I kept trying but this book just didn’t suck me in like the first in this series. I loved the first book so I was sad that I couldn’t get into this ine

I struggled with another of Harper's books and thought to give this one a chance. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit. I struggled with her worldbuilding. Perhaps just a style I'm not used to.

While this is definitely better than Payback's a Witch, I still wish this series held my attention better. This time I probably picked this book up and put it back down like 4-5 times. There is nothing wrong with this book to me, but sadly my reading tastes have definitely changed this year. And sadly, From Bad to Cursed didn't really speak to me.

Lana Harper's writing is spellbinding (pun intended)!

Harper's witchy paranormal romance, FROM BAD TO CURSED (THE WITCHES OF THISTLE GROVE, #2) offers readers a sexy 'n' charming enemies-to-lovers romance that is in ample supply of snappy banter and a diversely represented cast of memorable characters.

It was so much fun to be back in Thistle Grove with our lovely clans of witches. This time we learned even more about the elusive and death magic that is conjured by the Avramov witches. Isidora Avramov is our leading lady and I grew to absolutely adore her character. Issa is wild, loves the thrill, sometimes reacts quickly without thinking things through, but she is also kind and loves her family passionately and will put others before herself. Despite this she thinks she is so different from Rowan Thorn. Thorn magic is green, full of life, and healing which seems the complete opposite of Avramov and Issa in general. Issa and Rowan have a past that Issa can't get over since she know for a fact Rowan hates her. When they are selected to lead an investigation on a curse set upon Holly Thorn things could go south quickly. However through time Rowan and Issa learn more about each other, their magic, and Issa learns to let others help her and see when she is at her lowest. They have a sweet rivals to lovers romance with obstacles thrown in to stop them from being together. They are opposites and equals and their romance is so sweet and brings more togetherness for all the witch families in Thistle grove.

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper was that rare case where I loved book two in a series SO MUCH MORE than the first book. Payback's a Witch, the first in the Witches of Thistle Grove series, was only an okay read for me, but Harper won me over with Isidora and Rowan's story. Their two families have disliked each other for generations because their magics are diametrically opposed--life and death, two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, they have to join forces to sleuth out the identity of the malicious individual sabotaging fellow witches with dark and dangerous hexes. Their mutual dislike turns into something else entirely as they follow the trail of increasingly perplexing clues.

I loved this witchy, magical romance set back in the town of Thistle Grove. It's funny and swoony and all the things a good paranormal romance is supposed to be, if a paranormal romance were set in a small town a la Stars Hollow. I just love the small town, everyone knows everyone feeling, and I love how Rowan and Issa open up to each other and are able to reframe their previous history, once they understand each other better.

The story is sweet, the magic of the town is unique, and the I can't wait to read more about the goings on in Thistle Grove. Now I just have to wait for book three!

First, I want to thank the publisher for sharing a review copy of this title. I finished in May right before pub day and have not had a moment to sit down and write the review.

This is book 2 in the Witches of Thistle Grove series.

Fantasy is a newer genre for me, and if I am being honest, I can't say how memorable this book was for me. It took us 25 long chapters before we really got to any action and adventure. Rowan and Issa were a better, more interesting, pairing than I anticipated but their constant feuding because they come from different families really wore me down. That whole Romeo/Juliet two-houses-divided nonsense is not my cup of tea. I wanted to DNF the book a couple of times, but I wanted to see how it all turned out so I kept reading.

The second novel in The Witches of Thistle Grove series, From Bad to Cursed lived up to its predecessor!

Trouble is afoot in Thistle Grove when a witch from the Thorn family is attacked by a necromantic curse during a town festival. Representatives from the Avramov and Thorn families, Issa and Rowan, are thrown together to track down the culprit - too bad they despise each other. As the two are forced to put their family rivalry and personal dislike for one another aside, opposites attract.

