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ARC Review

This book was unfortunately very average to me.

It was slow to pull me in and the writing felt clunky in quite a few places. It also very much undersold on the magic content promised.

I additionally found the overall plot very meh. Maybe it’s because I’m not from a small town, so don’t understand why people would care so much about someone leaving and then returning?!

The ending was beautiful, however, and I’m glad I stuck with the story.

Themes/Tropes:
Romance, Paranormal?, Outcast, Emotional Scars, Small Town, Magic, Witches? & Multi POV.

1/5 🌶 rating

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was everything I was hoping it was going to be and it is being published at the perfect time of the year. Everyone get this on your witchy TBR's. I found this book to be very well written and Rachel should be very proud of herself.

Judge this book by its beautiful cover because it delivers.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells is a haunting, magical tale of witchcraft, family and love.
Through the eyes of Carrie and Cora, we are slowly told of the family history and how magic is interweaved in their history.
"The Morgan Compendium" at the start of each chapter, provides some insight into past members of the Morgan family and events in their lives.
As the story progresses, the reader is drawn into the magic and history of the town of Woodsmoke and, in particular into the lives of the Morgans.
A sweeping, unusual romantic story.

A beautiful book about folk law, superstition, magic, romance and friendship.
Set in a beautiful back drop of the mountains and village with rounded characters that you really care about.

Really enjoyed The Woodsmoke Womens Book of Spells, completely different genre of novel for me and it was really refreshing to read.

This felt like the perfect time to read this novel, with all the cosy autumnal vibes.

Main character, Carrie left Woodsmoke years ago but when her grandma passes away and leaves the cottage to Carrie she returns to Woodsmoke and when she gets the offer to do the cottage up with a strange man (obviously there is more to that) she goes for it. He suddenly disappears and the story really sets off.

I think that this novel is great for a autumn book haul/read and the characters are well written.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars from me.

A really gorgeous book to delve into, especially now the weather is turning. A cosy, magickal drama that you can curl up with and get lost in.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I cried, 3 times!

If you want something to pluck at your heartstrings, this is it.

Go into this as a cosy Autumn read and you won't be disappointed.

The perfect autumnal read.
This is a truly atmospheric and mystical tale, full of magic and intrigue. It drew me in from the start and I couldn't put it down.

The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells hooked me in right away. The writing really had me picturing the Woodsmoke Mountains and I could almost feel the magic that surrounds them.
I was intrigued by the excerpts from the book of spells too. However, I felt the momentum and pace at the beginning of the book wasn’t really kept up. My attention really waned in the middle of the book. I found it quite repetitive, the arguments between characters felt like they were rehashed a lot. The vocabulary was repetitive too - the word loam is used everytime the smell of the mountains was mentioned and if started to grate on me. According to my Kindle, the word loam is used thirteen times in the book, but it felt even more frequent than that.
Fans of magical realism will be bound to enjoy this book, especially reading it around the first frost. It’s sure to be a hit with romance readers too.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been ten years, Carrie Morgan was a teenager when she fled the small town of Woodsmoke. She wanted to travel, see new places, escape the Morgan name and all that entailed.
Carrie’s grandmother has recently died and she has been called back to Woodsmoke as per her grandmother’s will bequest.
Will Carrie find what she’s been searching for back in Woodsmoke?

I have mixed feelings about this book.
The book has some wonderfully descriptive sentences and words, very atmospheric. I struggled with warming to the characters and story at times.
Perhaps this wasn’t the book for me, but it wouldn’t put me off reading further books from the author as I like her writing style.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

Very autumnal and atmospheric but a mixed bag. A lot of angst, not enough magic.

The mountains over Woodsmoke are not ordinary. The first thing Carrie does upon her return to Woodsmoke is greet them and hope they welcome her home. The Morgan women of Woodsmoke have a connection to the mountains and can use that power but Carrie Morgan turned her back on her heritage. So when a mysterious figure appears with the frost is this a gift or curse to melt away with the warmer weather and break her heart?

