This was a wild and fun fairy tale romp. The twists and turns were utterly delightful. I adored all the classic nods towards traditional tales.
The characters are adorable, if not a little flawed (but who isn't?).
Hector, I picture him as a younger Gandalf.
Ida, a Jessica Fletcher type dame (longer hair).
The house gnomes- utterly fantastic.

I will say one thing, the synopsis sounds like this would be a YA type read, but it is *not*. There is closed door spice & mentions of activities.

The adventure the gang goes in to make the magic right after a snafoo of the Happily Ever After ceremony is well worth the read.

I loved Alistair and Amber, and I would check out further books in the series.

After I read the synopsis, I was sold, and when I started this, I really did enjoy it but as I read on I just kind of grew bored - I could never see the chemistry between Ida and Hector and besides the dragons, I found this was more disappointing and anti climactic than the purely fun read I was hoping for.



Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the DRC

I really liked this book. I read this book while I was in a reading slump and it helped me get out of the reading slump.

I loved the witchy aspect of the book and that the two witches kept the peace between everyone. I loved the gay gnomes it made me want to read the book more.

I would really like a sequel of this book because it's one of very few fantasy romance books I actually loved.

My actual rating was 4,5 stars

Wickedly Ever After is a cheesy romcom fantasy about two witches - Ida North and Hector West. Think Good Witch versus Bad Witch. They are in charge of organising the Happily Ever After ceremony. But all goes wrong when their mutual prank war mucks up the ceremony.

The premise of this book was much more exciting than the finished product I'm afraid. The story is in a dual perspective, but there's very little difference between the two character's voices, it's like they're the same person. Despite both characters being hundreds of years old, their behaviour is that of teenagers or very young adults. The prologue stands out to me as being a last minute addition, lots of colour descriptors and uneditted sentences. As if the author was trying to meet a word count.

Not my cup of tea, sadly. This may be better suited to a younger audience?

Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful ARC. I loved it! First, the cover was striking, so was the title. Brilliant. The colors of the cover were very good (I like the details). The story was witty, details were nicely placed. No info dumps. I finished in two sittings. The author is on my radar now.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wickedly Ever After is a fun and deeply fantastical read, about a fairy tale land where two witches keep the peace between all the different groups (human nobility, human commoners, dragons, gnomes, ghouls, etc) by staging a theatrical magical event once-per-generation, the "Happily Ever After" where the prince marries a selected-by-committee commoner girl after rescuing her from a dragon (who is also in-on-the-act in exchange for a law which prohibits dragonslaying). The problem is, even after a thousand years, the witches in charge haven't considered what might happen if it doesn't go to plan...

What I loved:
-A Pratchett-esque sense of humour and desire to make a wider point about societal expectations.
-Gay pen pal gnomes, what more can I say?
-Romances for older characters, references made to arthritis and grey hair etc - it is refreshing to see a story with love and passion for older characters.
-Subverting expectations, for example, the enemies to lovers aspect of the story actually makes sense due to the magical events of the plot, so it feels a bit less contrived (despite using every single enemies to lovers trope going, which I usually don't enjoy).
-Blending literally dozens of references to other fairy tales and fantasies into one universe, this was done really well and made me smile.
-The first third or even half is very strong, well written and well paced.
-I liked the ending, it felt fitting and most characters got what they deserved!

What I might change:
-The alternating chapters between Ida and Hector didn't have to be 100% symmetrical all of the time. Sometimes events felt a bit repetitive because we had to get both of their personal perspectives every single time. I didn't feel this was necessary although both characters are charming enough that you more or less get away with it, especially early in the book.
-Similarly, there were ever so slightly too many "pushes and pulls", so it starts to feel contrived towards the end and the pace slows down. As everything is "will they, won't they?" almost all the way through, I found myself wanting to push on in the last third or so, to get to that overall resolution just a little bit sooner.
-Cear's involvement felt a bit anticlimatic. I would've loved to get a few more final lines from them!

Definitely have a few friends I would recommend this to, but you need to be on board with it being a bit silly and a bit weird.

3.5 stars

WICKEDLY EVER AFTER
R. Lee Fryar
➽─────────❥

This book was so fun and so refreshing to read! I loved the banter between Hector and Ida. This book was a perfect enemies to lovers troupe example.

I loved the whole vibe, the fairytale atmosphere was so cute! the characters were funny! 🤣

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebook Casablanca for allowing me to read this book, my review is my honest opinion.📕

I could beg and plead for a sequel, but I’m not even sure if this wonderful cozy fantasy can be expanded on since it is already flawless. Hector and Ida make me believe in true love. A new favorite.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but I can't say I was fully sold on the chemistry between Ida and Hector. I just didn't fully feel the true attraction between them. There were plenty of funny moments I truly enjoyed, however, and that helped keep me entertained. Amber and Allistair were truly my favorite part of this one and made me want to keep reading without a DNF.

