I wanted to enjoy this one a lot more but it was very boring for me. It took me quite a long time to get into it as well which was part of the problem. I will try more books from this author in the future though.

DNF @ 56%. The beginning of this book is pretty slow to start. Essie is a witch living in Beldam House with other witches, and Josh is an American who has inherited property in Good Winter from his father. Josh finds a 300 year old document that shows that a house on the property he now owns was supposed to be paying rent for the length of time his family had owned it, and he sets out to find Beldam House to collect back rent and begin collecting rent. He stumbles upon the house and is led inside by Essie, and finds that the house is more chaotic and fantastical than he ever could have imagined. When Essie realizes that Josh is not the window repair man she hired, she quickly shoos him out. Because of the spell on the house, Josh immediately forgets the house and what happened inside.

Later at a bar, he runs into Essie, Avery, and Blessing. Blessing encourages Essie to interact with Josh outside of Beldam House so he remembers who she is and so they might fall in love. Essie and Josh begin talking and Josh can almost remember Essie, much to her shock.

Who the hell finds a 300 year old document and sets out to collect all the money owed? I couldn’t wrap my head around that part of the story, and it completely threw me off. The writing for me was also distracting and I often felt like I was reading the same thing multiple times. For example, when talking to his sister Sienna, Josh says: “‘I have tenants.’ He had tenants.” I get it, he has tenants, but what was the point of repeating it immediately after the character states it?

The witch ball in Agatha/now Josh’s house is also mentioned multiple times. The witch ball is supposed to prevent witches from entering, but when Agatha was alive she didn’t believe that, so Essie freely entered but has since felt repelled by the house. This is unnecessarily mentioned almost word for word at least twice.

All in all, I don’t think this book is for me. I did like the kind of witches that Essie and everyone are, though. Their magic is really cool and fun, and might be enough for someone else to enjoy this book.

Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson
⭐️⭐️/5
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review!
It brings me sadness to give the first 2 star review that I can remember. I wanted to love or at least like it. I’m sorry, but the writing was not good. A lot of the dialogue was cringy. The main characters romance didn’t flow well, and I felt the chemistry was forced. The plot was sort of interesting, and I wondered what would happen which made me finish the book. Otherwise, I probably would have DNF’d it.
The plot is about a witch Essie and her coven at their Bedlam House. Josh is new to the area and is the handsome new landlord of the Bedlam House. Josh and Essie have an quick romantic connection. An evil arises that brings up old family secrets. Essie, Josh, his sister Siena and the coven then basically save the world from this evil.
The story doesn’t sound bad writing it out, but it could have been fleshed a lot more. Along with better dialogue too! Oh well, I guess they can’t all be winners!

Being in the thick of spooky season has me in the mood for all things magical and whimsical! In all honesty it did take me a moment to get into but overall I would have to say I did like this book. I was living for the flirty romance between Essie and Josh but I will say I found myself missing something. At times I did find the story a little chaotic but I’d like to believe this was purposeful. I gave this book at 3.5 out of 5 stars as it was a great read! I rounded up to a 4 as I did like the book and it was worth the read!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollinsUk, and One More Chapter for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I enjoyed this cozy witchy novel. The atmosphere and location are perfect for a witchy tale. My favorite part is the house. I love all the rooms, moods and detail that went into setting this environment. I want to live in this house.
I love the characters and the romance. I enjoyed the obstacles that they characters had to overcome and felt like they had relatable response.
I want more from this house. It has so much potential.

Hex Appeal is the perfect witchy book for spooky season. It is filled with lots of magic, time travel and the perfect house for witches. The other witches in Essie’s coven are fun and quirky. The hate to love romance between Josh and Essie was sweet and I like how they worked together to solve problems. Josh’s sister, Siena, added another touch of quirkiness and grounding for Josh’s character. I really had a good time with this book and am looking forward to reading more of Kate Johnson’s work.
4/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collin’s UK and One More Chapter for the eARC of this book

I found Hex Appeal to be a cute fall romance, with plenty of witchy-ness and magic. The witches who live at Beldam House are an eclectic group and seem like they'd be fun to hang out with. They all have their own magical abilities and the house itself is full of wonder and surprises.

Essie and Josh's romance is a bit slow, since she's hiding who she truly is from him. I liked them together, but just didn't feel much chemistry between them. I'm glad they became friends first and then gradually more as he learned about her heritage, I just didn't quite connect with them.

The pacing is a bit all over the place. The first quarter was introducing things and not quick enough for me, then the third quarter had a climax that left you wondering what would fill the final part. This could have been a smoother read, but I still had a good time reading it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the copy

Essie Winterscale lives in a small town in Essex. No one quite knows where she lives because of course, her house is spelled against visitors remembering it. Enter Josh Henderson, the man who inherited half the village and discovers Essie and her roommates haven't paid rent in centuries. Let the games begin.

Anything witchy automatically has my attention, but this one started off a little too slow and slightly wonky for me. but once the plot took off it was sweet, fun, and quite chaotic but can you expect from a magical home that has a mind of its own?

3 1/2 stars. Perfect for the spooky season and fans of Encanto and Practical Magic.

Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

3.5/5 stars

Essie Winterscale is a witch living at the Beldam House, a large magical home in a small town in Essex. She lives among her intriguing roommates, some living and some not. Her life is suddenly turned upside down when Josh Henderson arrives, their new landlord who recently inherited the land their home is built on. Josh, along with his pregnant stepsister Siena, alter the course of the witches lives forever as their arrival unleashes an evil that has been long buried for decades. Essie and Josh must join forces to defeat this evil to protect the world and the ones they love most. As their romantic connection grows, secrets kept hidden for years surface threatening everything that Essie and Josh hold dear.

•

This was a magical quirky romance perfect for the sooky season! 👻 I adored all the characters in this one, they warmed my heart, this book was packed with so much: romance, magic, time travel, family drama, you name it! The magical element to this one was captivating and held my interest throughout. There was a lot of detail so it was easy to picture this cozy spooky little town and the magical Beldam house. There were a lot of things going on in this book and they all seemed to fly at you at once to the point where at times I did find myself getting a little confused. The transitions form chapter to chapter were also a little choppy and rough keeping the story from flowing smoothly, however, I really loved the concept of this story and the humor and romance slapped a big silly grin on my face from beginning to end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review, this title is now available to purchase!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the preview of this book! Hex Appeal is a cute, fun read with a lot of witchcraft and a little romance. We follow Essie, a witch who lives in Essex and is desperate for a sense of somewhat normalcy. Enter Josh, an American who inherited the house next door and who knows nothing of Essex... or witches. This book was fun, very heavy on the witchcraft, and a perfect read for October.

***3.5-3.75 Stars***

Overall,
This was a fun quirky witchy romcom. I enjoyed it and had a good time with it. It did take me a bit longer to get through because there are some tropes that I personally don't enjoy as much as others. This did not affect my start rating, but it just had me reading at a bit of a slower pace. What I enjoyed about this was the "Encanto" style house that has a mind of its own and seems to change depending on the mood. The side characters (especially Avery) and the overall vibe of a cute little English town. Essie and Josh are cute and the romance is sweet.

The one thing that did affect my rating was pop culture references. I feel like its fine if there is one or two. However, I think the fastest way to age your book is have them often and all the time. It also really takes me out of the book and away from the story.

Cover,
Its ok, It honestly doesn't look like much effort was put into it. I think the title was what intrigued me about the book more than the cover.

Recommendation,
I would recommend this to anyone who is jonesing for a fun witchy romcom, (especially during spooky season, I would say add this to your list.

***I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Harper Collins UK, in exchange for my free and honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book early #HexAppeal #NetGalley ***

This was a fun, seasonal romp that gave me all the Halloween feels! Loved the setting and characters. The overall writing could use some streamlining but a good, quick read!

This one was a little slow for me. Took me awhile to get into it, but it picks up as the book goes on. I love the idea of this story. Essie is a witch who lives in Essex in a house that disappears called Beldam House. Josh is an American who inherits the Beldam House. It definitely set it up for a cute story and romance. However, the romance really just fell flat. It didn't feel like it had enough development. It might have also been that the characters didn't feel full development themselves, so it left the romance wanting. Definitely a cute plot though!

Thank you netgalley and Harper Collins for an ARC copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

Hex Appeal was a cute October read. Took me a few days to get through it as the action picks up more in the second half of the book. I thought the story was original for a witchcraft book and I liked both the main and secondary characters.

Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson is a cute and witchy rom com. Essie lives in a multi generational house full of witches where she meets Josh. Can they avoid a love spell? Hex Appeal is a quick and light halloween read.

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed but didn’t love this book. I felt that it was lacking some charm, or ironically, that certain magic. Essie and Josh both had a lot of potential but their characters just fell a little flat for me. Josh’s relationship with Siena is a perfect example - I didn’t see them growing closer at all as they moved in together. They didn’t know each other until 10 years before and hadn’t spent much time together, but we didn’t see any moments or conversations between them that would explain them growing closer. The book felt very plot-driven, which is obviously important, but the characterization suffered for it.

I really liked the magical world-building - I loved Beldam House and all of its inhabitants, whether witch, flora, fauna, or magical.

I am choosing not to submit this review to outside sites because my personal preference is to only do so if I am giving a book 4 or 5 stars.

I loved Hex Appeal - I really enjoyed reading about Essie's personal journey, along with the general plot with the other witches. All of the side characters were written really well - and the house was so vividly written that I could picture it in my head despite the constantly changing nature of it.

I thought this would be a cute romance with a little witchy vibe and it would be perfect for the season. Unfortunately, it was bogged down with overly descriptive passages and very little action. It got to a point where I found myself not wanting to pick the book up so I had to give up. I tried a few times but just couldn't get into it. This just wasn't for me but I can see how others may enjoy it.

Sometimes it's clear in just a couple of pages that a book just isn't for you. Hex Appeal's writing was not appealing to me. It felt juvenile and just wrong. I couldn't read another page.

This little witchy romance mystery was everything I wanted for my weekend escape. The Beldam House and witches that live there are so unique, interesting, and FUN! I loved the quirky, mysterious backstories of all the characters and their diverse gifts. I wanted to learn ALL about them and was totally invested in their stories right from the start. Every scene had me smiling, and every few pages had me literally laughing out loud. Plus, Josh’s character is so damn likable; I couldn’t help but root for the budding romance between him and Essie. It’s a feel-good read with a nod to history and a lovely blend of witch lore old and new. If this grew into a series, I’d happily keep reading!

Big thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.