Payback's a Witch is a perfect read for those who enjoy magical worlds. The tournament among the founding families of Thistle Grove reminded me a bit of the Triwizard tournament at Hogwarts, and I loved it! Lana Harper's three main characters are strong women who work together to achieve their goal. The best part of the novel for me was the positive LGBTQ writing. Such a strong positive book--I look forward to From Bad to Cursed!

Cute, quick read which resembled Charmed. I thought the plot was a bit dull and was more invested in the characters than the actual outcome of the tournament. It’s predictable, adorable and light. A lighter read with witchy vibes.

This book was unputdownable; it’s the perfect paranormal, romantic comedy, fall read I was hoping it would be. I thoroughly enjoyed it the whole way through! Lana Harper does an incredible job of bringing Thistle Grove - and all of the characters - to life. I absolutely love how smooth and descriptive the story was - It was as if I was watching a movie in my mind as I read. The author immerses you in the story by using all five senses in her writing - which I think allows this book to read in such a unique and enjoyable way. I really can’t wait to read the sequel ‘from bad to cursed’ and revisit this world and the characters again!

Just in case anyone was wondering, I won’t be available for the rest of the month because I’ll be busy doing witchy shit in Thistle Grove.

This book was so good! It was really funny and the story kept me guessing the whole time. I had no idea what was going to come next.

This book is told from Emmy’s POV and it’s about so much more than just the romance between her and Talia, it puts a big focus on friendships and family relationships as well as Emmy figuring out what she wants in life.

This book was like watching a movie. The descriptions and details were so vivid that I felt like I was right there watching it all unfold and the last 100 pages or so literally had me on the edge of my seat!

I totally recommend this book of you need a last minute spooky season read!

I received an eARC of this book from Berkley and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I also bought a physical copy for myself.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Lana Harper for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I absolutely LOVED this book and it's the perfect witchy romance for Halloween!

This book is about Emmy, a witch who moved away from her hometown of Thistle Grove, causing her to lose much of her magical abilities. This move had quite a bit to do with Gareth, her past love interest, who has caused much trouble in the town while she was gone. We get to see her reunite with her best friend and Talia, an old acquaintance, as they plan to get revenge on Gareth.

This revenge has to do with a spellcasting tournament between the three most powerful families in town. While presiding over this, Emmy realizes what she missed about Thistle Grove and begins growing into her powers and falling for Talia. I loved the setting; Thistle Grove is truly the perfect spooky town that I wish I could visit. I also loved the slow-burn romance between Emmy and Talia. The romance felt very real and the two characters had great chemistry.

I highly recommend this one, especially for Fall! 5/5 stars for this witchy read that deserves so much more hype.

A delightful f/f fantasy Halloween-y book set in a witch town with John Tucker Must Die vibes. Three spurned witches, a set of magical obstacles and a magic town make for a very fun read!

This book was very disappointing as a Romance. It was more about magic than love, with a relationship that was not central to the plot. A big no-no in the Romance world.

I covered this book on my podcast Learning The Tropes. So for a more in-depth review, see the link below.

This book is a perfect escape into witchy romance. And, it's funny too! I immediately connected with the characters, and I was invested in the competition. It's a perfect October read.

Man, I wanted to love this one more than I did. Witches, LGBTIQA+ rep, and some John Tucker Must Die vibes - on paper it was everything I wanted in a book. Unfortunately, I found the romance to be a little too insta-love skewing for my tastes. I was waiting for the build up but Talia and Emmy's relationship just kinda happened quickly. Another aspect I was excited for was the tournament - I was expecting higher stakes and more excitement but it was just ... predictable. I also wanted a bit more drama from the Gareth plot. The book wasn't bad, it just didn't quite live up to the potential it had.

An epic, witchy competition between the four founding families brings Emmy back home after years spent away trying to establish a new life for herself. There is so much to love about Payback’s a Witch!

Throughout the story we see Emmy struggle with her place in the town, wanting to get back to her life in Chicago, and figuring out how to uphold her family legacy. When Talia enters the picture, things become even more difficult. Talia is one of the three champions of the founding families and is, without a doubt, my favorite character in the book. She is an absolute badass! Sparks start to fly between Emmy and Talia and, with the help of Emmy’s childhood friend Lin, they develop a plan to end the Blackmoore’s winning streak.

One of my favorite parts of the story was the setting. I mean, who wouldn’t want to visit/live in a town steeped in magic?! All of the little details, like the lake, the haunted woods, and the singing flowers created a dreamlike ambiance. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Emmy and Talia. They challenged each other, supported one another, and the steamy scenes were worth waiting out the slow-burn.

