This is a witchy fantasy romance. Enter Sadie, a total badass witch-lawyer living it up in the city, doing everything she can to stay off her creepy nemesis, Gabriel's radar. But, wouldn't you know it, her brother lands in deep trouble, accused of murder, and she's dragged back to her magical hometown, Mannith. Cue the family feud drama and hidden secrets galore! Sadie's got the magic mojo and looks to boot, but she's oblivious to it. Oh, and did I mention the intense chemistry crackling between her and Gabriel? Talk about enemies turned lovers! The story had me on the edge of my seat with its suspense, magic, and jaw-dropping twists. Though I must admit, some characters felt a bit lackluster, and the plot had a few loose ends. Regardless, I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, hoping it'll be up the ante!

I thought this book was okay. I really liked the premise of what it could be, but I didn't enjoy the execution. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the story. I did enjoy the twist in the book and I didn't see it coming at all.

I personally am not a fan of seeing on page the main characters have relationships with other people so that really threw me off throughout the book. If others don't mind that I think they would be able to enjoy the book. Additionally,

I sat on this book for WAY TOO LONG! Once I picked it up, I could not set it down - I’m talking up until 2 am, could have kept going, sad that it's over - good!

This is a witchy, urban fantasy romance. It’s got a strong, smart, sex-positive FMC, enemies to lovers, rival families a la Capulets and Montagues, all wrapped up in a murder mystery.

Sadie Sadler has been away from her hometown for 6 years, repressing her magic and hiding herself away from Gabriel Thornber - who she struck a magic deal with in order to save her older brother. However, when that older brother is on trial for the murder of Gabriel’s father, Sadie - a lawyer living in London - has to return to represent him and face Gabriel. Too bad she hasn’t stopped thinking about him for the last six years.

This was honestly the perfect book if you're feeling witchy. It’s modern, the magic is what you want it to be, and it delivers on some forbidden spice. It relies a bit on the preconceived understanding of witch lore, but that just means that a ton of time doesn’t have to be spent on world-building and descriptions of magic systems.

It doesn't end on a cliffhanger, per se, but it also doesn't give you a HEA either. Book two is slated to come out in October.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I was so pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a enemies to lovers, fantasy romance with a morally gray MMC and I ate it up. I loved the magic aspect and the rival families as well. I’m also excited to read the second book! If you’re looking for a quick romantasy read that is easy to follow this a good choice.

thank you to the author & publisher for the ARC!

I find the cover beautiful and the synopsis intrigued me, but the book had a turbulent start. Firstly, let me clarify that the story is narrated in first person, which is usually a narrator style I enjoy (though it may be an unpopular opinion). However, this time, I struggled to adapt to it.

Within these pages, magic intertwines with reality, seamlessly blending into the modern world—an intriguing concept that I would have appreciated more if the descriptions hadn't felt superfluous to me. In the initial chapters, the story moves slowly, twisting and pausing to provide justifications and explanations. While these are undoubtedly creative, they didn't feel quite necessary or organic.

Thankfully, the book improves as you progress further. The plot opens its wings, presenting an array of possibilities that add depth to the conflict. It evolves beyond the protagonist's internal struggle, delving into the complexities of the judicial system, intricate family dynamics, and a town overflowing with secrets and half-truths. In this setting, loyalty and betrayal walk hand in hand, and love becomes entangled with lethal promises. The author skillfully weaves together enough tropes to create something fresh, surprising the reader with unexpected twists; and even the most predictable outcomes play out on their own terms. What a ride!

Happy Pub day (7/26) Twisted Mark!!! Thank you Netgalley & Storm Publishing for the advanced copy.

Lots of thoughts on this book! First, I thought the plot was super interesting. The covens & forbidden romance was an instant interest to me. Definitely pulled me in.

However, the writing felt at time very surface level. Like it was a first draft and needed just a little more umph. Along with a few writing holes that left me feeling eh and didn’t connect great. The dialogue was great though and I loved how character driven it writing was. I do wish there was a little more world building, descriptive writing as to the town/plot. I even felt like the writer glossed over feelings of the characters, that could’ve been taken a little further and really expanded to make the characters more relatable and real.

This was like my drug of choice though! I was drawn in and addicted enough to keep overlooking the writing hiccups and overall unfinished feeling to the novel. I enjoyed and am interested enough to see where this goes as far as book two coming out in October!

Such a good book! I usually try to shy away from books with magic & such. But this one had me wrapped from the beginning. I loved every bit of every chapter from beginning to end. Im so ready for the next one!

This was such a fun, witchy romance! I really enjoyed that The Twisted Mark has a unique premise while still using the beloved enemies to lovers trope, and the twists and turns and revelations that unfolded throughout the story really kept it interesting.

