Imagine living knowing you will never find true love, and if you don't enthrall someone to marry you by the time you turn 3o, you will die. This is the reality for Doreen McKinnon and all the McKinnon witches. Doreen refuses to succumb to fate; she is determined to break the family curse and know what it is like to find true love. The first step was finding Ambrose McDonald, the man who cursed her family all those hundreds of years ago. Complete the witches' trials, and break the curse or die trying.
A Circle of Uncommon Witches is a beautiful story about enemies-to-lovers. Doreen is the lovely FMC; she is brave, determined, and wants love. Ambrose is stubborn and believes he was justified in his actions, yet can't help but notice the beautiful witch beside him. He's the perfect brooding MMC. This story has it all: wit, humor, banter between lovers, redemption, and the power of family and love. I highly recommend this book to fantasy and romance readers alike as it is the perfect mix of magic and love, and honestly, what is more magical than love?

The synopsis for this story is delightful and hooked me right away. What do you do when you have to team up with your enemy to break the curse that could kill you? Doreen MacKinnon has to do just that and must work with Ambrose MacDonald to solve her loneliness and feed his vengeance.

In spite of some slow spots in the last half, I did enjoy this paranormal tale. There is quite a bit going on, and I think that was what slowed this story down for me. Overall, it was an easy to read paranormal witch story, with romantic elements. This author does a good job with this topic.

An intriguing concept, but I feel the magic system could have been more clearly laid out. I wanted so badly to enjoy the romance aspect as well but for whatever reason did not find myself feeling invested in the characters.

This book is packed with magic, family curses, and an enemies-to-lovers dynamic that keeps things interesting. Doreen MacKinnon is one of the most powerful witches in generations, but that power comes with a price. She's doomed to die of a broken heart unless she can break an old family curse. The catch? She has to team up with Ambrose MacDonald, the very witch who cursed her bloodline in the first place. So yeah, things get messy.

Paige Crutcher does a fantastic job of building a rich, immersive world that pulls you right in. The trials Doreen faces were some of my favorite parts—tense, creative, and full of surprises. The overall atmosphere is dark and magical in all the best ways, making it easy to get lost in the story.

A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher checked a lot of boxes for me, but ultimately it fell a little flat in its execution. Still, this one is one to check out for fans of books like Practical Magic and Outlander.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Curses✓
Witches✓
Adventure✓
Romance✓
Oh my✓

I absolutely love a good witchy book, and A Circle of Uncommon Witches, by Paige Crutcher did not disappoint. I was so immersed in the story that I didn't realise what time it was, until I noticed the sun dawning through my window. This is such a well written story with rich characters.

This is a first read for me by this author. I absolutely loved this book. It pulled me in and I could have stayed up two extra hours to finish it. But I was too sleepy.

This is one of those books that is pure pleasure to read. A modern day witch story. A love story. A story about finding a way to remove a curse. I really loved how the story played out too. It was just adorable and perfect.

When Doreen decides to find a way to break an age old curse put on her family she knows she has her work cut out for her. She had been trying for ages to figure it out but with a note from her cousin she finally knows where to start.

A curse was put on the MacKinnon family that if they didn't fall in love and have that love returned by age thirty they would die. Doreen didn't want to settle for casting a spell to make someone fall in love with her. She wanted the real thing. The whole thing. While her cousin Margot didn't want to take a chance on death. She married a young man.

This book is about a curse. A family of witches through the ages. A male who supposedly started it all because of love. There are a few characters and some things going on but it's really easy to follow. Doreen and Ambrose, the one who was suppose to have started the curse, team up to stop the curse things are revealed. Things that neither knew about and a lot that Doreen was never told.

This is a love story also. A love that happens between two witches. Well one is a warlock I suppose, though that is never said. He's called a witch. A lot of twists and turns. A few trials going on. Not witch trials like you may think. Trials to break a curse...