I enjoyed delving back into the witchy world of Thistle Grove. Since the world-building was established in the first instalment, the characters and their relationships were explored more deeply. I loved the mystery plot and the flirty and fun banter.

Thank you #NetGalley and Berkley for the arc!

Favorite Quotes:

We glared at each other, the distance between us seeming to thin and contract, pulsing like a heartbeat, as if our shared loathing were potent enough to actually distort the fabric of reality.

I glanced up at the massive gilded portrait of Margarita Avramov— our family’s ancestor and one of the four original founders of Thistle Grove— hanging on the flocked maroon wallpaper above the fireplace. She appraised the crowd of her descendants with black and lustrous eyes, set in the kind of gorgeous resting bitch face that could launch a thousand ships, probably mostly out of screaming terror.

A gratified glow fueled by pure pettiness lit just beneath my ribs. There’s a certain special exhilaration to driving the object of your loathing to soothing breathing techniques.

I was playing with the worst kind of fire here, and I knew it— but when had that ever stopped me before? When had it ever done anything at all, besides making me want to keep blazing my way down trails marked “forbidden”? For me, the forbiddenness usually tended to be the point.

Quit trying to salt my game.


My Review:

I rarely read this genre as I am far too lazy for all the world-building so I’m unfamiliar with the different roles and rules and types of magic, but despite the extra effort it took, I found the divisions and petty feuds between death magic and green magic quite clever. I was pleasantly surprised by the range and diversity of the author’s pen with keen snark, biting humor, and creepy curses and spells. The plot was intricate and slowly unfolded with unpredictable story threads and a bit of everything with thick and juicing servings of salty language, an entertaining macabre mystery, a fledgling romance, sensuality, and family drama. I enjoyed the change of pace and have decided I should indulge in this genre more often.

Lana Harper's books continue to fill the Charmed and Buffy voids in my life. I think her books are the perfect balance of plot, action and spice, and I can't wait to see how she continues to develop this series and expand the world of Thistle Grove.

Much like Harper's other Thistle Grove book, I found this installment hard to put down, reading it in about 2 sessions. The writing is fun, and the setting is also excellent. I love that we see Thistle Grove in a different time of year, as I was worried that this series would fall into a hole of "Witches = Halloween".

My only two complaints are that 1) I didn't think the enemies portion of the enemies to lovers trope was developed enough for me to fully enjoy it, and 2) the mystery was pretty predictable.

Can't wait to see who we meet next in this series!

Thank you Berkley for the gifted copy.

I was so excited to be back in Thistle Grove! What a fun book that made me SO ready for the fall and everything witchy. It took me a minute to shift gears from summer beach reads and get into the right mindset, but after a couple chapters I was hooked. I loved the dark magic aspect of the Avramov family but that it wasn't used for evil - it was just a darker form of magic than say, the Thorns.

Side note, I really want to go to the Emporium and the haunted house, and I don't even like haunted houses.

The chemistry between Rowan and Isadora was on fire, and the steamy scenes were well done. I liked the enemies to lovers aspect and how they worked together to figure out who casted the hexes on Holly and Rowan.

The magic was almost believable and I had to keep reminding myself that this is not real life.

Definitely recommended for fall reading! 4.5 stars, for me.

There was no sophomore slump with this book! The action picked right back up and threw us into the latest adventure in Thistle Grove. I loved reading about Issa and Rowan's enemy to begrudging detective partners to lovers. It was an interesting journey and I found the reason behind the curses to be very inventive. I think it did a good job of showing representation for people who suffer from anxiety and how difficult it can be to break away from family expectations even if they're supportive. I can't wait to read more in this series.

From Bad to Cursed is the second novel in Lana Harper's The Witches of Thistle Grove series. It's also one of several witchy-romance series that I've been enjoying. If you're looking for something more fun and casual to cheer you up (we've all been there!), consider giving this series a try!

Isidora Avramov is what you might expect as part of this witch family. She's a necromancer that summons demons for the thrills. She rocks all the dark witch vibes while still having a solid heart. Her adoration of animals may seem out of character until you get to know her.

