THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD OH MY GOSH. My first book by the author, and I have a feeling I'll be diving in to more if the other books are similarly well written!
Paisley and Logan were so addicting to read about and I was constantly on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen between the two of them. This romance was hot, it was enjoyable, and it was entertaining. I can't wait for the rest of the series!

This is the first book I've read by this author! I really liked the dark academia setting. The romance took awhile for me to root for it. I am very excited to see where this goes in book two and learn more about her abilities, ended on a cliffhanger.

A dark academia x enemies-to-lovers romance you *must* read!

I have nothing but great things to say about Spellcaster- I was hooked from page 1. I started this book at 5:30pm on Wednesday evening, read till 11:30pm, went to sleep, woke up at 6:30am and finished it all before 9am...so yes, I really was engrossed in the story😂 I was definitely in a "right mindset" when reading this- I'm in the middle of preparing for an exam of my own, so getting to escape into a magical fantasy school was way more exciting than trying to finish my own writing (LOL). The elemental magic was so fun to read about, and if I had to choose my own, I'd want to be a nature sprite (you mean to tell me I get an animal I get to hang out with for the rest of my life?! Sold!).

I will say, this is a slowburn enemies-to-lovers...but the wait is SO worth it. Given that I read it so fast, one might not think that, but I promise you- you'll be wanting to read it as fast as possible too!

Spellcaster is perfect for anyone wanting to dive into a magical school filled with history, mystery, and secrets, and a FMC who will have you exclaiming "Oh. My. Witches!"

If you’re looking for a story packed with magic, suspense, and characters that feel like old friends (or deliciously complicated enemies), this one’s an absolute must-read.

Right from the start, the world-building hooked me. Jaymin Eve crafts a universe that feels immersive and fresh—like you’re stepping into a place where magic is raw and unpredictable, and danger is always lurking just around the corner. The lore is rich without ever getting bogged down in info dumps, which I really appreciate.

3.75 stars!

this was really fun and cute and witchy with some great spicy moments! some of the dialog did feel very YA and gave off the feeling the characters were younger than they were described (FMC is supposed to be 22, but some of the things she said and the way she acted felt more like she was a teenager)
I did predict the plot twist, but the book had me on the edge of my seat up until the very end wondering if I was right or not. and the cliffhanger was absolutely diabolical!! I hope book 2 comes out soon because I neeeeed answers.

4 stars

Also, I loved that the main character’s name was Paisley—same as me! Made it so fun to imagine myself in the story.

If Zodiac Academy and Harry Potter had a baby, this would be it.

Spellcaster is a fast-paced enemies-to-lovers romantasy about Paisley Hallistar, a young witch accepted to Weatherstone, a magical academy. But her dad’s rival’s son is there too, and, of course, he’s hot. After a dark magic incident, Paisley ends up asking her enemy for help. In this game of magic, love, and rivalry, who will come out on top?

I really enjoyed it. It checked all my fave tropes: dark academia, magic, family rivalry, childhood friends. For the enemies-to-lovers, the pacing was slow at times, but picked up well toward the end.

Highlights
-Dark academia
-“Who did this to you?” vibes
-Enemies to lovers
-Slow burn
-Elemental magic
-“F*ck it” moments
-Family rivalry
-Dark magic
- Cliffhanger

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All thoughts are my own 🫶

Spellcaster unfortunately, was not for me. I think it had a lot of promise and there were aspects I think could have been really intriguing - but it all fell flat for me. There was so much potential for some great tension between our fmc and mmc, but it fizzled so hard. The magic system never felt fully explained - basically I was left wanting more details about basically everything.
There was a lot of potential here it just never reached the finish line.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to read this early!

I’m going to be honest, I was excited for this book. Instead what I found was a disjointed, predictable, and “trying too hard” book. I really wanted to like it, normally a predictable book wouldn’t be a problem for me, they can still be a really fun read! But I think adding to things for me was that I wasn’t a fan of the writing in general, it felt like the story was being told through bullet points almost. The “enemies to lovers” was definitely not that at all, as the MMC never actually seems to be out to kill the FMC the way she thinks. Overall, not my favorite book, but I hope the people who will like it find it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

This book was a fun read and was engaging and written well. The reason I’m giving it a 3/5 is because it felt very unoriginal or sort of like it played into the popular troupes as it’s main interest point, which made it fun but not very memorable. I recommend this book as a quick and enjoyable read but I’d have loved for there to be more substance and deeper development into the plot and characters for this to hit harder.

I'm kicking myself because how the heck did I come to think this was a standalone romantasy?! Now I'm hanging off this cliff after what amounted to a small thrills ride but I'm still wanting to know the secrets and conclusion 🫠🫠🫠

I was excited to dive into my second Jaymin Eve novel, especially of the romantasy genre! I had recently read Forced Proximity that Jaymin Eve had cowritten with Tate James and I ATE THAT UP!

