An alternative title to this book could be The witch's guide to cottage core. This is a cozy book with witchy vibes. it has the fun elements of a magical book along with the tension of the enemies to lovers storyline. It is whimsical and heartwarming. I recommend reading by a fire with a pumpkin spice latte.

vibes: rivals to lovers, cozy mystery with magic, Practical Magic sensibilities

Heat Index: 3/10

When a magecraft firm opens up in Owl's Hollow, Charlie can't help but feel threatened. Fitz is handsome and charming, but his business is competing against Charlie's own magic shop, and there's really only room for one of them in town. But when strange magical events begin affecting the residnts, Fitz and Charlie must put their differences aside (and maybe kiss) and team up to protect their town.

So! I picked this up due to that beautiful cover, as well as the promise of witchcraft and a bit of competition. I'll admit that the coziness was somewhat out of my comfort zone, but hey! It's witchcraft, so coziness could work in a Halloweentown way.

And I think this is another case of "this will work for a lot of people, it worked less so for me". Because if you do enjoy something like a Halloweentown experience--the sweet, and yes, cozy plus campy storytelling--you'll like this. It also reminds me of Practical Magic, which I do love... albeit much lighter, which is probably why Practical Magic worked more for me. It's cute in that sense!

However, this really did fail to get me as a romance, and as we know, when I believe I'm going into a romance, I want it to be a romance. These two took a while to have meaningful interactions. I needed that to happen earlier. The book seemed more into the world and the mystery than the love story. Which, fine! Cool! I just don't know that I'd sell this as a romance first.

The Sex:

There is a bit of sex on the page, but it's fairly tame and brief.

So, yeah--not for me, but well-written and definitely for people who want a cozy, quick, easy witch-on-witch story with light love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Random House, Ballantine, NetGalley, and D.L. Soria for allowing me access to the eARC.

The Cottage Around the Corner is such a cute, fun, witchy romance, with all the cozy, warm feelings you get from a dirty chai, and that extra bit of depth and richness from the shot of espresso.

Jumping right in to the story, with Charlie, and her moms, the fun, whimsical, and incredibly loving relationship they have is heartwarming.
Her moms are easily one of my favorite parts of the story and I so hope the author decides to do a prequel with even more magic showing the amazing love story these two have.

Charlie as the FMC being an adult woman and entering a relationship with another, age appropriate adult is such a refreshing break from the more common trope in romance. I loved seeing her grow, and overcome her self doubt as she was juggling helping with the business, a budding relationship that was also still a little bit of a rivalry, and the magical chaos.

I'd love to see more of Fitz as a person, and his sister, and more of an epilog of what life looks like for everyone would've really brought this book from a satisfying 4/5 to a 5/5

Overall, I do plan on purchasing a physical copy when it hits the shelves and look forward to reading more from this author

This was a super cozy and fun read. Admittedly, I requested this because I saw the cover and just adored it. Upon reading the synopsis I decided to take a leap of faith and read The Cottage Around the Corner by DL Soria. This story is a You've Got Mail inspired contemporary RomCom with fantasy elements and rivals to lovers. If you're looking for magical mayhem and mystery, this story may be for you!

First and foremost, I want to say just how much I appreciated how inclusive this read is as it has tons of queer/BIPOC representation. Secondly, I also want to say I'm typically not a "romcom" reader as I find a lot of the humor is (for lack of a better term) cringey millennial humor, but the humor in this book is silly and tongue in cheek. I also loved the Parks and Rec quote.

I appreciate characters IN THEIR THIRTIES. I enjoy the representation. I also appreciate being represented by secular characters.

Now to the romance. I think that Charlie (FMC) and "Fitz" (MMC) are a cute couple. Their relationship progression didn't feel rushed (TO ME. THIS IS MY OPINION). And the spice in this is mild, but definitely had me tuned in. It doesn't become a main focal point of the story nor does it detract from what the author is writing about. I just wish toward the end of the book we had some more cuteness between these two. Like an epilogue or something. ANYTHING.

Overall, I rated this book 3.75/5 stars. It started off a little bit slow for me, but I loved the teamwork between the two main characters trying to get to the root of the town's very inconvenient magic troubles. Spice I would say maybe 1.5/5.

This is a perfect, easy, low stakes late summer/early fall read to get you in the PSL spirit. Highly recommend!

A big thank you to Netgalley for the ARC! This was such a cozy, witchy read. There were a few repetitive moments, and at times I was frustrated with the main characters' communication. However, I really enjoyed the banter & the conclusion was satisfying. The overall vibe of this was lovely, and I would be open to reading more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, D.L. Soria, and publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

3.75 stars

This book is the perfect example of a cozy witchy mystery rom-com. I really enjoyed it. I loved all of the characters that brought this town together. It felt like it was a real place. I do love it when families try to interfere in a relationship in cozy books. I do think it would have been cool if the magic part had more of a focus at times. It did also seem to drag for me in the middle. But overall, I really enjoyed it.

I highly recommend it! If you love cozy witchy rom-coms with a little spice.

3.5 rounded up

Charlie and Fritz are a witch and a mage in this rivals to lovers story. This was a cozy romance that was overall very enjoyable to read! However, I did find Charlie a little impulsive and immature for someone who is supposedly in her 30s at times. I enjoyed Fritz and his sister.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for providing me with an early copy for a review. All opinions are my own.

A cute and cozy book with a sprinkling of romance, a dash of mystery, and a whole lot magic. What kept this book from being a five star read, was the immaturity level of the FMC. I was so excited to discover our FMC was in her 30s, an “advanced age” for many fantasy books, but she still acted as though she was in her late teens or early 20s.

