''What do you want?'' I say softly. ''Everything,'' he says. ''My empire, my riches, my palace, my adoring subjects. But most of all - I want you.''

Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐

There's no reason for me to write a summary - if you read the official blurb, that's everything you need to know :D Let's start with the positive. I did enjoy the writing style and I was definitely entertained and swept away into a world of magic. Sybil was cool :) And bonus point from me - my dog's name is Nero, who can also be grumpy, but occasionally likes to cuddle. But he looks more like a black wolf haha

Chapter 27 was the best spell, curses, action with the familiar help, and overall witchy dealings in dangerous magical situations, sequence I have read so far. If you have any recs with 'in more detail' witchcraft battles or daily life at witchy school, let me know.

Let's move to the meh section. Not bad, but not great either.
Plot was little bit all over the place. Yes, I did like some random thrown things here and there, but I didn't understood where all of this is going or why. 2 major things were guessed straight away, so that's bit sad. On one side, I liked Selene. She's brave, funny and caring. I liked the premise of her unique situation about losing her memories while using her magic. Due to this situation, she struggles a lot, but she somehow adapted to it with the help of keeping books with written memories.

But girl lost her wits once she saw Memnon in a tux :D On occasions I felt very frustrated with her. And the man himself - I'm usually drooling for tatted, possessive and wicked guys, and by the premise, Memnon would be ace here. But he felt very repetitive and 'generic'? If I may say so. And only kissing? All that bravado, but nothing more 🥲 Me and Selene feel robbed haha

And now minuses. I'm all up for enemies to lovers troupe, soulmates, calling sweet names and all the jazz. But after a while I grew tired of hearing words Empress or Est amage. And what Memnon did at the end of the book had me fuming! How can you be a soulmate and do this? It makes no sense (we still don't know what Roxi did).

But this whole situation with him is tied to the next problem - too many gaps of information and too many unanswered questions. So pardon me, if he maybe deserved Roxi's wrath in the past (or not), but from the information that was given to us for the time being, I can't accept his wrongdoings. He's hot and cold. Harsh and caring. I have read these treats before, but somehow it didn't work for me in this book.

''The world will know my wrath - you will know my wrath, my queen. I will put you at my mercy,'' he vows. ''And I will destroy your world bit by bit until all you have left is me.''

I can't. Laura, you need to turn yourself in, because that cliffy was illegal 🙈

Thank you Laura Thalassa, publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

4.5 ⭐️

Bewitched by Laura Thalassa is a captivating novel filled with magic, adventure, and romance. Selene is a twenty-year-old witch who is trying her hardest to get into Herbane Coven. However, when she uses her magic, she loses memories. To gain acceptance into the coven, Selene must go on a magical quest to find a familiar. But what should have been a simple task turns out to be anything but, as magical forces attempt to bring down her plane during her journey. To save herself and the other passengers, Selene expends a considerable amount of magic to keep the plane from crashing.
Once in the jungle, Selene awakens an ancient evil, Memnon the Cursed, who believes she is his wife. As Selene returns home and begins her classes at the coven, witches start turning up dead, and it becomes clear that Memnon has followed her home. Selene must protect herself and others against unknown and known dangers.

Memnon the Cursed is a fascinating character, and his behavior sometimes doesn't seem to make sense. I wish we got tiny glimpses into his mind to explain more. His unpredictable behavior adds intrigue to the story. Selene and Memnon's chemistry is intense, and their complicated relationship keeps the reader on edge. Memnon is possessive, adoring, and also a complete jerk at times, and it would have been interesting to have a peek into his mind.

The plot is fast-paced, with plenty of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. I liked this world that runs tandem to ours with witches, sorcerers, shifters, and curses. Selene is a great main character who is determined and strong, despite her memory loss. The cliffhanger ending leaves the reader eager to find out what happens next, making the anticipation for the next book in the series all the more intense.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.

I had a damn good time with this book! Was it perfect? No. Do I care? Also no. It was entertaining and kept me wanting more and more and I can’t wait for the next book!

