While I enjoyed The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells, I felt some undefined something was missing. The story of a stranger who appears with the frost and is gone with the spring thaw was interesting, and the snippets of Carrie's ancestors' lives made me want to know more about them. However, I kept waiting for something, I'm not sure what, to happen or appear. Still a very enjoyable read.

The Morgan women are so different, and they have lived in a town where they have never been accepted. And Carrie has always felt that, even though she has tried to fit in she knew she was just different, and she would do anything to leave. And she did and 10 years later she’s back in her hometown trying to find her HOME and renovating everything her grandmother left for her. This book gave witchy vibes when it came to her great aunt Cora who has this crazy obsession with the Book, that was handed down to the oldest Morgan daughter, there is a story behind THAT and I love how the book goes back years and years between Cora and Ivy and Carrie and her upbringing, until now and how it all connects and the sacrifices that were made, especially when it comes to Cora. I don’t know what I was expecting when I started to read this book, I loved the mystery of a “folklore” that haunts these women and the mountains. It was pretty awesome, and so heartfelt, especially toward the end.

A cozy Small town spooky/witchy book that will tick every fall vibe you’re seeking for spooky season. It’s a delightful, atmospheric read that has interesting relationships spanning multigenerations in the same setting. I would classify this as magical realism, but the magic is somewhat understated. Similar to practical magic in a way. There is a nice little mystery taking place throughout the story with just a dash of romance.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw is a book about longings and belonging, and not-belonging, about families, love, friendship, community and heritage. I had some frustrations with each of the viewpoint characters, and I’m uneasy with some of the conflict resolutions, but overall, it was an easy and mildly spooky read.

The book opens with Carrie Morgan returning to her hometown of Woodsmoke after a 10-year absence — or rather, to the cabin she just inherited from her late mother Ida. It’s a while before she works up the courage to actually go into town, because she’d left quite abruptly, leaving her fiance Tom at the altar and never so much as writing a postcard to her best friend Jess as she traveled around Europe. Her plan is to renovate the cabin, sell it, and leave again.

Her great-aunt, Cora, has other ideas. The Morgan women have a long tradition of making bargains with the mountains, along with making folk remedies, giving warnings never to step off the paths into the wilds, and basically meddling with the townsfolks’ lives to try to protect them. Cora wants Carrie to stay forever and take up the Morgan mantle, and their inherited book of spells, remedies and stories.

Meanwhile, Carrie meets a mysterious stranger, Matthieu, and hires him to help with the renovations. She initially scoffs at Cora’s warning that this man may be a mountain manifestation who’ll break her heart and vanish when the frost melts. As Cora’s tentative relationship with Matthieu deepens, we also see flashbacks revealing backstory including the beginnings of Cora’s courtship by Howard, plus the challenges they now face as an aging couple, along with the rising tensions between the now-married Jess and Tom that surfaced with Carrie’s return.

Although I started out with little sympathy for Carrie’s abandonment of her roots and friendships, I came to understand that this was partly due to unconscious reactions from her life having been meddled with before. Everyone else but Howard has secrets about bargains they’ve made in the past, and there is very little openness about what people really want. There is a lot of blame going around from people who are far from guiltless themselves. But given how things resolve mostly happily at the end, there is some hope that the next generation will learn to talk about their feelings before things go bad.

Despite the many references to “the mountains” and plants that grow around them, I didn’t get a strong sense of place — no mountain is individually named, for instance (fake names for fake mountains would have been fine with me, but I don’t think they’d be so nebulous for the inhabitants). In fact, for quite a while I assumed this was set in the Appalachians instead of England, until I was clued in by words like “greengrocer” being used.

Moreover, Carrie is an artist, but she’s creatively blocked, so we never see her process, although it’s stated that she has started to sketch again, off-camera, by the end. For these and other reasons, the novel never felt quite grounded to me. But that fits quite well with Carrie’s emotional state, as she struggles to decide what’s real and what’s not, and whether she can trust herself and others, and with the mental and emotional turmoil of the other characters. The arguments did feel pretty real, although I was often offering counter-arguments to them in my head.

This is a pretty light read, but then again, it’s not trying to be a heavy book. It’s primarily a semi-supernatural romance, blended with mystery, home renovations, inheritances, and homecoming. If that sounds like your kind of thing, it may be a good choice for reading this October.

