Something Wicked had a fun premise and some witty moments, but overall it didn’t quite land for me. I struggled to connect with the world—it felt a bit underdeveloped and left me wanting more depth or cohesion in the setting. The romance also didn’t fully hook me; I needed a stronger, more believable bond between the main characters to feel invested in their journey. That said, I do appreciate Falon Ballard’s voice and humor, and I think readers who enjoy light paranormal rom-coms might still find this an entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this arc

2.5 - 3 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This book is just…. Not good. There is no way around it. The world building is awful. The characters are boring… and the villain presented is cringey and uninteresting.

The appeal of a moulin rouge esque book and cover were stunning and instantly pulled me in. I actually found the beginning of the book more interesting when the couple was not together and Cate was using her powers. Cue the illogical letters from this resistance saying that the current monarchs must be killed by the next one to run. Specifically a son killing a dad. (Huh?) craziest part? The son, king, princess, and others are okay with it! They’re talking about Patricide at breakfast! But don’t worry, dear sister has hired the courtesan to help her baby brother cope.

This is when Cate and Callum begin their insta love (bonded pair) connection. Overall, the magic system is not developed. Neither is this kingdom. The book is a tragic mess other than the spice which is halfway decent. I’m so disappointed in this one!! I was looking forward to it.

Thank you NetGalley, Falon Ballard, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G. P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. 📖

I actually kind of hated this - morals of racist enemies to lovers aside, why’d it take one sexual encounter for him to forget he hated magic people and then the whole “stop this isn’t you” moment being used unironically in a piece of literature is enough to make me hate it alone. Unfortunately, this was a miss.

I was really intrigued with the concept of this, but it wasn’t executed as well as I hoped. Some parts were slow for me and hard to keep up with. The main characters didn’t really stand out to me, and the spice level got to be a lot much.

DNF @20% Im just not enjoying anything about this one. It’s clunky and the world is not fun. It’s falling very flat for me, which is disappointing. The cover is SO good though!!! I’m so disappointed.

I haven't read a Falon Ballard book that I didn't care for. Her latest, Something Wicked, is available at the end of the year and was great.

Super interesting, I can see the influence Macbeth had on this and I’m a sucker for a good Macbeth-esque book. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this book.
,

I am a big fan of Falon Ballard’s romance novels, so when I heard she was venturing into the romantasy world, I was intrigued! While I don’t think this book was perfect, I think Falon did a good job with her debut in a new genre!

I loved how fun and fast paced this book was. It was easy to devour in one sitting! The two main characters had a TON of chemistry, and let me just say, the spice was spicing! ❤️‍🔥 I wish there had been a little more development of the world itself- it felt a little superficial and not fleshed out. I am interested to see where this series goes, and I will definitely be giving the next book a try!

If you like your romantasies 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘆, check this one out, but keep in mind that parts of the plot are messily executed and leave a little to be desired in the end. The expected publication date for Something Wicked is December 2, 2025. Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I just want to say off the bat I’m really struggling with this one. I’ve read many of Falcon’s books and I’ve always really enjoyed them. But this one was off the walls bonkers even for me.

So originally I was pitched as this is a Romantasy version of Moulin Rouge. Which immediately sold me because who doesn’t love Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor. So I was excited to see a reimagining version with Romantasy elements. However, instead of magic we got a complex political system nightmare.

To top of of the world building was all over the place. Making the story and characters extremely hard to follow and relate too. Most of the book was also painstaking slow. I mean for crying out loud we got “sex lessons” for 75% of the book. And then the last 25% off the book it’s like remember led oh crap we have to get back to the plot. So everything felt rushed and resolved way too quickly. And I say resolved lightly because there are so many unanswered questions and instead of elaborating we are just given “the end”. Like wait what?!?!!

Regretfully, this book just wasn’t for me. Like I see what I think Falon was trying to do but the execution just wasn’t it. Now even though I didn’t love this one I still love Falon’s books. So even though I can’t recommend this one. I’d still recommend her others like Change of Heart and Right on Cue.

Lastly big thank you to NetGalley & G P. Putnam's Sons for allowing me to read and review this book!

I received this Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Fallon Ballard, and the publisher for his opportunity.
Something Wicked will be published on December 2nd, 2025.

