What do you think?
Witch of the Demesne #1
Ritual Income
Every witch has her Way.
Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity. But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch.
As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground.
When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide:
Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity. But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch.
As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground.
When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide:
Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
571 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2023
About the author
B.L. Brown
19 books97 followersB.L. Brown is a writer of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy. She loves a good slow burn but recognizes that sometimes two characters collide with explosive chemistry that must be acknowledged. And boy, is it fun to read.
Random musings appear on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
There's also a newsletter that releases new material with less frequency than George R. R. Martin.
https://brittawritesthings.com/contact/
Random musings appear on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
There's also a newsletter that releases new material with less frequency than George R. R. Martin.
https://brittawritesthings.com/contact/
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
October 8, 2023
If you're looking for a new, unique Urban Fantasy with more world building and magic than you can shake a stick at- look no further!
The world of C.R.O.W. has everything from New Orleans Voodoo to charming Scottish Sunshine men.
The main character, Milla, is hiding secrets - not only from the world but from herself, because she's trying so desperately to avoid her own truths.
While the book is advertised as a "hipster witch vs. MLM huns" dynamic, there is so much more to it than that!
The anti-MLM bit is very relatable and definitely a main issue- but the forces at work behind both sides of the fight are vast and unique from anything I've read before.
I was NOT expecting such an immersive story from the "hipster witch vs. MLM huns" tagline.
This book feels like the corner stone and ground work for the rest of Brown's world to build on with ease.
A couple of things I do want to mention:
There is a lot of reference to other established magic systems (like Wicca and Vodun). So, if you don't have that basic understanding, you may find yourself looking up some words or phrases.
The same goes for the Scottish common words and sland that are a part of Darkly's vocabulary.
It was never enough to make me want to put the book down, but it just added a bit time to make sure I could figure out what was already an existing magic, vs something the author created for this world.
(I was given an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
The world of C.R.O.W. has everything from New Orleans Voodoo to charming Scottish Sunshine men.
The main character, Milla, is hiding secrets - not only from the world but from herself, because she's trying so desperately to avoid her own truths.
While the book is advertised as a "hipster witch vs. MLM huns" dynamic, there is so much more to it than that!
The anti-MLM bit is very relatable and definitely a main issue- but the forces at work behind both sides of the fight are vast and unique from anything I've read before.
I was NOT expecting such an immersive story from the "hipster witch vs. MLM huns" tagline.
This book feels like the corner stone and ground work for the rest of Brown's world to build on with ease.
A couple of things I do want to mention:
There is a lot of reference to other established magic systems (like Wicca and Vodun). So, if you don't have that basic understanding, you may find yourself looking up some words or phrases.
The same goes for the Scottish common words and sland that are a part of Darkly's vocabulary.
It was never enough to make me want to put the book down, but it just added a bit time to make sure I could figure out what was already an existing magic, vs something the author created for this world.
(I was given an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
October 20, 2023
A perfect witchy read for this month!
Blurb: Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity. But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch. As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide. Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
This book has everything witchy you need including fine, fare, forbidden and fouls ways, dark creatures, mysterious killings surrounding a group of women, adventure, and mystery. I wasn’t expecting some of the turns this book took cause those were a surprise 👀. The side characters are really interesting too and adds much to the story development. I loved how the chapters start with a small description about a witchy term or element which was very helpful to understand some parts of the book. Plus the map and the initial introduction page were wonderful. I did struggle a bit with some of the content because this is my first full witchy book and there’s a lot of special terms and details around the witchy worlds and types. But the sprinkles of clues around the story kept me wanting to know more and the quirky bits are funny too.
Will Milla be able to save her demesne? And will she stay true to her heart and accept her true feelings for Darkly? Will they survive in their quest to find who’s behind killings and save their demesne from foul witches? Find out on October 23rd!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are of my own.