After 10 years away, Carrie Morgan must return to her hometown to renovate the cabin her grandmother left her after she passed. However, it is not a warm homecoming. Carrie ran away 10 years ago on her wedding day and has not talked to anyone since. Oh, and the man she was meant to marry is now married (with a kid) to her childhood best friend. And if that's not enough, the Morgan family is known to have magic and the mountains make bargains with the Morgan family only.... but there is always a price.

I was really intrigued by this premise and I enjoyed the multiple points of view. I think I had a really hard time with Jess, Tom, and Carrie. I felt like the relationships were really broken and quite antagonistic and don't feel like it resolved in a super realistic way, especially given the timing. I just wish there was more interaction between our characters (narrators) because they're all in the same small town but they're never with one another but are always thinking about one another.

It's definitely a fun, fall book. I just wish I got a little more. A little more into the family lore, a little more into the relationships, a little more into the stories at the beginning of the chapters. It feels like there was a lot of potential that wasn't necessarily tapped.

A very beautifully written story about female friendship and womanhood. Perfect to read in November! I found the pacing a little off.

3.5⭐️

Carrie Morgan has returned to Woodsmoke after 10 years of running from her family’s legacy. She has returned to fix up her grandmothers cottage after her passing, so she can sell it. Her great aunt Cora is still living in Woodsmoke, along with her childhood best friend Jess. The Morgan women have a book that has many tales from over the years, and the book is passed down from grandmother to granddaughter. One tale in particular is about a stranger who appears as the first snow falls in winter & then disappears as the frost thaws in the spring. The only problem with that is the stranger always leaves behind someone with a broken heart. As the temperature starts to change, Carrie meets someone named Matthieu who offers to help her fix up the cottage. Carrie is convinced he’s real, but everyone else can’t say the same.

This book follows 3 POVs: Carrie Morgan, Cora Morgan, and Jess. I loved having the different POVs & it was definitely helpful at times for understanding situations better. The book was good & I enjoyed it, but it just didn’t “wow” me, so that’s my reason for 3.5⭐️. I was hoping it would be a good witchy read, but there wasn’t much on the witchy side of things like I had in my mind. I didn’t really feel super attached to any of the characters either, but I enjoyed the friendship aspect of the book. The book was focused on relationships, friendships, family & self discovery. I definitely loved the themes of the book! It was nice to learn about Carrie & Jess’s relationship as they grew up & what tore them apart. I don’t want to say much about Matthieu & spoil the story. I didn’t see some things coming, so that was a crazy surprise to the story.

I would recommend it for a quick read in the fall because it was definitely a cozy read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Greenlaw & Avon Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A light and atmospheric tale of love and loss in the mountains. Carrie has come back to Woodsmoke and she's renovating her grandmother's home- but she doesn't plan to stay. And then she meets Matthieu, who will, as the legend says, disappear. This is told by Carrie, her great aunt Cora, and her sorta friend Jess (whose POV doesn't add much to the story). This isn't as heavy as it could have been nor as eerie but that doesn't mean it isn't a good read. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good one for travel or a lazy rainy day.

Everyone in this book needs therapy, desperately. Truly needs therapy.

Carrie moves back to Woodsmoke after her grandmother, Ivy, dies. Ivy left her a cottage and the lease to her candle shop and tasked her with fixing them up.

Cora, Carrie’s great-aunt, holds the book of the Morgan women and their stories/spells. She has missed Carrie for years and now that she’s back, she wants her to stay.

Jess, Carrie’s best friend from childhood, is conflicted about her being back in town and wants her to leave but also stay and rekindle their friendship.


So, my thoughts:
- Howard is the best of them all.
- The rest are the ones I’m more concerned about getting therapy. Jess and Cora are on a whole other level though, because damn.

I thought it was weird from a writing standpoint that we had an insight to characters whose POV it was not, like Tom and Howard. It didn’t make sense that that character would just know what the others were feeling.

It was never fully explained why the book skipped a generation and it was handed down from grandmother to oldest granddaughter.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book felt like a Hozier song to me. The story was full of so much folklore and magic.

