I've recommended it to several students and purchased it for the library. I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

I read this book in less than a day! I was drawn in my the story from the first page. It begins with Margaret who is a healer in the 1800’s. She attempts to keep her secrets as she whips up tinctures and potions to help women within the town of Tynemouth with a myriad of troubles they found themselves in. Unfortunately, Margaret also found herself in a bit of trouble and finds that many secrets are buried.

The story also includes Augusta, who is currently unsure of her life path, currently working at a job she does not enjoy, and is in a relationship that has gotten a bit too comfortable and stale. Her excitement grows when she obtains a job where she can put her degree to work managing collections and galleries, and doing research for the Harlowe House. This is where her life melds with Margaret’s as she does research and finds out about Margaret and wonders why there isn’t more information to be found about her.

As Augusta continues to research Margaret and her secrets, she finds out that maybe there’s a link between herself and Margaret, as she unearths artifacts and information from her ancestors.

This book was filled with witchiness, magic, love, heartbreak, and finding one’s own path. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Hester Fox!

Oh man, if there's one thing Hester Fox is good at, it's making you want to pack your bags and book a getaway to a quaint New England village right this minute. The descriptions are so vivid and crisp that I could feel and see them coming through the pages. I wanted so badly to be there right alongside Augusta as she moved through this adventure!

Hester also knows how to weave an excellent, witchy tale which steeps itself in a beautiful lore that drags you in and makes you feel for the characters and their stories. Here, we have two unique and smart heroines who have found themselves fallen into something that's much bigger than them. That's one of the things that connects them through time - and that connection is a powerful, somewhat scary thing that reveals an even more harrowing story.

I don't want to give away too much here, but this book has everything you could want from a magical, mystical book: atmosphere, strong characters and enough supernatural elements to make you shiver, but be believable. Hester Fox remains the preeminent writer in the witch story genre.

This was a spooky good book! It’s a perfect book for your Halloween reading list. It has things that go bump in the night, possession and some romance to soften it up. It was probably a bit predictable but it was still an enjoyable book.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I was not sure how I was going to feel about this book as it is quite out of my normal reading genre. However, I’m in love. This was a fantastic story with great characters and setting. Written beautifully. It has a little of everything for everyone. I’ll definitely be looking for more of Hester Fox’s novels after this one!

Let's get it out of the way - I'm very likely Hester Fox's #1 fangirl. When the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Lullaby for Witches came up, I could not have said yes fast enough.

Set primarily in Tynemouth, Massachusetts in two different timeline, we follow two women. One, Margaret Harlowe, a wealthy young woman who doesn't quite fit in with society. She feels the call of the woods and has a dark power and ability to create and heal those who find themselves in 'trouble'.

The other, Augusta, another young woman who is struggling to find her place, takes a job at the Harlow House, 150 years after Margaret existed. She's bored in her life, in her relationship and this new job is exactly the jump start into the life she's always hope she would have. When she happens to find the stumble into the mystery of Margaret...it's too good to let go.

Hester knows exactly what she's doing when she writes books like this. She is a master at creating tension and atmosphere. I could smell the woods and feel the spray of the sea on my face. The last few chapters are so....action packed and exciting that I ended up staying up WAYYYYYY too late to finish the book because I could NOT put it down. I had to know what happened and I could just leave it to finish another day.

All in all, this is another hit for me from my girl, Hester.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book. Thanks to Hester Fox for being the best dark witchy writer I could have ever hoped.

I was sent a free book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

I admit this book had me from the title anything dealing with witches, vampires, or paranormal I'm all in. As I began to read I really liked the dual viewpoints.

I find reading books with dual viewpoints fun and as this story progressed I felt the author did a great job of weaving the two stories together so you saw how they entwined. The story had dark shadowy moments that lent to the feel of it being steeped in darkness. It flowed naturally for me and I felt pulled in.

The setting felt natural as we all know the history of Salem and the New England town. I enjoyed the depth of the characters and the writer did a great job telling their story.

Overall a wonderful read for me. I would definitely read more books by this

This one took me a bit to get into. The narrator switching back and forth between Margaret & Augusta was awkward and sometimes confusing. Soon my mind fell into the ebb & flow of the narrative and I was hooked. I will definitely be recommending this book to friends who enjoy historical fiction - especially regarding witchcraft, wisewomen & the northeast.

There is mystery surrounding Margaret Harlowe. A mystery that continues 150 years passed her death, a mystery that pulls Augusta Podos in so deep, she may not escape it.

Well written, and spooky.
I love alternating view chapters. And I LOVE alternating timeline chapters.
A fast read, but was left with some unanswered questions.