Now, onto the details.
Selene is a witch whose power takes her memories. Every time she uses her power she can feel a memory be taken away without ever knowing what it was. She keeps detailed journals and has post it notes everywhere with things she doesn’t want to forget. She’s also trying to get accepted into a coven but she must go on a magic quest and also get a familiar. While on this journey she accidentally awakes Memnon the cursed who thinks she’s his wife and queen. And she finds her familiar. When she gets back and is accepted into henbane coven weird things happen. Witches are murdered, she’s being stalked by Memnon. There’s shifters and soulmates and some spicy scenes.

This is one that you shouldn’t question too much though. Not everything is explained and not everything makes sense. But if you’re more interested in just having a good time and not letting things like that bother you much, I definitely recommend this one. This was also my first book by this author so I have no idea if this is similar to her other books or not.
4.5⭐️2🌶
I received an arc through NetGalley for my honest review

Laura Thalassa is a go to author for romantic fantasy! This book only positively adds to her already impressive collection of novels. The writing is tight and the premise, wonderfully original.

You can expect:

▪️Witches, sorcerers, shifters!
▪️Fated mates
▪️Ancient magic, an ancient curse
▪️A mysterious, powerful, alpha MMC
▪️A spirited, kind hearted FMC
▪️An animal sidekick
▪️A school for witches

Some of my thoughts:

📍I was absolutely obsessed with the premise! Every time witch Selene uses her magic, it devours her memories. I found that so original!

📍I thoroughly enjoyed the moment she haphazardly woke Memnon, the ancient ‘evil’ being who thinks she is his wife. The fallout from that was a delight to read! Their frustration and confusion was well written!

📍The ending was fantastic. The last 20% of this book, I flew through and I can’t wait for the next!

📍My main issue with this book was that I struggled to invest in the characters. Selene didn’t have much in the way of memories and that made her difficult to ‘know’ in depth given that she didn’t ‘know’ herself. So much of who we are is rooted in our childhoods etc and her backstory was blank. That had a flow on effect because she also didn’t remember Memnon. The book is in Selene’s POV and as such Memnon is an enigma. I did not understand his behaviour and it made him unlikeable. He flip flopped from cruel, to kind and back again in an erratic way. I wasn’t given enough back story to understand his motives.

📍Despite my point above I have high hopes for the sequel! With Selene recovering her memories I suspect we’ll come to know both her and Memnon! I just needed a bit more of them in this first book to aid in my investment. Memnon in particular. I would’ve liked him to tell Selene a little more of their history. Also … how did he cope awakening in a modern time? Where did he get money? Some of his POV would actually have been amazing because I would’ve really enjoyed reading that!


⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 (rounded up for Goodreads)

Thank-you to Laura Thalassa and her publisher for providing me with this ARC - I was thrilled to receive it!

Bewitched is a story that follows a foul mouthed baby witch named Selene. Who when she uses her magic she loses memories.

First things first I hate academy witch stories. So if you like the whole school for the witches trope this is a book for you.

I did however like the story of the villain Memon. I found his whole thing interesting. I had so many questions about him. What was his link to Selene? Why was he cursed? He was a tad obsessed with Selene and at times it just came off weird.

I loved her familiar Nero. One would be so lucky to get a "cat" like him.

Overall the story was pretty good.

I received this arc from Netgally for an honest review.

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐲. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞.”

Bewitched is the first book in a new series by the amazing Laura Thalassa. This romantasy has everything you could possibly want and then some. There’s so much going on in this story plot wise, but it never got too confusing. We have witches, sorcerers, and werewolves in a magical school setting with a bit of a murder mystery. But the heart of the story is Selene, our witchy FMC, and Memnon, our possessive and vengeful MMC. Their dynamic and chemistry together was magical and after that cliffhanger ending, I absolutely cannot wait to see where their story goes from here. 4.5⭐️

“𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬.”

“𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬.”

“𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐚.“

“𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟.”

“𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

“𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

[BOOK REVIEW]

BEWITCHED (Bewitched #1) by: Laura Thalassa

▫️Star rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
▫️Spicy rate: 🌶🌶🌶

Thank you Netgalley and Laura for this amazing opportunity.

This is my first time reading a book from Laura and I can say that she is now part of my all time favorite fantasy author.
I am obsessed of her writing style. It's so good, unique, and freaking beautiful.

Bewitched is the first book of the bewitched series. This story is all about a girl who is a witch and a sexy ass ancient man who is a sorcerer and a cute-ass
, scary, and cuddly familiar... that's about it! I'm not spoiling anything! 😉

This is my first time reading a fantasy book like this and I am in love!
This story is full of wonder, and c*ck blocking moments!
Right from the beginning of the book till the end, I was so engrossed by it. There is something about this story that really captured me. It's just so beautiful.

The main character kind of pissed me off sometimes. She makes me go crazy!that's why I'm giving this story a 4 star rating.
I can't wait for the second book because I feel like there is so much more that's going to happened.

The whole story is unique, spicy, very well- executed, and a 100% page turner. It's so hard to put down!

#bewitched #witch #sorcerer #spicyread #bookblogger #bookrecommendations #book #bookworld #booksofinstagram #bookworm #bookcommunity #booklover #books  #booknerd #bookstagram #booklove #bookaddict #booktok #bookshelf #bibliophile #love #bookobsessed #novel #fiction #booklife #instabooks #igreads

Oh man! I spent this whole book trying to decide if the hero was good or bad or both. The author did a fantastic job of keeping you guessing about why Memnon was put in stasis. I wasn't convinced it was Selene's old life. I'm still not convinced since this ended on a cliffhanger and there are still so many questions. I like where it's going. I'm definitely intrigued and can't wait to unravel all the mysteries. Even if Memnon ended up being a not so good guy, I do love the way he seems obsessed with Selene. This was a great start to a new series and it has me anxious for the next book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Selene developed throughout the story and had an effective system for coping with her memory loss. I enjoyed all of the magical and witchy elements and storylines. Memnon’s vengefulness and pettiness made me thoroughly dislike him, but I think that was the point lol. The way he has no issue screwing her over to get what he wants and making everything about him. I would’ve loved to get to see more of Selene’s background and maybe some more flashbacks to her life shortly before applying to Henbane. Looking forward to hopefully getting a sequel!

Rating: 4/5⭐
Spice Level: 2.75/5

Tropes: Slow-Burn, Second Chance-ish, Memory Loss, Soul Mates, Betrayal, Touch Her &D1e

Holy Dysfunctional Relationship Batman! What a rollercoaster of a book! Please note, my rating will probably change depending on how the second book goes, of which I'm chomping at the bit to read.

This book was well-paced and easy to devour. It's set in modern time with a dark academia vibe, which I'm a sucker for.

FMC Selene is a likeable, strong character despite her issues (memory loss when using her magic). Some of her decisions are questionable, but considering her lack of memories and the influences at play, they are understandable/forgivable. I really found the memory loss an interesting dynamic and the whole thing was utilized really well. I found myself on the edge of my seat when she would use magic, just to see what she was going to forget next.

MMC Memnon... not as likeable, but somehow I don't completely hate him. He's a really intriguing, intense character, if very dark. Some readers might be put off by some of his actions, myself included, but I can't help but wonder what's going to happen to their relationship in the next book.

Definitely some explicit scenes throughout, well-written and they didn't overwhelm the plot.

I recommend this to fans of FBAA & Zodiac Academy, and can't wait to jump into the next one to see the repercussions of that explosive ending!

