Brilliant. A twisty romance with hexes, spells and the obligatory smashed mirror. A troubled childhood with a cold and cruel mother leaves Emma crushed by shyness and unable to fight her corner. I wanted to fight on Emma’s side and push her to stand up tall and fight for herself, to be what she deserved to be. The emotion is true and well woven into the tale. Well worth a read.

CW: abusive parent; mind-control drugs (played mostly for laughs).

This was a really enjoyable witchy romance! I'm not usually one for second-chance romance plots, and I will admit that I lost patience with some of the to-ing and fro-ing towards the end, as the characters edged around secrets long past when it felt like they'd rebuilt trust, but the arc of the relationship was really well handled overall, and there was masses of chemistry between the main characters. I liked the individual development of both Emma and Bastian, too, as they juggled expectations from everyone around them. To be honest, the writing is not the best I've ever read, with quite clunky info-dumping at the start and some less-than-fluid turns of phrase, but it was a light, quick read despite that, and the emotional side of things was well worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mills & Boon for this Arc in exchange for an honest review!


Emmaline Bluewater and Bastian Truenote, childhood friends, and once engaged, are forced back together in a tale of witches, curses, magical contracts, and betrayal.

I adored this book!

It was an easy read which flowed well, drawing you into a magical world of romance, cute familiars, and personal growth.

Emma owns a bar with her two best-friends, and its so heartwarming to read about their bond. She's a great main character, whose introverted but has much more depth to her. She makes mistakes, but she does it to protect the people she loves, and sometimes to protect her own heart. Bastian is a typical love interest - fun and flirty - making for laugh out loud moments, but also with a protective side, looking to save his mother, and to forge a real partnership with Emma. I enjoyed following their story as they learnt to trust each other and find true joy in each others company!

The family dynamics of Emma's manipulative household and Bastian's loving home are fascinating to follow, and littered in just the right amount for a romance book!

If you like these tropes in witchy romances, then it's for you: marriage of convenience, forced proximity, and second change romance. I have to admit, there is a strong use of the miscommunication trope, which can be frustrating at times, but the happy ending more than makes up for it with a series of sweet romantic gestures!

I picked this on a bit of a whim having not really read anything quite like this before, and I've been so so pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed reading this! It's a cute, witchy, second chance romance of a pair of childhood friends to lovers. The main characters develop really well throughout the book and I personally felt drawn to both of them. Secondary characters are also decent, in particular I really liked the banter between Kole and Leah - sometimes I find flirty banter in books a little forced or cliche but these two genuinely made me laugh. Admittedly some things in this book are a little cliche, there were a couple of annoying elements (namely the use of the word Goddess in place of God, towards the start it felt like it was in every paragraph and I found it a bit jarring but it settled down quite quickly) but what romance doesn't have them? There's also a little bit of spice, nothing too heavy, as well as some explorations of interesting ideas such as contrasting family dynamics.

Overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend!

Am I the only person in the world that just can't be arsed with the whole shy, wallflower thing?
It's fine, I suppose when I'm reading about a child or a teenager, at a push - but an adult? Who has her own business - in a bar of all places?

Emmaline - who understandably now prefers to be called Emma, is a witch and from childhood has been magically bound to marry Bastian. They have been best friends for a while and she hero-worships him. He's from one of the "highest" magical families and Emma's family, or rather, mother, is almost literally hanging on to the edges. But seven years ago, Bastian just upped and left without an explanation. Poor shy Emma had to cope with the whispers and the head-tilts from the rest of society along with the broken heart.
Emma escaped and she now owns a human bar in Chicago with her 2 best friends, Leah and Tia.

But wait, Bastian is back and still expects to marry Emma. Is he full of sorrow and ready to explain to Emma what happened, why he disappeared without a word? Of course not and while Emma isn't quite the walkover she used to be, she doesn't appear to have much of a backbone.

This was a nice enough read. I actively despised one of Emma's best friends and I hate that there was so much distrust between Emma and Bastian. I know that it was a huge part of the plot but I wouldn't even consider giving someone so much as a glance without a bloody good reason for the way that Emma was treated.
This was very predictable but there is scope for this to become a series to tell the stories of some of the other characters.

