Payback's a Witch (The Witches of Thistle Grove)

This was a fun little read. Talia, the hot goth chick love interest was enjoyable. I also liked Linden, the best friend. Although, I don't REALLY see what they saw in Emmy, their friendship felt a little one sided.

The Avramovs had a nice creepy necromancer Adams family thing which I like. I super liked the seance that Talia and Emmy conducted and getting to meet the Dread Lady.

At times felt like the main character was a little bit too oblivious. She kept talking about how she "had no future" in Thistle Grove because she was being pigeon holed into this one narrow thing. But the author didn't show it very well. I definitely read this for the side characters and friends mostly. I will probably pick up the next one though. It was witchy brain candy.

Now, typically I don't go for the cheesy rom-com books. Not judging anyone who enjoys them, but personally, they're usually just not my thing. But, this year, one of my reading goals for 2023 was to read a wider variety of books, reading books I otherwise wouldn't have given a second glance.

And I can say that I am very glad that I decided to give Lana Harper's Witches of Thistle Grove series a try. The first installment was tantalizing tale, with plenty of magic, mystery, romance and revenge to keep anyone intrigued.

The story begins with Emmy Harlow returning to her magically infused home of Thistle Grove after nearly ten years of her self-imposed exile, partially due to her ex, Thistle Grove's equivalent of the star quarterback, Gareth Blackmore, breaking her heart so callously. Upon returning home to be the arbiter of a bewitching tournament between the eldest children from the other three founding families, Thorn, Blackmore and Avramov, Emmy soon learns that her ex is still very much the insufferable golden boy jerk, having two-timed her best friend Linden Thorn and the mysterious, beautiful Talia Avramov. The two scorned women have come up with a plan of revenge to be unfurled in the upcoming Gauntlet tournament that Emmy will be the arbiter of.

Will Emmy decide to be a part of this revenge plot against the boy who broke her heart? Will she be pulled in by the magic of her hometown, more strongly than she ever could have imagined? Will she discover some deep family secrets throughout the tournament? And, will she be charmed by the alluring and enigmatic Talia Avramov?

Guess you'll have to find out for yourself. Give Payback's A Witch a try, and you just might be as surprised as I was.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a perfect fall read, part small town witchy fantasy, part Hallmark-trope-filled romance. A woman from the big city goes back to her cozy hometown that she purposely abandoned, with a family business that she’s no longer a part of. She falls for a town resident that she knew before she made a lifestyle switch got focus on growing a career. She realizes she still loves the town and her family, fully having a life-changing experience. The fantasy elements are pretty good. The how’s of the magic aren’t really explored, but what can be done with magic is. Each family has a magical speciality they hone, though it is clear in the third task of the contest that each witch can perform each other’s spells. The magical Gauntlet plays a big part: in world building, in the town dynamics, and in plot tension. The four main witch families are split amongst very Halloween-y lines, each fulfilling a typical way of celebrating the holiday. At least that’s my interpretation of them. The Thorn family owns a pumpkin patch and apple orchard, complete with horses, hay rides, and a hedge maze. They exemplify the nature and autumnal parts of Halloween. The Avramov family works with ghosts and necromancy. They have the spookiest woods on their property and a creepy, sprawling Victorian manor. They cover the spooky parts of Halloween associated with a closer connection to the dead that time of year. The Blackmoore family is associated with cheesy-fake Halloween. The family business is running a Medieval-Times-like empire Rhys is slowly enveloping the whole town. Their vibe is like a cheesy-bad overblown Halloween blow-up lawn ornament. Fake, cheap, but popular. The Hallows flounder, not seeming to have their own niche besides recording history and owning a bookshop, though the Arbiter of the Gauntlet holds a strong magical connection with the whole town. They seem very much indoor witches. They are known for their bookstore, not for land holdings. Their magic is mainly simple tasks like lighting candles or warming drinks, indoors kind of magic. I disagree with a lot of what I have seen in other reviews. First off, with regards to the spurned womens revenge plot, the book makes it clear that Emmy is not motivated solely by Gareth’s rejection of her 9 years ago. The rejection solidified how much power imbalance there is in Thistle Grove, how no matter how hard she studies, no matter what effort of will, Emmy cannot be as powerful as any of the Blackmoore, Avramov, or Thorn witches. And so she gives up all magic to find a job in Chicago in order to find a purpose, find a way that she can rise in the ranks. Also the book makes very clear that the power imbalance in the town’s economy is wearing on the other families. The Blackmoores are taking over a lot of the town shops and expanding into enterprises that will damage the businesses of the other families, particularly the Thorns perfect fall farm. The relationship problems the 3 ladies have with Garett is just one added spark to the fire. Second, I actually loved the romance! I dunno why people are so down on it. It’s very sapphic, a little racy; the couple have great conversations, funny jokes, and mutual lusting. The relationship occurs over one month and isn’t instantly deemed as in love/soulmates. Emmy and Talia have lots of chemistry, and their relationship centers on getting to know each other better, from being small town acquaintances to lovers. They do feel a lot fast, especially after the one sex scene (foreplay is mentioned in some detail, but then it fades to black), but it’s mostly admitting this relationship could go somewhere. It’s not insta-love, and it is fun to see on the page. Third, I don’t find Emmy that whiny. She’s having an identity crisis, and she’s thinking her way through it. There is a lot of telling associated with this, making things overly obvious sometimes. But I can’t help but wonder if Emmy were a male hero whether she would be considered whiny. Honestly, not sure on this one. Emmy is self-absorbed but that’s part of her character. MCs can be flawed without hurting the experience of the book. She definitely is way too dismissive of her cousin Delilah, who cares about the town, the family’s role in its their heritage. I hated that about her character, but it was one part of her character arc and made her a more fully fleshed out character. The flaw is not in the writing but in the human-ness of the characters. In my opinion, the book should have shown more of the friendship between Linden and Emmy. The story told us they were platonic soulmates, but I wish it were shown in some solid banter, in activities and interests that bonded them, etc. I think it would have nicely balanced the novel and character dynamics. The romance isn’t the A-plot of the novel, which might turn away from romance readers. But I loved the balance of fantasy, searching for identity, and a blossoming romance. This book is definitely setting up for this to be the start of a series. Almost everyone has siblings, perfect for new main characters and love interests for future books. There are many different town dynamics, family history, and secretive magical practices to be explored. I’m ready to go on the journey this series will take me.

It takes a while to set up. I’m not sure if I needed as much exposition as the author gave - especially considering this is lighter on the worldbuilding when it comes to magical witchy stories - but it’s certainly a good time! Good bisexual representation, a strong WLW rom-com style relationship, and a pretty satisfying takedown of a toxic hyper-masculinity entitled man child of an ex boyfriend. It’s worth checking out but probably won’t be something I’ll ever be re-reading.

I really enjoyed this book, granted, there were some things that felt mundane and unnecessary. But that said, there was a lot that I really enjoyed, her relationships with family and friends really feel genuine and well built. The whole revenge on Gareth thing turned into a generational thing of "fueled by a wrong doing but really his family needs to be taken off their damn pedestal" scheme. Overall, easy and quick reads and I will probably read the next one.