The only thing I would like do is this app to be a refund or a refund refund or not even if it is still a little more than I have the book and I absolutely adore the new version and

I read this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let me just say, the book was absolutely FANTASTIC. I love a strong female lead and was she ever! This book also has some spice an enemies to lovers, one of my favorites.

This spicy, inventive tale about revenge, family and perspective was deeply enchanting!

I *loved* this standalone novel, the characters and the world building! I was able to visualize Garcia’s setting with ease and was enthralled by the character arcs.
Although Victoria, the main character, is not a human, it was so refreshing to read her human-esque, complex, anti-herione, layers unfurl with dark magic undertones. This was my first book by the author and I will certainly be looking into her other works. A tapestry of deception to clarity, betrayal, plot, morally gray povs and many of my favorite tropes, I am so grateful to have read this book.

As the description read, I felt like this was a perfect recommendation for fans of Bridge Kingdom and Scarlett St. Clair. Five Stars!

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book serves up a dark, magic filled villain origin story with Victoria Amberwood. She’s on a mission for revenge against a witch hunter that killed her sister. She’s also fighting the pull of dark magic that she’s been using to try and protect her family… along her journey she meets the son of the hunter she’s chasing and let’s just say things get difficult. Will the dark magic and revenge take over or can the forces of good (& maybe love) win out? While this one took me a bit to get into and the ending felt a bit rushed I still really enjoyed the main character and the story.

Fav Quote:
“If they wanted darkness, I’d shroud them in it until they choked.”

Holy Moly! Rebecca has one hell of a way with words like reading this book made me feel as if I was rereading the Fate of Crowns series but with a twist. I LOVE that! And I must say the steaminess from this book is WAY lower than the first one. So if you are not totally into reading the STEAM then this book could be for you. Victoria is a badass, a queen, a villain... And she is so powerful and damn strong like what she and her family go through is crazy! The same goes for Elijah and his brother. What Elijah's father does to him and his brother is horrible and to make matters worse the father believed he was doing it for their good. Like beating someone to the point where they will have scars of what you did to them cannot be for their own good. Now lest talk about the MAGIC! The way Rebecca describes Victoria's power is so good. I felt like I wanted that power too but also don't want it to cause if you've read the book you know what I mean...

Thank You, Rebecca and Netgalley for the eARC!!!

I read this thing in the day over the weekend. I flew through it! It has all the great tropes: enemies to lovers, morally gray protagonists, witch/witch hunter

The tension and banter between Victoria and Elijah were great & I couldn’t put it down!

This was simply amazing ❤
I think I've been with this author from her very first book and she just keeps getting better with every book she writes and always leaves me needing more
This book was so amazing I loved everything about it

Darkness recognizes darkness

Heart of a witch is the second part in the Embraced by Darkess series, which will contain several standalones. I really loved Spellbound, the first book in this collection. But will I love this book just as much?

For me the answer to this question is a no unfortunatly. I do love the enemies-to-lovers trope Rebecca L. Garcia has magaged to create. However in this book I felt less connected to the main characters Victoria and Elijah. In this book it is all about revenge, hate and biases.

Witches are evil demons that must be killed, that is all Elijah learns from his dad. But he doesn’t buy it. Not all witches are evil right? Victoria is a witch hiding her identity to destroy the Shaw family for what they did to her sister. But will she succeed?

This book has a lot of action, plottwists and a building romance. Even though I found it hard to relate to both Victoria as Elijah, I enjoyed reading this story. Rebecca L. Garcia has a nice writing style and a slow pace. This book is really nice, and all theme’s are worked out really well. Therefore I give 3,5 stars to this book.

Heart of A Witch starts with Victoria, a witch in hiding within the human kingdoms. Her family was safe until Damian Shaw, the witch hunter came into town.
When her sister was killed, Victoria and her family have to leave town and she vowed to take revenge for her sister to the witch hunter.
After seeing the hunter's family, Victoria has her own goal, make his son, Elijah fall in love with her, twist him to fight against his father and kill Damian.
But, with wooing the Elijah is not as easy as it seem when her own heart was caught in the game. In a twist of fate, Elijah might just end up being the death of me

This book is a simple and easy to read. How witches uses their magic is easy to understand. The plot is well crafted with a morally grey main character as one of the narrator is a nice touch to the story. The pacing was a bit slow the first part of the story, but it'll eventually pick up near the ending.
I love the strong family relationship in Victoria's family while plotting a revenge for the one who murdered their sister.