Special thanks to NetGalley & Bloom Books for the ARC!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

<blockquote>There may be someone on the other side of these spells that's in true peril. And while I'm in no position to be some knight in shining armor, I am the only one who's here, so I can at least try to be brave.</blockquote>

Actual Rating = 2.75, rounded up to 3

I'm going to do something odd with this review and start by describing my reading experience. For some context, I enjoyed LT's Four Horseman series, but that's the only work of hers I know. This is relevant because the Four Horseman novels are pretty light on plot and heavy on the vibes. Bewitched, on the other hand, is very plot-driven and it frustrated the heck out of me. The amount of disbelief you have to spend to get from one chapter to the next is ridiculously high. Sometimes an after-the-fact explanation is added to absurd events (like bringing a wild jaguar from the Amazon to the bay area as the world's weirdest souvenir) but that doesn't undo the jarring sensation of reading something that makes no sense and being told to accept it. At about 30% of the way in I was so frustrated that I decided to start skimming. THEN what I was skimming caught my attention so I went back and re-read. Ultimately I did end up mostly liking the book and will read the second one, but Jesus Christ was this an odd and frustrating reading experience.

The summary does a pretty good job explaining the concept of the book and, since I'm having a hard time corraling my thoughts on this one, I'm going to provide some random thoughts below.

- This is fully a pet peeve but I hate Prologues. This one is short and adds some small value to the story so I'll let it go, but yeah.
- Bewitched is an urban fantasy romance and I think it takes place in the same world as LT's Bargainer series, but I could be wrong.
- Our MC, Selene, is desperate to get into Henbane Coven because of...reasons. We're never really told why, though the coven functions as kind of a magical school/sorority combo, so I think we're meant to assume she's looking for the community and opportunities.
- The made-up swears were cringe. "Hells spells," really? "Great Goddess' left tit" was another eye-roll-inducing one.
- There are some absurd things that happen - like Selene buying a ticket to the Galapagos even though it's really hard to go there if you aren't a scientist - that don't end up mattering at all. In this case, it's because her plane crash lands in the Amazon, but similar tidbits are thrown out and dismissed throughout the text.
- Related to the last point, there are some big time and place jumps between chapters that can be quite disorienting.
- Selene is a likable enough heroine. She mostly makes common sense decisions and, when she doesn't, there's usually a reason. She's funny and practical without being unbelievably quirky. Her personality has definitely been shaped by her memory loss, which I appreciated from a character development viewpoint.
- The chapters are pretty short and the pacing is decent. The story moves right along and can be read in a few sittings.
- The foreshadowing is a bit heavy-handed, which I wouldn't have expected from a practiced author.
- The reader gets shown things that Selene ultimately forgets, which creates some dramatic irony, which I enjoyed.
- I thought the inclusion of a Sarmatian character and references to that culture was super cool and not something we see often in fantasy.
- The plot was relatively predictable but, again, this is an urban fantasy romance. I wasn't expecting to be surprised.
- I wouldn't say this story suffers from a miscommunication trope, but there are several situations that would be much easier if Selene and Memnon were straight up with each other.
- We definitely see the trope of "schoolwork mirroring the plot."
- I liked Memnon, though I wish his personality had been a bit more developed. (This is the first book in a series, so I hope everyone's character development improves.) He's definitely your classic "over-protective Alpha" type but it sort of makes sense since 1) he believes Selene is his wife and 2) he's literally an ancient warlord. I wouldn't expect him to be submissive or progressive.
- There were definitely some steamy scenes, though the first three all featured the same act, which got pretty repetitive. I also found the dialogue in these scenes a bit cheesy, though that's almost entirely down to personal taste.
- Yes, my favorite character is Nero the Jaguar and no, I will not apologize.
- This is another pet peeve but it drives me nuts when characters use each other's names in every other sentence. That is not how humans speak.
- There were some typos and awkward paragraph breaks, but such is the nature of the ARC.
- There is a "mental conversation" aspect to this story that was giving Rhys and Feyre.
- A lot of questions were left unanswered. I'm hoping this is just because Bewitched is opening a series, so... fingers crossed.
- I understood Memnon's motivations way more than Selene's, which is odd since it's her POV. It's not that her feelings and motivations didn't make sense so much as I didn't understand where they were coming from. I get that she'd develop feelings (positive and/or negative) about Memnon as they get to know each other, but a lot of her motivations were unclear to me even if they weren't unreasonable within the plot. With Memnon, he thinks Selene is the beloved wife he's been apart from for 2,000 years, so his desperation to get her back makes sense. BUUUUTTT his beloved wife was also the one who seemingly imprisoned him in a magic coffin for 2,000 years. He's understandably pissy about this. It was just a very odd reading experience to understand a character whose POV you don't get better than the literal 1st-person MC; it smacked of a plot device.