Carrie Morgan has returned to Woodsmoke, her hometown, after her grandmother passed away and left her an old cottage, that she must renovate, in her will. Carrie is hoping to also come to terms with the reasons she left ten years ago. With her return, an early frost also hits the small town, and with the frost comes a man who may or may not be part of a curse.

I loved the atmosphere of this story and where the plot went. This is the perfect cozy book to read during the Fall.

A cozy witch book is something I would typically love, unfortunately this one was not for me. I will say, I think this is a me problem - as many other people seem to love this book!

My major issue is that I wanted more magic. I felt like the story lacked the magical element that I had anticipated based on the name of the book and the description. Also, I love multi-POV stories, but with this story the different POVs hurt the flow and made me not feel attached to any of the characters. I thought the book did have a really great atmosphere and was written well but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for Avon and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

2.5/5

This was super fun little romance about a Carrie moving back to her hometown and decide whether she wants to make a life for herself there or go back out and see the world. While she fixes up her grandmothers home she and the town have to deal with the repercussion of her coming back, Carries former best friend and ex fiancé are now married with a daughter and her friends has secrets of her own. Carrie’s aunts the local town witch also is keeping secrets and then there is the new man in Carrie’s life who may or may not be the mountains form of revenge against Carrie for leaving. Overall it was a fun little romance with practical magic like vibes.

An enchanting, mystical story of the fictional Woodsmoke mountains and the Morgan women that have lived there for generations. Carrie Morgan has recently returned to Woodsmoke after inheriting her grandmother’s cottage. Now, Carrie must face her family’s heritage and decide if Woodsmoke holds her future.

This is a mystical story of finding home, love and one’s place in the world. While it is a bit short on actual magic, it is a lovely story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/ Harper Voyager for an early read in exchange for a fair review. I enjoyed and recommend this book – It’s a perfect Spooky season read.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells is the perfect book for a Fall night. Full of magic and with a mountainous setting, the story covers generations of Morgan women who pass down a book full of spells, recipes and family history.

The book focuses on Carrie Morgan who returns to Woodsmoke after 10 years when she inherits her grandmother Ivy’s cabin. Carrie is convinced she is only staying long enough to renovate the cabin during the winter in order to sell it in the Spring. When she meets a mysterious stranger during the first frost who offers to help with the renovations, Carrie ignores her Aunt Cora’s warnings about a family curse. As the current holder of the Book of Spells, Aunt Cora can’t help getting involved in the townspeoples lives until her meddling uncovers a ripple of chaotic events.

Full of magical realism and romance with themes of grief and friendship, Greenlaw’s story slowly unravels and the character’s relationships unfold to draw the reader in. An enjoyable and entertaining novel about coming home.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced reader’s copy.

Rachel Greenlaw's "The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells" is a captivating and enchanting read that weaves together the past three generations of Morgan women, their connection to the mountains of Woodsmoke, and the evocative Book of Spells from centuries long ago. I initially thought this would be a book with more of a magical storyline and feel, but it is more of a love story with some paranormal and mystery elements.

The book is centered around Carrie, who ran away from the town of Woodsmoke ten years ago when she was 18 years old and has never looked back until now. Her grandmother, Ivy, has passed away and left Carrie her cabin at the base of the mountains, not too far from her aunt Cora (who currently holds the Book of Spells). Carrie's return to town creates all sorts of rumors and disruptions for the townspeople, her former love, and her best friend.

The Book of Spells has been in Cora's possession for many, many years, but it didn't originally belong to her. What she's done and given up to become the holder of the book has created a self-centered, controlling, bitter, and crazed old woman.

Even stranger are the tales told in the Book of Spells from generations of Morgan women that are beginning to unfold in Carries' life. One in particular is a mysterious man named Matthieu, who is here to search the mountains for the body of his brother, who went missing many years ago. But Matthieu disappears when the frost melts away, just as the stories are told.

While I enjoyed the blossoming love story between Carrie and Matthieu, I also found it frustrating. She had all these doubts about him when comparing him to the stories in the Book of Spells but did nothing to prove his legitimacy.

Greenlaw's writing style is engaging, and the underlying messages were very thought-provoking - searching for answers and finding closure, chasing ghosts and guilt from your past and the damage it can do, the torture of bitterness, deep friendships, and craving a sense of belonging and feeling rooted to a place of our own.

Overall, it was an enjoyable mystery-love story.