"If I never know the wonder of you, it might make it easier to walk away"

When fate brings Lady Caterine and Callum together, they are near impossible to separate. But the world they both accepted is changing and not all of those changes seem like they will be good. Will Lady Caterine and Callum create the change they desire while keeping each other? Or will they have to sacrifice for love or a world that accepts everyone.

I rated this book a 4/5 stars. It was simple and easy. It had a great story line and I had a wonderful time reading it.
This was such quick read for me. I read it in three books because I was hooked from the beginning. It was an easy fantasy that moved quickly and, while there were gaps in the world building, I do think it makes sense when you consider that this is the first book in a series. The development of the world was not the focus of this book, but rather, the changes to the world they life in were the focus of this book. I look forward to seeing the rest of the world be built out along side the main characters throughout the rest of the series.
The only thing about this book I didn't love was the instant love. But I understand that is a plot point of the book and there were powers at play that fed into the instant attraction and commitment between the main characters, so I can look past it for the plot point. I just wanted more information surrounding the powers that led them to one another, so I am hoping that we get more information on that in the coming books.

I've been a fan of Falon Ballard's since reading Lease on Love several years ago. Something Wicked is a departure from Falon Ballard's usual modern rom com - maybe I should have expected that she was getting into fantasy given the more fantastical elements of Change of Heart, but as someone who picks up the new Falon Ballard novel without reading the back cover, Something Wicked surprised me. The novel is set in what appears to be a magical, historical version of the UK, where courtesan Lady Caterine and (former) Prince Callum are thrown together during a time of upheaval in their country of Avon. Making the transition from a realistic contemporary setting to a historical and magical one is no small feat, so I have to applaud Ballard for the ease with which she handled it. Something Wicked is the first in a series, and I look forward to seeing where Caterine and Callum go next.

I would like to start with the positives. This cover is stunning. I would buy this book alone based on the cover, without really knowing the premise. Second, I have read a few books by this Author. I commend her on trying something new with this book. It is a change from her other books and it’s always exciting when Authors step out of their comfort zones. For me the story fell flat. I liked the idea of this world where the characters lived, but there was no world building. The plot felt similar. It was just very basic without descriptions and details. I am not a fan of insta-love, either, and I didn’t feel the connection between the two main characters. It was just a lot of sex separated by events that moved the plot along.

I chose this book just based on the cover, even though the premise didn’t really resonate with me. I have not read any Fallon Ballard books before, but I’ve seen her name around enough to have a lot of her books on my TBR, so when Netgalley approved this book for me, I was happy to read it. I was still not happy by the end of it.

I get it: “romantsy” fiction has gotten so big now. I have seen so many contemporary romance authors dip their toes into it. Writers are imaginative peeps, so it does not surprise me that any writer would want to venture into different genres than what they started with -- but I don’t think all authors are meant to.

Something Wicked is set in a world ruled by a monarchy whose failure to maintain equality sparks a successful uprising. In the aftermath, the rebels establish a brutal method for choosing their new leader: anyone who assassinates one of the four kings—each ruling over a different province, will advance as a candidate, and the people will vote among the survivors to decide who will lead. Callum Reid, the natural heir of one of these provinces, struggles with the fact that he will have to kill his father if he is to have a chance to lead the land, something his father strongly encourages him to do as they all believe Callum is the best choice for the people, even though Callum has prejudices against a group of his people: the Gifted. The Gifted are certain women who were born with supernatural gifts. Some can heal, see the future, see people’s memories, etc. Callum’s sister, Dom, suggests that he visit with a prostitute named Lady Caterine, whose power allows her to manipulate the emotions of those who have orgasmed in her presence. If Callum can be fully vulnerable and orgasms in her presence, Lady Caterine could assuage his guilt enough that he could honor his father’s wishes and murder him. There are sinister forces at work meant to thwart Callum’s plan and control Lady Caterine, putting her in a position where she must betray Callum, someone she grows to care for tremendously, in order to save her twin sister.

