If this book isn’t made into a movie, I don’t know what’s what.

Seriously, Blackthorn is nothing short of a haunting masterpiece. J.T. Geissinger, already crowned queen of steamy romance and morally grey characters, has ascended further, this time into the realm of Gothic suspense, and she does so with stunningly.

Right from the first page, you're plunged into a brooding world of fog‑shrouded mansions, a vanished body, and a town weighed down by generations of grudges. The writing is intoxicating, moody, vivid, and richly atmospheric. Evoking stormy skies and whispered secrets in a way that left me unable to look away.

Maven and Ronan’s uneasy reunion crackles with electricity. Their history is buried in tragedy, betrayal, and unspoken longing, and JT builds that tension masterfully without a hint of predictability. You’re torn between rooting for them and anticipating what the next twist might do to shatter everything.

And the twists! Just as you find your footing, she yanks the rug right out from under you (long live Perfect Strangers & Pen Pal!) I was gasping, reeling, and utterly hooked. The emotional immersion is so deep, you feel every heart‑beat, every shadow‑lurking threat.

J.T. Geissinger is a genius of genre‑bending. She slips from dark, erotic romance into gothic suspense with such ease it feels like a natural evolution of her voice. This may just be her most thrilling, immersive, and boundary‑pushing work yet. (If you already read Pen Pal, get ready, the ride is even MORE bumpy, but SO WORTH IT!)

To those craving romance drenched in mystery, magic, obsession, and grit—this is the book you're looking for. If you’ve been amazed by JT before, Blackthorn is the next level. I can’t wait to read it again—and again, oohhh and I just know the multi-cast audio is going to be MAGIC!

As in J.T. Geissinger fashion this book was OUTSTANDING! Began reading it as a download on my cell, then had to download NetGalley on my IPad to continue reading it because I needed to read all of it in larger font. And boy oh boy I finished the entire ARC read of Blackthorn, and I’m not even mad about it, except for the fact the book ended! I was entranced with this story from the beginning! I felt as though I was living through the eyes of the FMC May. This book is absolutely phenomenal. It started out with giving me throwbacks to some of my favorite characters from The Addams Family, Wednesday and Practical Magic. And just when I read the plot twist, I was like oh no she didn’t just make my head spin with that twist that I totally did not see coming! Now that I have read this ARC, I am definitely going to be purchasing a physical copy. This is a story you can reread over and over again! Kudos to J.T. Geissinger for yet another amazing book that kept me on edge!

I'm at a loss for words. This was by far the most interesting book I've read in a long time and I'm still not sure what really happened! It started off normal enough. I mean it was kind of creepy, but still, it was easy enough to follow. Then the storyline started to blur. You think you know what's going on only to find out you were wrong. So you keep going, racing to the finish line to get the answers you desperately want, only to be left with more questions than you started with! I'm so confused, but I absolutely enjoyed the journey. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book, but it deserves the five star rating for keeping me engaged and guessing the whole time and for the fact that I'll be thinking about this book, trying to figure it out, for a very long time. Very well done J.T., very well done.

📚 ARC Review 📚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Geissinger beautifully blended this gothic romance with paranormal fantasy, contemporary horror, and intense sexual tension in an emotionally charged atmosphere. There's dark magic, forbidden love, and generational blood feuds.

This story takes place in a small, eerie town of Solstice. After twelve years, Maven Blackthorn returns home to attend her grandmother's funeral... but her body has vanished mysteriously. The emotional core of the story is driven when Maven's tangled history with Ronan Croft, her first love, and the son of her mother's suspected murderer. The plot twist? Whew... didn't think it could get any more mouth-dropping than what she did with Pen Pal.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆.⁣"

Tropes:
🖤 Enemies to Lovers
🖤 Grumpy x Grumpy
🖤 Revenge Romance
🖤 Haunted Heroines
🖤 Forbidden Love
🖤 Found Family
🖤 Small Town with Secrets
🖤 Beauty and Beast vibes
🖤Touch Her and Die Energy

BLACKTHORN releases November 4th, 2025!

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
🌶🌶🌶

So, this was definitely a modern gothic twisty mystery romance that kept you wanting to know more. I saw it touted as Beauty and the Beast trope but i wouldnt call it that, never got that vibe and thats afave trope of mine....this leans more "witchy curse". The atmosphere is painted wonderfully, with the moon lit nights, thick forests surrounding a mansion of a house filled with secrets.

