Back in a Spell (The Witches of Thistle Grove)

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Nina and Morty thought they ended the night by parting ways forever, but, when Morty discovers that he has gained magical powers they are brought back together. Also, so happy to see Harper once again fill the pages with LGBT characters that exist as full characters.

Lana is the New York Times bestselling author of Payback's A Witch and the forthcoming From Bad to Cursed from Berkley Books.Unlike the first two books that feature all witch main characters, this one includes a non-witch in Morty. I enjoyed reading this one, as well as the two previous books in the series; this book can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting at the beginning to get more background and world-building. Writing as Lana Popovic, she is also the author of YA novels Wicked Like a Wildfire, Fierce Like a Firestorm, Blood Countess, and Poison Priestess. She was born in Serbia and lived in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania before moving to the United States, where she now lives in Chicago with her family.

However, as Morty starts developing magical powers and Nina’s magic surges, they find they have a connection. Industrial action and public holidays can significantly delay deliveries which is out of our control. This novel works as a standalone novel, but readers will get more background if they start with book one. An awkward first date leads to a sparkling romance between one of the most powerful witches in town and a magical newbie in this rom-com by Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback’s a Witch.The community is an interesting one and it's entertaining to see how they are connected, the feuds between them and how the younger generations are blurring those lines. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed in this series is the world building and this story focuses on a different aspect than the first two in terms of this mysterious new power Nina gains. When Nina meets up with her date, Morty Gutierrez, she is totally attracted to him, though Morty is definitely not like the people Nina usually dates. I would describe the characters in this story as bold and colorful, and the emotions I felt while reading this book ranged from dejected to delighted and everything in between. And then there’s the hint of war on the horizon that could absolutely tilt this world on it’s head, especially after some major events in the second half.

If I could rate just the ending, it would be a billion cups of tea, but it takes a lot of work to get there, and I just couldn’t get into all that slow, meandering work, even if Morty learning to use magic was kind of awesome.On that front, I ended up very pleased, but, as this is also a romance, I was disappointed with the sheer predictability. So it was a little bit of a hard shift for me to suddenly have Nina as the heroine of this story, especially as things get off to somewhat of a rocky start.