I want to thank Laura Thalassa , Bloom Books and Netgalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion of this book.


Having loved the author's series, I was eager to see what it reserved for us for this new book.

I liked several elements of this book: the explanations, the very personal and different magic for each witch, the memory loss element that forges the main character, the friendship, and especially the mystery. Until the end of the book, we wait for answers to the various problems that Selene encounters and we wait for our answers!

The romance in this book is more complex than what the author has previously written. I can’t tell if I’m a fan of the romance between our two characters, if I have to expect a reversal of situation, see maybe a love triangle? I am looking forward to Volume 2 to be able to have more information and more context, and especially more scenes of lovers than enemies

A huge thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for giving me the chance to read Bewitched by Laura Thalassa in exchange for my honest review.

The first installment of Laura Thalassa's new paranormal romance series, Bewitched definetely starts off strong with Selene, a witch that loses her memories every time she uses her magic, and Memnon the terrible evil that she unleashes on her quest to connect more with her powers.
Needless to say tropes include enemies-to-lovers, who-did-this-to-you, sexual tension
In this world of magic and witches, ancient evil and shifters, passion and vengeance run wild throughout the pages, making for a fast pacing and easy to follow plotline : witches end up murderered and Selene is suspected due to her memory loss and she has none other to trust than Memnon.
Memnon who is an ancient broody sorcerer that was betrayed once before and won't let the past repeat itself no matter what, but at the same time will stop at nothing to make Selene his. Might I also add he calls her "Empress" as a pet name ?I mean...what more need I say ?
The book ends with a cliffhanger and I already can't wait for the second book to come out !

Imagine as a witch your power eats up your memories. This is exactly what happens to Selene Bowers. Selene wants to be accepted into the Henbane Coven, which is an academy for young witches. Her only problem is her memories, but she is given a chance of finally proving herself to the Coven that even with her magic eating away her memories, she can still be a great witch and asset. She is given the task to go on a quest, which ends up taking her to South America. On her way to South America, a strange call and magic calls to her on the airplane, which in the end makes it crash. Selene uses her magic to save those on the plane, but once on ground, she follows the mysterious call and magic. She ends up finding her familiar (a panther that she names Nero) and then she wakes up a super-hot centuries man who is called Memnon the Cursed. Memnon becomes convinced that Selene is Roxilana is estranged wife that cursed him to sleep for centuries and who betrayed him. She is able to escape him and go back to the States to where everything seems like it will be okay, and she does end up being accepted into the Henbane Coven. However, Memnon finds Selene as havoc rages around the Coven and her life.

I went back and forth on what I wanted to rate Bewitched. I settled on 3.5 stars, but I could not decide if it should have been a 3 or 4 star read.

Bewitched hooks you from the start and has you wanting to know if Selene is really Roxilana like Memnon thinks or if she is something else. The memory loss due to magic was interesting and kept me wondering if she would somehow get them back and it made me want to know what the root cause was for this type of magic that Selene has. I really enjoyed a good chunk of the scenes between Selene and Memnon.

Speaking of Selene and Memnon, I wanted to slap them upside the head so much. Well, moreover I wanted to slap Memnon upside the head because he would not believe or really listen to Selene for the first quarter to half of the book, which just ended up being so infuriating. I think for a good chunk of the book, Selene and Memnon did not have a connection and lacked chemistry. It does start to have a few sparks start to ignite towards the last quarter of the book.

I really wanted to see more page time of Selene interacting with others and her relationship growth with her best friend.

I feel like this book has a lot of potential and is a great steppingstone to set up the future books in the series. There is definitely a bigger story arc in play for the rest of the series, which makes me curious about what is going to happen. I want to see the progression of how Memnon and Selene as characters individually and together with their romantic relationship.

The reveal and the plot twist were done well in the end. The book does end in a cliffhanger that makes you crave book two right away. I seriously need to know what will happen next and how a certain character will get out of their predicament and what other ulterior motives are coming into play. Then, there were somethings that occurred in the story that have not fully been explored all the way, so it makes me curious if those things will be addressed in the future books.

All in all, I do think this book has potential and I am curious if the rest of the series gets better and better. I am really looking forward to knowing what happens so I will continue on with this series.

I received an ARC and voluntarily am leaving a review.

BEWITCHED is perfect if you want a steamy, college-age, fantasy. The mythology behind the story was intriguing.