However, Isidora does relish in one common family trait – continuing the family feud of sorts. She and Rowan have never gotten along, and their family history doesn't help. However, they will have to learn together if they want to stand a chance at saving Thistle Grove.

“I serve my goddess, my ancestors, and above all, myself,” I intoned quietly.”

I have a confession: I've been enjoying these puny witchy book titles FAR more than I would like to admit. I think they're half the reason I've picked up so many series like this all of a sudden. The characters and representation are just icing on the cake.

I enjoyed Payback's a Witch, so I was basically counting down the days to the release of From Bad to Cursed. As my description probably gave away, the second novel in the series jumps to new characters. We're still in Thistle Grove but moving on to other issues and love interests.

That isn't to say that Emmy and Talia are out of the picture – they're still in town, so they make a few appearances. It's nice to see how they're doing, don't you think? I'll admit that part of me had been hoping to continue Emmy's story, mainly because I wanted a first-person perspective of what it was like to run (and change) Thistle Grove. But I'm not complaining about what I got.

From Bad to Cursed did a solid job leading readers around for a bit of a mystery. It was fun trying to put the puzzle pieces together alongside the leading characters. I think I got it only a chapter or two before they did, which is always satisfying.

The romantic trope in From Bad to Cursed is very much enemies to lovers, which I'll admit is my weakness. It worked well here, adding additional layers to the threat the town faces.
Next up, we have Back in a Spell (due to release in 2023), which looks like we're jumping to the perspective of Nineve Blackmore and Morty Gutierrez. I can't wait!

I loved the first of this series and the entire world of Thistle Grove, but Isidora is incredibly hard to like. Her powers felt like an afterthought even though they were much cooler than her fashion sense. Rowan was great though, and I liked the main plot well enough. I just didn't enjoy the romance or the conclusion enough to make me love this book.

Lana Harper takes us back to Thistle Grove where we get to learn more about some other families. This book follows Isadora Avramov, the younger sister of Talia from the first book. We end up learning a lot about the Avramov magic which I was super into as well as the Thorn magic from Rowan. Lana Harper has done a really good job of connecting all these characters so I already felt like I knew them before reading this book. With a few twists I didn't expect Bad to Curse is definitely the star of this series.


Shout out to Netgalley and the publishers for getting me hooked on this series! I impatiently waiting for the next book in The Witches in Thistle Grove.

I wanted SO MUCH MORE from this book. I really really struggled to get into it and it felt rushed? Too cheesy? I missed the depth from the first book.

First, I want to thank the publisher for sharing an advanced copy of this book with me for an honest review. This book came out on May 17, 2022. Work has been absolutely crazy and I am catching up on writing my reviews.

This is book 2 in The Witches of Thistle Grove series.

Fantasy is a new genre for me, but if I’m being honest, I can’t say how memorable this book will be for me. It took 25 chapters before we encountered any real action. Rowan and Issa were a better pairing than I anticipated but their constant feuding because of their families was a little repetitive.

Overall, it was an interesting story but there were many times when I almost DNF’d the book.

Thanks to NetGalley & Berkley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sequel to The Witches of Thistle Grove series and is more of a murder mystery and whodunnit building up on the world that Lana Harper created in the first book.

I will say, I didn't enjoy this one half as much as the first one. I did like seeing the rest of the town and the other family covens so that was fun. I really loved the talking tree--weird, I know, but it's cool, okay! The mystery kept me on edge and I really enjoyed the twists and turns. The romance was pretty good too.

I just think this didn't hook me overall compared to the first one but it's still a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC which I received in exchange for an honest review!

This is such a fun rom-com series that I definitely will be continuing as the series progresses! I think personally I liked the first book, Payback’s a Witch, more than this one but I love a good opposites attract trope which From Bad to Cursed had! I can’t wait to learn more about this little town because the setting in this series is probably my favorite part!