I truly did enjoy this book very much. It held my interest from start to beautiful ending. All that goes along with a good love story too. From fighting those feelings to finally accepting it. From family interference to finally being left alone. This is a book about family. Love. Lost love. New love. And in a way torture...

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, for this ARC.

Five big stars.

The beginning of this book had me wondering if I was going to continue on. My first impression was that things were happening too easily. I was pleasantly surprised as I read on. It was a very adventurous, magical love story. After a quarter of the way through I didn't want to stop reading. I took away 1 star for the beginning but the rest was wonderfully whimsical.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of "A Circle of Uncommon Witches" by Page Crutcher. I truly appreciate the opportunity to read it.

As someone who usually devours books and stories about magic, I was really excited to dive into this one. Unfortunately, I found myself struggling to connect with the story and it took me a long time to finish the book.

The writing, while well-intentioned, felt somewhat amateurish at times. There was a noticeable tendency towards "telling" rather than "showing," which prevented me from fully immersing myself in the magical world and the characters' experiences. I often felt like I was being told what to feel, rather than being allowed to experience it organically.

Ultimately, "A Circle of Uncommon Witches" didn't quite deliver the magical experience I was hoping for. While I can see the potential in the premise, the execution left me wanting more. I'm rounding up to 3 stars.

This book was okay. It entertained me while I was reading it but I’m still confused by the whole story. Parts of it were really interesting and a lot of fun. Other parts were just kind of bleh.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I really enjoyed the story. It was fairly easy read, but that's always nice at times. I liked the characters and the back and forth. The romance was forseen but enjoyable, although I do wish there was more tension. I was a little confused at the ending when the curse was broken.

A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher is an enchanting blend of magic, curses, and reluctant alliances, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Scotland. The novel follows Doreen MacKinnon, a powerful yet lonely witch determined to break a centuries-old curse that dooms her family to heartbreak. Her only hope? The very witch who cast the curse—Ambrose MacDonald—who has his own plans for vengeance.

The premise is undeniably intriguing, offering a mix of adventure, romance, and high-stakes magical trials. The dynamic between Doreen and Ambrose has moments of tension and chemistry, making their uneasy partnership one of the book’s highlights. The trials they face add excitement, and Crutcher’s descriptions create a vivid, immersive world.

However, the novel struggles with pacing, sometimes dwelling too long on internal monologues at the expense of action. While the concept of love versus destiny is thought-provoking, the romance doesn’t always feel fully developed, and Ambrose’s character arc feels rushed in the latter half.

For readers who love witchy fantasy with a strong dose of adventure, this book has plenty to offer. But if you're looking for a deeply emotional romance or tightly woven plot, it may leave you wanting more. A solid, enjoyable read—just not as spellbinding as it could have been.

Doreen MacKinnon's family and coven were cursed centuries ago to never know love. She can choose between entraping a man with her magic or dying of a broken heart. She takes things into her own hands and picks option number 3: freeing the man who cast the curse and forcing him to tell her how to break it. Now, she and Ambrose MacDonald must face a series of trials in a world of dreams and danger if they hope to escape alive.

So surface level, the story is fascinating with the world Crutcher crafted as magically complex as the relationships that fill it. But while the romance is there, it feels rushed because you don't really get to see a lot of interaction between Doreen and Ambrose. They go through the trials and face danger, but scenes of them being together and getting to know each other are sparse. I would have liked more tender, revealing moments between them. And their relationship progression isn't the only one I had trouble with. There are so many complicated relationships and emotions going in every direction that this book needed a relationship map complete with explanations of how things sometimes got from one point to another.

It also gets needlessly complicated in moments when things should just be straightforward. It's like Crutcher set herself a word count goal that she had to meet or else. It sometimes works to make lines poetic and add to the magic, but it also makes things feel repetitive or wordy- a double-edged sword.

Overall, it's a fascinating story full of magic and moments that pull you in, but it's told in a complex manner that doesn't work for me.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the magical read!