Maven is back home for a funeral but uncovers more than she anticipated, complete with graverobbing of her relatives, a string of accidental deaths in her witchy family history, and an ex boyfriend (now a hunky man) who refuses to let her acidic jilts and wordplay force him away.

Ronan is charismatic, witty, and charming to no end but harborsa dark secret. I don't want to spoil things but I felt when his secret was revealed that we only scratched the surface. I'm hoping there's a book two because there are a lot of loose threads to plot amd characters (specifically the Croft side...Ronan's family).

I got frustrated with Maven's continual barage of banter with him though, it began to wear on me, and felt unrealistic to have it go for so long. Made me question why he is obsessed with her. Maybe some flashbacks would've helped to secure their chemistry.

As others have said, once you reach 80% it will either intrigue you or put readers off for the sharp turn. I think it would've worked stronger if there was just more to the book after...make it longer to explore the unanswered questions. I'm taking it with a grain of salt there will be a sequel, there's too much open.

So there are things I really loved about this, the ambiance, the "curse" and witchy history, star crossed love etc. But I wanted to dive deeper into their relationship and know more about what's affecting Ronan. Ending felt rushed. If there's a book two I'll be happier because I do want to know more as it ends with us dipping more fully into a modern gothic fantasy tinged world and it sounds exciting.

This is an ARC review. I want to thank J.T. Geissinger and Tor Publishing Group I Bramble for allowing me the chance to read this book ahead of release day! I don’t know how after reading Pen Pal I didn’t think this would give me the same whiplash but here we are.

I’d like to start off by saying what on earth did I just read? A master piece or the most infuriating book I’ve ever read. It’s still up for debate but either way I loved this book!

Maven Blacktorn and Ronan Croft are supposed to be enemies but have hid from their families that they have always loved each other. Ronan’s possessiveness and Maven’s quick deathly comebacks are everything I live for in an enemies-to-lovers trope!

I am still in shock over what I just read so sorry for the VERY raw emotions here but my goodness this book is a trip. There were parts I thought I the reader misread or misinterpreted things based on Maven’s uncertainty of what was happening in her life.

I absolutely cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on this book to feel tricked, loved, and in shock as I am!

What in the actual gothic fever dream did I just read?!

Blackthorn by @jtgeissingerauthor is an addictive, gothic enemies-to-lovers romance dripping with secrets, curses, and a forbidden passion that refuses to die.

Maven Blackthorn swore she’d never return to her cursed hometown, but her grandmother’s funeral drags her back. Except…the body is missing. 🪦 The prime suspects? The Crofts AKA her family’s blood enemies. Which means coming face-to-face with Ronan Croft AKA her first love, her greatest heartbreak, and the son of her mother’s suspected killer.

What follows is a wild tangle of dark family secrets, occult whispers, dangerous betrayals, and a love so destructive it could burn the whole town down.

💀 Gothic small-town setting
🔥 Forbidden first love
🖤 Enemies to lovers (to enemies to… 👀)
🌑 “Touch her and die” vibes
🦇 Creepy, witchy, perfect for fall nights
🌹 Beauty and the Beast undertones
😈 Hero shadier than shade

I was completely unhinged reading this book in the absolute best way. Did I know what the hell was happening? Absolutely not. Did I devour every single twist and page like my life depended on it? 100%. Geissinger delivers spooky, sultry, mind-bending storytelling that will have you questioning everything… and begging for more.

📚 Pub Date: Nov 4, 2025 (deluxe hardback w/ stenciled edges!!)

#Blackthorn #NetGalley #JTGeissinger #GothicRomance #DarkRomance #EnemiesToLovers #ForbiddenRomance #BeautyAndTheBeastVibes #TouchHerAndDie #SmallTownSecrets #DarkMagicRomance #BookstagramRomance #FallReads #TorPublishingGroup #Bramble

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC of this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️

Dear J.T. Geissinger,

I am once again asking you, what the fuck?

After reading Pen Pal and Perfect Strangers, I thought you wouldn’t be able to top those. BUT THIS BOOK WITH THAT ENDING?! I’m so lost. Can we just meet up sometime so you could tell me what the endings of your books mean?

Anyways, I read this in one sitting. Yeah I literally couldn’t put it down. I almost burned my kids dinner because I got to the cave scene part (Iykyk). What on God’s green earth do you put in your books to make them so utterly addicting 😩

This book follows Maven with a little of Ronan thrown in there for a dual POV. She’s visiting her childhood town with her daughter for her grandmothers funeral. But after the viewing, the body disappears, and the funeral director can’t find it. Maven decides to extend their stay for the sake of searching for her grandmothers body and finding out who took it.

