This was the epitome of a witchy rom-com. With that comes some plot issues. There were a few too many things happening instead of narrowing it down and focusing on one and really making it shine.
The relationship between Aria and Callan felt a forced. The chemistry felt awkward especially with Aria let go of her anger so suddenly. It felt a bit stilted.
Boris was everything you could want in a familiar and feisty side character.
This isn’t a book I will reach for again, but I will probably read the second in the series to see what continues to happen in Charming Cove.
Special thanks to Net Galley and Bonnie Doon Press for sharing this advanced digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was exactly what I needed to read right now! It was cute, light and full of magic. I loved the setting of this story and how easy it was to jump into the magic rules of this universe. I want to go and spend some time in Charming Cove! I absolutely love modern witchy romcoms and this was exactly what I’m looking for in them. I loved all the side characters in this book, I think they were funny and added to the story. I also loved how much joy was in this book, for the most part everyone was enthusiastic about what they had going on which was refreshing! I also enjoyed that Aria’s best friend was automatically happy to have her back in town even after she had disappeared on them for the better part of a decade. Everyone was rooting for Aria through out the story including Callan who is also competing for the garden. Their romance was super sweet and how much he wanted to help her unlock her magic was wonderful.

I really loved this story and I’m excited to see that this is the start of a series!

Thanks to NetGalley, Boonie Doon Press and the author Linsey Hall for providing me with a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A magical surprise! Addictive tale of finding home and yourself with a wonderful cast of characters, a magical competition, and unexpected love. A real winner!

<b>I think this book is a good book for someone who is looking for romance book with some spice and very easy language. Dialogues are very simple and language is very modern.</b>

I dropped it at 35% as I could no longer stand how it's written and so romance focused. I expected fantasy to be more dominant then romance, but this book is romance with spice and only set in a world with witches. I would have totally read more or all of this book if I didn't find romance parts so annoying. Them being so dominant, then became hard to ignore.

In part I read, pretty much no magic happened and even rarely mentioned, and when it was, it was mainly her complaining how bad her magic is.
Major plot is starting and while I am curious how it goes, I can't stand stuff like: <spoiler><i>He leaned over me to see the riddle, his scent wrapping around me like warm embrace. I wanted to say it was unwelcome, but part of be liked it. Idiot. </spoiler></i>

I feel bad to leave not a good review, as it may be mainly due to my dislike for romance. For that reason, I chose to not leave any stars on goodreads and here 2 as I need to leave star rating.

Thank you NeGalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for review. I love doing this.

The Modern Girl’s Guide To Magic is a true gem. From the first page I was in love with the quirky, funny, lovely main character Aria. She is one to not be underestimated. Even though she’s said to be a bit of a “magical disaster.” Aria is all of us 20 something’s trying to figure life out, except she has magic and a past that haunts her. Speaking of that past, we have Callan Hawthorne, our philanthropic millionaire love interest. Callan is hard to read at first, but we do know that despite his mystery he seems to have the best intentions.

This book is the recipe for a perfect fall witchy read. We have a charming, magical English town: Charming Cove. It’s the place you could only dream about. I felt myself so drawn to this small town and all the side characters you meet, especially Catrina. Oh how I dream of having chocolate biscuits in Gran’s kitchen with her. Aria’s Gran is the grandmother we all want. She’s got spunk and magic to spare. I absolutely ADORE her.

Now the plot….we have a magical competition with an unlikely hero, we’ve got romance to die for, a talking badger. What more could a girl ask for?? Without spoiling anything, this book will have you on the edge of your seat and questioning everything. I literally could not put the book down. It’s the witchy read I have been clutching my crystals and manifesting for a long time. For fans of all things Practical Magic and romance this book is for you!!

