and non witchy friends m'n

This book was a super quick and entertaining read.

I loved the characters but felt like there was something missing overall to this book. However, it's a really great pallet cleanser and I enjoyed reading it.

I didn't love the characters' actions in the book and felt like it was all a little far-fetched and exaggerated. However, I really liked the overall idea of the book, and it was perfectly witchy for halloween season!

This is an absolute breath of fresh air! I love supernatural rom-coms and this book have everything I love about the genre.

1. A Zany Backstory
Gwen (the MC) is a member of a family that was banned from practicing magic due to an unfortunate incident related to the Dust Bowl.

2. A Zany Inciting Incident
Gwen's adopted sister Tanith sends a note saying that she is bewitching the partner of a family member and moving to NYC

Of course, that means magic is back! Hilarity ensues. The plot is a bit all over the place, but I suggest you just let the book take you on a ride.

I thought this was a super sweet story. The start was strong with the “evil” cousin messing with her family but the swap in POV was a little strange. I overall enjoyed this story and liked the way that the family came together to face their faults and find out who they really are. I love a hood witch story and this was a very cute family focused story about putting faith in family and finding the power within you.

A Letter to Three Witches brought twists and turns resembling a classic Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode. This story has elements of that universe namely a talking cat and a Witches Grand Council. Witchcraft and Magic has been banned for the family of Gwen Engel for generations. This was in place due to her Great-grandfathers spellcasting. As a response to this did the council form a community of “watchers” to share their observations and cease this family from practicing magic. For Gwen and her cousins Trudy and Milo practicing magic is the ultimate goal. Can they do that if a watcher has been planted in their lives ? Is it perhaps someone they’ve always known ?If they’re caught then their future and those of their generation are destroyed. Add the sparkle of a new romance and you have Elizabeth Bess’s latest novel. I’d like to thank netgalley for an advanced readers copy and give the novel a fair three out of five stars on goodreads.

A letter to three witches is just a fun, easy read with a lot of messy problems only repressed inexperience witches would make...(really feeling that practical magic vibe there).
It has a simple premise: Cousin Tannith is moving out, so she left a letter to say goodbye in her very special way. She may have enchanted one of her cousin's partners to run away with her! (What a nice cousin, huh?)
Now, this nerve-wracking problem has made Trudy's powers go wild and they are not allowed to perform ANY TYPE OF MAGIC.

First of all, tagging this book as "Bewitched meets Practical Magic" is accurate. So, if you find that statement as compelling as I...hear me out: GO FOR IT. You are gonna enjoy this so much!
I LOVED this book!
It took me a lot of time to read it because I was reading a looooong book at the same time, but it's a fast reading experience!
I was nervous about the practical magic comparison because I love the movie but the book was not exactly my type. I decided to risk it anyway and it was worth it.
The way the story develops it's just hilarious, bad things are happening all the time but not in a heavy way so you just feel relaxed, like watching a movie rom-com. Conflict? Yeah...Feeling bad because of it? Hell no.

The pace may be a little slow in some parts, like at the beginning, because they only have the main problem of losing their partners. That's my main complaint about this one.

I really liked this and thought it was quite entertaining. The book is pretty fast paced overall, and I enjoyed everyone’s antics! It feels like light urban fantasy in general - there’s some romance certainly, but it’s not really the focus here like it is in paranormal romance or romance books. There are a few mysteries and hijinks happening throughout the book. I had a great time with this, especially the enchanted cupcakes!

The setting is an interesting, cozy small town in New York, and I liked this vibe. I thought the premise of this family not being permitted to practice magic was interesting. It feels like we get to learn about the magic along with the characters. I think the plot also leaves the door open for more exploration with magic and dealing with this council of witches that’s prohibited them from using magic (kinda unfairly). The council has these Watchers who can punish people for using magic if they’re not supposed to, and some of these punishments are harsh!

The book is told with two points of view characters. We mostly follow Gwen, but we also get the occasional perspective of Griz, a cat. Admittedly, I thought it was a bit weird at first having Griz, but I did end up liking it overall. Griz’s perspective is entertaining since he’s very full of himself (because he is a cat), and I do think this helps us know more about Tannith’s motives.

I really liked Gwen overall. She’s sweet and wants to help her cousins. Gwen runs an odds and ends business called Abracadabra (which I thought was a funny name). I thought that this showed how connected she can be to residents of this town and showed how hard she’s worked for a business of her own. I liked seeing her try to figure out what’s going on and if her family is in trouble. I feel like she learns more about her own family and herself over the course of the book, discovering that maybe she wants more out of life and wants to explore magic.

Trudy, one of Gwen’s cousins, was highly entertaining, especially when we discover what she’s been up to and why. I really rooted for her and wanted her to be happy. Milo, Gwen’s other cousin, was not my favorite of the cousins because I didn’t particularly like some of the choices he makes in his relationship with his boyfriend. I felt like we didn’t get to know him as much, but he does help out at least which is nice to see. I particularly liked Esme, Gwen’s aunt, especially when we get to learn more about her. She’s very clever and amusing, and I liked how she’s an accountant! I definitely want to follow her more (hopefully in a future book). Finally, Tannith is obviously not the nicest, but I did enjoy learning about her motivations.

Overall, I thought this was a very fun book and absolutely want to read more in this world! I’d recommend it, especially to those looking for a fun urban fantasy that has lots of hijinks.

My video review can be seen on my booktube channel (around minutes 21:44-25:30 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMXeOmpPEpc

This was so fun! I've had a bit of a dry spell as of late, so this was a nice read. I saw some bad reviews but I think the problem is some people are going into it expecting a spooky, deep read. This is a rom-com with a bit of Hocus Pocus sprinkled in and I loved it.

Not amazing but far from bad! I loved this almost mash-up of two of my favorite witchy things with a little love on the side. I liked this side of rom-com as I typically don't. It was just fantastical enough for me and just enough romance to keep me engaged.

A fun read. It's not rocket science, but it is a read that takes you for a magical ride. It's full of mischief, spells, and a cast of characters that makes the read a fun one. It's a nice read for someone looking for an escape.

This book was fun and quirky. If you are looking for something light-hearted, this will hit the spot. I did find some plot holes, but this was the type of mindless read to take your mind off things for a bit. I love witchy books that are also humorous.

Thank you so much to @netgalley for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.