gorgeous roamnce with some awesome characters and great lore. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I love books about witches, so I was really excited to read this book. The story follows, Doreen, a witch who is cursed to marry someone before she turns thirty, or she will die. The curse has been in her family for generations. In order to try to break the curse, Doreen must team up with the man who cursed her family.

I was intrigued in the beginning. I liked the premise and the atmosphere. What really irritated me about this story was the instalove between Doreen and Ambrose. They hadn’t known each other that long before falling madly in love. It just made me cringe.

There was also this whole thing with trials that Doreen had to go through. I’m not that into books that involve trials. I just didn’t really care. The pacing slowed down a lot by the time I got about halfway through the book and it took me forever to finish it.

I was hoping to enjoy this one more than I did since I do love books about witches, but unfortunately this was a miss for me.

I really liked the witches, Doreen and Margot and started to like Ambrose. I did unfortunately feel as if I wasn’t given enough to fully invest in the characters. I was missing some of the connection pieces.

Also a bit confused over some of the plot lines. Thank you for the chance to read in advance.

Rating: 2.5

I really enjoyed the witchy vibes in this and though the romance was probably the least compelling aspect of the read for me, I still was pretty invested throughout. My biggest issue was that the world building/magical rules grew a little convoluted towards the middle which made it difficult to follow, on top of that it was, at times, vague in a way that reminded me of how I felt reading Assistant to the Villain so I just felt like I was reading a slightly more competent, and witchy, version of that book.

I did however really enjoy the relationship between Margot and Doreen (and wish that was explored a bit more) + I weirdly grew fond of Lenora/Eleanor so I do think this book had a lot of elements that were right up my alley but the execution was just a bit unsatisfying in practice

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC to review!

At first I was unsure of why these women were cursed but as it kept going I understood that even though to be cursed to have men fall in love with you it would all be because of the curse and never knowing true love. Doreen decides that she will not settle for anything less than true love and so she behind her journey to try and break the curse. I really enjoyed this. The pain and suffering they felt seemed realistic. The ending was perfect as well. If we don’t get a second book it will still be okay.

This one was just wow. I expected the usual "break the curse" story, but this was so much more! The setting is creepy, haunting, gives you chills while still being light and making room for all the banter between Doreen and Ambrose🤭 The plot mixed with the romance SO well! I was constantly needing to know what they would uncover next, then be giggling over their bickering.

“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕.

I loved the multiple POVs. They weren't given in a way that said "Doreen POV" or "Ada POV". It was a little confusing the first couple of times, but was super easy and immersive once I got the hang of it. There's so much going on in the present, the past, and with everyone else that if it were delivered any other way I feel like it wouldn't of hit as hard.

”𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒎.”

The character relationships and development? Top notch. This was a love story torn from a generational curse caused by forbidden love. There were no bad guys, not really and when I tell you I CRIED😭 And that ending?! I was SCREAMINGGGG

“𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔.”

A Circle of Uncommon Witches has made me put all of Paige's books on my TBR. I'm absolutely in love with her writing style now🖤 Thank you so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's for the gifted copy!

The concept for this book was good. A witch dealing with a generational curse frees the centuries and witch who cast it to help her break the curse. But I didn’t feel it was executed well.

Our main character, Doreen, doesn’t like to play by the rules. She’s not like the other witches in her family that will marry someone they are cursed to have enthralled, just so she doesn’t die at the age of 30. She discovers where her family has kept the witch, Ambrose, that originally cursed their line 300 years ago and frees him so he can help her break it. Which leads to them doing fake trials for a soul eater who has connections to both of their families.

My main issue is that Doreen and Ambrose fall in love far too quickly, and there is absolutely no tension about it either. What should have been a good enemies-to-lovers is just ‘we hate each other because of things they happened 300 years ago, but now I love you.’ I felt like I was plunked into a story and things weren’t explained well enough.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book! It was a wonderful read during spooky season 👻 In my opinion it’s a wonderful mix of adventure and romance. It is set in modern times but doesn’t feel like it because there is no focus on current events/technology which I enjoyed that fact because I was not sure how she was going to write about that at first. This story was captivating from the beginning and I was drawn in by the magic of it all! ✨

This was a fun read, two witch families feuding until the 13th daughter decides to break the curse one witch put on the other family. Doreen is such a likable character while Ambrose is not. I loved reading about the history of both families and the secrets were surprising. A solid 3.5-4 star read.

This was a very enjoyable read. Doreen is cursed like the rest of her line, that if she doesn’t marry by 30- she’ll die. Her family does not have trouble finding mates since they can pull any partner under their spells, but Doreen wants true love. The vivid setting and magical elements kept me enthralled. I loved seeing the love story play out.

I'm on the fence. While A Circle of Uncommon Witches was a super quick and easy read (and pretty enjoyable for the most part), something was just lacking. Overall it was... fine.

📖: A Circle of Uncommon Witches-standalone

✍🏾 Author: Paige Crutcher, I read The Lost Witch and What Became of Magic 3 & 4 ⭐ reads

📅Publication date: 2-25-25 | Read 1-26-25

📃: eBook 320 pgs.