I was not drawn in by the premise. The entire angle where people’s emotions can be manipulated so long as they’re vulnerable and orgasm in Caterine’s presence didn’t feel like a great sell. I completely understood the attraction between Callum and Caterine, as they were both described as incredibly beautiful peoople. Callum was described as someone I would have loved to seen in real life. They had an “insta-love” kind of meet, which I am not a fan of. There is a revelation later in the book about why they were so instantly enthralled with each other, but it just felt like a cheap reason to get out of actually building any real connection between these two. The plot was SO WEAK, and many of the actions of the characters did not make any sense when you aligned them against the story. There were a lot of sex scenes, but only three of them were built up enough to actually feel like beautiful moments between Callum and Cat. If you want to turn this book into a drinking game, take a shot each time one of them refers to the other as “your highness” (even though the monarchy has been done away with and titles no longer exist) and “my lady” (even though Caterine is not actually a lady had self-imposed that title onto herself). It gets old super quick.

This next part of my review will have spoilers. I need to vent about all of the plot holes in this book.










There’s spoilers coming.






Harold is a man who took in Cat and her twin when they were very young, providing them with a safe home. He also runs a brothel, where he has taken in the maximum number of Gifted individuals allowed by law. Yes—a brothel. And while I fully support the autonomy of sex work, the issue here is that Harold raised these girls as daughters (who, by the way, <i>are</i> actually his daughters—something that's obvious early on), and yet was entirely open to them becoming courtesans if they chose to. That’s… deeply unsettling.

Another glaring issue is the complete absence of any mention of protection during Cat’s sexual encounters—no discussion of pregnancy or disease, which is especially strange given the story’s partial inspiration from Moulin Rouge. Add to that the fact that it’s illegal for the Gifted to become pregnant, and it feels like a major oversight.

Later, Harold reveals that the brothel is in financial trouble, so he marries a calculated woman who imposes harsh contracts: the women must bring in a specific amount of income annually, or face eviction after one grace year. Harold doesn’t object at all, despite supposedly loving these women like family (and again, some are).

Then Lady M learns Cat will be helping Callum, one of the provincial heirs, and manipulates her into making him fall in love with her in order to spy and eventually push Harold forward as a leadership candidate. Cat—who just signed an indentured servitude contract thanks to Harold—somehow still believes she can trust him more than anyone. Really?

Even when Cat earns enough money to buy out her and her sister’s two-year contracts through a deal with Callum’s sister, she inexplicably agrees to Lady M’s plan anyway. Why? She has the means to leave. This might have made more sense if she had bargained for everyone’s contracts, but as it stands, her choice feels baseless.

Things escalate when Cat discovers Lady M is severely abusing her sister’s powers, despite a prior agreement to keep her unharmed. Yet Cat still trusts Lady M to honor her word about their freedom and continues her mission to betray Callum. WHAT.

Later, Callum is in a situation where he can escape, but he refuses, saying, “I can’t leave without her.” Except she’s with your sister, your last living family member. How about, “I can’t leave without them”? Lady M then pressures Cat to break Callum’s heart to save him and her sister. Cat complies, but her fake breakup makes no sense—Callum sees through it instantly and still leaves without trying to rescue her, assuming she must have had a reason. Really, Callum? You’re supposedly ruined for all other women, and that’s enough for you to walk away forever?
Later, some of the Gifted girls help Cat and her sister escape. Not once does Cat consider that this could be a trap to lead Lady M to Harold. It isn't—but the fact that the thought never crosses her mind is absurd. She returns to the hideout she once shared with Callum, even though he had resigned himself to never seeing her again. And he just stays there, not worried she might lead Lady M right to Harold?

Then they decide they need to return to Lady M—<i>again</i>—to reason with the other Gifted. Despite seeing firsthand how dangerous and deadly they are, Cat thinks this time she can talk them down. She couldn’t even convince her friends before, but now she’ll sway a room full of women who’ve been loyal to Lady M for years? Predictably, Lady M interrupts her speech… only for one of the Gifted to silence her. Cat gives a long speech, and then Lady M disables the Gifted’s power. Why the delay? If Lady M can suppress powers, why not use it immediately? At least show her struggling to do it—give us something.

Finally, Callum is confronted by the person who killed his sister. Instead of justice, Cat convinces him to spare them. Apparently, despite repeated attempts on their lives, she’s still unwilling to let anyone die. At that point, the logic felt beyond strained—it was just dumb.