It was heading toward being too steamy for me, and I DNFed. I don't normally leave reviews when I don't finish, but thought I could give a heads up for content to fit you. Because, really, some people want it steamy.

I recommend this for steamy fantasy lovers.

Happy reading!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was a real obsession, I couldn't stop reading!

The plot is so interesting, the magic system was one of the things that I liked the most about the story. This world of witches with their familiars, of werewolves and sorcerers, all within our own modern world. Every detail related to witchcraft and its laws was so fascinating, I really liked this whole dark academia context and in particular the influence of black magic. The author did a great job building every detail.

On the other hand, I loved that this book had a strong and resilient protagonist, an optimistic fighter who never gives up, even knowing that every time she uses her magic, she loses some of her memories. I loved this idea that using powers comes with a price, that everything needs a balance. Also, I loved Selene's spicy personality. There are a lot of funny scenes in this book.

When on a journey she awakens a mysterious and extremely powerful man from an ancient curse, things start to get complicated for her. Especially when he claims that she is his wife and the one responsible for said curse, so now he will seek revenge. But at the same time, there is a very special connection between the two. Memnon is such a fascinating character, although I'm not sure how to feel about him because I loved him so much in the first half of the book, and I hated him in the second half... but I still have a weakness for him.

Anyway, the romance in this book is SO INTENSE. Every interaction between these two is so spicy and they also share some very sweet moments. There's also a lot of drama in this book and some really shocking revelations. It's the kind of story that has a little bit of everything. And it has very good twists and turns! There is a series of mysterious murders that bring a lot of intrigue to the plot and that made me think of a lot of theories.

And then the last few chapters were complete madness. I was devouring the pages, wanting to know what was going to happen. That jaw-dropping ending left me desperate to read the next book. Seriously, I need it NOW! I just loved this book! Without a doubt, it has become one of my favorites of the year.

Thank you so much to Bloom Books and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

This is definitely one of the most fun fantasy romances I've read lately. Laura Thalassa does an amazing job building characters and wild plots that you can't help but binge.

While this definitely isn't the most unique or complex fantasy romance, it's one that is an amazingly fun time.

This follows a heroine who, despite losing memories whenever she uses magic, is determined to join an elite witch school/coven.

After stumbling upon a secret magic crypt in South America, she finds herself pulled into an investigation of murders on campus while trying to hold back an evil sorcerer who believes she is his ancient wife.

The plot is over the top, fast paced, and completely consuming. I never wanted to put this down because something was always happening.

This plot goes exactly where you think it will - if you are an avid fantasy romance reader, you will probably see the reveals coming from a mile away. But somehow it didn't deter from my enjoyment.

I will say the ending left me.... mildly uncomfortable. But I'm so intrigued by where it left off that I'm itching for sequel. And definitely an author who's backlist I want to explore (I think I'm the last person to read from Laura Thalassa).

This was my first Laura Thalassa, and I am happy to say it won't be my last.
This book clearly will have sequels with the way it ends, and I am excited to continue. Selene is a character that has a lot of things going on for her, and I can't wait to see what is to come. Memnon the Cursed is quite the interesting hero, and his tortured soul is something that spoke to me as the reader.
It's not a perfect book, but it is a good setup for future books to be exciting as well as spicy!

Bewitched by Laura Thalassa is definitely going in my top 10 favorite books of the year. This series just might even top another favorite series of hers, The Four Horsemen, and I've only read the first book!

I absolutely loved both Selene and Memnon. Selene is a witch who has to lose something every time she uses magic. The cost: her memories. Selene doesn't let the cost of using her magic stop her though, and she has a system in place that helps her throughout her everyday life. She is a character that is easy to root as you are reading, and I did a lot of it!

Once Memnon is unleashed from his tomb (through Selene's accidental doing), I knew things were about to get interesting. Especially since he thought Selene was his wife. Their past and present was interwoven into the story very well by Laura. By the end of the book, I knew that these two were going down as my favorite couple. I can't wait to read more of their journey in the next book!

This book set the characters up really well for the next book.

I loved the mystery behind the killings, as well as Selene's memory loss.

I read everything that Laura writes and compared to her other books, this one felt a bit slow. There were points when I would also lose interest in the romance.

Overall, the book was really well written and I really enjoyed the concept of it. Compared to her other books, it is sadly my least favorite.

DNF but note that I read Thalassa for romance and it was developing too slowly for me to continue beyond 33% point

*Thank you for the ARC!! All opinions are completely my own.**

4.5-4.75 stars. Brilliant, dazzling, and charming.