Synopsis: Our witchy FMC Sadie is a lawyer hiding out in London, unable to use her magic for fear that it will bring her nemesis, Gabriel, right to her. Sadie's family have used their magic for generations to keep a protective dome over the small town of Mannith, and with that they pretty much rule the town aside from a faction that are loyal to Gabriel's family. A few years prior, in order to save her brother who was dying at Gabriel's hand, Sadie entered into a magical deal with Gabriel - she would give her body and an unspecified amount of magic to him at the time of his choosing. Since then, Sadie has stayed far away from Mannith and Gabriel.

Now though, one of her brothers is being accused of murdering Gabriel's father, and Sadie's parents want her to represent him, and as her family loyalty is strong Sadie can't say no. Back in Mannith, Sadie is determined to find out what really happened to Gabriel's father and why Gabriel and her brother were fighting those years ago. The more that she's around Gabriel, the more confused Sadie gets - both about the attraction to him that she wants to deny, and about who the town's true villains are.

Review: This book was so unlike anything I had read before! It had some great romance tropes like enemies to lovers and a dark male main character, but with the added interesting elements of magic and the strangely perfect town that Sadie's family is running. It took a little bit for the book to get going just because there was a decent amount of context and world building to get through - the magical systems, the history between Sadie and Gabriel's families, the dome and how the town is run, and the fight between Gabriel and Sadie's brother that led Sadie to making the deal with Gabriel. You could tell that the author had really developed this world and story and wanted to make sure that all those details were there for us!

Once the world building is out of the way, the book definitely picks up. There are a lot of courtroom scenes were we see Sadie representing her brother while trying to battle Gabriel's magic that he is using to try to sway the process, and show downs between Sadie and Gabriel and their families. Sadie is determined to get to the bottom of things while Gabriel is determined to get Sadie. Gabriel is definitely dark and a little unhinged and VERY obsessed with Sadie! It leads to some great tension and moments between them.

There are a lot of truths revealed and Sadie's loyalties to her family are put to the test, and it's hard to know who she should believe. These slow revelations kept the plot interesting on top of the building attraction between Gabriel and Sadie, and there is a lot of action. I'm super excited for the next book and to get MORE GABRIEL!

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.5* The Twisted Mark is one of my top books of 2023 so far simply because I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t get enough of it! Highly addictive, fun, imaginative sexy and clever. Brilliant characters with great depth, phenomenal chemistry, a vivid storyline and backdrop, deeply immersive. Never cheesy or predictive. Cannot wait for the next book!

I couldn't put it down!

From the first few pages, I knew I'd love the female protagonist (Sadie), independent, sassy, intelligent lawyer living the corporate life in the city, unafraid to do as she pleased. It was also clear from those first few pages that the bond she had with her family was not only strong but would form a big part of the plot. We're immediately introduced to a back story of her powerful and magical family and the fact that Sadie escaped from her home in Yorkshire to London six years prior due to an issue involving her brother Bren and her family's arch nemesis (and head of their magical rival family) Gabriel Thornber.

In the first few chapters the plot gets going and we're swept into an urban fantasy setting of magic, the powerful Sadler family and some serious sexual tension between Sadie and Gabriel. Sadie has to return home to represent her brother who's been accused of murdering Gabriel's father. I found myself racing through the pages to get to the next scene with Sadie and Gabriel and I loved their enemies to lovers story line. There was definite 'touch her and die' vibes which I love in a fantasy romance and Gabriel was certainly the loveable and irresistible villain. Sadie's constant battle between standing alongside her family and giving in to what her heart wants really added to this addictive story and I can't wait to read the next instalment.

Loved it. Five stars. Need the second book STAT.

Maybe it’s cause I’m in my romantasy era, but I really loved this book. Essentially, this book is about two families who have been feuding for generations. Their feud comes to a head when one family’s son is accused of killing the other’s patriarch. There’s fantasy, intrigue, magic battles, and best of all, romance you can believe in. I love a strong FMC who falls for the “bad boy”. I can’t wait for book 2.

The Twisted Mark by Sophie Williamson is a witchy love story with a magical take on the age-old tale of Romeo and Juliet. Add to that a cast of morally grey characters, intriguing magic, mysterious/dark, witchy rituals, a generations-old family rivalry built upon secrets, lies, betrayals, and the strive to protect a beloved magical town, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, flaming got spice with searing, sexual tension, and a murder mystery that plays out in a thrilling trial, with tons of suspense and plenty of courtroom drama.

This is a gripping story of one witch’s journey where she must choose between a forbidden love: doomed from the start and the powerful bonds between a family's love and obligation to their town and the lengths they are willing to go to preserve it.

This is a book that was hard to put down. While the beginning was a little slow to start, it didn’t take long for it to pick up pace, and it also kept me intrigued enough that it was very easy to carry on through to the very end.

However, I do wish we got a more in-depth overview of the magic that was used, as well as more explanation of the background of the rivalry between the two families.