I actually like Victoria's character whose honest and determined. I admire her love for her family that she's willing to do anything for them. Her revenge blinded her from seeing things clearly that leads her to make wrong choices, even though she has a good heart.
I didn't like Elijah at first especially when he put up the arrogant act for his father. But I found him to be slightly likeable when he started opening up to Victoria and stand up for him and his brother to his crazy father.

Despite it all being good, some things in this story left me wanting more.
First, I find myself didn't root for Victoria and Elijah's relationship because mainly it lacks of chemistry. Their hot and cold interactions is unlike the usual enemies-to-lovers kind of banter which slightly annoyed me several times.
Secondly, the ending also felt too rushed. All the planning from the first half part of the books just came out short in the last few chapters and things got resolved too fast and easy.

To be honest, I'm more interested about Alex and Corbin relationship. I really enjoy their interactions even though there are not many of them. I would love to read a spin off of their story.

Overall, this is pretty good. I was still able to enjoy reading this book, it was an easy and quick read for me since I finish this in one day.
The plot keeps me interested despite me getting annoyed with the banters between the main characters.

If you're looking for a dark fantasy romance between a witch and a witch hunter with morally grey characters then you'll need to check this one out.

Actual rating: 3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Rebecca L. Garcia and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!


Notes: will post it to instagram on December 14th

Heart of a Witch is the second novel in the Embracing Darkness collection. Each novel in the series takes place in the same world, so the novels can be read together or as a standalone and you can read them in any order. This story begins with Elijah witnessing a witch trial held by his father, Damian, a famous priest and witch hunter. As Elijah is a Shaw, he is expected to fall in line with the belief that witches are evil and deserve to die. It was a great prologue that introduces the tension between humans and witches as in this part of the universe, witches have to hide who they are or risk being extinguished by the hunters. On the witch side of the story, there is Victoria Amberwood, whose sister, Emberly, sets off the plot when she is noticed by the witch hunter. This puts the Amberwood family back on the hunter’s radar and Victoria formulates a plan to eliminate the hunter, including making Elijah fall for her so she can get closer to the father.

While both characters are morally grey, they both care greatly about their families. Victoria loves her brother, Caspian, and sister, Alex, along, of course, with Emberly, and their mother. On the other side is Elijah whose love for his brother, Corbin, is amazing yet complex. His relationship with his father is not straightforward which gives him a lot of inner turmoil. As the story is a duel-narration between Elijah and Victoria, the reader has a chance to see both sides of the story. There are a lot of backstories, motivations, and inner thoughts to explore for the characters themselves and the worlds of humans versus witches. As this is an enemies-to-lovers story, the chemistry and tension between the two characters shines on each page.

Elijah did take me a little longer to care about compared to Victoria, who I liked right away, but Elijah grew on me a lot and I was captivated by his character by the end. There is a lot of banter and witty exchanges between the two characters and I love the two of them getting to know the other. While Elijah and Victoria come from different worlds, they share many similarities with their complicated pasts and their wish to do what’s right. Each has both darkness and light within them, which mean each struggle with which one to listen to and pursue in a situation. As the story begins with a wish for vengeance, Victoria finds herself at a crossroads when Elijah turns out to be more than she thought. There is also Elijah who believes Victoria has one intention instead of her hidden one, which means that each character has to navigate these secrets in order to find a way to survive as a potential couple.

Overall, I loved this darker tale and it was a fantastic addition to the Embracing Darkness series. Rebecca’s writing works really well for my reading style. The writing is not as fluid right at the start compared to Spellbound for me, but it still worked well and I would easily re-read this story. The structure of the story made the novel a quick read as there was just enough detail without a reader feeling bogged down on multiple tangents or elements. I am thrilled that I was given an opportunity to read this novel and I would easily read more in the future! Thank you to Rebecca Garcia and her team for the chance to read this ARC!

Thank you to Net galley and the author for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed reading Heart of a Witch, the main character Victoria was complex and throughout the story you really feel her grief and the emptyness her sisters death left in her life. The way she develops through out the book and the relationship she gains with her family was an unexpected bonus from what I was expecting on reading the blurb.

I also like the 2 person narrative within the story. Being able to see both character perspective helped made Elijah more likable.

