My favourite sub-genre: paranormal romance. My favourite trope: fake dating. Rep I seek out: sapphic. Yes, I was very much looking forward to reading this one.

Morgan is a potions witch, who happily lives in the same small town she grew up in. She's bubbly and outgoing, except around Rory, who she has somewhat of a crush on. Rory's parents are pressuring her to get back to spell competitions and away from her small town bartender life, and Morgan suggests fake dating at an upcoming festival to shield Rory from the pressure.

The story is told entirely from Morgan's point of view, which works well as there's a lot of second-guessing from her about what's going on with Rory. In fact, the book wouldn't really have worked with dual point of view.

I really enjoyed the witchy world setup - the mundanes know about them but the witches take care to hide how dangerous their magic can be. Most of the book is set at a witch festival with stalls, competitions and music. The cosy magic vibes had me happily curled up with a blanket (luckily it was a cooler day).

This book has a strong theme of self-confidence. Morgan suffers from a lack of confidence, no thanks to a manipulative ex-girlfriend. Seeing Rory build that confidence back up made me so happy, particularly in the discussions of what types of magic are 'important'. Be aware going in that Rory has some issues of her own, in the form of parents who try to control her.

Read this if you want a cosy, witchy romance with women empowering women.

I received a free digital review copy of this book from Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.