TL;DR - If you can get past the absurdity this is a fun read, and I will be picking up book two.

3.25 stars

I loved the Rhapsodic series and saw this was in the same world so I had to give it a read. There was some things I loved and some that just missed in the mark in my opinion.
First of all the world building was very lackluster and didn’t really tell you much. If a big event happened that needed more detail a tiny bit of info would be sprinkled in but not enough to actually get what’s happening in that world. I also felt like a lot of the plot was choppy. I think it was supposed to be for the memory loss but I hated how it was written.
The characters were probably my favorite part, but again the ending was predictable and went in a direction I didn’t care for so I’m a little disappointed.
I’ll still be reading the second one because I’m hoping we get more out of the sequel.

This arthur is a must read for me and I've been so looking forward to reading this and was so excited when I got approved for the arc. This book was amazing a five star read such a fun easy read. I love her writing style so much will definitely recommend and be purchasing a copy on release!

What would you do if every time you used magic you lost some of your memories? Such is the conundrum Selene Bowers faces in Laura Thalassa's new paranormal romance series, Bewitched.

All Selene wants to do is get admitted into Henbane Coven to study, but to do so she must find a familiar or go on a magical adventure. Her attempt at going on a magical adventure takes a turn when she finds and awakens the millennia-old, slumbering Memnon, who just so happens to believe Selene is his long lost queen who betrayed him. How far will Memnon go to get his empress back? How will Selene reconcile what she feels for him versus the logical parts of her brain?

Laura Thalassa is one of my all-time favorite authors and I was so excited to be provided the opportunity to arc review Bewitched. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced novel. Selene is a strong female character who fights for what she wants, while Memnon is the epitome of a morally grey hero. The romance was spicy but not the spiciest I've read. Bewitched features a trope I am not sure I've ever read before or seen a term for, so I'll call it "vendetta+love". Definitely has a touch of "touch her and d*e" mixed in.

Thank you to the publisher (Sourcebooks/Bloom Books) and Netgalley for allowing me to review Bewitched. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.. 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this novel to paranormal romance lovers who enjoyed Laura's Bargainer and Four Horsemen series.

Holy amazingness. Wow. Just wow. That was an incredible first book and I am oozing with excitement of what is to come.

The love/hate relationship between Selene and Memnon is just *chefs kiss*. They have chemistry to spare. I could not get enough.

Memnon is that morally grey villainy character you absolutely love. Like damn.

Selene oh man. She has a lot of things going on and to deal with. She’s pretty bad ass though and gets more and more through the book. I can just tell her growth in the series is going to be outstanding.

Everything that happens, all the characters, (especially Nero), it’s everything I want in a paranormal fantasy romance. The twists, the tie ins, the leaving me wanting answers! I am in awe. I want to reread it all over again, plus I want the next book now! It’s just all so so so good! I want more!

Selene is a witch who pays the ultimate price every time she uses her magic....her memories are devoured! She is desperate to be accepted into the Henbane Coven and after being rejected a number of times, she learns that to gain access to the coven she has to complete a Magical Quest and find herself a familiar. Struggling with debt, Selene still books herself a ticket to Galapagos to undertake her quest. But when her plane crashes in South America after a magical attack, Selene accidentally wakes an ancient evil...Memnon the Cursed believes Selene is his long-dead wife who betrayed him. After escaping Selene returns to The Coven but when Memnon turns up and witches are murdered, Selene is caught up in the mess.