There were parts of this book I really liked, but there was so much going on that it felt disjointed, with subplots taking away the point. This has all the witchy autumnal vibes but doesn’t quite hit the mark.

I loved the Carrie and Matthieu story, you’re wondering throughout if he’s real. Carrie’s aunt Cora had some interesting plot points, like her obsession with the spell book BUT given that it’s the title that book is like a footnote in the story.

Tom and Jess are given waaay too much space in the plot, to the point that when writing this I forgot the main character was Carrie. The central tension between them is just not strong enough and takes away from the more interesting parts of the story.

An easy, cosy read but a I’m a bit disappointed.

Thank you #netgalley and #HQStories for my #arc

Oh my witchy friends, you are going to love this! Carrie is a perfect lead, you warm to her instantly and you'll be begging her to be your friend! As the story unfolds you get stories from Carrie, her great aunt Coraline (Cora) and her ex best friend Jess. The stories intertwine as you hear about events past and present, why Carrie left and why she had to return. Why Jess is not her friend anymore and the secret behind Cora's obsession with "the book" and the mountains.

It's plotted well, with a diverse collection of characters and although there is an element of romance, although it is not a romance novel - the focus is on the women, female bonds and sisterhood.

It's not scary, but it has a mysterious undertone, which comes mainly from stories of the mountains and the people it has taken, but also the extracts from "the book" too, which appear at the beginning of some chapters. It's mainly set in autumn and winter, so this is a perfect time of year to read it.

I struggled with this book. Not with the writing but the plot. It was my understanding that it would be small town, mysterious magic stuff but it was just small town drama which I am not really into. I mean the mystery part was not enough for me to keep me entertained.

Title: The woodsmoke women's book of spells
Author: Rachel Greenlaw
Pages: 320
Rating: 3/5

Arc Copy (gifted) - review left voluntarily
Publish date - 10th October 2024

"There is an old tale that weaves through the mountain town of Woodsmoke.
It whispers of a stranger who appears as the snow falls, only to disappear in spring.
Leaving behind a broken heart…"

After 10 years away, Carrie returns to woodsmoke following the death of her grandmother and inheriting her cottage up in the mountains. - on one condition. She stays there for the winter.

This is a lovely cosy wintery read. A little hug in a book. It's easy to understand and has a hallmark quality to the plot. The writing is based on different perspectives but mainly focuses on the MFC Carrie.

We learn about past relationships and consequences. I found myself getting frustrated with some of the characters which is a credit to the writing skills.

I could easily see the images of what the author was creating in her descriptions, but they weren't wordy so it left some room for imagination.

This was a perfect christmassy seasonal read!


You'll love this book if you like
- cosy romance
- hallmark style reads
- winter
- no spice romance
- witchy books
- weyward by Emilia Hart
- homecoming

Thank you netgalley and hqstories for allowing me to review.

Will you read it? If you've read it already, what were your thoughts??

A perfect witchy read with cures, secrets, and mystery in abundance. Carrie returns to the mountains after the death of her grandmother, but can she stay? Secrets never stay hidden forever. Friendship and family are main themes in this fabulous story, but who is the mysterious stranger? Beautifully written and full of surprises, I could not put it down!

This was really cosy and it gave me autumn vibes, but in summer - fantastic for when it’s due to be released. Thank you to the writer, publisher, and Net Galley for allowing me to read this book.

The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells is a wonderful tale of magic, curses and romance. The story takes place in the cosy, mountain town of Woodsmoke, where everybody knows everybody else, and nothing remains a secret for very long. In the midst of this town live the Morgan women - a family of natural witches, who pass their special book of magic down from one generation to the next. However, the book is more than a grimoire or book of shadows. It is a history of romance, of all the loves and losses of the Morgan women down through the ages, told in the style of a collection of fables, in the hope that future generations of women can learn from the losses of their ancestors.