Blurb: Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity. But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch. As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide. Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
This book has everything witchy you need including fine, fare, forbidden and fouls ways, dark creatures, mysterious killings surrounding a group of women, adventure, and mystery. I wasn’t expecting some of the turns this book took cause those were a surprise 👀. The side characters are really interesting too and adds much to the story development. I loved how the chapters start with a small description about a witchy term or element which was very helpful to understand some parts of the book. Plus the map and the initial introduction page were wonderful. I did struggle a bit with some of the content because this is my first full witchy book and there’s a lot of special terms and details around the witchy worlds and types. But the sprinkles of clues around the story kept me wanting to know more and the quirky bits are funny too.
Will Milla be able to save her demesne? And will she stay true to her heart and accept her true feelings for Darkly? Will they survive in their quest to find who’s behind killings and save their demesne from foul witches? Find out on October 23rd!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are of my own.
August 8, 2026
interesting concept
3.5 rounded up; I thought the concept was interesting and there was some good world building. However there was so much extraneous detail included that the storyline really dragged. The book would have benefited from additional editing.
3.5 rounded up; I thought the concept was interesting and there was some good world building. However there was so much extraneous detail included that the storyline really dragged. The book would have benefited from additional editing.
August 6, 2024
As with all of my SPFBO reads, this will have a video review :)
October 18, 2023
… grabbed her wrist, setting it against the mattress and caging it in one hand as he gripped her thigh with the other. “It took me weeks to get you here, Milla,” he all but snarled. “Don’t. Move.”
Hey hun!!! 👋😘😍✨ have I got a book 📖 rec for you!! ✍️ 🤸♀️ 🥂
🤢 okay I’m sorry (not sorry) but listen, this book? Right here? A masterpiece. Hipster witch vs. MLM Huns? A niche I had no idea I needed until I heard of it. B. L. Brown put so much into creating this story, and I was hooked from the very first line.
✨ TROPES & THEMES ✨
✔️ urban fantasy
✔️ slow burn romance 🤌🏽
✔️ a variety of witches and magical beings
✔️ a really gorgeous map if I do say so myself 👀🤣
✔️ rich world and lore building
✔️ enemies to lovers
✔️ found family
✔️ shadow/shade magic vibes 😉
This story is written in 3rd person and truly I think it very much added to the mystery of the plot. I am not the brightest crayon when it comes to catching things (yep, that’s right. I didn’t get the riddle in ACOTAR 🤷🏻♀️ I’m one of those lmao) so I was wondering what the heck was going on a lot in the beginning.
Trust 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 process 👏🏻
Okay? Trust it. Keep going. The best part? It’s not even hard to keep going. Yeah, I had no idea what Milla had up her sleeve - but good goly did I have SO MUCH FUN reading it anyway! The entire cast was five stars. I felt like this entire book was a movie playing out in my mind. I could see the characters in my head, hear their dialog, see the city, smell the scents described and it was just the most enjoyable book experience.
I LOVE Darkly, okay? It did take me a little bit to get his accent down - but after the first scene or two of reading his dialog I got it 100%. I love him. All the characters were so unique and special, and he takes the cake for the most eccentric and beloved MMC I’ve ever read.
The plot was hard to predict - and I am SO pleased it was!! I legit was thinking about it when I couldn’t sit and read, daydreaming about what was gonna happen next. Then sat and stewed on it afterwards because WHY WERENT THERE MORE PAGES?! 🤣🤣
This story is absolutely a breath of fresh air, a beautifully unique and witty twist on urban fantasy/pnr books. Also if you’re a lover of excellent chemistry, banter, and slow burn spice? READ. This. BOOK!!! Ever fallen prey to a mlm scam? Read this book. Always searching for a book so excellently written it literally plays out in your brain like a show? Well hun, read this book. 😎🤸♀️
Hey hun!!! 👋😘😍✨ have I got a book 📖 rec for you!! ✍️ 🤸♀️ 🥂
🤢 okay I’m sorry (not sorry) but listen, this book? Right here? A masterpiece. Hipster witch vs. MLM Huns? A niche I had no idea I needed until I heard of it. B. L. Brown put so much into creating this story, and I was hooked from the very first line.
