“𝑭𝒂-𝒍𝒂-𝒍𝒂-𝒍𝒂-𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒕”

Rating: 2.5/5 ⭐️⭐️💫

Pub date: 10/15/24

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to get this ARC and return to the magical Graves Glen world.

I LOVED the Ex Hex, so so much. The Kiss Curse came next and it was good, but still left much to be desired. Unfortunately, I did not like this one. The story was so rushed, the insta love threw me off and I felt nothing for the characters. The premise was really good though, it just was not executed well. This makes me very sad to report.

A charming mix of magic and holiday romance. I enjoyed the holiday theme of this story set in Graves Glen and the play on Welsh folklore. Overall it was an endearing story with fun characters and an engaging plot. The pacing was unbalanced at times and parts would have benefitted from being more developed.

Such a fun and cute holiday read from a cozy, witchy series!
I love this world that Erin has created and Bowen and Tamsyn's story was such a great way to wrap up the Graves Glenn series. I loved getting to see Tamsyn's character again and how she fit so perfectly with Bowen and his mountain-manness. The mystery and the time travel elements were a huge driving force of the story although the romance did shift into somewhat of a drag. They felt like that couple that can't keep their hands off each other in the worst setting (which actually happens a lot in the book now that I think about it).
In all, I love this series and I loved getting to be in Wales and 1957 for this one!

This book serves as a good way to step from Halloween to Christmas. While it is set at Christmas time, there weren’t too many Christmassy elements, but the witches serve as a natural Halloween element so I decided to read it right at the end of November.

These are exactly what they look & sound like - cheesy, quick romantic comedies. This is a part of the broader Ex Hex series & I was sadly not as entertained by this one. If I had to rank it, it is probably the least favorite of the series. It has the same key plot points as the previous two but was just missing the umph for me this time. (I should caveat I don’t expect anything crazy with these types of books so my scale probably shifts down I rarely give a 4 so that is sortve the new 5 in this case lol) But since I’ve already invested two books, I felt like I had to finish it out with this third!

This is the third book in the Graves Glen series. Each book is about a different couple, but I still recommend you start at the beginning since the previous characters are recurring and some of the story follows a bit of an arc. I’ve enjoyed all three books although I do have a favorite (The Kiss Curse). This was a fun and entertaining installment that follows loner Bowen Penhallow and the non-magic Tamsyn Bligh, procurer of magical items, who also has a history with Bowen’s siblings and their partners from a previous story.

Bowen hires Tamsyn exclusively to find items for his study and experiments with ancient magic. He has a bit of a history with experiments that have gone wrong in the past and a best friend in Colin who is sort of a ghost because of their joint curiosity about ancient magic. The late Colin’s fiancé is getting married again and he requested Bowen attend the wedding festivities and make sure that she is okay. Unbeknownst to Bowen, Tamsyn has taken what she hopes is one last moonlighting job to procure an item that will enable her to retire and turns up to Tywyll House, the setting for the same witchy wedding.

This story is told in third person and follows the couple as they interact over a course of time leading up to their attending of the wedding where they end up pretending to be a couple. I love the fake relationship trope and the banter between these two who already knew each other made this one entertaining. The other wedding attendees were eccentric and fun adding more chaos to the story with family drama and even time travel to the 1950s where you meet even more eccentric relatives and chaos. I love a time travel trope too! Bowen and Tamsyn must figure out what they need to do to get back to their own time.

Recommended for lovers of fake relationships, time travel, weddings, and holiday romance. This one has it all!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

While I really enjoyed the other books in this series, this one just didn't land for me. It took a bit for everything to get going. The time travel was a fun element and did make the book standout from the previous stories.

Did not get good until the second half of the book.
Could not remember the characters from the other novels and how they connected with this story.

"Consider me not worried."
"And now if I don't talk to you, the day never feels quite right."
"You're not a sad bastard."