This book had some promise but the gaps were too glaring, and there is no way I will read any other ones from this series. Thank you to Netgally and Putnam for allowing early access to this book.

I'm so conflicted about this book. I loved their romance but then also found it too smutty but they're /literally/ bonded and also considering her gift but was it too much....

I found while reading that things were randomly thrown in for the plot. A huge example of that is the Uprising. I feel like we know nothing about them except for the fact that they're a rebellion group. I also don't how they came to the agreement they came to (you know what I'm talking about if you read the book.) It seems like such a lose lose to the monarchy. But I was unaware that this was going to be a series. I went into this book thinking it was a stand alone so I'm assuming there will be a lot more lore to come our way.

Also there's a death in this book... 0 emotional impact. It serves the book nothing except for one scene and I don't think it was necessary.

This book is a perfect read for fans of Shakespeare's Macbeth and the film Moulin Rouge.

The story follows Cate, a courtesan with the unique ability to influence the emotions of her clients. She is tasked with an unexpected assignment: to spend a week helping a young prince who must kill his father to succeed the throne.

The comparison to Moulin Rouge is spot-on; the book captures a similar dramatic and romantic vibe, blending passion with peril. I especially enjoyed how it handled popular tropes like strangers-to-lovers and forced proximity. The author did a great job building the tension and chemistry between the main characters, making their journey captivating and sweet.

This was a fun read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good political fantasy with a strong romantic subplot.

thank you so much for the approval- i cannot wait to dive in, this is one of my most anticipated reads of the year! i will be sure to leave a review on GR/retailers to come! 💞

This was my first read by Falon Ballard and I enjoyed it! The cover drew me in right away. It was a good mix of romance & fantasy. The spice was top notch.

I absolutely loved this story, especially for its portrayal of the female main character. Lady Catherine, despite her unique magical gift, uses her ability to help rather than harm. She's kind, determined, and deeply empathetic. Early in the book, she never uses her power for selfish gain—only to help clients work through their emotions. This is how she meets Callum: his sister, Dominique, hires Catherine to assist him with an emotional struggle he's about to face. Their connection is instant, and Catherine finds herself drawn to him in a way that feels genuine and heartfelt.

This was Falon Ballard's first venture into romantasy, and it was impressively done. This book was very well written, considering it was the authors' first venture into Romantasy. The plot felt similar to other romantasy book that I hold close to my heart, and not in a bad way. The characters' storylines were very engaging and created a compelling narrative. Some of the tropes in this book are classic Romantasy: fated mates, forbidden love, and rivals-to-lovers.

My only complaint is that a few questions were left unanswered, but I'm hoping that means we'll get a sequel soon!
5/5 stars. If you enjoyed ACOTAR or Fourth Wing, you'll definitely want this book on your TBR. It has similar vibes and tropes that fans of those series will recognize and love.
Thank you to Putnam for the advance reader's copy (ARC). All thoughts are my own.

DNF at 20%
Based on the description I was SO excited to read this book because it seemed totally up my alley. Romance, magic, court intrigue? Always a winning combination to me.

I tried to get into this book 4 or 5 times and always ended up putting it down in favor of reading something else. The first 20% is such a slog that it feels like a miracle that I made it that far before giving up.

It seems like the author was determined to jam all possible world building information into the book before actually starting to tell the story, instead of revealing it to the reader along the way. The epistolary bits that occur between each chapter felt like yet more info dumping on the reader with no purpose to the story other than as a way to include information that the author couldn’t figure out how to include in the plot. They didn’t add to the reading experience at all.

My biggest annoyance, though, is that at 20% the two main characters have only just now met each other and it was for a single conversation on one page that is basically just them introducing themselves before he leaves. How are the hero/heroine supposed to develop a believable relationship and complete their goals by the end of the book if they’re only just meeting this far in? I will never know, because I cannot force myself to go any further.

Overall the experience was disappointing, because the plot as outlined in the description should make for a pretty raucous good time. Maybe if the entire beginning was reworked so that the exposition is being delivered to the reader alongside even a smidge of plot development?

This book really was giving Moulin Rouge and Great Gatsby vibes mixed with the element of spies! Honestly, I liked it and the ending made me love it so much more.