Got recced this book by a friend and it was way worth the rec. Very much enjoyed reading the story and look forward to the next parts in the series.
The story flowed really well and kept me hooked. I have to admit that I may have even sneaked in a reading session at work because wanted to know what happened. The main characters were quite likable and relatable, at least as far as you can relate to people who have magic. Loved the sass of Boris.
Some parts in the book were quite predictable but that's necessarily not a bad thing. Sometimes it's nice to have some predictability in life. It didn't take anything away from the story.
Unfortunately, this book had the same fault so many books seem to suffer from nowadays. What happened to safe sex? Fine, magical birth control but how about STIs? This is a worrying trend that is too common in books lately.

I liked the first chapters, was uncommitted to the next few as the story line was set up, then lost myself in an easy read, good feel book. Overall, Linsey Hall, has written a superbly entertaining YA/adult fantasy/frenemy/romance. I hope there is more to come from the author with these characters, and the badger!. Thank you to Bonnie Doon Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Perfect, lighthearted fantasy romance! This book hooked me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. It’s really well-paced, funny, and sweet. If you’re looking for a cute, cozy romance, this is it! I’m so excited that this is the start of a series-I’m hoping for Tabitha’s story next! Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the arc. Review will be posted on Amazon.

The only expectation I had of this book going in was a cozy romance but I what I ended up getting was so much more.

Aria’s return to the Cornish village she grew up in is a story of friendship, community and finding your own strength. The tension filled romance with magical millionaire (not a billionaire!) Callan is just the icing on the cake.

Don’t get me wrong the romance is so good, it has the tension of enemies to lovers, except he’s always liked her, and then the feet kicking joy when they finally come together and start to understand one another. Plus Callan being protective of Aria over her school bullies was *chefs kiss*

But the shining jewel in this book is the relationships Aria has with her friends and family. Her eternally supportive Gran who loves her despite her wonky magic to her best friend who always has her back even after time and distance. Those were the parts of the story that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

As someone who also spent a lot of their younger years feeling eternally bad at things, Aria finding her purpose and realizing that perhaps her magic isn’t bad just different hit my little heart in the perfect way.

The ending was so sweet and genuinely surprised me although it felt a little rushed.

All in all a perfect cozy read. I’m looking forward to book two.

Thank you to Netgalley and The publisher for this advanced copy.

My review will be posted to good reads as well as Instagram @through.the.bookshelf

This book was adorable! It gave me total Abby Jimenez love story vibes. Very cute and witchy. I could visualize the beautiful enchanted garden. I wish I came out of it thinking it was all good, but there were cons for me. One major one is that it felt predictable. Every next move (just about) was predictable, but that did lead to an easy read. Another trade off for an easy read is how underdeveloped the characters were. I want to leave a story in love with at least one character. Though I got very close to loving the badger, who is the main characters familiar.

All in all, a fun, earthy, witchy book that’s an easy ready but doesn’t provide much challenge or bonding.

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Magic by Linsey Hall

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Don’t let the title fool you, it’s not really a guide. I expected it to be more of a diary/journal format from the title but there’s actually no “guide to magic” and I don’t know why the word “modern” is in the title either.

What is is a cozy romance. Tropes: Small town romance, enemies to lovers, he falls first.

I think the supporting characters are what really make this book great! They had me cracking up! Boris is my favorite!

Aria and Callan are a good match but I personally wish there would’ve been a little more spice.

Since this is an ARC, I am positive the spelling errors have been fixed and it has been decided whether the ghost is named Ralph or Reginald. (Originally the ghost was Ralph and then on the next page his name changed to Reginald 🤷🏻‍♀️)

There also wasn’t enough conflict for me. Especially between Aria and Callan. Everything just kinda seemed hunky dory and all the time and that gets boring.

I would read follow-up books if this became a series.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley! This book is perfect for those who love cozy reads! Who doesn't love magic? The setting is in this adorable cottage town along the see. There's a competition along with enemies to lovers!

My problem with this book is that there wasn’t any that really stood out to me about any of it at all. All the characters were very one dimensional, the pacing was too quick, and the plot was very meh. There were also some very questionable things said from the mmc that left me a little weirded out (regarding their age difference)

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Magic by Linsey Hall
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for this arc in return for my honest review!