I haven't read Hester Fox before although I had obviously seen her books. I was intrigued by the concept of this one, and really enjoyed the way it started. I found the curatorial aspects of Augusta's job fascinating, although her personal life was a hot mess and I quickly became irritated with her and everyone around her.

Margaret's story was more interesting to me, but still waxed and waned in ways that I found uneven and that disrupted the pacing of my read. This characteristic definitely carried through with the Augusta sections of the book also. I would read furiously for a while, thoroughly engaged in the story, then find myself floundering and irritated and not really sure why the story was going in the direction it was. It made staying with the book difficult and I stopped and started it a number of times.

Overall it was fine, but not really for me. There was a little more romance and light fluffiness than I expected, and less focus on the fantasy and witchcraft angles...

I was mot expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did, but found it perfect to break away from my normal genre! Beautifully written, with amazing character development and exquisite world building! Felt like it had a bit of everything; love, magic, and much more! Will definitely keep those whom live fantasy and historical fiction reading through this exciting world! Cannot recommend enough!

<b> Thanks to Netgalley and HARLEQUIN Trade Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.</b>

Hester Fox and her witchy tales are not to be overlooked or missed. In <i>The Lullaby of Witches</i>, she gives her readers two strong willed protagonists- Margaret and Augusta. Augusta is living with a boyfriend that she is struggling to maintain a relationship with but finds herself with an interesting new job. Exploring the mysterious Margaret and her connection to the historical house where Augusta works. But what Augusta does not realize is that Margaret is an unsettled spirit and she has her eyes on Augusta.
Although not on bookstore shelves until February, I was eager to get reading my ARC as soon as I could. Once you open a Hester Fox novel, you cannot help but feel that the spirit world is all around. That’s certainly the atmosphere that I find time and time again and I cannot wait until the next read!

Publication Date 01/02/22
Goodreads review published 08/01/22

This book was simply excellent! I'm so happy I got to read a copy through NetGalley- this story was exactly what I needed. It had romance, a gorgeous storytelling style, magic, and historical fiction woven into an adventurous tale. Definitely a must-read for someone who likes all those things, especially all together!!

This novel has a tale of two women from different timelines one present-day one in the 1870s. Margaret Harlowe is the daughter of a wealthy family who secretly uses magic to service the women in the town when they need help. Then the same women snub her when they see her in town, She is an outcast in her town. The other woman is Augusta Podos is unhappy in her life when she comes across her dream job to work in the Harlowe House which is a museum in the present-day timeline. This is where the stories start to connect and we get to know these women better and learn more about the town. Some great mysteries are discovered in this book and it is definitely hard to put down.

Told in dual timelines with Augusta in the current time period, and Margaret in the late 1800s, A Lullaby for Witches uses a loose genetic connection to explain what happened to the daughter of Harlowe House. I love a good ghost story, but this one didn’t keep me thrilled on the edge of my seat (I leave that to Simone St. James’ books). Other reviewers have referred to this as a cozy, and I’d have to agree. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it! Because I absolutely did! I love that Augusta found her confidence and inner strength and went after what she wanted. It didn’t happen over night, so it was all the more satisfying when she asserted herself. And Leo was an absolute delight (as was his mother, Ellen). But I hope that Hester Fox can bring a touch more of the creeps/chills into her next book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"Something sinister unfurls from its sleep, a dark power that binds one woman to the other across lines of blood and time."

Hints of creepy and sinister, right? It has the layout for a great gothic story but disappointingly didn't come to fruition and felt more of a quick YA romance cosy. Not much depth to the story and characters. I liked debut book The Witch of Willow Hall but this one missed its mark.

2.25☆

In the 1870s Tynemouth, Margaret Harlowe is the beautiful and carefree daughter of a wealthy shipping family. She never quite fit in with the high society she was born into, and from a young age, knew there was something different about herself. Margaret was always aware of the power bubbling under her skin and would use her knowledge of herbs to help the women of her small town, providing everything from spells to tinctures. Despite townspeople calling her a witch and steering clear, Margaret longed for love and companionship and thought she found it in a local shopkeeper. But soon their affair turns sour, and Margaret can’t help the power inside her as it begins to twist and turn into something darker.