We find out a lot of background about Maven’s family which is unsettling, even to her. There are no known males in the family, each family member dies from “an accident”, and they’re assumed to be witches by the townsfolk. Oh, and her whole family plot is missing all the bodies. It makes Maven spiral and she starts to feel like she’s losing her mind. She starts forgetting things, has hallucinations, and loses track of her days. And what a mindfuck that turns out to be 👀

I don’t want to give too much away because this book is better if you go in blind, but I loved that you had to make up your own ending to the story.

(For anyone wondering what my ending was, it was real) and that’s all I’ll say on the matter.

What (and I cannot stress this enough) the hell was THAT?!

That being said…you could not have ripped this book out of my cold dead hands before I got to the conclusion if you tried. I was absolutely enthralled from the very first page of the prologue to the very last page of the epilogue.

This is the perfect spooky, occult fall read. After 12 years, our FMC returns back to her sinister small town (where she was an outcast her entire life due to her family’s notoriety) to attend her grandmother’s funeral. She returns to her gothic childhood home where her two witchy men-hating aunts live. There are weird dreams, strange entities lurking in the shadows, eccentric characters all over the town & an exceptionally hot billionaire* ex-lover smoking cigarettes outside the gate in the middle of the night.


Did I know what the FUCK was going on at any point in time? Absolutely not!

Every single time I thought I had even an inkling of a clue of a grasp of what was happening….I quickly found that I, in fact, need to put on a big red nose & clown shoes because I look like boo boo the fool.

Would I read this again? YEAH I SURE WOULD. I might start it again right now.


Fans of Fairydale would eat this up. Check the trigger warnings.

Thanks so much to Tor & NetGalley for the eARC. What a ride!

Immaculate! Mystifying! Suspenseful!

All. The. Things.

If you like a gothic/witchy vibe in your books. This is THE ONE!

I can firmly say I’m not a huge fan of gothic romance or anything paranormal really, but JT wrote it so I had to read it. And I am NOT mad about it one bit!

This story gave sexy. It gave secrets. It gave danger and suspense. It gave darkness and mystery. It was GIVING!!!

My only critique is that it felt like the explanation at the end was rushed. I feel like we didn’t get the flesh everything out the way we should have. And maybe that’s intentional for an interconnected standalone layer. Unsure, but that’s my only critique.

Oh my goodness.. firstly, thank you to the AMAZING Tor Publishing Group for giving me an ARC of this book, and NetGalley for facilitation - I love you both. If it has the word Gothic, looks Gothic, appears Gothic, I'm going to want to read it and Blackthorn did not disappoint. Maven returns to her hometown after many years for Grandma's funeral, Grandma's body is missing and did we mention she reconnects with her first love, Ronan. The twists, the turns and how this is written... OMG, so good! I will say, its dark gothic romance, psychological thriller, mystery...basically all the things - if you have triggers, please read them before jumping in. I personally don't, so I just ate this all up. I can't wait for more from this author!

Here’s the thing— I wanted to rate this 3 stars because really, the last 20% of this book… WTF?! Some other 3 star reviewers sum up well the WTF part. This started off so strong with suspense, mystery, small town charm with hints of possible Practical Magic vibes (enter FMC’s Aunts). It went weirdly south and off kilter from 80% on. The epilogue is what got me thinking “huh, ok, well maybe…”

However, I am STILL thinking about this one. STILL rationalizing what happened. STILL trying to piece together “fact” vs “fiction” from this plot line. And that my friends, gives it 4 stars.

Check the triggers before reading 💋

I love Ronan 🫠 The way he recounts every time he had sex with Maven 12 years ago when she questions the number. The way he reacted to her blocking his number. But he really got me towards the end!

If you loved PenPal , you will probably love this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the copy of this book!

Quick Synopsis: Maven returns home with her daughter to attend her grandmother’s funeral. When her grandmother’s body goes missing, Maven is forced to work with her first love, her first heartbreak, to find out what is going on. Maven never expects to uncover all she does.

Review: I enjoyed this book way more than I expected! The mystery and suspense of this book was my favorite part! I felt like I was questioning everything as much as Maven was and I just really enjoyed it. The ending was crazy, but I low key loved it. I do feel like I have some unanswered questions though. The romance was good. I loved Ronan’s banter. Maven’s banter became a little repetitive. The dark romance aspect of this book really took a turn around the 80% mark. It didn’t bother me, but I was surprised at the jump. I would have loved it to be a little more gradual. Overall, this was a fun ride that kept me entertained the entire time. *Check trigger warnings before reading

Geissinger did it again like she did with Pen Pal.