This cozy little story is the perfect book to read outside during the spring or summer! Set in a cute little magical english town our main character Aria must compete to win an enchanted garden, and in doing so save not only her grandmas shop but also possibly the entire town. Two problems though, her magic is notoriously unpredictable and disastrous, and a powerful wealthy mage that she hates will also be competing.
I loved seeing Aria come into her own throughout this story and gain confidence in herself. While this book is definitely and enemies to lovers (although a pretty one sided one) rom com, I feel like the real story was the competition and Arias journey to self discovery.
The cast of characters we get are wonderful, Aria has a grandmother everyone would love to have, her best friend and niece are supportive and funny, and a little badger named Boris is just fantastic and I want him!
Overall this was such a fun charming read! Only a few things kept this book from being rated higher for me, mainly that sometimes I felt like the solutions for Arias problems seemed to fall into her lap just a bit to easily so they didn’t feel as rewarding when she accomplished something. On top of this during the competition while the contestants were allowed help from friends and family I sometimes felt like Aria was getting a little bit too much help and would have loved to see her find solutions a smidge more independently.
If you are looking for a book to read while enjoying nature be sure to give The Modern Girls Guide to Magic a try! It comes out on June 2nd!

This was a fun, quick and magical read! I found myself smiling at the book as I was reading about Aria's adventures. There's something exciting about reading about witches but the stories can become formulaic. I did not find this to be true in this book; Aria's "plant witch" specialty was interesting and something I don't think I've read before. I enjoyed watching Aria come into her own and find her magic.

The relationship between Callan and Aria was so cute, I wanted to bottle it up! I enjoyed how Aria and Callan had a history but they were quick to overcome it and it didn't overshadow the entire book. My only complaint was that I wish the ending of the book was fleshed out a little bit more. I felt like the competition ended but we didn't really get to see anything after. Also, Callen's disappearance and their quick reunion felt rushed to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

— 3.5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

"What are you thinking?"
"That you look like a sunrise after a decade of darkness"

"So here’s the deal—I’m a magical disaster. A witch from a family of witches, and the only one whose magic blows up in her face. Which is why I came up with my rules… 1. Never get involved with magic 2. If you must, do not enter a competition to win the biggest magical fortune in England 3. And definitely don't fall for Callan Hawthorne, the sexy billionaire mage who you've hated for years So how the heck do I end up in a situation that promises to break all those rules? It's the only way to save Seaside Spells, my family’s magical potion shop. But it’s cool. When I go back home to Charming Cove—a village of ancient pubs and foul-mouthed familiars—I will totally ignore Witch Weekly’s Sexiest Man of the Year. I’ll win the competition, and if I’m lucky, I won’t turn myself into a toad in the process. This'll be fine. It’ll all be fine. Riiiight."

Linsey Hall brings us book one, The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic, in a series of interconnected standalones known as the Charming Cove series. This book was fun, light-hearted and very easy to read. The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic begins with the introduction to our main female character named Aria. For the entirety of her life, Aria has had difficulty sourcing and controlling her magic. Feeling like an outsider and a failure Aria left her hometown village of Charming Cove to the bustling city life of London. Aria is struggling to hold down a steady job due to her uncontrollable magical outbursts, and the introduction to Aria is no different. After an unfortunate incident with a client leaves her fired and soon-to-be homeless, Aria's grandmother shows up at the perfect time to tell her granddaughter is needed at home. Back in Charming Cove, a magical garden is owned by and is run by an eccentric mage named Mr. Sparrow. Aria's grandmother sources the items for her magical shop from Mr. Sparrows garden, whom has announced his desire to retire. With his intentions to retire also puts in jeopardy all contracts Mr. Sparrow has with his clients, including Aria's grandmother. Without that contract, the shop will fail and Aria's grandmother will lose her livelihood. To determine the successor of the Enchanted Garden, Mr. Sparrow decides to host a magical competition to see who is worthy to take over his life work. Through invite only, Aria is a candidate in the competition alongside her self-declared enemy, Callan Hawthorne.

