Back in a Spell by Lana Harper is a contemporary paranormal romance and the third book in the Witches of Thistle Grove series (4.5/5 stars)

(4.5 rounded up to a 5)

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper is a contemporary paranormal romance and the third book in the Witches of Thistle Grove series.

Nineve “Nina” Blackmoore has been nursing a broken heart inflicted by her ex who practically left her at the altar about a year ago. Her best friend Jessa urges that she use a dating app to choose someone who is so outside her usual type to try to shake things up in her love life. Enter Morty Gutierrez, a quirky nonbinary bartender. After an awkward disaster of a first date, the awake the next day to find that Nina’s magic is going off the charts and Morty is developing their own powers–but that usually only happens to non-magical romantic partners after they are fully committed.

Out of all the current paranormal romances on the go that I’ve tried recently, The Witches of Thistle Grove has been my absolute favorite. This book continued the series in that trajectory for me. It can be read as a standalone, but we get a handful of scenes with some of the folks we followed in the first two books.

Man, did I identify with Nina’s wanting/needing control and structure to deal with all of the chaotic emotions she’s been dealing with her whole life. Morty is amazing and I love them and I will protect them with all that I have.

Also, I really liked the idea of couples being bound like the “witch marriage” described here. Being able to feel the emotions and physical sensations that your partner is feeling would be so lovely and enlightening. And hot. I think the author did a great job showing how this open communication (when they weren’t purposefully dampening it) would be so helpful in finding deeper emotional connection with a partner.

Tropes in this book include: enemies to lovers, opposites attract, nonbinary rep, queer heroine

CW: narcissistic family members

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own. Back in a Spell releases on January 3rd, 2023.

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