The Hedge Witch by Colleen Delaney was definitely one of my favorite reads this month! It's has such an interesting plot and is different than most witchy books I've read. I loved the Bay sister's and their unique personalities, and of course, their cool names.
The idea of soul mates and Laurel and Owen finding each other in past lives and the present life is sweet. I really wanted them to get to know each other better, but hopefully, that's in the next book? It ended on a cliffhanger, so I'm guessing it's going to be a series. I'll be curious to see if the next book focuses on the continuation of this story or if it will focus on another Sister's story. Lavender and Sage sound interesting! Side note: I kind of wanted to punch Laurel for going to the Bachelorette party, c'mon!
Thank you, NetGalley and City Owl Press, for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I'm excited for the next book!

"The Bay Sisters" is an enchanting and quick read that transports you to Star Island, where five witchy sisters live. The story kicks off with a Beltane prophecy that each sister will meet their soulmate within six months, leading to a magical and romantic adventure. Laurel Bay's journey is captivating as she discovers a past life with her soulmate, Onfroi, in Medieval France. When Owen Davies arrives on the island, their connection is undeniable, sparking a tender and intriguing romance. The variety of personalities among the sisters adds depth and fun to the story. While the ending felt a bit abrupt, it leaves you eager for the next installment. The book balances modern references, witty banter, and witchy vibes, making it a delightful addition to your fall reading list.

Super fun read. The cozy vibes were strong with this one, which is what i needed. It kind of gave off vibes of Charmed for me, which isn't a bad thing

The Bay Sisters are five witches who live fairly normal lives on Star Island, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. While celebrating Beltane, a voice tells the sisters that each of them will meet their soulmate within the next six months.

While in the hedge world, Laurel Bay discovers a past life of hers where she is with her soulmate in Medieval France. For weeks, Laurel meets up with her soulmate, Onfroi, in the hedge world, and Laurel becomes obsessed with finding him in this life.

When a stranger ends up on the island, Rosemary Bay just knows he is the soulmate of her sister Laurel, and sends him to their house to fix their porch step. This stranger turns out to be Owen Davies, of the Davies Water Witch Clan, and he surely is Laurel's soulmate.

While navigating her new relationship with Owen, Laurel also discovers a witch is after her because of a curse Laurel casted in her past life. This witch is relentless and wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it.

This story was very enjoyable and went by far too quickly! I loved the past life and soulmate elements on this book, and I can't wait to continue the series.

I really wanted to love this one, but it fell flat for me. I made it about 20% through (which I realize is not very far), before I decided it just didn't capture my interest. The premise was amazing, and I loved the idea of a group of witch sisters, but their personalities were all a little too outlandish, as if the author was trying to highlight their differences, and the love story was a bit too cheesy for me. I think this will definitely appeal to romantasy readers, and there's a chance I may try it again at another time, but I wanted to provide feedback now since we are now past publication date.

This book was provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review (thanks, NetGalley!).

The Raves:
- This is a cute book! And a quick read, which is nice, it's not too difficult to digest.
- This book is a little spicy, but not too spicy where it gets in the way of the story. I loved the soulmates storyline, it was sweet. I also loved getting a peek at who these two people were in their prior lives.
- There wasn't a lot of world-building necessary for to enjoy this story, which is nice. I love a good, solid book with a new world to explore, but it's also nice to have a simple read without focusing too much on the world around these characters.
- I loved the variety of personalities each sister had. It was fun to experience different witchy vibes for each one.

The Rants:
- The ending was a bit unexpected? I kind of wanted more from it, but it ended alright (albeit a bit abruptly for my taste). Though, this is the first in a series and we'll likely get more in future books.
- Some of the tension between Owen and Laurel felt forced. The object of the tension makes sense story-wise, but the reactions felt a bit too dramatic for drama's sake.

If you're looking for a cute, quick, witchy read with a bit of romance and soulmates, this could be for you!