I am a huge fan of a witchy enemies to lovers story and Bewitched by Laura Thalassa ticks those boxes for me. It is a fast paced read, set on a campus and features Witches, Lycanthropes and a Panther familiar with a bit of personality. The ending will leave you on the edge of your seat and craving the next book in the series.

I struggled a bit with the deterioration of Selene's memory. It is a massive part of the book and does set her up as an unreliable narrator. But I felt that at times she remembered things that I would expect her to have forgotten and forgotten things that she should have recalled. With Selene's system for reminding herself, there can be a bit of rehashing of things which can be beneficial to remind you of the earlier events of the story.

As for Memnon, he is unhinged, threatens to murder a lot and irresistible for Selene. There is a lot of tension around their interactions, which will leave you both wanting more scenes of them together but also yelling at Selene to get the heck away!

I am really looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for gifting me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

So disappointed for this to be over! Loved this!! Gobbled this up in 2 days and it left me wanting more. This apparently is the first in a series which I hadn’t realized until closing in on the end. Can’t wait for the next book to continue to learn more about the main character’s past. This isn’t something I would normally gravitate towards but am so glad I took a chance. Thank you @Netgalley & @sourcebooksbloombooks for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Selene Bowers desires to be a member of the Henbane Cover. One of the biggest challenges that she must overcome is the loss of her memories every time she uses her magic. The coven challenges Selene, requesting that she go on a magic quest and obtain a familiar before admittance to the school. On her way to the Galapagos Islands her plane crashes and she is strangely drawn to an ancient tomb where she releases a mage named Memnon who has been asleep for over two thousand years. Memnon claims he and Selene have a bond that crosses over past lives. Can Memnon help Selene be the witch of her true potential or is he with her for personal nefarious reasons?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bewitched is more than a paranormal fantasy story. It has an element of thriller and mystery. Memnon is the irresistible, hot, bad boy. He confuses me, I feel I shouldn't be so attracted to him, I know I should probably hate him, at times he can be lovable. I can't quite figure him out. I am interested to see what happens with Selene in the next installment and hopefully will better understand if Memnon is worth all the chaos.

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I don’t know how Laura Thalassa does it, but wow, Bewitched is another stellar novel and amazing beginning to a new series. From the jungles to a magical college to a murder mystery and an ultimate ‘bad’ guy that may be more than he appears. . .this book is packed with shenanigans that enthrall and spellbind the reader.

When Selene finds out that her chances of joining the coven are two-fold, get a familiar and go on a magical quest, she drinks her way into a non-refundable ticket to the Galápagos Islands and a plane crash in the middle of the jungle. From then on this book is packed with magic, her familiar is one of my absolute favorite animal characters and familiars I’ve ever seen penned and what she finds at the end of the magical tether that rips her plane out of the air is a man who is so complicated, I was right along with Selene trying to figure out whether Memnon was friend or foe. . .I’m a sucker for the bad guy though, so his evil villain vibes are right up my alley.

Bewitched is stellar, the writing is as always on point, the spice is perfection, the vibes and tone of the novel is super fun and imaginative and my god, the mystery of it all. Why was Memnon buried alive? Why did his wife betray him? Why does Memnon think Selene is said wife? Just all the questions and some answers. . .it’s stellar magic. A perfect first outing in a new series, with so many questions and just enough answers to suck me in and make me hope that the next book comes out fast, because that ending is cliffhanger hell, but the burn is oh, so perfect. Highly recommend.

Warning, if you read this book, you will watch Selene’s life unravel with each page. Some choices she made, and some are done to her, which is all compounded by her vulnerable memory loss. Memnon crashes into the mix and adds heat, confusion, and an extensive backstory. Memnon and Selene’s relationship takes complicated to the next level.

It is a very spicy book, and if you are sensitive to bedroom scenes, you may want to pass (or know that you may need to gloss over some scenes).

I am rather picky about my endings, and this one made me sigh with some disappointment. Yet, even still, it is a worthy read, and I give it a 4-star rating.