“It’s just like chess; there’s cheating, and then there’s outwitting your opponent. (…) One is dishonorable and vile. The other? Just good strategy.”
Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Has explicit sexual content, curse language, and mentions infidelity.
“Payback’s a Witch” is the first book in the The Witches of Thistle Grove series. Thistle Grove is a magical town, founded by 4 families (the Blackmoores, the Avramovs, the Thorns, and the Harlows), and set up as a whimsical and magic attraction for tourists—who won’t ever know the magic they see is 100% true. This book follows Emmy Harlow, a witch from the weakest founding family and who has actually even lost her magic due to staying away from Thistle Grove. But in a turn of events, she decided to go back and serve as Arbiter—a judge—, in the competition that will decide who the ruling (and strongest) magic founding family will be. The Blackmoores have almost exclusively ruled over Thistle Grove since it was founded… but what if this was bound to change? Gareth Blackmoore has inflicted heartbreak through every single over founding family, so what if the competitor and the Arbiter were to form a sort of alliance? What if the Blackmoores weren’t the center of Thistle Grove anymore? Oh, how wonderful that would be.
In total honestly, I only read this book because I was approved in Netgalley to get the advanced readers copy (ARC) of the second installment in this series, but I am so happy I grabbed this book. It is SO good. It definitely has a YA feel to it and it’s so entertaining. Is Thistle Grove a real place? Because I really want to go there.
This book is lighthearted, adventurous, and very very witchy-spooky. I was surprised most of my Goodreads friends didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did, but I stand by it: this first installment in the The Witches of Thistle Grove series is amazingly entertaining, charming, and captivating. I was essentially in a reading slump and this book is entirely responsible for me getting out of it. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book, which will be released next week.
I would recommend this book to any readers who enjoy LGBTQIA+ romances, witchy books, and who like series like Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. This book is fast-paced and dynamic, you’ll definitely finish it in one sitting if you have the time.
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andrea's galley 