Callan Hawthorne is Aria's self-proclaimed enemy. From an incident that occurs years prior, Aria hates Callan with her entire being despite his attempts at rectifying it. As a character Callan was very likeable. Despite being obscenely wealthy he was known to be charitable and kind. He's driven and always goes after what he wants, whilst also being well-intentioned. He's not a malicious character and is quite the gentleman. He shows kindness and patience towards Aria, and is committed to showing her the man and mage that he has become. He's very supportive of Aria's journey in finding her place in their small, magical world, and is a big advocate in Aria's power potential.

Aria as a character holds a lot of self-doubt from the beginning of the book. We see her struggle to find her place of belonging due to the difficulty she faces with her magic. However Aria finds herself surrounded and championed by a wonderful support system. Her grandmother, her badger familiar Boris, her best-friend Tabitha and Tabitha's seven-year-old niece Catrina. We even witness Mr. Sparrow encourage Aria whilst trying to maintain a neutral ground amongst the other participants of the competition, although his favour over Aria is quite apparent. My favourite support character was definitely Boris the badger. I'd provide him with a lifetime of bacon sandwiches. The familiar was so grouchy and funny, but we see the progression in Boris as he cares more and more for Aria. Catrina was a delight to read. This feisty and driven seven-year-old is far wiser beyond her years, and hilarious to read as she set about giving bullies fluffy tales and turning sweatshirts bright pink. I really hope to see more of Catrina in future books.

As a whole The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic was an enjoyable, smooth and easy read. I devoured it in one sitting, and left me smiling in the end. The one thing I wished I could have seen was more conflict. Aria never faced much challenge when it came to resolving her problems. The tasks within the competition, discovering the source of her magic, her initial tension with Callan. All felt quick to be resolved, and I would have appreciated more of a journey with these things. It would have supported Aria's growth, as I unfortunately didn't connect with Aria's overall journey as much as I would have liked. Another minor issue I had, which is a minor spoiler, is the fact that Aria met Callan when she was seventeen and he was twenty-one. It was clear from the beginning that Callan wanted her, and despite his clear acknowledgement that she was too young for anything to happen, something about it felt off for me. Especially with the time-jump to the main story when Callan is still clearly thinking about seventeen-year-old Aria as he had not yet met her the adult she now is. I just wish Aria had been eighteen years old. Again it's minor thing that has no real impact in the story. Just a particular preference for this particular book.

Overall I did enjoy this book. Will I be likely to re-read? No, I wouldn't. However I will happily continue this series as light-hearted and fun reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute, quick read. I enjoyed the romance part of the book and reading about the magical challenges was fun. I do feel like there were some things missing. The main character isn’t very well described. The only thing you know about how she looks throughout most of the book is that she’s “tiny” (which seems like such a cliched, annoying description for a female main character). I like that she finds her true power, but the scene where that happens feels like it should be more climactic than it is. I don’t necessarily love stories when you know the mmc is pining the entire time. That really works better for single pov stories, in my opinion. It kind of removes any angst or slow burn. The romance part of the story is also put a bit on the back burner later in the story, which is fine, but it does end up feeling really rushed and abrupt at the end. Lastly, the Boris character was a fun idea and had lots of potential, but he could have been so much funnier. I could tell he was supposed to be the comic relief, but he just wasn’t actually funny.
Hopefully as this series goes on, the magic system is a bit more fleshed out. I look forward to potentially reading more from this world.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Let me start off by saying thank you to Linsey Hall and publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read The Modern Girls Guide to Magic early!!

Rating; ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice:🌶️

Wow, wow, wow this was such a cute take on a competitive, save your family, witchy rom-com and I found myself unable to put the book down from beginning to end. Truly I haven’t met a book written by Linsey Hall that I did not like and this one certainly lived up to the hype!!