The gothic witchy vibes may have allured me but nothing had me prepared for the goings on after a few chapters. This novel reminded me of a twisted mind game, so many things going side ways so quickly it would give you whiplash.

The characters were great, and honestly the MMC ended up being my favorite between the wild occurrences and how he does seem to truly care for her from start to finish.

By the end I could’ve thrown my phone across the room. This book left me sitting beside myself wondering what was real? Was it all just a fever dream? It definitely took me for a wildly dizzying ride and threw me on the ground as soon as the ride was over.

I wish the author wrote more books like this one, I love the bizarre twists and turns and how the story progressed at just the right pacing to make you think these occurrences aren’t as crazy as they seem and how the witchy theme fit just perfectly.

I’ll be sitting here wanting to discuss every facet of this book and not able to until it fully releases, and I CANNOT wait for this book to be let loose in the wild as a result. Well done!

Video review to follow on TikTok account “ChadsChapters

This book was an absolute RIDE that I was glad to be on. This is my second book by this author with the first being Penpal and I am so happy to say this book was as unhinged and impossible to put down as that book was. To give literally any info would spoil so many great twists and reveals. Go in blind. This felt like a f*cked up Practical Magic style plot with the 2 witchy aunts and a lot of secrets and it goes to some truly wtf places.

You have to read this book. I will now go into this authors backlist and devour it all.

Thanks to Tor/Bramble for my early copy for review and for getting me obsessed with this author😱

4.5 stars

I wanted to start this review before I got too deep into the plot and twist. 78% and honestly… I have no idea what the hell is happening. I’m lost, confused, and loving every second of it. The unknown elements are driving me crazy… in the best way.

Is the narrator unreliable? What is going on? Is this fantasy, or some twisted psychological thriller with paranormal vibes? I know it’s a gothic dark romance, but connecting the dots is a challenge.

If you love a haunted, mind-bending mystery, this story is definitely for you. I just know JT is about to blow our minds with this twist… she’s one of my all-time favorite writers for a reason. I feel like I’m losing my mind just like Maven (FMC).

🐦‍⬛

Update: I have finished reading Blackthorn, and holy hell, that plot twist…. I sensed something was coming, but I didn’t have a clue what “it” was. This story is a total mind f*ck. The ending is… well, I can’t say more without spoilers… so you’ll just have to wait and read it yourself when the book releases. All I’ll say is I’m desperate for more Ronan. I’m sad this is just a standalone!

I honestly don’t know what the fuck I just read and I probably need therapy but I freaking loved it

What a weird, trippy, romantic story. I’m here for it

If you’re a fan of Fairydale, but want something shorter and easier to digest this is your book!

“You never forget your first love. Especially when he’s also your worst nightmare”

🐦‍⬛ childhood lovers
🐦‍⬛ second chance romance
🐦‍⬛ witty banter
🐦‍⬛ forbidden romance
🐦‍⬛ secret child
🐦‍⬛ mysteries & curses that date back centuries
🐦‍⬛ witches, demons and monsters
🐦‍⬛ gothic, dark FALL VIBES 🍂
🐦‍⬛ don’t know wtf is going on half the time

The setting of this town was so vivid I swear J.T.G’s writing was so descriptive I felt like I was dropped off in the spookiest town right in the middle of fall and was walking through the story myself.

Also, the names in the book need a moment. Maven Blackthorn!? Ronan Croft!? Beatrix!? Davina?! Esme!? Silas? Cole Walker? Quentin!? Jesus Christ these names are phenomenal

Geissinger is an instant read for me as one of my favorite authors so I was honored to receive and ARC for this book. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group.

Maven returns to her hometown with her daughter Bea after the death of Maven’s grandmother. Things take an eerie turn, mysteries unfold, secrets unravel… all while she also runs into her first love, Ronan. The banter is *CHEFS KISS* — incredible, raw, quick-witted and humorous at times.

“There she is. Hello, stranger. I’ve missed you so fucking much.”

Blackthorn captivated me from the first page. This was my first gothic style dark romance and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending got a little strange (only for me personally), but everything was thought out so well and tied together neatly at the end. I was worried there would be unanswered questions, but there were none.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC copy of Blackthorn!

THIS BOOK!!!
Wtf did I just read, and whyyyy was I so engrossed the entire time?
I’m still confused, and don’t know what was even happening but OMG it was literally so good. Anytime I had to put it down, it was all I could think about!
LOVE!