Thank you, #NetGalley, #RachelGreenlaw, #AvonPublishers, and HarperVoyager, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #TheWoodsmokeWomensBookofSpells

The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells is a story of magic. The Morgan women pass down a book, from generation to generation, full of spells, recipes, and warnings. The lives of Carrie, Cora, and Jess collide when Cora's meddling causes an unfortunate series of events.

I really enjoyed the magical realism in this story. The magic and the mountains were almost another character. Our main characters were realistic and enjoyable, while also being extremely frustrating, Cora in particular. I found Carrie to be the least interesting character, and I wasn't quite sold on the romance between her and Matthieu. The friendship tension was great, and I wish we got to read more of Jess and Carrie together. Their dynamic was the most interesting to me.

The POV switched back and forth a few times, which was a little confusing, but overall this was very enjoyable.

This book has several elements to it - mystery, the paranormal, romance, self-discovery, friends reconnecting after a falling out...and while for the most part it was all woven together fairly well, there were a few points where the story felt a little flat to me.

The falling out between friends who end up reconnecting - very well done. The tension, the trauma, the reactions from all parties - the author did a great job of pulling you in and getting you invested in the situation.

The romance side...to me, it felt as though Carrie jumped on Matthieu to spite Cora, and to just feel something other than her own grief and self-doubt about being back in her old hometown. I didn't really feel any great chemistry between the two. And it didn't help that Cora kept insinuating that Matthieu isn't real - gaslighting much?

I definitely felt that Cora was written over the top. I think she wasn't intended to be a very likeable character (I mean, on some levels you feel sorry for her, but she causes a lot of chaos herself). She was definitely a very covetous person, especially towards her sister Ivy in regards to the book and even Carrie herself.

I liked the book, but there were definitely some points that kind of lost me.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. If you are looking for a cozy fantasy that touches on coming home, grief, and has practical magic notes this is a great book to pick up. The story of the town is well written, the romance is bittersweet, the magic that is in the FMC family is ancient and the characters are well fleshed out and feel like they could be real people. Great read for a windy autumn night, huddled inside with a hot cider.

The title and cover itself gives one a sense of the magical atmosphere written within the book. The author painted a picture of the mountains and town that I could really see. Unfortunately, the book did not contain much magic, rather it contained the handed down remedies of old. The book was written in three different perspectives. I can't say that I liked any of them. The story unfolds slowly as we learn that Carrie has returned to town after staying away for ten years. Her return is to claim the cottage that she inherited from her grandmother, Ivy. The mystery of why Carrie left town in the first place, never to return for ten years, is SLOWLY revealed. At the same time we meet Aunt Cora, a very bitter woman. This book barely reached three stars in my view. I thank NetGalley and Avon Books for the complimentary digital ARC. This review contains my own thoughts.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw combines magical realism, folklore, romance, and more in a heartfelt novel set in Carrie Morgan’s hometown of Woodsmoke. Carrie left the mountain town ten years ago. However, her grandmother has died and left her the dilapidated cottage she grew up in as well as her candle shop. Carrie plans to renovate the cottage during the fall and winter and sell it in the spring. She meets Mattieu as the temperatures drop and the first frost appears and hires him to help her with the renovations.

Despite her great-aunt Cora’s warnings about the old stories, Carrie falls for Mattieu. When he goes missing, Carrie decides to search for him despite the warnings. Is he real or not? Is this Carrie’s forever home or will she continue to travel the world?

Carrie is curious and doesn’t always listen to others. She feels adrift and unsure of her place in the world. She hasn’t even painted in a year. Will she find the answers she’s been seeking for the last ten years in Woodsmoke?

This story felt warm and cozy, but slow and somewhat disappointing. There wasn’t as much magic as I was expecting. Additionally, it was told from three different points of view and switched back and forth in time. This tended to adversely affect the flow of the narrative. Threads woven into the storyline include family, friendship, self-discovery, relationships, grief, and small-town gossip and treatment of those who are different.

Overall, I enjoyed the entertaining and atmospheric story, but it wasn’t what I expected. However, the world-building was excellent and it was a nice change-of-pace read that was also thought-provoking. The exploration of relationships was well-done.

Avon and Harper Voyager – Avon and Rachel Greenlaw provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 22, 2024.