I also would’ve liked to see more development of the characters and their relationships. The MMC’s infatuation borderline obsession was a bit too much at times ONLY because there was not much depth or reason to it, (happening only because of one random reason - which I can't get into because... no spoilers)!

However, I did like the FMC‘s conflict of trying to stay moral and figuring out how far she was willing to bend that moral compass to protect her town and family. This goes along with her belief that everything that she does is for her family in town and whether or not, she can trust the MMC.

Overall, the premise of this book is really interesting and unique, and has a plot filled with many, many twists and turns at every corner, (though I did find some to be easily predictable).

If you’re looking for a witchy read with all the sizzling tension of an enemies-to-lovers forbidden romance, rival families, secrets, lies, and betrayal, as well as a murder mystery; then The Twisted Mark is a book for you.

Thank you, NetGalley, Sophie Williamson, and Storm Publishing for a copy of this eARC in return for an honest review.

Investigation mixed with magic and sprinkled with romance!
I love the background story and the "binding" magic. I think the romance was sweet and I love Sadie and Gabriel! I also enjoyed the investigation and guessing the suspect.
Looking forward to next book!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow off the mark but as the background developed and I read more the plot developed and it combined a lovely story with the icing of magic. The characters were strong enough and interesting enough to care about them. There was sufficient intrigue to retain interest. The individual elements are age old, back to Romeo and Juliet i.e. family feud and crossed lovers but it is sufficiently well written and developed to make it a very good read.

I was lucky enough to get to read this book. This book is great! It’s about a witch name sadie, she left her home town in order to protect her powers and soon has to come back to save her brother as well as facing the very man who wanted her powers. The chemistry between Sadie and Gabriel is great! I was rooting for Gabriel the more I got to know him in the story and I couldn’t put the book down during anytime they are together. There is a bit of world building in this story just not a lot however the overall story had me hooked.

A slightly mafia style Romeo and Juliet story spiced with magic and some courtroom drama. The idea was very interesting. A town under a protective dome, held up by one family who run everything alongside an enemy family. I really would have loved to learn more about the beginning of the feud between the Sadlers and the Thornbers.

No one is good or bad here, everybody is morally grey, even Sadie who likes to think of herself as a special person with better morals than the rest. She doesn't have better morals, she simply decided to either explain their problematic actions (my dad is a good man in spite of doing bad things all the time) or just pretend she doesn't know about the (not even) questionable (down right wrong) things they do.

Her relationship with Gabriel is... If we want to call it sex positive that he sleeps even with people he knows would hurt her to find out about then sure, it's sex positive. For me that was a big no. I agree if there are no rules between a couple to be exclusive then it's fine to sleep with others but not like how it happened here.
All the push and shove made sense to a point because of the old rivalry between the families. However, the ending really thrust this under 4 ⭐ for me. (view spoiler)

I'd have loved to know more why Gabriel was considered a monster other than just because the Sadrels hated him because he showed no sign of being a horrible enough person to earn the label.

The magical system was interesting and I liked the conflict, the moral question it brought up.

The ending with the new case Sadie got promises an interesting new trial for book 2. In spite of some of everything, I'd call this a stellar debut novel.

An interesting read with some good characters that will appeal to some readers, especially those who like Romantasy titles. For me, an easy and quick read.

This book was a quick read that kept my attention. But, I would objectively not call it a great book. It reminded me of a new adult version of Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia mixed with a mafia romance novel. The premise was interesting but the execution left something to be desired. If the characters had been given moments to grow together more outside of their immediate lust I think it would have felt less toxic. Gabe's infatuation with Sadie went too far considering the only explanation offered for it was his dead mother told him it would be a good idea. The plot was very interesting though. I was intrigued by Sadie's family's relationship and the way magic worked. I did not care for the throwaway relationships (like with the bodyguard) that seemed to only be there to show that Sadie was sexy and not like other girls. A part of me enjoyed this book when I wasn't thinking about it but as soon as I took a second to think and actually read the words it made me cringe a bit. 2.5 Stars

I loved the premise of this book, with Magic, a type of romance and a nicely twisty plot. I liked the characters that came along, the world building is good and the idea of a town protected by magic felt almost believable. But I found it hard to get into at the start, Normally this genre of book draws me in immediately but I found it a bit of a struggle. That said, it kept my interest sufficiently to carry on. Sadie is a very conflicted woman, not wanting to trust Gabriel, believing everything she does is for her family but also confused at her feelings for Gabriel. Some unexpected and surprising twists. Not the type of romance read I was expecting but this is worth a read for the magical aspect alone. I look forward to seeing where Sadie’s life goes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Couldn't really get into this one. I liked the concept but the writing itself wasn't really for me. It just didn't really suck me in like I had wanted it to and felt as if I had to force myself to continue.