Beautifully written book! I loved the fmc! She was well-written, relatable, and loved her journey through the novel! The love story of Laurel and Owen was heartbreakingly wonderful, and I could not stop reading! Finished in less than a day because I had to know the ending! Very much enjoyed the writing and will be looking forward to more from Colleen Delaney in the future!

Thank you, City Owl Press and Net Galley, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Fans of Charmed, The Craft, Practical Magic, and A Discovery of Witches will love this enchanting story filled with witchy vibes, East Coast charm, and a love that defies time. It's packed with romance, witty banter, modern references, and all the witchy cottagecore vibes your heart desires.

Laurel Bay, is a tarot reader on Star Island, she finds her life turned upside down when a past love reappears, leading her into danger with a vengeful witch. Meanwhile, Owen Davies, yearning for his soulmate, stumbles into Laurel's world, setting off a captivating tale of star-crossed lovers.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It would be a wonderful addition to your fall TBR. The structure, style, and pacing were perfect. I'm giving it 3.5 stars due to a romantic trope that didn't exactly align with one character's personality traits. It felt unnecessary and didn't serve the character meaningfully. A few spicy scenes were included.

Spice Level (1-5): 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
Star Rating (1-5): ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5

My Rating Scale:
1- run. save yourself.
2- did not like at all.
3- liked.
4. loved.
5. obsessed. read it.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


I love witches and this book was no exception. Think Practical Magic with its own set of rules, some steamier scenes and past lives coming to fruition.

I love the dynamic between the sisters and its very cosy fantasy. I will be reading book 2!

Magic and family come together in this fun novel. Laurel is a simple hedge witch who does tarot readings for a living. She knows that she and her sisters will all meet their soul mates soon, but she doesn't expect to be the first on the list.

When she meets Owen in a dream realm, Laurel can't stop thinking about him. Her soulmate. Owen is in much the same boat, but as they realize their link to one another, Laurel faces threats from a past life.

Together they defend their family and island from a witch intent on destroying the Bay Witches.

Thank you to City Owl Press and NetGalley for an eARC copy of The Hedge Witch by Colleen Delaney.

If you like Practical Magic and Charmed, you will certainly love The Hedge Witch. The first book in a series, The Hedge Witch introduces us to the Bay Family and starts with the story of Laurel, a Hedge Witch. Following Laurel's journey to learning about and meeting her soulmate, to the multi-generational curse on her family and the lengths they would go to stop it in their tracks. It was certainly a cozy-read, but despite this being a series, I wish the book was a bit longer and gave more world building. I do enjoy when books get straight into it, but I also like growing with the series, even if it starts off slow. It also could have been polished a bit more, there were sections that I felt weren't written by an adult. But, past that it was a fun and fast read.

3.5stars--THE HEDGE WITCH is the first instalment in Colleen Delaney’s contemporary, adult THE WITCHES OF STAR ISLAND paranormal romance series focusing on sisters and witches: Laurel, Lavender, Sage, Verbena and Rosemary Bay who work and live on Star Island. This is twenty-nine year old hedge witch Laurel Bay, and thirty-one year old carpenter, Owen Davies story line.

Told from omniscient dual third person perspective (Laurel and Owen) using present day and ‘memories’ from the past THE HEDGE WITCH follows in the wake of a series of dreamlike visions. Laurel Bay is a hedge witch, able to ‘jump the hedge’, traveling to another time where she will identify as Amee, meeting her soulmate Onfroi but on one such travel Laurel will find herself targeted by a sorceress, a witch from the past, who wants to absorb our heroine’s powers. Meanwhile, Owen Davies, the son of a water witch, suspects the woman in his dreams is his fated soulmate. A trip to Star Island would bring Owen face to face with his future, in the guise of Amee aka Laurel Bay but the past refuses to let go, taking aim at Laurel Bay.

