I felt like this book was such a fun and magical read!! This has everything! Enemies to lovers, rivalry’s, witches who are lawyers!!, romance, I hate that I love you, it truly had it all!!! I loved this a lot and cannot wait to read more!! Thank you so much for giving me a copy!! Now onto book two!!

I did not manage to read this unfortunately, due to unforeseeable issues at home. I did not manage to read this unfortunately, due to unforeseeable issues at home.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

I'll be honest. DNF at 46%.

This book has a slow start and I was deeply uninterested in any of the characters.

I really didn't love that Gabriel blackmails her into potential sexual slavery to steal her magic, and then he also has the audacity to be offended that she thinks he would collect on the deal??

ALSO. It's mentioned that he's just finished uni at this point, and that she's about to go. SO HOW OLD IS SHE, GABRIEL? Is she a teen being pressured into a magical sex bargain with an adult???????

I really, really don't like Gabriel, and I find that such a disturbing premise. Her family also sucks, they're either useless or dismissive and seem to exclusively use her for their gain.

I just could not keep going with this nonsense. 1 star.

I loved this book! I could not put it down as soon as I started reading. This is like Romeo and Juliet with magic and a hint of Grease. This book had so many twists and surprises. It kept me on my toes the entire time. I loved the mixture of the family drama and the trial. Sadie is strong and determined to help her family but also do what she wants. I loved the buildup between Gabriel and Sadie through the book. The ending was heartbreaking but necessary. I can’t wait to reread it and continue the series!

fantasy romance that has your enemies to lovers trope, forbidden romance, morally gray characters, family rivalry, secrets, betrayals and a murder mystery! It is a journey filled with suspense, tension, magic binding spells, sizzling romance, and unexpected twist and turns. It does not end on a happily ever after. However, it does have a happy ending. Is it love or is it obsession? A dark and twisted paranormal romance that will have you on the edge of your seat and turning pages as quickly as you can so you can see what happens next.

Very original, featured the cliché of enemies to lovers, had two main characters from different families. This book also had a lot of aspects of magic in int. It was genuinely novel and energizing. The romance was one of the plot's main elements, but there was also mystery, and I'm sure there's still a lot more to learn as the series continues. Overall this was a really good read, and I can not wait for more.

I had some difficulty starting this book, but after the first couple of chapter I read it non stop! This is a great enemies to lovers book, I didn’t know what to expect from the description and was pleasantly surprised. The only negative I found to both Sadie and Gabriel’s characters were their proclivity for promiscuity while still being interested in each other. It kind of gave off the cheating vibe in my opinion, but it definitely was different in terms of the type of romances. Overall I really liked and will read the sequel! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read a book based on witches. I love fantasy books but haven’t read a whole lot with main characters and entire cities as witches. I liked the MFC and MMC along with the supporting characters. The plot was well developed but I wish the book contained more world building and background as to the witches powers and how an area full of witches functions etc. Also how the witch and human realms exist. It alluded to it but I would have liked more description. Overall the story line was good, the book was well paced and kept my attention.

Sadie Sadler lives a quiet life in a big city, away from her entire family. Her family protects the city of Mannith with magic. She, too, can do magic, avoids it at all cost. Utilizing her magic would alert Gabriel Thornber and she's hidden from him for years. She bargained her power (and her body) years back to save her brother's butt after he got in to trouble. So, now, she's determined to stay off Gabriel's radar, lest he call in on that bargain.

But, her brother has gotten himself into trouble again and is on trial for murder. Sadie is the only one who can save him, But that means, coming right back in to Gabriel's circle.

I enjoyed this. My only qualm at the beginning was Sadie being offered up sexually as a bargaining chip. However, Gabriel does redeem himself and isn't quite the monster that he's portrayed as initially. Sadie also realizes she doesn't really know how her family protects the city of Mannith after all. I got really invested in the characters.

Of note, this is the first book of a series.

I want to first thank both NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book I received!

This review is coming a little late because quite honestly I just didn’t know how to articulate my feelings on this book.the idea of this book and what I thought it was going to be like had so much potential it is a new exciting premise to me and I think the aspects of the book that reflect that initial idea were great. I wish I could’ve seen more of that. The actual book however felt both slow and fast and in both ways the plot suffered. I was not sure why anything that was happening was happening and why no one seemed to be using logic and reason. I love and understand that sometimes YA needs to be a bit more simple and straightforward but I’m sorry nothing made actual sense. It was more heavily Y than it was A if that makes sense. The plot felt randomly generated and then the story was just kind of slapped in around it. The writing was forgettable you can decide if that’s good or not because I genuinely can’t remember what I thought of it.

Beyond the plot the relationship both did not make sense and was annoying. Like I’m sorry Gabe and Sadie together were just so uninteresting and nonsensical. Beyond that they could not figure the romance out to save their lives I will admit I deeply dislike Why Choose and if that’s what this was I wouldn’t fault them for my own personal taste but I don’t even think(how can I be sure idk) that’s what this was supposed to be. The other characters were so flat I don’t feel they’re even worth mentioning in this portion of the review.