This is a solid witchy romance! My favorite parts about the story are the small town drama and setting, the family relationships, and the magic! This is perfect fall cozy story to dive into and I can’t wait to read it again ☺️

Cozy witch romances really just hit different. This was insanely cute and I loved how much Charlie’s character developed throughout. Fitz and Charlie were such likable and relatable leads and the cast of side characters were SO GOOD. Seriously the small town felt so fleshed out, I feel like I have such a distinct image of everyone and each part of town. The magic system wasn’t super deep but honestly I think a super complex system would have taken away from the characters and the mystery aspect. I knew from the title, description, and cover (amazing) this was going to be a winner. But really, such a cute and fun story that I devoured!!! Highly recommend checking this one out!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
What a fun little cozy witchy romance! I really enjoyed. Has the usual tropes and includes some of the qualities of contemporary romance like a quick move from enemies to lovers that’s a little less than realistic but I don’t come to romances, especially witchy ones, for the reality lol.

I really enjoyed this! After a months-long reading slump due to college, this was the perfect book to start back with. It was just so whimsical and cozy! I absolutely loved the dynamic between Charlie and Fitz, their soft moments were so touching. It did feel like they went from enemies to lovers alarmingly fast but they seems to be a problem lots of romances suffer from. I've learned that most witchy romances are surefire hits for me and this one was no different! I'd recommend it!

This book provided everything I want from a witchy contemporary romance — cozy autumn vibes, an eclectic small town cast of characters, and a mystery that kept the pace up. It was enemies to lovers which isn’t always my favorite trope but I loved it here, as the rivalry felt really believable and organic. The voice was also great, with funny internal dialogue and witty banter.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

I've been loving a good witchy urban fantasy/contemporary romance book lately, and have devoured most of those mainstream ones on the market. So I was delighted to get this ARC based on reading the description.

The Cottage Around the Corner has a bit of a rough start, similar to Sarah Hogle's new book, Old Flames and New Fortunes, in the sense that there is a big sensory overload, descriptor world dump at the start. But push through it, and I feel as though the writing flows much better and makes this book easy to zip through!

Our MMC, Fitz, falls into the private, uber-competent, from a rich family but running away, class of male romantic interests. And I have nothing against that. Fitz falls first, going as far as to ask our FMC out to dinner upon their first meeting. He consistently time and time again shows up for our FMC, never wavering in his showing of interest. I didn't necessarily get the clearest sense of why he is so quick to like our heroine - particularly off the heels of a bad breakup. But regardless, this made for a calm book in which many other plot points and magic system things are explained, but we are never left in suspense on where we stand in our relationship. That is, the romance is a stable one, which is always my preference. Our FMC, Charlie, is a bit more frustrating in her tendency to waffle between not being with Fitz because they are arrivals and she equates that with losing her home and business, Chanterelle Cottage. Even at the point when it becomes clear their magic can work in tandem, she perseverates. Similarly, she gets very holed up in her perception of a past failure impacting everyone's view of her. This gets a little tired and repetitive towards the end of the book, but not enough for me to get overly frustrated. I sort of just saw her as an under-therapized girl - though in fairness, with such kind and awesome moms, I'm not entirely sure where her lack of therapizing is coming from.

Ultimately, this book builds up a lovable small-town cast of characters, has diverse representation without bashing you over the head with it, and has thorough current of a building romance and magical hijinks. Perfect for any fans of the witchy contemporary romance drama, especially as a reader who is not always looking to commit to a fully fantastical world of war and high-stakes and royalty, sometimes all I want is calm with a dash of magic -- and this book brings that! I'm looking forward to follow-up books in the series centered around hopefully Fitz's sister!

THEM: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

ME: “…but! when the cover is this stunning, make an exception.”
Seriously, this is the prettiest cover, hats off to the designer on this.

QUICK REVIEW:

Okay let get down to business.
D.L. Soria isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade. The “elevator pitch” is
You’ve Got Mail x Magic.

Add a closed door scene. But also make it feel a little Hallmark worthy if they were having a cozy mystery week.

WHAT I LIKED:

- Sibling love, it’s one of my favorite troops. Yes, I even loved the sibling broom. 😁
- The dialogue.

MINOR TIFFS:

- I wanted less meeting-the-town and deeper fantasy detail. I felt the overall mage magic system a little too vague. I realize though I read a lot of fantasy and my bar is set high in this regard.
- I predicted a few plot turns… and though I’d love to pet myself on the back, I want to be surprised.

FAVORITE PART:

- “ ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,’ ” he quoted, which would have been more frightening if his voice ’weren’t shaking as hard as his legs. He earned himself several harsh looks with that—the market was a mainstay in the witch community. An elderly Latina woman in a nearby booth pointed a bony finger at him and hissed something in Spanish that I’m sure he thought was a bruja curse. (In fact, she told him to fuck off.)”

- But like the banter around the “Goddamn Dickosaurus” is a close second. 😅🦕

RECOMMENDED…
- For Fans of Lovelight Farms (B. K. Borison) & Ashley Poston. Add a sprinkle of Heather Fawcett vibes.
- When you’re mood reading needs some small town drama.
- When you are looking for an easy and smirk-worthy win in the Fall.
- When you need a book that shows love is love is love is love.

3.75/5 Rounded up, because I wish the Chanterelle Cottage was real. 😩

———
Awwwww, it baby’s first #netgalley review. (Sniff, sniff.) My thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC.

Mystery, romance, and witchcraft, oh my! This enemies to lovers was so cute, kept me turning pages and giggling. This is another book I'm adding to reread for spooky season

The Cottage Around the Corner is a delightful book about enemies to lovers. Set in her parents magic shop, Charlie Sparrow hopes to take over running Chanterelle Cottage from. her parents. A mage opens a competing store across the street and they battle it out for survival of their shops. You've Got Mail meets Practical Magic at its best.