This was an enjoyable read but definitely frustrating at times. I wish there had been more chemistry, good banter, and tension between Hector and Ida, but they really didn't know how to act. I gotta say, the highlight of this was all the little fairytale easter eggs throughout. This book is paced a bit too slow for my preference but the humorous bits made for a smoother ride. I can see this being hit or miss for most people, but I think it's worth a shot if you love fairytales and imperfect characters. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

As with all reviews, please take mine with a grain of salt! Books are subjective and can appeal to various audiences :)

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Following Wicked Witch Hector and Good Witch Ida, the reader is thrust into a story that has the potential to be a whimsy, adventurous fairytale, but finds itself leaning too hard on the enemies-to-lovers (if it can even be called that) and the quick-paced relationship that choppily erodes itself into the story.

What drew me as a reader into the story was the promise of adventure, as Hector and Ida have to rescue a prince, but the premise fell flat when the narrative shifted to Ida and Hector's relationship, which seemed to blossom out of nowhere even though they were at odds with each other. The banter was amusing at times, but during others felt immature and unrelated to the events of the story. The plot and the characters felt like two separate entities instead of being molded into one. They didn't correlate to each other. What happens isn't by affect of a character's personality, and the novel relies heavily on happenstance.

Despite this, when Hector and Ida weren't acting like they, two immortal beings, had just discovered physical and emotional intimacy for the first time, they were charming to read! Fryar does well to incorporate some fairytale elements; I just wish we'd gotten to see more of that. More lore. More backstory. More stakes and tension.

Okay, so I might be the unpopular opinion here, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Wickedly Ever After just didn’t do it for me.

I went in expecting a fairytale-meets-Wicked kind of romance, maybe a little enemies-to-lovers. Instead, I got an uninteresting plot, some confusing choices, and the growing realisation that I’d rather be reading about Amber and Allistair, which, by the way, was the only part that felt remotely interesting.

The characters didn’t help much either. For immortals who are supposed to be around a thousand years old, they act like hormonal teens who’ve just discovered feelings. It’s jarring. Their lack of communication and wisdom was pretty frustrating. I get that it’s meant to be whimsical and fun, but the immaturity just pissed me off.

For a series titled A Fairy Tale Romp, I was ready for flirtation, tension, some banter… anything. Instead, I got the romantic tension of two cardboard boxes staring at each other. There was barely any chemistry between them.

The one bright spot? Amber and Allistair. I thought it was an interesting take on traditional fairytales. If the whole story had leaned into that subplot, I’d probably have a completely different opinion.

In the end, Wickedly Ever After might appeal to readers who enjoy quirky fantasy with a loose plot and low-stakes magic. But if you’re in it for romance, tension, or, you know, an actual romp, this one's not the one for you.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

3 1/2 ⭐️ rounded up

This was a cute twist on your traditional fairytale, with an enemies to lovers between Wicked Witch of the West Hector and Good Witch of the North Ida. At times the pacing felt a little slow, but I enjoyed the nods to the common fairytale tropes and how they ended up being flipped into something different.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I loved this one. But I love fairytales. This one felt very original and had me hooked from the start. I cannot wait for it to become available so that I can pick up a physical copy.

Pre thoughts
- Fairy tale re-telling

Overall
I love a re make of fairy tails. This was an immersive read with great world building over the course of the book. The characters have great personalities and add a good amount to the development of the story.
With hilarious aspects throughout the book, the side characters had me giggling. Their is a good amount of plot twists, Which were definitely unexpected and added excitement to the plot.

stars 5
spice 1.5

tropes
- Enemies to lovers
- Whimsy with chaos vibes
- Humor
- Magic
- Gnomes
- Slow burn
- Halloween fall vibes
= Its always been you

Thank you Net galley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and R. Lee Fryar for the opportunity to review this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own XX
I will also be sharing this review on instagram and fable

Firstly, I'd like to thank R. Lee Fryar, the publisher and netgalley for letting me read and review an advanced digital copy of this book.

Wickedly Ever After felt like such an original story, as it follows 2 old witches (Hector and Ida) who are enemies and slowly realise throughout the story that maybe that was a mistake in judgement!!
It made me laugh, put a smile on my face and was intriguing throughout the book, I liked it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others!

I wanted to like this book so badly. The premise was great. It just fell short. It's a play on happily ever after and fairy tales. In this one, the wicked witch of the west and the good witch of the north fall in love. There's a lot of things that happen before that occurs. It's an enemies to lovers's story, and that always stresses me out. If you love that kind of trope, then you might like this book.

So much promise at the beginning but the hijinks got too much for me, and the drastic change from enemies then friends then lovers gave me a whiplash.

I enjoyed this one! It was a sweet story, love the main characters. The world building was kinda slow though, so I had to be in the right mood for it - I needed to be patient!