✨ TROPES & THEMES ✨
✔️ urban fantasy
✔️ slow burn romance 🤌🏽
✔️ a variety of witches and magical beings
✔️ a really gorgeous map if I do say so myself 👀🤣
✔️ rich world and lore building
✔️ enemies to lovers
✔️ found family
✔️ shadow/shade magic vibes 😉
This story is written in 3rd person and truly I think it very much added to the mystery of the plot. I am not the brightest crayon when it comes to catching things (yep, that’s right. I didn’t get the riddle in ACOTAR 🤷🏻♀️ I’m one of those lmao) so I was wondering what the heck was going on a lot in the beginning.
Trust 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 process 👏🏻
Okay? Trust it. Keep going. The best part? It’s not even hard to keep going. Yeah, I had no idea what Milla had up her sleeve - but good goly did I have SO MUCH FUN reading it anyway! The entire cast was five stars. I felt like this entire book was a movie playing out in my mind. I could see the characters in my head, hear their dialog, see the city, smell the scents described and it was just the most enjoyable book experience.
I LOVE Darkly, okay? It did take me a little bit to get his accent down - but after the first scene or two of reading his dialog I got it 100%. I love him. All the characters were so unique and special, and he takes the cake for the most eccentric and beloved MMC I’ve ever read.
The plot was hard to predict - and I am SO pleased it was!! I legit was thinking about it when I couldn’t sit and read, daydreaming about what was gonna happen next. Then sat and stewed on it afterwards because WHY WERENT THERE MORE PAGES?! 🤣🤣
This story is absolutely a breath of fresh air, a beautifully unique and witty twist on urban fantasy/pnr books. Also if you’re a lover of excellent chemistry, banter, and slow burn spice? READ. This. BOOK!!! Ever fallen prey to a mlm scam? Read this book. Always searching for a book so excellently written it literally plays out in your brain like a show? Well hun, read this book. 😎🤸♀️
June 2, 2024
“They’re using the women in the downline to gain energy, feeding off of their affirmations. Look,” she grabbed Jennifer Sanderson’s phone and found her final post in the group chat. “Her last message was about wanting to quit, and then she talked to Kayleigh and Annalisa about just that. But all of these women were in Jennifer’s downline. Removing her created a dam in the energy flow, cutting off whoever is at the top from their source.” “So clever,” Ana gushed from the speaker.”
I want to preface this review by saying had this been any other plot; it would have been a 3.5/4 ⭐️ for me.
Let’s start with the best part (in my opinion) the plot. Although slightly frustrating that the flashbacks don’t give you any “answers” until the last several pages, the plot itself was so uniquely incredible. To take witches and magick and intertwine them into a story about pyramid schemes and huns was brilliant. You can tell the author was either involved with one herself, or did the right kind of research because as an “ex-hun” myself everything felt spot on.
The MMC and FMC lacked chemistry for me, but their love story was cute. I did feel the reason this book took me longer than most to finish is the extreme detail the author adds to the book regarding magick, Ways, Hex’s, and how those things physically make her feel. Either way, love love love to see something different in the magical realism space and this was definitely it for me!
I want to preface this review by saying had this been any other plot; it would have been a 3.5/4 ⭐️ for me.
Let’s start with the best part (in my opinion) the plot. Although slightly frustrating that the flashbacks don’t give you any “answers” until the last several pages, the plot itself was so uniquely incredible. To take witches and magick and intertwine them into a story about pyramid schemes and huns was brilliant. You can tell the author was either involved with one herself, or did the right kind of research because as an “ex-hun” myself everything felt spot on.
The MMC and FMC lacked chemistry for me, but their love story was cute. I did feel the reason this book took me longer than most to finish is the extreme detail the author adds to the book regarding magick, Ways, Hex’s, and how those things physically make her feel. Either way, love love love to see something different in the magical realism space and this was definitely it for me!
October 23, 2023
ARC Review
All the twists that came up in this book had me captivated. From the beginning, I loved Milla and her sarcasm. I felt the grief for Ezra and his "not ghost" popping up was interesting. She's relatable when it comes to her just wanting to be left alone. Diego was perfect. He's lively, sweet, and not scared to call Milla on her shit. He reminds me of by bffl. Darkly. What should I say about Darkly? "Tall, Darkly, and handsome" sounds about right. He had this playful vibe in the beginning. It quickly changed to mysterious and kept me on my toes from then on.