Into this environment sweeps Carrie, the youngest of the Morgan women and the only one who tried to break free and leave the town for good. But when her grandmother, Ivy, dies and leaves her everything, Carrie has to return to sort out the cottage and the shop that Ivy left behind, and to make her peace with her great aunt, Cora, the witch who currently holds the family book of spells.

The Morgan women aren't just run of the mill witches. They are mountain witches and the mountains and hills of Woodsmoke are sentient, the mountain trails populated by the spirits of winter, who prowl in the frost. It is the legacy of the Morgan women to keep the townsfolk safe from the threat of being taken by the mountains. So when Carrie returns, tongues start wagging.

This is a fantastic book full of winter's charm and the practice of witchery. It has all the cosy vibes of Stars Hallow, with the enchantment of Practical Magic and the insidious threat of The Village. The author even mentions the film, Practical Magic, in the novel, giving a nod to her inspiration and the obvious parallels between the two stories. This book is just as magical, just as cosy and it's just as hard to put down.

In The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells you will find a mysterious love interest, family feuds, cosy cottages, witchcraft, skate dates, blood magic and blood ties and the ominous mountains brooding over the frosty town. It reminded me of the time I spent in Glencoe, where the mountains do seem to be sentient beings that will either protect you or kill you! As Carrie attempts to find her place in the world and make up for past wrongs, I couldn't help but be drawn into her story, although Cora is my favourite character as she is so feisty! I sincerely hope that this novel kicks off a series and that there will be more tales of the Morgan women, because I enjoyed this one so much.

If you like the Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman, then you will love this book too. Just don't forget to ward the thresholds before you read. You never know what's out there, ready to come tap, tap, tapping at your window! The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells is the perfect October read. Enjoy!

Brights Blessings

Marie x

Carrie Morgan fled from the town of Woodsmoke as a teenager hoping to see more of the world.
Now, 10 years later, her Grandma Ivy has passed away and left her run down cottage and shop to Carrie, her only stipulation being that Carrie has to return to Woodsmoke and spend at least the winter there.
Carrie is expecting the whispers and stares that always follow the Morgan women in Woodsmoke, what she isn’t sure of is the welcome she will get from her remaining family or from the brooding mountains that surround the village.
When Matthieu arrives at the cottage with the first winter frost, Carrie tries not to become involved. After all he could be the stranger that is spoken of in her family’s precious book of spells and lore. The one who arrives at first frost and disappears with the spring thaw.
How real is Matthieu and will he break Carrie’s heart as her family warn.

"It's true that the stories can't be ignored in Woodsmoke, that trying to explain them to anyone from outside of the town would be futile. But Jess and Tom and Carrie have all grown up with it. They've seen the seemingly magical effects, the unexplained things that happen. As much as he'd like to brush it all aside as superstition, he simply can't."

An atmospheric and seasonal tale set in a rural town at the foot of mountains, focusing on the Morgan family of women and their book of stories. Whilst there's an element of witchy fantasy it remains solidly grounded in reality and in the relationships between returnee Cassie and her family and friends, including great aunt and uncle Cora and Howard, love interest Matthieu and school friends Tom and Jessie. I enjoyed the uncertainty the author creates around the grey area between superstition and magic and the impact it has on characters' choices and behaviour. Split into seasons, the climate, landscape and Cassie's inherited, rundown cottage felt like characters in their own right. This is a bewitching tale about family and society's expectations and daring to live differently.

In this beautifully atmospheric read, we follow Carrie Morgan as she returns to the town she fled ten years prior, intending to quickly fix up her grandmother's house and leave again. But, as her past catches up with her and reality and dream merge, will she make different choices this time?

This story of witches, magic, and mystery is told from multiple points of view, including Carrie herself and her great aunt Cora. The characters are engaging and the plot walks a fine line between magic and superstition, leaving us guessing at every turn. This story of lost love and the magic of coming home is the perfect autumn read.

A recommended read for fans of Practical Magic, Adrienne Young's books, and atmospheric reads.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ stories for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.