However, Spellcaster fell a bit short of expectations. It either needed more depth or less. It felt a little undecided on whether it would be a smutty KU romp made of tropes or a multi-part story with world building, lore, and a magical education system. It unfortunately fell short of both and suffered choppy pacing with quite a bit of retrospective exposition that felt more tell than show but also, was it relevant?

The storyline itself is compelling and I am really curious to unravel the mysteries of Paisley and Logan's pasts. Though I guessed the reveal at the end, I still want to know the backstory and I NEED MORE LOGAN SEXXY TIME. Maybe throw in Noah and Marcus too to get a good why choose situation going.

I dunno, I had high hopes and a misunderstanding of the series length, but I can help feeling a bit let down. I will, however, keep my preorder of this pretty book and will read the next installment!

Thank you to HTP Books for my NetGalley auto-approval of this eARC as a part of The Hive Influencer team!

3.5 ⭐
1 🌶️

I can't tell where I stand on this book, even several weeks after finishing it. I loved the dark academia setting, but I didn't like that the college/university aged characters acted like they were high schoolers. I love my fantasy romance books to have spice, but the male love interest is barely on the page enough for me to believe in any sort of chemistry or emotional connected, so the two spice scenes felt really out of place to me. I also picked this book up and put it down a bunch of times across the 10-12ish days it took me to finish it, which is never a good sign about the pacing of the book. I also found it quite odd that the author exposes herself as being non-American with her descriptions of New York State and referring to different stages of education as primary and secondary school. It unfortunately took me out of the story.

This might be the most difficult review I’ve written to date, because Spellcaster was a book I both loved and hated at the same time. It's a contemporary Romantasy, and while the premise immediately drew me in, the execution left me conflicted.

Let’s start with the worldbuilding. Imagine you're fully immersed in apothecaries, spells, and magical bloodlines, then suddenly someone references Pokémon. (Yes, really.) The blending of modern slang and pop culture with a fantasy setting felt jarring, pulling me out of the experience more than once. At times, it read like a contemporary romance author dipped their toe into fantasy, not because of the romance (which I actually enjoyed), but because of references that felt...oddly meta. One of the FMC’s friends is a “bookish girl,” and some of the commentary around romance readers felt more like a dig than an homage. It felt like the author was resentful of the genre, but writing in it as an attempt to sell a book. Without knowing Jaymin Eve’s background (she’s known for spicy fantasy and monster smut), it came off as borderline mocking, and I genuinely had to pause mid-read to research her to make sense of it all.

Despite that, the plot hooked me in. The pacing had some highs and lows, and while a few twists were very predictable (I had notes in chapter two that aged like prophecy), I still found myself needing to know what happened next. Unfortunately, the book ends at what finally felt like the actual climax, which made the cliffhanger feel more like a plot interruption than a natural stopping point.

On the romance front: Paisley and Logan bring the heat. Their chemistry is intense, the spice is artfully written, and I’m intrigued to see how their bond and Paisley’s powers develop in the next installment.

Final thoughts: Spellcaster had moments of brilliance buried in uneven execution. If you’re a fan of Jaymin Eve or like your fantasy with a heavy dose of spice and sarcasm, this might still work for you, but go in with tempered expectations. I’m cautiously curious to see where this series goes.

Spellcaster was a Hel of a fun read! I feel like it had a sprinkle of Fourth Work romance angst, great banter between friends and a certain enemy, there was mystery, witches, warlocks, monsters, elemental magic and necromancy, and the school history definitely was my cup of tea!

It did take a me a hot minute to get into this one but, I felt once I did I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed Paisley as a character, she wasn’t weak even though she did have her insecurities. I enjoyed her friend group and family — but, I did wish we had a little more Logan. However, for slow burn purposes this worked because well… it left me wanting more so I call that good in my books.

There are definitely a lot of loose strings that I was like noooo! It can’t be over and now I have to wait for the next book to find out where those strings lead and if you’re looking for resolutions you’ll definitely not find them in this book. It left me with a great hook for wanting the sequel.

All in all I had such a great time reading this one and it broke my reading slump so I was thrilled by that.

E-Galley kindly provided by HarperCollins Canada for reviewing.

That cliffhanger wasn't fair. I was really hoping for more answers at the end of this book lol. But it looks like I'll be eagerly awaiting the next one!

Paisley is sent to a top-tier magical academy to hone her skills. She hasn't shown an affinity for one element over the other, so she continually struggles to exceed. Not to mention these deadly shadow creatures show up randomly and seem to be attracted to her. Thankfully Logan, aka the most gorgeous and powerful spellcaster in the school, is also drawn to Paisley and always saves the day. I'm really intrigued to find out their connection.