This book was incredible in every way. Decadently sizzling chemistry between the main character and love interest? Check.

Humorous, witty, and realistic female main character? Check.

Indulgently smooth writing style? Check.

Top-tier pacing? Check and check.

I'll be on the lookout for more of Laura Thalassa's works!

TLDR; GET THIS NOW.

It was so good to come back to Laura's books. Bewitched follows Selena, an unreliable narrator as every time she uses her magic, it wipes her memories. Selene is brave and funny with a sarcastic streak and Memnon is broody, dark, dangerous, and oh so sexy. Bewitched is not only steamy, but has a great, well thought out plot. I found myself hooked from the start, Laura knows how to write a book that sinks its claws into you. I can't wait to see what is going to happen next!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of bewitched. this was all about magic school or a young woman who wants to get into a magic school but must first find her familiar, so cool, and a magic quest before she can get in. although her magic eats her memories so she struggles with that throughout the book.

Really interesting premise behind this book. I enjoyed it more than I expected to. Selene has the ability to wield magic, but every time she does, she loses some of her memory. She desires to join a coven, but they suggest she do some soul searching out in the wilderness. After booking a trip to the Galapagos (with no memory of having done so) she unknowingly awakens Memnon, a warrior king who was cursed to endless sleep by his wife. When he wakes he believes Selene is his wife, and he intends to do something about that. The story is action packed, sexy and a little spooky. The book ends on a cliffhanger., but that was expected. Overall the story was well written and has everything I’ve come to expect from Thalassa’s books.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book. This was my first book by Laura Thalassa. I've seen her recommended over and over, and now I know why. Bewitched was such a stunning read that I did not want to put down. Selene and Memnon are constantly caught in a love- hate relationship, that is everything a spicy romance reader is looking for. Looking forward to adding the remainder of this series to the top of my TBR.

I really wanted to love this but had a hard time with the set up, the constant back and forth of the characters in their emotional journeys. I really enjoyed her other works but this one just wasn’t for me. I think it would appeal to other readers though!!

I really really enjoy a fated mate enemies to lover witch romance so when I got approved for this book I was so excited. This book delivered in spades. Cursed witch, a scary sexy over the top fated mate that I am still not sure is good or evil. Shifters and dark magic users, there were so many plots moving forward that this was a super fast paced read. I am very much looking forward to continuing in this story.

A few items that I just loved - The plot point that every time she uses magic she loses memories. How tragic and scary and she was so amazing to over come it, with her notes books and amazing friends.
I love Nero - he has his own grumpy cat personalities but he is a panther.
I love that she lives in a house full of witches with so many secrets.
I love that I can figure out if I love or hate Memnon.

I would love more world building. I am trying to figure out if the world knows about magic or if this school are like hidden like Hogwarts or Legacies? I am dying for more Shifter/ Sorcerer Love triangle. I need to know what happened in the past....that cliff hanger is going to haunt me.

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and thank you for getting me sucked into a new amazing witch series.

Wow was I blown away by this story! This transported back in time to stories that I loved to read. This book had so much magic, cursed, fated mates, evils to name a few of them. I could not put this book down! The ending has me itching to get my hands on book 2 ASAP!

The whole concept of the main character Selene losing memories every time she used her magic was so unique. Throw in an 2 thousand year old plus fated mate who is out for love & revenge and I was on the edge of my seat. Given Selene’s issue with memory loss I was able to forgive a lot of the plot holes and things left on explored. However with the ending of this one I expect more answers in book 2.

I loved the raw use of magic and how no one shied from it. I loved and strongly hated Memnon. She really shouldn’t have woken him cause that man is lethal. Overall will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next one in this series.

I didn’t think I could love a series as much as The Bargainer but this has come really close. I was obsessed from page one till the last one and that ending! I cannot wait for the next book! The story is unique. The magic is intriguing and the world is one I want to be wrapped up in. The chemistry between the two of them is off the charts and I cannot wait to dive into more of their backstory. Seriously, this book is my new addiction and my comfort read.

This book was such a fun read. I am annoyed it ended so soon, with a cliffhanger. The premise was interesting and I hope we get more of the wolves, and ancient history, in the sequels. The author did an excellent job of the main character Selene having a love-hate relationship with Memnon. I find myself also having a love-hate relationship with him. I will be recommending this book to customers at work.