The only thing I didn’t love about the book was the pacing. There were several sections where it felt like it dragged. The competition pieces were exciting, but I wanted to see more. The second half of the book was much more engaging than the first, but it felt like it took so long to get there. Once it picked up, I was hooked.

I felt quite content with how everything wrapped up, and there were a few little surprises in there I wasn’t quite expecting! If you’re looking for a story with badass female MCs, strong friendships, magic, romance, I’d bump this one up your tbr!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital ARC of Payback's a Witch!

This is both a sapphic romance and has vengeful witches in a magic competition. I mean, what more could you want for spooky season.

A cute F/F rom-com set in a small witchy town called Thistle Grove. Mix in a magical competition and a revenge plot and you have a pretty entertaining story even with the moments of cheesiness. Recommended. Perfect for this fall cozy up season.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book.

Super into queer romances right now and it's a bonus that this one is seasonally appropriate. The plot was a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the characters overall.

This book was so much fun! A queer <i>John Tucker Must Die</i> with witches was truly the spooky season read I never knew I needed. I loved the relationship between Emmy/Talia and also the friendship between Emmy/Linden. At times, I thought it got a bit too bogged down in the mechanics of the tournament, but otherwise I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend.

While I wasn’t in love with this title, I can see why many others are. I would suggested this to anyone looking for a great revenge story or something with a fun Halloween vibe.

PAYBACK’S A WITCH is hilarious, whimsical, and tightly written. Immediately enchanted by Thistle Grove and Emmy’s world (and not to mention Talia, the sexy tundra wolf-esque love interest), it was impossibly to put this one down. A perfect autumnal read.

This was such a fun romance for the Halloween season! The characters were well-written and the romance was a nice slow burn. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Emmy Harlow has returned to her magical hometown of Thistle Grove after a nine-year, self-imposed exile. When Emmy left just after high school, she thought she would never return. As a part of one of the founding witch families of the town, Emmy felt confined by her family name, and a bad breakup in high school left her needing to forge a different path. But now her family has called her home for a once-every-50-years Thistle Grove tradition: a magical competition among the town’s four founding witch families to win the role of leadership and dominance. As the designated scion of the Harlow line, Emmy feels a responsibility to her family to come home and take on her responsibility as arbiter of the event.

The witches of Thistle Grove must remain connected to the town in order to keep their magic, so Emmy lost hers years ago. But when she returns home, Emmy feels that power come flooding back. She never thought she would miss the town, but reconnecting with her friends and family and magic reminds her how much she feels a bond to Thistle Grove and the people who live there. It also gives her a chance to run into Talia Avramov, a gorgeous witch from one of the other founding families. Emmy has long been drawn to Talia, but never thought she had a chance with her. But as they spend time together, it seems clear Talia is interested and the women begin to explore the relationship.

Emmy also learns that the very same guy who broke her heart years ago, Gareth Blackmoore, was also recently caught cheating on Emmy’s friend, Linden, and on Talia. Given that Gareth is competing for his family in the magical tournament, the women can’t help but wonder if there is a way to take him down a peg. The Blackmoores win almost every tournament, giving them power over the other families. They would love to turn the tables, particularly after how badly Gareth treated Emmy, Linden, and Talia. As arbiter, there are rules Emmy can’t and won’t break, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some room for creativity. As the women prepare to battle it out in the tournament, Emmy and Talia’s bond grows as well. But with Emmy planning to return to Chicago when the tournament is over, there may not be any chance for a future between her and Talia.

Payback’s a Witch is a lot of fun and drew me in right away. Emmy has a great voice as the POV character, with a humorous take on the town and its citizens. It sets the tone of the book right from the start — light, snarky, clever, and with enough seriousness to give weight to the story.

The world building is a lot of fun here, with the founding families competing in this every 50 year magical tournament for dominance. Harper does a great job developing these four witch families, giving them each some distinguishing traits that play out in their personalities and their magic. Talia’s family, for example, has a darker magic and they are skilled at speaking to the dead and connecting to the spirits, while Emmy’s family are the scholars and scribes. It is cleverly done, as it helps to distinguish the characters and their families and give readers an immediate sense of them. I loved the magical tournament and following along with the challenges was one of my favorite parts of the book. I would say the story gave me Harry Potter Tri-Wizard tournament vibes, plus a dash of the Mystic Falls founding families from Vampire Diaries. Not that I felt this story was derivative, but it had a lot of that same energy. I also really enjoyed learning more about Emmy’s magic (and following along as she learned more about it herself). So overall, lots of clever world building here and I really think the way Harper sets up these families and their unique styles works well for the story.

