Review by Ronny
Series Name: Toil and Trouble, # 3
Season of the Witch is a festive romance with a magical twist.
Favourite Quote:
Their lips collided.
Her breath stuttered.
It should have been a second, a shocked blip before she pulled away to yell at him. Except his mouth was warm and soft, a memory she’d never been able to sweat out of her system no matter what she tried.
Book Synopsis:
It was a passion neither could forget—until he did.
Tia Hightower isn’t sure how she went from being a powerful witch to fake dating her ex at a winter house party.
For eight years, she has refused to speak Henry Pearlmatter’s name unless it has been to curse it. Now, with their family businesses merged, she and her insufferable ex must pretend to be together to secure a wealthy warlock’s investment. Sharing a room—and a bed—with Henry is bad enough. Even worse is that Tia might have had a small potion mishap…and accidentally erased Henry’s memories of her.
Henry might not remember his ex, but it’s clear there’s still something between them. Whatever went wrong in the past, he intends to figure it out. Faking feelings for Tia isn’t exactly difficult, but one thing’s for certain: starlight carnivals and mulled-wine kisses can’t change history.
With the threat of Henry’s memories hovering over every stolen moment, their time together is running out. But a little bit of Christmas magic and the snow-melting heat between them have Tia wondering if it’s time to risk her heart once more, even if it’s with the warlock who once broke it…
Review:
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s the third book in the Toil and Trouble series and can be read as a stand-alone. This book focuses on Tia, the last member of the trio of friends we met in the first book. Tia is the prickly, distant one in the group. She comes from a Legacy family, which means her family expects a lot of her. From the previous books, we learn that Tia and Henry were in a relationship, but something happened that caused them to break up, and whatever happened left them hating each other. But of course, this wouldn’t be a second-chance romance if these two weren’t forced to work together again. This story is fun. I enjoyed that sharp, fast banter between Henry and Tia at the beginning of the book. Then that angry, sharp banter starts to turn into that fun, flirty banter, as Tia and Henry pretend to be dating. The way that their relationship progressed was just really well done. I am, of course, a sucker for an English Christmas romance, so the fact that most of this book takes place in an English manner was right up my alley. I enjoyed the workplace romance with a work travel twist. It created so many delicious opportunities to force these two crazy lovebirds to spend more time together.
Second-chance romances are really having their moment in the spotlight right now, which is not the greatest news for me, because I am not the biggest fan of second-chance romances. Don’t get me wrong, I like reading them on occasion, but not all the time. That being said, this witchy second-chance romance is well done. The author has taken that typical trope and given it a fun, unique magical twist. What makes this book feel fresher and unique is that poor Henry ends up with amnesia after a potion goes wrong and has no memory of Tia or why they hate each other. I loved the amnesia twist, especially because it’s not a micro-trope you get to read too often.
I enjoyed the romance. Tia and Henry’s love story isn’t my favourite in the series, but it was still well done. The way their journey unfolded felt real, aside from all the magical bits. They are both different people and have grown in their own ways. They just don’t jump into bed with each other. They have to work through those past misunderstandings and hurts before they can even start a new relationship.
Season of the Witch is a festive, magical romance that is fun to read.
Thank you, Harlequin- Romance, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