Overall the story had potential and I didn’t dislike all parts of it however it lacked so much depth and backstory that I couldn’t really enjoy it reading it felt more like a chore.

This story did not make a lot of sense to me. It intrigued me at first, I wanted to know what had made her run away and hide her magic for 6 years. Only to be extremely put off by the revelation. It seemed like a gross exaggeration to me. Almost all the reactions Sadie had were blown out of proportion in my opinion. I wasn’t really buying it. I struggled to get through the book because of this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for providing me an ARC of this story for my honest review.

This story follows Sadie Sadler, a witch who has decided to no longer use her powers. However, when her brother goes on trial for murder and Sadie has to act as his defense attorney, all bets are off.

Overall, I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the storyline and thought the idea was unique in comparison to some of the other fantasy novels out there. There was a good mixture of magical creatures and interesting explanations of how they can or cannot procreate.

However, I found all of the characters unlikable, including the protagonist. There were also various subplots that I felt added nothing to the storyline, and would have preferred more detail spent elsewhere, such as in the courtroom scenes.

My rating for this book is 3 stars, as I believe it was good for a debut novel and there are probably others who would enjoy this book if they are able to overlook the things that I didn't love about it.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book! Witchy, fantasy romance that had a lot energy and tension for an enemies to lovers! Secrets, magic, disguises, clever, and kept up with plot and pace. It had darker, morally grey vibes and included some legal drama out of London. Interested in where the story goes!

I honestly didn’t like a single character in this book, and for me, that’s a major dealbreaker. They felt so unidimensional and borderline boring that I struggled a lot to get into the story. I couldn’t care for them and that hurt, because the rest of the story was far more interesting.
The dreams were too much for me. I personally don’t like when a book abuses that resource, because it becomes confusing.
That being said, there were a few unexpected twists that kept me intrigued and the pacing was really good, so overall it was not a bad book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really, really wish I hadn't bothered finishing this book. The Characters who were meant to be "morally grey" were not. They were despicable. Writing morally grey characters does not mean you make them do a terrible thing and then make out that they're not so bad after all.

Gabriel wasn't the only one who was bad, but he made me feel really queasy every time he was on screen. He (at the very least) threatened rape and played mind games with the main character and her family, so much so that the main character runs away and hides to avoid being raped by this guy. Then the rest of the book is basically the author trying to make out that it's not as bad as it sounds and making Gabriel a hero at every opportunity.

It's a real shame because I liked Sadie a lot as a character and if the author had just leaned into it and made Gabriel a villain, I could have really been into it.

Husband: What are you reading now
Me: The Twisted Mark
Husband: Oh, what’s it about?
Me: Think ‘Charmed’ meets ‘Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney’
Husband: … I’m sorry, what?

I’d read similar books to The Twisted Mark (witches and magick meets modern ahe) and really enjoyed them; but I had to DNF this one as it started putting me into a reading slump.

I just couldn’t get into the story in the slightest, I was starting to find the two main characters and Sadie’s whole family really annoying, and I was finding every excuse to not read this book.

Also, SA/r*ape being framed as something sexy. NO THANK YOU.

[This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion]

The Twisted Mark by Sophie Williamson

He put a spell on her…well…not a spell…a lien AND it changed her life! In this paranormal romance with a bit of urban fantasy, a feel of Romeo & Juliet, and a love-hate relationship; two people that are on oppositive sides try to find balance in their lives while determining what they might truly mean to one another.

What I liked:
* Sadie Sadler: witch with demon blood, from the ruling family of Mannith in northern UK, lawyer, bright, filled with magic she tries to control, moved to London for college and work, loves her family and believes in putting her family first – no matter what, is attracted to Gabriel, learns a lot in this book
* Gabriel Thornber: powerful magic practitioner, head of Thornber group, opposes Sadler group, believes he and Sadie are to be together, ruthless, hedonistic, willing to do what it takes to accomplish what he believes is right
* The backstory of Mannith and details of why Thornbers and Sadlers are at odds with one another, the way the dome came into being, and thinking about which side I would choose to be on
* That though a book of good and evil…everything isn’t always black and white
* The general attitude of magic practitioners regarding physical gratification and monogamy
* The familial, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual issues Sadie has to navigate and come to terms with during the course of this book
* The strong bond Sadie’s family has for each other
* The plot, pacing, setting, characters development, and world building
* Thinking about what will happen next

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about how twisted one’s thinking would need to be to do some of the things that “good” people did in this book

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

I had a lot of fun in reading this book even if I usually skip the sex part as I find sex in book boring. There's a good idea, there's a lot of sexual tension but I was left wondering why Gabriel was such a monster as he's described as quite a decent being and why they were so in love as they barely know each other.
That said I had fun.
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I really wanted to like this book but I had a difficult time trying to get through it. I just couldn’t seem to connect with the characters. There was some twists but unfortunately not enough to keep my interest. Thank you NetGalley, Sophie and Storm Publishing for the ARC!

I struggled getting into this story. It was very slow to start off but it definitely pays off by the end. It wasn’t my typical read but the author is very knowledgeable in their craft and the world building was phenomenal.