Potions and proposals is a fun, light hearted romance set in a magical small town. A witchy take on the classic enemies to lovers tale for the protagonists of Lucy and Benedict, the characters in this story are well written and even the side characters have been developed well. A cosy fantasy read.

I have read the majority of Kate Callaghan's work and I was excited to pick this one up.

I really enjoyed the characters and the premise and the little witchy town she has created. It is a cosy fantasy with magic and supernatural creatures.

But it is missing a satisfactory conflict, I was waiting for a specific character to be something they weren't and I was waiting for more mystery... I feel like I can't say more without spoilers.

It was good it was just lacking a little in the storyline from what I expect from her books.

But I did enjoy reading it! Strong 3.5 stars for sure.

I’ve never read a book by this author before but I absolutely loved it! Thank you so much for the ARC! I loved this story, it was extremely well written. Will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author!

Overall, a cute and fun story. I really enjoyed the magical small-town vibes, and the main characters were compelling and fun to follow their journey.

The perfect book to start getting into your autumnal feels!
I enjoyed the fact that there was an actual plot, with mention of spells and other mythical creatures throughout.
I think the enemies to lovers trope was executed well without them becoming lovers straightaway. I also loved how the Hawthorne Women are these strong witches who are well respected and yet also a family of three generations.
I am looking forward to the second book, there is potential to learn so much more about Foxford and the other creatures that live there ☺️

I love a good witchy book with some enemies to lovers and banter😍😍😍

This book was cozy and definitely made me excited for spooky season!

Magical small town
Enemies to lovers
Banter
Elemental magic
Spell gone wrong
Arranged engagement

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️

I think it was partly a case of „it‘s not you, it‘s me“ - quaint town romance is not really my cup of tea and even supernatural aspects couldn’t quite rescue the drudgery of the setting for me. The book delivered on cozy vibes but the plot dragged and the worldbuilding was lacking to say the least.

Also, at this point, I‘m really considering starting a petition against frivolous labelling a book enemies-to-lovers, even high fantasy with warring countries rarely delivers on it, this book fell even more dramatically short on this trope.

Such a great read! Found myself giggling a lot of the time.
It was well crafted and I'm hopeful of a sequel that will follow some of the other characters.
If there's not one, well, definitely worth looking into other works by the same author.
Sorry that things are kept short, I don't want to spoil anything in the story for anyone.

Hugely grate to the author Kate Callaghan and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

⭐️📚BOOK REVIEW📚⭐️

Potions & Proposals by Kate Callaghan

Let me begin by saying this - Kate Callaghan is a brilliant writer.

Potions & Proposals is the story of two childhood frenemies. More enemies than friends. Lucinda Hawthorne & Benedict Matherson. Each an heir to their powerful magical lineage. One good and the other bearer of a more darker magic. Benedict's family has had to prove themselves due to their familial history. Their mothers are best friends. Lucinda's mother is the high priestess who is about to retire. It's time to pick the next. Traditionally the seat has always belonged to Lucinda's family.

Lucinda is the town librarian and Benedict has turned his family manor into a hotel therefore bringing business to their town. It's one of those areas where magical people can live and freely practice their magic without the fear of persecution. Each tries to one up the other constantly. The last prank that Lucinda plays on Benedict costs him a negative review in a prestigious travel magazine. When the time comes to decide the next high priestess, the coven is worried that Lucinda alone cannot fulfil the responsibilities.

A binding between Lucinda and Benedict is proposed on All Hallows' Eve. A spell is cast to stop that from happening. But... the spell misfires. Was that done on purpose? Or was it an honest mistake? In trying to undo the side effects of the spell, Lucinda and Benedict develop feelings for each other. The question now is, are the feelings real? Or due to the spell?

Potions & Proposals was a fun, cozy romance that I really enjoyed. The magic, the chemistry and the setting were all endearing. Though I would have loved a little more depth to their connection, this story was a perfect blend of romance and fantasy.

Potions and Proposals had a fun enemies to lovers/arranged marriage premise, but didn't quite hit the note. The pranks the plot started with didn't seem right for characters who were otherwise responsible people and cared so much for their town, and the romance between the main characters didn't seem to have much feeling behind it.

This was the perfect witchy romance with a unique take on body swap. I enjoyed that banter and chemistry. I loved the relationships with the side characters and hope we get a sequel so we can spend more time in this world. This adorable cover provides some adorable clues into the store and is just beautiful. As a witchy romcom lover I highly recommend this witchy romance.

Witches, werewolves, vampires, and more! When Lucy is partnered up with her nemesis Benedict by their coven, will they be able to get over their past and look to the future? After a potion goes awry, Lucy and Benedict get closer than they ever planned. This story is filled with fun, mystery, and plenty of fantasy. The characters are well developed and likeable, which makes this a good read.

I loved. Benedic won my heart. This book is sweet and addictive, I couldn't put it down, it was a compulsive read. The magical contours and all the twists and turns present in the story make it a good pearl.

This was a fun, tropey and cozy read!

After one too many pranks, childhood rivals Lucy and Benedict are faced with the prospect of an arranged marriage in order to stay in their town. But not only that; Lucy's meddling family tries to help her with a love spell, which leads to Lucy and Benedict accidentally switching their powers. Enter the next trope: Forced proximity...

The build-up between the two of them is well done, although the characters felt a bit younger than they are supposed to be. I also enjoyed the side characters and hope to read more about them in the future.

The book was cute and fun to read, but it took me until chapter six to get into it. I didn't enjoy the parts with the pranks, and the dual point of view seemed pointless since it was in the third person. Despite these drawbacks, I found it a light and enjoyable read, perfect for Halloween and best enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate.