The conflicts here are two-fold, though they intertwine. First, we have the tournament and the women’s desire to see the Blackmoore’s winning streak ended, in part to get back at Gareth. And second, the question of what will happen with Emmy and Talia’s budding relationship when it is all over and she returns to Chicago. Emmy left nine years ago after Gareth broke her heart the summer before her senior year in high school. He made it clear that he didn’t want to pursue something long-term with a Harlow, as they have much less magic than the Blackmoores. It made Emmy want to break free of her town and her family name and rediscover herself. But it also meant she left Thistle Grove after graduating high school, never to return for nine years, or to even see her family in all that time. She still harbors anger at Gareth and that is only refueled upon returning home, especially after learning he hurt Linden, as well as Talia, with his cheating. So Gareth is the clear enemy here, as well as the Blackmoore family as a whole, given they have the most power and magical influence in town.

I will admit, I do love the idea of these thwarted women working to get payback for the wrongs inflicted. And I love even more that as two of Gareth’s exes, Emmy and Talia end up together instead. There is kind of a delicious element to the fact that they find their happiness together after he hurt both of them. But I also had some issues I couldn’t totally put aside. First, I struggled with the fact that so much of Emmy’s life felt in reaction to Gareth. These women are all portrayed as strong and independent and forces to be reckoned with. Yet Emmy changed the course of her entire life, leaving the town that she loved, her family and friends, and losing her magic, all triggered because a guy dumped her the summer after 11th grade. She didn’t return for nine years (and honestly hadn’t planned to ever return) and never even saw her parents, who she loves and cares about, as she was trying to create distance from her old life. I’ll admit, it made me sad to see that so much of her life has been forged in reaction to a man, particularly given that they were just teenagers at the time. Yes, he was a jerk, but it felt like it gave Gareth so much power over her life, rather than Emmy having her own agency. The story does nod to the fact that Emmy felt other constraints due to her family’s reputation and history with the town, but really, the only thing that we hear about in any detail is the heartbreak from Gareth.

The women then turn around and try to ruin Gareth’s chances of winning the competition, partly because they hate him, and partly to take down his family. We learn that the winning family ends up with magical power and influence that helps them succeed, and that the Blackmoore’s businesses are thriving, while the other families are struggling. So the women justify their actions of trying to sabotage Gareth as evening the scales among the families. So instead of each trying to win on their own, they team up to basically stop him from winning. Part of the problem was it was never clear to me if winning the tournament in the past actually gave the Blackmoore’s an unfair advantage. It was also not clear that the Blackmoores were actually doing anything to intentionally harm these other families or businesses. I think if that had been more directly laid out, it would have felt less problematic. As it was, I actually felt bad for Gareth at at times watching them all work to sabotage him at this important event that had nothing to do with the personal relationships they had with him. So again, for these strong and powerful women, I struggled that so much was focused around this man. It just felt like he had too much emotional power and I wanted to see these women thrive on their own, not in reaction to Gareth.

Those issues aside, I really enjoyed this one. The world building was great, the characters engaging, and the tone just really sparked. I really liked Emmy as the POV character and she has a great narrative voice that works well for the story. We meet some great characters and learn a lot about this unusual town. I was really excited to learn that this is a series, and I definitely am looking forward to see what is next for Thistle Grove. If you enjoy magical worlds, strong female characters, and a bit of retribution for past wrongs, this one is worth your time.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group & #NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy of Payback’s a Witch in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 ⭐️

Witch Emmy Harlow fled her home Thistlegrove after high school heartbreak, to forge her own path in Chicago. When she temporarily returns to act as arbiter in a traditional magic gauntlet - she rediscovers herself, her love for her hometown, and toils over whether the life she made without magic all on her own in Chicago would ever be enough.

This book is Halloweentown meets John Tucker Must Die, turned sapphic love story. It was a really fun and lighthearted read - great for those looking to get in the Autumnal / Halloween spirit. I loved the message that defining one’s self on your own terms does not mean you need to reject the people and places that shaped you.

Oh my gosh my little gay heart is just a flutter! I loved this! The challenge, the plot, the setting it was all just so perfect. I love witchy books and I love lesbian books so witchy lesbian books always steal my heart and this one was no different. I actually read this book twice because I loved it so much. Do yourself a favor and read it. Its perfect for the Halloween season but its good anytime of year.