In the present day, Augusta Podos finds herself in desperate need of a change. When the opportunity arises to work at Harlowe House, a small museum that was once the home to a wealthy New England family, Augusta jumps at the chance. She can’t wait to put her degree to work cataloging the contents of the museum and immediately begins combing the archives. While going through historical records, Augusta stumbles upon mention of a Harlow daughter who seems to have been completely eradicated from history. Intrigued, Augusta can’t help but investigate, but it doesn’t take long before she realizes she may have gotten more than she bargained for. As the past and present start to collide, Augusta discovers a dark power linking the two women together, and if she can’t resist its sinister pull, then everything she knows could be lost forever.

I’ve been taken with Fox’s writing style ever since her debut, and this quickly became one of my favorites. I thought the story flowed super well despite the dual timeline/POVs. Typically, when we’re following two different characters, I always tend to favor one over the other, but I liked both Margaret and Augusta equally. Both were so interesting, and I loved seeing how they were intertwined. The way they were connected was predictable, but I still liked it. As always, Fox weaves in magical elements beautifully, and though I found some bits a little too far-fetched and the conflict resolution too easy, I thought it was highly entertaining. If you enjoy historical fictions that have a dash of mystery, fantasy, and romance elements or are looking for something with a darker atmosphere, I can’t recommend her books enough.

The setting is Boston, a favorite for witchcraft. Protagonists bound by genetics to solve a mystery that is centuries old. Intriguing and well written, this story kept me engrossed until the end.
Highly recommend for anyone likes a little history with their witchcraft.

A Lullaby for Witches did not work for me at all. It started out okay, but the end was a mess, with many threads that didn’t make sense. I’ve read similar books about a woman from the past haunting a woman from the present with a good-looking guy thrown in for good measure, and this was not a sterling example.

Main character Augusta has an eating disorder that seems to exist mainly so Margaret, the ghost from the past, can lament how Augusta doesn’t take full advantage of being alive. It wasn’t dealt with in any kind of a satisfactory way for me. For much of the book I was puzzling over how <spoiler>someone could be related to someone else when a certain character had never had a child.</spoiler> Behavior in the past and the present was not consistent and not always believable. Certain things just didn’t make any sense to me. (Why isn’t there any historical record of Margaret?) Augusta seems to know more things about Margaret than she should.

The Salem Witch trials happened well before the events set in the past and yet they shadow the narrative. Acceptance of magic and ghosts as real came a little too easily; everyone who finds out about Augusta’s weird connection/communication with a ghost seems okay with it. Not sure if we are supposed to think everyone from Massachusetts believes in witches? (Although the boyfriend’s mother lives in Maine, but she’s also a “hippie” who smokes a lot of pot.)

Overall the book felt very YA, with lines like “Sliding into the passenger seat beside him was like coming home,” (chapter 28) and the romance is very close to insta-love. Are we supposed to be impressed by Augusta’s sudden transformation into a Strong Woman? I wasn’t.

This book could have used another round or two with beta readers and the editor. This is my second book by the author and I’m thinking she is really not an author for me.

I read an advance reader copy of A Lullaby for Witches from Netgalley.

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Implied Eating Disorder

This story is told between two perspectives: Augusta – in present day and Margaret – who lives in 18th century, Massachusettes. I did like the dual story perspective as it eventually culminated later in the story to when Augusta and Margaret merge.

I found Augusta’s job fascinating as a curator of Harlowe House, a historic home in Tynemouth, Massachusettes. She goes on a quest to find out about a girl, Margaret, who seems to be lacking any record of living in Harlowe House. I did like the mystery and learning about Margaret. Augusta is dealing with some issues like with her boyfriend, the lack of knowledge of her father and what looks like an eating disorder. As a character, I didn’t feel like I connected to Augusta very much although I liked her passion for her work.

Margaret is labeled a witch because people in the community come to her for help. She meets a local boy in town and has a wild affair with him but he has a secret that breaks her heart. There are other secrets to uncover about Margaret but I thought it was interesting how she is tied to the Salem Witches.

The romance was okay, I wasn’t that invested in it. Now the paranormal aspect of the story was interesting. Margaret’s ghost has an ulterior motive for trying to contact Augusta and it did keep me reading the story even though I lacked connection to the characters. Also I wanted more witchcraft, not just the mention of spells found in a book.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Why you should read it:

*historical/contemporary paranormal story – a little bit of everything
*Margaret’s history was compelling

Why you might not want to read it:

*romance fell flat- even though this isn’t a romance novel, there is some romance, but it was okay
*lack connection to the characters
*I wanted more witchcraft

My Thoughts:

This was an interesting read and not what I expected. I found Margaret’s story very fascinating but Augusta’s was just flat, including her romance story. For a story about witches, it didn’t have that much witchcraft in the story at all, but I did enjoy the historical fiction parts of the story. This one was just an okay read for me.