I absolutely loved this story!! This was the perfect cute, cosy, easy to read second chance romance I have read in what feels like a long time - This is a book that I will happily re-read again and again <3

Such a unique book, I loved the plot, and oh my god the characters were so amazing!! I definitely will be recommending it!!

Book Review 📚
The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan - 4/5 ⭐

A rom-com, with a hint of fantasy and even some spicy scenes. I love it. We're set to follow the story of Emma and Bastian is this witchy rom-com.

The plot was amazing. The two are set to marry after an arrangement made when they were children only for Bastian to flee and leave Emma before the wedding even takes place. But he returns and he wants a second chance?

The writing style was phenomenal and Morgan kept me entertained throughout the book, with bits of romance, laughter and heartache. She managed to capture the each moment and I feel exactly what she put to paper.

The characters are lovable and they really make the story come to life. It seems so relatable and yet so far from relatable at the same time. It's definitely a story to be enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mills and Boon for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Emma and Bastian were bound to end up together - literally, as their parents signed a marriage contract when they were kids that meant they had to marry in their early twenties. Before they can complete the contract, Bastian disappears without warning, leaving Emma alone to mourn the loss of her childhood love. But after 7 years Bastian turns up at her door, demanding that they DO now need to follow through with the contract, leaving Emma confused and looking to seek the truth to fill in the gaps of the last few years.

I so wanted to love this more than I did. I love the idea of it - the premise reads as a fake dating forced marriage trope with some second chance romance thrown in there, which is absolutely my kind of thing. Throw in a sprinkle of magic in there and I felt we were destined for Ex Hex vibes.

Unfortunately some of the plot devices just didn't work for me, the main being the way Bastian is portrayed in the first third of the story. He comes off as sexist and misogynistic, and whilst this is definitely undone somewhat through the story it isn't done so enough to completely ease my woes. There are several quotes that made me uncomfortable, especially around Emma feeling trapped by Bastian, unsolicited comments about wanting children, and male vs female status.

Emma is quiet, shy and retiring - all of which are only enhanced by a tragic relationship with her mother. Whilst I get that the point over the course of the story is that she finds her voice and Bastian loves her 'for who she is' especially given the changes, it just didn't sit well with me as someone who is actually shy and retiring and I was made to feel like that isn't good enough.

The steamy scenes in this are really well written and definitely an added bonus to the book. If I felt more comfortable with Bastian and Emma as a couple I think I would have enjoyed them even more.

I liked the sprinklings in of magical world throughout, though there were times I felt things were under-explained or I struggled to follow, so a bit more context would have helped. The pacing of the story, especially with the contract and the silencing hex, was also a little hard for me to follow at times.

I definitely think there is a story to be enjoyed here for the right audience and I really hope these people find it and devour it! Also if we were to get a story for Kole and Leah I could absolutely see myself loving that, these two were so cute.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an easy to read romcom with a magical twist, second-chance-witchy-romance and a few steamy scenes.

While the writing was good quality, and the premise an interesting one, it did feel a little too familiar - I felt like I'd read this before. There were also a few tropes that aren't my favourite - including painfully unnecessary miscommunication which lasted way too long.

Overall the book was fine, and I finished it very quickly. It may be a 'me' situation though, because I'm coming down from the high of another supernatural romcom book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Goddess bless romance writers everywhere.”

Goddess bless Sophie H. Morgan and her amazing novel, The Witch is Back. I always enjoy a witchy story; but Emma and Bastian's romance has set the bar to a new high.
Emma and Bastian were betrothed to each other as children; only for Bastian to flee before the wedding and break Emmas heart. Now he's back, desperate for another chance with Emma. Bastian wants to reunite and heal their love, and in doing so, fix their rocky family histories.
This story is so excellently written, with truly enjoyable characters, well paced, and engaging throughout. The world and characters jump off the page and root themselves in your brain. The evil side characters and plot twists will have you gasping out loud! This story is not to be missed, and I can only hope that Sophie plans to write more stories from this world.