I've only been reading cozies for about a year. In that year I have come to expect cozies to be light and fun stories that you want to read. The paranormal elements present in some makes them a dynamic escape from the daily grind. The premise for this book sounded like a lot of fun. Admittedly the first few chapters each contained elements that made me continue reading but also elements that left me feeling a bit blah. For example, the opening Scene where Lucys pranks Benedict's hotel was kinda fun but not really appropriate. Piranhas, real or fake, are not a prank, it is disrespectful and could cause series harm even if unintentional. The butterflies from tea cups was cute but i just couldn't get behind the idea of a grown woman being so selfish and childish. That left me with a bitter taste in my mouth toward Lucy who went on to seem whiny. Benedict was better but only slightly. To be honest, I gave up part way through the book. It felt like a slog to keep reading. As another author pointed out, reading should be enjoyable and this was not for me.
I hate to disparage someone else's work especially since I think there are good elements that could be pulled out of this book and recombined to make the story more fun. We don't get al lot of backstory on the town which would have helped, especially when Lucy or Benedict could have been forced out of town. I generally love the small town feel of cozies but this town left me cold. Another elements I love in books is a close family because I can relate and I feel like Lucy's family threw her to the wolves (no pun intended.) Someone, maybe, Gram should have gone to bat for her instead of saying if you get thrown out it will only be for a little while. A little while without family would stink. I think a story about Lucy and Benedict with lighter banter, no criminal pranks and more attention paid to the hunters and the Vatican's role would be a lot of fun and maybe someday we will get that story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I think this fell a little short in the enemies to lovers aspect. The "enemies" part of the relationship was hardly there at all. And it got a little too cheesy for me at the end. But other than that it was a well-written story.

4.5 🌟

The perfect fall witchy read.

I was hooked on this book almost from page 1. The banter between Benedict and Lucinda was perfect and had me LOLing. There isn't a ton of world building in this so I loved that I could just enjoy the story vs trying to keep track of everything. Run and pick this book up when you can.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

Potions and Proposals was the perfect cozy fantasy read!

Plot:
I appreciated being thrown in so quickly! Right off the bat you get the sense of urgency for this arranged marriage and the impact on everyone's lives.
I adored how cozy and "low stakes" it was. While I love intense and action-packed fantasy, I also enjoy reading about a world I would actually like to live in without the fear of dying. This book made me want to move to a small town (but only if I can find a magical one). Though past trauma toward the magical inhabitants was mentioned, I appreciated it being in the past with a focus on healing.
The "magic gone wrong" tension was well-paced and engaging and came to a great resolution.

Romance:
A cozy romance with some heat! I very much appreciated this being an open-door cozy fantasy. Lucinda and Benedict's relationship developed in a well-paced manner that felt believable, relatable, and real. With the help of quirky side characters, they got the Happily Ever After they deserved. I cried.

All-in-all, I will absolutely be recommending this to everyone as their cozy, witchy, fall/winter read this year! It will be very worth it.

I received this ARC from Net Galley. This is my first book by this author. I liked the blurb and it kind of reminded me of Meg Cabot's latest book, "Enchanted to meet you".
The positives include the beautiful cover design and the way the names of the leads, Lucinda and Benedict were decorated. This was a dual POV book about the succession of a town's high priestess. I wish the author would have explained the importance of this title and the entailing job a bit more.... another magical town was mentioned, but we don't know if they have their own high priestess.

The spell cast by our FL's relatives apparently backfired....and this led to the powers of our leads being swapped....this was also never properly explained or confirmed. The FL and ML tried different ways to get their powers back, without letting the elders know....they did succeed finally...
Calling the ones without magic as 'magless' was obvious, mean and not creative. The book has great potential to show a real conflict between the ones who did magic and the magless, same with the town coven and the Order. I am not sure what role did Order member Emerson play apart from making our hero jealous every now and then...even the tragedy that had befallen our ML could have been explained properly...maybe at one go rather than in scattered parts throughout the book....
Another scene had Lucinda reading Emerson's cards and his behaviour was suspicious...but nothing came of it?
And what's with Benedict calling his mom by her given name and never calling her "mother/mom"?

Many sub plots were introduced but left unexplained....like Peter (our ML's ghostly grim reaper brother) and his crush on Faye (a vampire being abused by her vampire husband). The FL's father only showed up at the end...there was more telling than showing after the first few chapters...the one thing that felt real was the fight between Lucinda and her mother regarding their miscast spell...
Benedict was already in love with Lucinda so it didn't really feel like an enemies to lover trope....and Lucinda suddenly started being attracted to him and blamed the miscast spell for it?!
The ML said, "I love you" first....and the FL never said it. She mentioned "love" in passing during their binding ceremony...and it didn't feel enough. Some characters were mentioned only in passing like Lucinda's cat, Chaos, whom I completely forgot about till it made a reappearance in the last chapter. The love scene also felt rushed....and Lucinda getting up suddenly during their conversation after the love scene to give him a surprise didn't feel connected. What made her remember the surprise? It wasn't the topic of their conversation....
Her best friend, Rosie started off as a good supporting character but then completely disappeared. Even after our leads had their first kiss, Benedict doesn't feature in the next few scenes....it was all very confusing. There are multiple typos which I feel the author should fix before the book is released and by the last few chapters, I was struggling to finish the book....I won't be reading the bonus chapter.....
The main disappointment was that there was no real conflict in the book....a book featuring crones, vampires, witches, wolves, coven and an Order controlled by the magless...