Thank you Net Galley and Avon Harper Voyager for an E-ARC of The Wedding Witch. This was an entertaining read, filled with witty, funny, and peculiar banter. The time traveling element kept my attention, and I also really enjoyed the connection, and vibe between Bowen and Tamsyn. The push and pull between them and their feelings was understandable but yet not annoying at all. The magical and time travel parts of the story heightened the experience more and made it more entertaining. Some parts of the story fell flat to me and I feel like the book could have been even more condensed and still have the same effect it has with lower page amount.

Lastly, the ghost (Bowen's friend Declan) was definitely the comic relief that was needed to push the story and keep it going / flowing.

I really enjoyed the conclusion to this interconnected trilogy. This book was a lot of fun and the time travel aspect was unique. I also loved how despite Bowen being the outcast of the family, he was able to connect on a deeper level with his family in the past. My only complaint about the story was that him going from celebrating Yule in Graves Glen to then being at Tywyll was very abrupt. It seemed like there could’ve been a better transition where he told them he was leaving. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and conclusion to this world. Thank you to Erin Sterling, Avon and Netgalley for this ARC copy!

Cannot handle the poor writing and failed attempts at description and setting. The story could be good, the characters could be good, and the setting COULD BE good, if the author spent more time hashing out details and taking a creative writing class. I needed more.

The Wedding Witch is the third installment in the Graves Glen series. I loved the other two books in the series and this one was equally engaging! Bowen Penhallow and Tamsyn Bligh end up at a Yuletide wedding in Wales. They time travel to 1958 when a spell goes wrong. Can they solve problems there and find their way back?

This is a cute romance with delightful characters. It was a wonderful read. I can't wait to see what Erin Sterling comes up with next. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the advanced digital copy of the book.

If you’re a fan of the Graves Glen series, The Wedding Witch is perhaps worth reading for completion’s sake. Erin Sterling’s mix of magic and humor charmed in the past and conjured up a deliciously compelling character in Bowen. However, this book struggled to deliver on the romance, making it difficult to overlook a rough and uneven plot.

The chemistry between Bowen and Tamsyn, which should have been the heart of the story, felt thin and unconvincing. Their connection relied heavily on tropes, and hot hookup scenes, without the emotional groundwork to make their happily ever after work. If this story occurred outside the genre guidelines, I’d say this was Bowen finding a fun fling before he figured out who was Ms. Right Witch.

Tamsyn was meant to be playful and carefree, but often came through as self-absorbed in a way that distanced her both ethically and emotionally from her romantic pairing. She never seemed to be a character that was interested in a relationship and would be perfectly happy staying single with occasional side action. This is fine for a main character outside a genre Romance, but I need to see more internal growth and connection to her partner to believe their ever after status.

Bowen was brooding as expected, but he also felt a bit inconsistent from previous books—almost as if he got sent through the cinnamon roll glazer to cover over his spice. He was grumpy when it was convenient to the story, but he also seemed oddly fine capitulating to Tamsyn when she flatly deserved a lot more hell given her way.

This may be a side-effect of using the grumpy/sunshine trope to carry a pairing instead of a more nuanced delivery. Often those characters end up feeling like caricatures from under development both separately and shown growing together.

The time-travel premise—being transported to a Yuletide celebration in 1958—initially promised intrigue and spooky atmosphere, but never fully came together. The setting felt underutilized, and the stakes, whether romantic or magical, didn’t carry much weight. If the time-travel premise was going to be deployed effectively, their leap backward needed to occur far earlier in this shorter narrative.

It felt as if the first third was meandering around with these two on literal separate continents. The book is practically half over by the time leap, leaving no space to develop their in person chemistry and relationship while also doing the tough work of time-travel intrigue. The plot left so many strings untied as a result and the relationship was reduced to a physical connection without an emotional backing.

As the conclusion to an otherwise enjoyable series, this story didn’t cast a spell. If anything, I was rooting for Bowen to get another crack down the line after Tamsyn leaves to go find herself on a different continent again.
__________
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the Advanced Reader Copy. Expected publish date: Oct 8, 2024

I've enjoyed the previous two books in this series, The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse, but I think this book is my favorite in the series! (I do recommend reading the others in the series first, though.)