Jumping right into this review I must first praise the plot in this book! It was so cute and I truly loved it from page one. In The Modern Girls Guide to Magic, we meet Aria a mid-twenties witch who has been labeled a magical dud in her small town, and has left for London as a way to get out of her towns magical shadow. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately for Aria her town casts a big shadow and she’s drawn back when her grandmother comes knocking to inform Aria that she has been chosen to compete as an heir to their towns and in fact the worlds best magic garden. A place Aria has always felt at home in, but never dreamed that with what limited access to magic she has would ever even be considered for such a prestigious position. Aria isn’t the only potential heir chosen though and the competition is tough. But maybe… just maybe if she’s willing to give it her all and learn to grow past her limitations she just may have a shot!

Beyond the plot I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book! Aria was amazing from the get go, with a strong sense of right and wrong. Even if it sometimes gets her in trouble! I loved the growth that Aria had in this story from learning to forgive not only others but herself, as well as working to overcome any and all obstacles in her way! Not to mention every member of her family whether biological or chosen was hilarious and supportive and truly added to Arias character, making me love her all the more. Let’s not forget that this is a romcom though so we absolutely can’t forget about Arias leading man Callen. I loved Callen… I mean who wouldn’t swoon over a chiseled, dark haired, blue eyes billionaire mage? Well Aria for one due to a pretty big miscommunication that happens between them when she was 17 a miscommunication that cost Aria something precious that she’s not willing to just forgive. Unfortunately, while Callen knows he’s done wrong he doesn’t realize how wrong and he’s determined to win Aria over!! I truly loved Callen, he wasn’t an Alphahole but he wasn’t a cinnamon role either, he was basically the perfect combo of both willing to protect Aria when she needed it while at the same time basically worshipping the ground she walks on. I also just loved his personality. Yea he was a billionaire and while he enjoyed the convenience money brings he wasn’t bullheaded or snobbish about money and was more than willing to get his hands dirty and help out where he was needed in many occasions throughout this story!! He really was just an amazing book boyfriend that I unfortunately could drool over Callen all day but if I give you any more information about him I’m going to end up spoiling something!!

Lastly, the romance in this book. I’ll honestly say this is where unfortunately I took one star away. The romantic tension and build up between Aria and Callen was there and it was amazing!! And when there was something romantic happening I was in love, unfortunately it felt like the romance was a bit sporadic as we really focused on the characters and the competition. Personally while there is romance in this book I would’ve loved to see just a bit more romance, such as a date of some kind over just the constant underlining romantic tension.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book though and would definitely read at least two more books about Aria and Callen!! And think that if you want a good, low spice, supportive family, witchy rom-com with an interesting take on a magical competition then this is definitely the book for you!!

HAPPY READING 📖

I love witchy rom-coms, especially cute cozy ones like this! The Modern Girls Guide to Magic was a perfect story to snuggle up to and finish in one sitting. I couldn't put it down.

I felt like the characters and story was so well developed, but wished there was more romance and more scenes including it, but I still loved it regardless. The competition and Aria were so addicting to read about and how her rules were something she ended up breaking one by one. Aria and Callahan were cute, but again I wish it was a little better than what it was. I think that is the only thing I'd say wasn't enough for me.

I assume this will be a series and if it is, I am so excited to read more. I finished it so quickly, I already want to read it again just for the moments it made me laugh, smile, and root for Aria. I will one hundred percent be buying the physical copy, because I did really enjoy it, but the cover is also so stunning to me.

Thank you Net Galley for providing a free arc copy for my honest review!

I never knew I needed a witchy romcom in my life until I read this 🥹 I had no idea it was even possible to mix the two to be honest and I'm so glad the author did!!
how great it was to have tension between rivals in a competition involving magic and witches and powers 😍 I couldn't have enough of it!
the only downside was the relationship aspect and development of their relationship, it felt almost like a background plot with a scene or two here and there, not enough happening between the two of them. it's regrettable because all the characters feel so real and alive, even the side ones, it could have been so easy to add more scenes between the two protagonists.

highlyyyy recommend this book for any romcom reader! bonus points if you're into powers and withcraft, this is the book for you 🪄