Although at times the pace of the book felt a little off and under developed. The main romance scene felt thrown in, with very little build up. Certain plot points that would of been nice to spend some more time where brushed past and resolved in a sentence. The story felt like it was resolved to quickly, and felt a bit to much like a fairytale ending. Whether this because the author had a set word limit or didn't want to leave any lose ends it at times took me out of the book with the speed at what problems where resolved.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It did feel like a complete story but if there was a sequel I would read it. The world that the author has created is a place that I would like to spend more time with. Especially reading about the differences between Salvius where this book is set and Istinia a country of witches.

If you love an enemies to lover with a witchy twist then this is a book you must read. Victoria is a witch who will do anything too keep her family save. When a witch hunter kills Victoria’s sister, there is only one thing she sees and that’s revenge. But Victoria never thought she would fall for the witch hunter’s son. Victoria & Elijah are a couple you will never forget. I was completely hooked from page one. Another phenomenal read by Rebecca that everyone must read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the opportunity to read this ARC. This honest review was based off my experience reading an ARC, which in no way biased me.

Do you like witches? Dark magic? A revenge plot? Some enemies to lovers action? A witch falling for a witch hunter’s son? If so read this book. I had a blast reading this. There were moments that made me go absolutely feral over them. And I’m not going to lie, there were a few scenes that made my eyes water. (What can I say I love a good witch/witch Hunter trope.)

Victoria comes up with this genius plan to get revenge on the man who murdered her sister. Honestly, I originally had thought it was a murder mystery but I liked how this book had a villain and the journey was getting revenge. Elijah has a heart of gold. He doesn’t want to be a hunter like his father wants/is forcing him to be.

TW: for past child abuse (physical, a father beats his son) death of a family member.

From what I understand this is meant as a standalone and that’s the only thing that is upsetting. I wish I could have gotten more. I might look into the previous standalone in this universe. This is my first book written by this author, but it’s definitely not going to be the last.

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc!

I love a good revenge story that shows how the MC is formed into a villainous character. In that aspect, I feel like this book is perfect for readers looking for this type of story. Also, the fact that it's a family that practices witchcraft running from the Witch hunters with a little romance mixed in makes it a really fun read.

However, there were some quirks to the writing style that bothered me a bit. Just certain descriptions that seemed off and I also felt like the dialogue was a little choppy which created a distance between myself and the story.

I definitely think this is worth a read and recommend it for anyone who loves a good villain origin story!

A lovely twisted combination between revenge and love all wrapped up in a witchy background. I loved the book. Worth a read.

Thank you to the author, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Netgalley for sending me this eARC in return for an honest review.

I was very excited to get my hands on this book, as the synopsis pulled me in! I did find the writing itself a little awkward to read, as there are slight spelling and grammatical errors, but overall it did not detract from the overall storyline. The beginning half was a little slow, and made it a little hard to get into, but once I powered through I quite enjoyed the plot! Overall, I will definitely look into this author and their future works!

The corners of my lips lifted into a sadistic smile, baring my teeth. “Oh, no. There are good and bad witches, just like there are good and bad humans. I’m not good. I’m not my sister, and thank the gods for it.” I closed the distance between us, placed my hand on his chest before he could fight me off, and sent a shockwave through his body, forcing him to his knees. “If I were, I wouldn’t do this.” I placed my fingers against his temples, feeling his blood pump under my fingertips. Closing my eyes, it bent to the magic in my veins. The demons around me charged the energy, so every spell was as easy as taking my next breath…

________________________________

Victoria Amberwood is a witch. The eldest of 3 girls with an older brother, they live with their mother on their late father’s estate in a quiet town amongst other witches and humans who don’t suspect their existence. That is until witch hunter Damian Shaw comes to town. Victoria, who has been dabbling in dark magic to keep her family protected and shielded from detection, watches as her worst fears come true before her very eyes as her sister Ember is publicly executed in front of their friends and neighbors as they cheer on her demise.

Leaving her home, belongings, and entire life behind and fleeing with her mother, brother Cas, and remaining younger sister Alex, Victoria, deeply burdened by pain, makes the choice to travel to the hunter’s hometown and find a way to enact revenge on him for taking away everything she loved.

Once there she has a chance meeting with the hunter’s oldest son Elijah who is destined to carry on his father’s legacy but desperate to forge his own way in the world. Deciding he will be the key to his father’s undoing, Victoria plans to befriend and seduce Elijah. However the more time they spend together the more she comes to care for him and his younger brother Corbin. And the more she comes to care for them the more she learns that she is not alone in her grief and pain, and that witches’ lives are not the only ones the hunter has been destroying.