The world building follows two timelines and intersecting paths. A curse in the past has followed Laurel to the present, and the descendant has taken aim at our story line heroine.

The relationship between Laurel and Owen is one of fated soulmates who met hundreds of years earlier , and continue to meet in the Hedge World but the real world is about to come face to face with the past, and Owen is determined to save the woman with whom he has fallen in love. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate.

We are introduced to Laurel’s sister: Sage, Lavender, Verbena and Rosemary, as well as Owen’s mother, Bartender Luke Karnes and witch Morana Stoch aka Flavia.

THE HEDGE WITCH is a story of magic and mayhem, secrets and lies, power and control, insta-love and fate. The premise is entertaining but there was more telling than showing; the romance is subtle; the characters are interesting but a little dry.



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I am OBSESSED with this book. The first chapter alone immediately captured my attention, then the further I delved, the more in love I became. This world that was created was everything I dream about. Absolute perfection.

3.5 stars

Thanks so much for the copy of this book to read.

It took me some time to get into but once I was in it I sped through it. I really enjoyed the sisters and family in the book more than I loved the main character. IT was a cute, quick, quirky romance that I could see myself really enjoying under a blanket during the Autumn months.

I don't love spice in books, but it was really easy to speed past that without ruining any of the plot so that was fine in this book.

I also loved how the ending made me really want to pick up the next book to see what happens next!

This book gives witchy, fantasy, cosy but still quite high stakes.

The book’s description really drew me in as it has a lot of what I enjoy in a book. I’ve been really enjoying Witchy books lately.

I really enjoyed this book and it didn’t take long to find myself immersed in the first story of the Bay Witch Sisters.
Each of the five sisters have various talents and each will find their soulmate at a certain event as told by the prophecy but of course it’s never that easy!
The first follows Laurel a Hedge witch who would rather not develop her skills like her sisters but instead focuses on her Tarot reading and wandering the Hedge world,
a realm only accessible to Hedge Witches.
That’s where she unexpectedly meets her soulmate, Owen and learns that their futures are intertwined but it doesn’t take long before they learn of the curse and what they need to do to secure their future.
The book has flashbacks, past lives, other worlds and revenge!
The book was well written and easy to follow along and I loved the cosy romance vibe that came across in the writing.
This is the first time reading from this author and it’s also a new series which I’m looking forward to reading more. I can’t wait to read about Rosemary in the next book.

Thank you to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a straight up blend of witchcraft and romance. The Bay sisters are Gals you would love to know and be friends with. The antagonist is spooky and deliciously bad news. The romance is one of the driving forces of this novel.
Colleen Delaney has crafted an engrossing, well-written book. I enjoyed reading it immensely.

Thanks for the opportunity. Very cozy book, if you loved practical magic you will definitely like this. A very enjoyable adventure that follows several life time curses.

This book was really cute! I loved how the author used flashbacks in her storytelling. She also did a great job flipping between worlds. I really loved the sisters connection. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book!

The Hedge Witch was a fun read with a couple of new aspects -- multi-lifetime curses, witches that cross the good bad realms, and sonofawitch. While this book was more on the fun side of life, it contained enough magic, spells, and darkness it was able to keep my attention. If you aren't a fantasy reader who likes complicated, dark magic, this is the perfect read.



#thehedgewitch #sonofawithc

Thank you NG for this ARC read! If you're looking for a magical, yet vengeful, with a side of romance and some this is it! The Hedge Witch is filled with such a fascinating and vivid storyline of Laurel and Owen. Laurel is the 3/5 witchy sisters who depends on her sisters for a lot! Until someone from her past returns and she is set on finding this man (aka Owens), that she will do anything to find. Owen a son of a witch, decedent of the powerful Davis line of water witches and warlocks. However, he is not gifted with any powerful magic. Colleen does a great job with the format of the story including the flashbacks and back and forth between worlds. I loved the way the magic was described from both Laurel and Owen's perspective, and through their relationship with magic.