I did enjoy this book from when Doreen freed Ambrose and they went to Scotland to break the curse up till the journals. Not a fan of the insta love between those to but I could deal with it (though it was kind of silly how he professed he undying love and was tortured for 300 years for loving another MacKinnon witch and then immediately had feelings for Doreen?). I actually loved reading more about the connection between Margo and Doreen. They were so strong together, making spells, and figuring out how to break the curse. I was good up till it got to the journals and then it got really convoluted about which curse needed to be broken, what the trials really were and how it related to Ada and the MacDonalds and MacKinnons with their fighting and eternal enmity. The magic and spells were cool though.

So, I think because it reads like a book in a series (with so much history and backstory told through the journals though it is a standalone), it kind of lost something and so it was mostly good and I had to see how it ended, it lacked a certain something and I preferred other books she wrote better.

This book had so much potential to be a fantastic fantasy with a romance storyline. The magic was intriguing, the plot twists kept coming, and the relationships were great. However, I have finished this book and still have no idea what happened for major parts of the book. Aspects of the magic system weren’t explained well enough to know what happened, and some world building lacked to the point where the reader was expected to understand the lore behind something without it ever having been explained. The same phrase being repeated over and over was supposed to clue the reader in… except this was the same phrase throughout the whole book. Also, the love story was extremely unbelievable and not developed on the page in my opinion. The magic system and journey were very unique and interesting, but the lack of clarity makes it difficult to recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an early copy!

I always gravitate towards books with trials, especially involving witches! The premise and lore truly hooked me, and I was happily surprised by the twists! Doreen is such a loveable female main character, and her family's curse line gave me practical magic vibes!

The world-building was really good. The plot was definitely more intricate and complicated than I had thought, based on the blurb. Not a bad thing - just not the super easy, breezy read I was anticipating. Focused on breaking the generational curse of her family, Doreen goes through trials to succeed. These were engaging and unique - I loved them.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing the opportunity to read and review this book.

⭐ 3.5
🌶️ .25
👀 Multi POV 3rd person
🩷 Something I liked: the Robert Frost poem
🙈 Something I disliked: there isn't one thing that stands out as "dislike", honestly just a general "it's not really my jam"
🛍️ Available: Now

💬 I'm really not sure what to think about this book. I felt like I was reading a mashup of a lot of books I've read in the past. So there are a lot of things that I kept finding myself thinking "this seems familiar".

That's not really a bad thing but I definitely think this would work better as a movie. There's a lot of stuff going on and a lot of layers to this story that would be better enjoyed in film. However it is definitely worth reading this book for the ending and that's why I bumped this up to a 3.5 ⭐.

I think the story itself is really well written, and it's very creative. It's hard to say a whole lot without giving away spoilers but I liked the idea of the storyline. Unfortunately the execution seems to drag.

Along with that there are a lot of hidden meanings that are making it hard to follow what's happening. Everything is a curse within a curse and there's more to the story than you see on the surface. And that's fine but it's happening with everything and I wish that it was just centered around 1 thing. But again for me this probably would have been resolved if it was a movie.

It also seemed like there was context missing that would have made the story more relatable and understandable. I have a feeling that if I were more involved in witchcraft or practiced this is as religion or maybe knew more about the lore I would have been able to connect more with the story.

For the right person this is going to be a great book, but I am not that person. I think this author will find their niche and do really well within that niche.

I am a sucker for witch in the title of any book! This book did catch me by surprise though. I enjoyed it even more than I anticipated! This is a definite recommendation.

Thank you to St. Martin’s press and the author for a free advanced reader copy of this book.

4⭐️

Cursed to die with a broken heart, Doreen MacKinnon is determined to break the curse and find true love.

This was a cute book. The vibes were vibing. It felt a little like practical magic and masters of death by Olivie Blake. It was predictable in the comforting sort of way. I loved the sister like relationships, the romance was great. Overall, a great story for the witchy romantics out there