I loved the Dark Academia setting, elemental magic, and air of mystery in Spellcaster. There were definitely clues to one major puzzle, and I felt a sense of satisfaction of knowing I was right. There are still some lingering nagging questions, though.

Spellcaster has a hint of Zodiac Academy vibes but with less bullying, no shifters, and one FMC. If you enjoyed that book, I'd think you'll like this one!

Tropes:
✨️Dark Academia
✨️Touch Her And 💀
✨️Elemental Magic
✨️Hidden Powers
✨️Slow Burn
✨️Mystery
✨️Mild spice 🌶🌶

Thanks so much to the author and publisher for the ARC!

This book was everything I could have imagined! The world of magic the different powers and affinities and the pull between enemies to lovers had me hooked from the very beginning. I cannot wait for book 2 and to uncover all the mysteries between Logan and Paisley and her powers!

Well you just launched us right at that cliffhanger didn’t you Jaymin 😂
This was really good! Compulsively readable, interesting magic system, A+ brooding book boyfriend. Big fan! Much gratitude to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Fantasy dark academia, spice, magic --- this has it all and was such a good time. As a lover of Zodiac Academy and all things magic-school, this was right up my alley and I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. I appreciate it!

I was introduced to Jaymin Eve back in 2017 when I read the NYC Mecca Series. I became a fan of her world building with so many other series since then (The Shadowbeast series is still my all time favorite!) so when I saw the opportunity to read another book set in a fantasy world with magic and the enemies to lovers trope that they write so well I just knew it was going to be a must read for me.
I am typically not a big fan of academia books but I made an exception because this is an Eve book and with a slowburn enemies to lovers guaranteed I knew I would enjoy it. The academia setting at Weatherstone did not take away from the setting of the book at all.

This book grips you from the beginning. It starts out a bit in the future so you get sucked in with the need to know what got to that point and what happened afterwards. The start is a bit slow as we get introduced to all the characters, like Paisley’s family, but it picks up after a bit and becomes a fast paced read. I can’t wait for the next book in the series, I have a feeling this one might become one of my top three favorites of Eve’s books.

While I give this a 4 star, I do think that if I wasn’t a fan of Jaymin Eve’s books already this would have been a DNF for me. I only continued past the slow first few chapters because I know the author delivers on her characters, that they are never hardcore enemies (more like just they just dislike each other), and its always a slow burn so I don’t expect the characters to get together right away. This author has a formula, knows how to deliver to her fans and I will add to TBR every time I see her books get released.

So good!! While it was a little predictable, I still thought the story was fun overall. The writing was easy to get sucked into and I loved the romance. It was a little much at times and some aspects of the potential amnesia got old quickly. I hope we get a lot more monsters in the next book! I’m not sure how many books this will be but I believe a trilogy or duology would be pretty nice. Though I obviously don’t know what’s coming next. Overall I really enjoyed this and had a hard time putting it down. Also! I loved the female friendships in this book and the family dynamics. They were some of my favorite things to read about!

This was such a fun and fast-paced fantasy read with a magical system that felt fresh and easy to follow; nothing was overly complicated, it was well-explained and cleverly built. The worldbuilding really stood out to me, and I'd honestly love to see more of the classes and elemental magic in future books.
The book was the perfect length, neither too long nor too short. However, the ending did feel a bit rushed. I still closed it wanting more, and I plan to continue the series because I really enjoyed Jaymin Eve's writing style. She does a great job painting scenes and emotions that keep you turning pages.
That said, a few things pulled me out of the story. The main character, Paisley, reads young. Especially in her dialogue and inner monologue, which made it hard for me to connect with her as an almost 30-year-old reader. A different name might have helped too; "Paisley" just didn't land for me in a romantasy setting.
As for the romance, I think it leaned more magnetic/forbidden than true enemies-to-lovers. The tension with Logan felt underdeveloped and hinged on a pretty weak conflict. I would have loved if the forbidden aspect (especially with their dads involved) had been played up instead, or if there was more conflict created between Logan and Paisley beyond being based entirely on what Paisley's dad said that one time.
Lastly, I must mention the monsters! The shadow creatures were such a cool concept, super creative and eerie, but I wanted more: more scenes, more tension, more nightmares. The author clearly possesses the imagination and writing skills to take those darker moments even further, leaning into deeper, darker academia territory.
Overall, I'd recommend Spell Caster to early adult fantasy readers to enjoy immersive worldbuilding, low-stakes romance, and a little spice. Not quite YA, not full-on adult, but situated somewhere perfectly in between.
Thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to read Spell Caster! I can't wait to check out more from this author.
Overall: 3.5 stars

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