Bowen hires Tamsyn to help him track down magical artifacts, and after a year of exchanging flirty messages, they make a plan to meet up on Christmas Eve. But plans change when they are separately tasked to crash a wedding in a remote Welsh castle and end up traveling back in time.

I love a good time travel story, and this one had a fun keep-your-grandparents-from-breaking-up storyline (sort of like Back to the Future) that also helped to develop some backstory about Bowen's father, which has been a storyline throughout the series. I think fans of the series will enjoy learning more about the history of Bowen's family.

This might be my favorite book in the Graves Glen series! I adored Bowen and Tamsyn together and had so much fun watching their love story unfold. It was great to see the whole trilogy come full circle and I will miss these characters!

I really liked the first two books in this witch romance series. The Wedding Witch is slightly different - it takes place during the Yule festivities in Wales. It does involve a Penhallow brother, however. Bowen Penhallow feels guilty about the fate of his college mate, Declan, who exists only as a ghost in a spell gone wrong. He has employed Tamsyn Bligh (who is not a witch) to acquire objects he thinks will help him get his friend back. However, through a series of coincidences and mishaps, Bowen and Tamsyn find themselves under a different spell that is quite disorienting. They have to solve their predicament but end up falling in love while doing so. This book is somewhat seasonal for Christmas but could be read anytime in the fall. I thought the romance worked really well and the machinations of the plot made the book adventurous. Always entertaining, Sterling has delivered again!

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.

If The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling isn’t already on your TBR, you’re seriously missing out. As the third book in the Graves Glen series, it’s the perfect blend of spooky, swoony, and laugh-out-loud fun—basically everything you’d expect if you’ve loved the first two. Spoiler alert: this one might just be my favorite (but don’t tell Vivi or Gwyn!).

This time, we dive into a magical wedding that’s equal parts chaos and charm, with Sterling’s signature wit in full force. If you’re a fan of cozy witchy rom-coms, The Wedding Witch is your vibe. Erin Sterling, you’ve done it again!

Studious recluse Bowen Penhallow is in need of a magical artifact that will fix a mistake from his past. Smart and adventurous Tamsyn Bligh is the perfect acquirer for Bowen to keep on retainer. Well she was, before Yuletide last year, now Bowen’s worried she’s just the perfect woman for Bowen to keep in his life. So when Yuletide rolls around this year and the two coworkers - strictly coworkers - find themselves guests with ulterior motives at a haunted mansion in the Welsh countryside who knows what will happen.

I love these two idiots!!!! Bowen and Tamsyn were so fun and so lovable and I enjoyed watching them realize their feelings for each other. This series from Erin Sterling is so cozy and lighthearted and the perfect read when you want a book that’ll make you smile, blush, and feel like a warm hug all in one. This book particularly isn’t for readers looking for well developed plot and intricate magic systems. I also wish I would’ve re-read the other two ahead of this book to get the full effect of the Penhollow brothers and their significant others come full circle. But all in all a quick cheerful read! Can’t wait to see what Erin Sterling comes out with next!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for an honest review.

Omg! I am so happy to have gone back to Graves Glen to follow Bowen’s story with Tamsyn! It was so cool to go back in time and try to figure out how to get back to current time. This book will take you for a silly goofy time but it was so fun and sweet! Loved getting to see snips of Vivi, Rhys, Gwyn, and Wells!

I absolutely love this series from Erin Sterling. I am very picky about rom coms and these are just a perfect in my opinion. The level and amount of spice is just right. You don’t get too, too much spice but what you do get it perfectly done! I loved The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse but The Wedding Witch is my favorite without a doubt. The gorgeous but spooky Welsh castle at Christmas-time setting and the adventure elements really knocked this installment in the Graves Glen series out of the park. Bowen and Tamsyn are so lovable and easy to root for and I can’t wait to see how they’re doing in the next book. If you love a magical rom com (or really any rom com) you must put this series on your list!! Thanks to NetGalley and Avon publishing for the eARC of this novel.

I enjoyed this! It was definitely not my favorite of the series and I didn’t really feel the connection between the characters but I liked the storyline and the mystery!