Genre:
*Romantic Fantasy
*Paranormal Romance
*Adult Fic
*Action/Adventure

Tropes:
* witches/ghosts
* magic
* a quest
* journey companions
* family drama
* slow burn romance
*sapphic romance

👆🏾POV: 3rd person, multiple

⚠️TW: imprisonment, physical abuse, suicide-just mentioned

🌎 Setting: Pines, GA

Summary: Doreen wants to break a three-hundred-year-old curse where a MacKinnon woman must find true love by thirty years old or die. Ambrose cursed the family for taking away his lover Lenora and the MacKinnon witches imprisoned him. Doreen has to free Ambrose and betray her family to unravel centuries of pain.

👩🏾 Heroine: Doreen MacKinnon-29, turns 30 on Halloween and must find true love or die.

👨🏾 Hero: Ambrose MacDonald- a centuries old male witch who fell in love w/ a MacKinnon woman who was taken from him.

🎭 Other Characters:

* Margot-Doreen's cousin
* Stella-Doreen's aunt
* Ada- Queen of the Order of the Dead
* Lenora-Ambrose's girlfriend
* Jack Morgan-Doreen's ex-bf
* Dean-Margot's husband


🤔 My Thoughts: Doreen was forced to stand up to Stella as no one else did. Even though Stella raised her and Margot (her daughter) she excommunicated them for betrayal. I loved the sisterhood between Doreen and Margot and how powerful they were together. The quest and witch trails Ambrose and Doreen went through brought up a lot of ghosts from both their families the MacKinnons and the MacDonalds but ended in a HEA.

Rating: 4/5⭐
Spice level 3/5 🔥not until the last chapter

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press |St. Martin's Griffin, and Paige Crutcher for this ARC🧙🏾‍♀️! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

This is such a Practical Magic read and I love the ambiance and vibes of it! The romance itself unfolded in an easy way for readers to understand. The paranormal-esque tale of the “Lost Witch” helped deepen the reader’s connection and created a deeper immersion in the story!

Thank you for NetGalley for this E-ARC.

Honestly, this book was not for me. I didn’t understand anything. The writing was super confusing for me. I very literally just finished the book and I can not for the life of me remember a single thing that happened. I struggled with the whole book. Wish I DNF:Ed it.

Doreen McKinnon and the women of her family have been cursed. (The reasons and the rules of the curse were hard for me to follow and things didn’t become clearer by the end.) But Doreen decides to take her fate into her own hands (cue music from Brave in my head) and takes steps to free Ambrose McDonald, the handsome witch who’s love affair gone wrong initiated the curse.

I’m struggling to decide how I feel about this book. It was compelling and easy to read but something feels lacking. There is a depth that is missing. The whole thing feels very thin. Like there isn’t anything beyond these people in this story. I also really couldn’t follow the connection between the three story lines (Ada, Lenora, Doreen) except that they all come from the same family? The romance was also a miss for me. Too much telling and almost no showing. I couldn’t understand why they would fall in love.

The world building/writing is rich and full of detail. But it doesn’t feel like it expands very large. The story feels smaller than I imagined.

Basically my thoughts can be summed up by this quote from the book:

“Neither of these tell us what we really need to know, thought I like the poetry.”

“Yes,” Ambrose agreed. “They’re poetic platitudes.”

The plot of the book seemed interesting, but the execution wasn't as good for me. It was difficult to follow at times and the two main characters, Doreen and Ambrose, didn't have a great connection in my opinion. However, I did like both characters and thought they were developed well individually. I wished some of the chapters were shorter so that the plot felt more straightforward.

This one was just okay for me. It felt a bit unnecessarily convoluted and confusing, and I had a hard time following what was going on.

Doreen has to break a curse that has been on her family for the last 300 years, or she will die before her 30th bday of a broken heart. The kicker, she has to break this curse with the person who created it!

The premise sounds great, but I DNF'd at 50%, I couldn't fight through it.

Few things that bothered me about the book:
. Chapters were repetitive - information was given in EVERY chapter that you read about in the chapter prior
. Romance was more of the subplot
. Slow going
, Felt 0 chemistry between the main characters

Doreen must break a 300-year-old curse or die of a broken heart on her 30th birthday. The only problem is that the way to break the curse involves teaming up with the very person who created it.

The lore in this book was spellbinding, and I was captivated by the trials and the various clues laid out in the story to break the curse. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance, and I always eat up any book that includes that trope. I absolutely loved the dynamic between the families, trials, and their history. I also adored Doreen’s relationship with her cousin.

However, I was a bit underwhelmed by the romance in this book. At times, it felt more like a fantasy novel with a romance subplot. The transition from enemies to lovers seemed abrupt, and that storyline felt a bit rushed compared to other elements in the book.

Overall, I would still highly recommend this book based on the elements that I enjoyed and mentioned in this review. Solid four star read.

I tried to finish this book because it was an ARC provided to me by netgalley, but there were just too many things wrong with it.

The chapters repeated the same information over and over again as if trying to make sure we understood a point they were trying to make that was already made obvious. The first chapter was an extreme example of this when talking about the curse and explaining how it happened (according to them). Another would be the phrase "Doreen is clever but she is not [fill in the blank].

The insta-attraction was also not something that I typically enjoy. I found the banter between the two sub par.

I also am not a huge fan of the size & power imbalance as well as the 300 year age gap.

Beyond just the content, I found the writing to be a bit too simplistic for me which made me less engaged with the story.