The deeper Victoria dives into dark magic the more she begins to lose her grip on reality and sanity, and the more she falls for Elijah the closer she gets to finally achieving her goal: killing his father and ending his reign of terror on witches once and for all.

This book was an incredible read. It is as much a dark fantasy as it is a masterclass in grief. It was layered in such a way that you may have figured out the plot points, but there were twists in how they came to be that it made it hard for the story to be entirely predictable.

Victoria was a deep, engaging villain. Bent on getting revenge, you follow her point of view into every fiery rage, down every spiral, into each new layer of darkness, and out of the depths of her brokenness back into revenge all over again. However through all of this she is not a cold, heartless, or bitter character. There were moments as she dealt with the magnitude of what she planned to do that were so beautifully written you could feel the pain and desperation and resolve as if it could have been your own. You find yourself rooting for her but also nervous for what she will do in the end, especially as her relationship with Elijah progresses.

Elijah’s character was a pleasant surprise for me. His unhealthy relationship with his father kicked off the book 6 years before Victoria’s tale picks up and set the entire tone for how you see Damian Shaw as a hunter and as a father. Elijah’s devotion to his younger brother is endearing but it is when Victoria lets some of her true colors shine through that you see him come into his own and become a strong male leader instead of a boy allowing his father to push him into an unwanted future for the sake of his brother’s wellbeing.

The chemistry between Victoria and Elijah jumps off the page. It starts out somewhat awkward because you are in Victoria’s head seeing it only through the filter of “the plan”, but as she allows him to see more of her true personality the sparks really start to fly. The slow burn and spice between them is SO satisfying!! But the quieter moments when they exchange their experiences with loss and the heaviness of life are really where they become believable as a couple. But is it enough in the end? You’ll just have to read and find out.

The dynamic between the 3 siblings (Victoria, Cas, and Alex) was entertaining on what reminded me of a Bridgerton sibling level and also devastating as you watch them navigate losing a central part of their unit in their sister, Ember. Elijah’s brother Corbin stole the show for me as well and I would 100% read a book from his POV just so I could watch him thrive, find happiness, and change the world around him for the better.

I have never read a book from this author before and am usually not a standalone person, but I absolutely adored this book and would read it again in a heartbeat!!

Thank you SO much to NetGalley and Victory Editing for sending me this book free in exchange for my honest review. It was a pleasure writing this and I cannot wait to get a physical copy of this book in my hands and on my shelf!!

I really loved parts of this book, but the story as a whole sadly just didn't jive with me.
I love a good witchy, romantic read with a villainous main character, but the relationship between Victoria and Elijah was just disappointing and lacking.

So, Victoria is portrayed as this morally-grey witch, dark in all her witchy ways and to be honest, that's why I wanted to read this book, but she just didn't live up to that hype for me. She continually lost her edge with the hot and cold, back and forth dance she kept playing to string Elijah along for her own vengeance. It truly made me lose interest. Which is completely a bummer because the familial relationships were much more enjoyable. When the two main characters driving the plot fall flat though...eh.

While I am bummed this book missed the mark for me, I will check out the other book(s) in the series.


Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the e-ARC to read and review honestly.

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with a a copy of an e-arc of this novel

I loved it .From the writing style,plot and a strong female main character.it is very refreshing coming across a heroine that is not a doormat .Bit of a slowburn. Wish there was a tiny bit more of a romance scenes. Overall, great read and would recommend.

thank you netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with an e-arc of this novel :)

“When my sister shows up dead, and my family’s name is called into question, we’re forced to adopt new aliases and leave the home we cherished. As I watch my life fall apart, I vow to destroy the hunter responsible, but his punishment would not be swift. Death was too easy.” - Rebecca L. Garcia

This book is exactly what I wanted “Serpent and Dove” to be back when that novel came out. I feel like I’ve been craving a good with story since then and this is the first novel to live up to my hopes. I’m sad that it’s only a standalone because I would love to continue exploring this world and following along with Victoria’s story.

I’ve read a lot of books recently with interesting magic systems and this is another one of them. It’s different from what I usually see and the cost of dark magic in this book is quite high. Watching the effects of it on our MC is interesting and I could relate a lot of it to how struggling with mental illness (especially dissociation) feels.

The MC (Victoria) is fierce and determined, but also a total controlling disaster. She sees the effects of her behavior and is forced to actually grow as a person over the course of this novel. In fact, her character development is really the central focus of this novel as she grapples with love and vengeance.

I really recommend reading this novel if you enjoy witches and a truly dark world with a character driven plot.