This is a slow burn, but it keeps you interested the whole time. It was so worth the wait.
All the twists that came up in this book had me captivated. From the beginning, I loved Milla and her sarcasm. I felt the grief for Ezra and his "not ghost" popping up was interesting. She's relatable when it comes to her just wanting to be left alone. Diego was perfect. He's lively, sweet, and not scared to call Milla on her shit. He reminds me of by bffl. Darkly. What should I say about Darkly? "Tall, Darkly, and handsome" sounds about right. He had this playful vibe in the beginning. It quickly changed to mysterious and kept me on my toes from then on.
This is a slow burn, but it keeps you interested the whole time. It was so worth the wait.
Did Not Finish
December 20, 2023DNF at 2%. How did I hear about this book? I don't know. But the beginning is annoying me and I don't have the patience. Maybe it's good. I will never know.
October 24, 2023
I was honored to be an ARC reader for this lovely book 💜. I can begin to explain how much I enjoyed reading another wonderful piece by B. L. Brown. I thought Shady Depths was good. Omg this was just as wonderful! I think my favorite thing about her writing is how wonderfully descriptive she is. On ever page, I could see, feel, and smell everything. Some thing I wish I couldn’t but it was worth it 🤣.
This lovely slow-burn was full of excitement and witchy energy. It touched on intense topics in a good way that I appreciated very much. And plot was plotting!!! I had a nice scream at my kindle “I fucking knew it”!!!!! Just know you should go ahead and jump on this. I look forward to what’s in store for Darkly and Milla.
Who was my favorite character: Diego 😭
This lovely slow-burn was full of excitement and witchy energy. It touched on intense topics in a good way that I appreciated very much. And plot was plotting!!! I had a nice scream at my kindle “I fucking knew it”!!!!! Just know you should go ahead and jump on this. I look forward to what’s in store for Darkly and Milla.
Who was my favorite character: Diego 😭
October 9, 2023
Just in time for spooky season we get a book of a magic and mayhem.
We meet our FMC Milla, who is is a jaded witch that just wanted to get through her day at her store unbothered. it seemed though that the universe had other plans for her in the form of a bathing costume and online reviews. Soon after and while licking her wounds tall, Darkly and handsome enters the picture then hijinks ensue. Darkly, our MMC and a case worker from the magical governing body C.R.O.W. He is possibly the most sunshiny shadow daddy boyfriend you’ll ever meet and I’m not sure anyone would be able to resist him.
There are two spicy scenes, but they aren’t extremely graphic so this is definitely a plot heavy story. Ritual Income took me by surprise, I already knew it would be a good time, but I didn’t expect the level of detail in the world building. It was perhaps some of my favorite things about the book. The story gave you the feeling that it should be set against a dark and broody background yet the brightness of Florida shines through giving this story a fresh perspective. I can’t wait to read more about Milla and Darkly, and to continue learning more about the magic system and this world.
I received an advance copy in return for a review.
We meet our FMC Milla, who is is a jaded witch that just wanted to get through her day at her store unbothered. it seemed though that the universe had other plans for her in the form of a bathing costume and online reviews. Soon after and while licking her wounds tall, Darkly and handsome enters the picture then hijinks ensue. Darkly, our MMC and a case worker from the magical governing body C.R.O.W. He is possibly the most sunshiny shadow daddy boyfriend you’ll ever meet and I’m not sure anyone would be able to resist him.
There are two spicy scenes, but they aren’t extremely graphic so this is definitely a plot heavy story. Ritual Income took me by surprise, I already knew it would be a good time, but I didn’t expect the level of detail in the world building. It was perhaps some of my favorite things about the book. The story gave you the feeling that it should be set against a dark and broody background yet the brightness of Florida shines through giving this story a fresh perspective. I can’t wait to read more about Milla and Darkly, and to continue learning more about the magic system and this world.
I received an advance copy in return for a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2023
What a perfect read for fall!! It had everything you could ask for witches, vampires and even voodoo. Mila who is a witch who loves her drinks and trying to stay low key in her antique shop gets investigated by Darkly. They have a love hate chemistry from the moment they meet. They have to work together to figure out who is sucking the life out of the witch and her city in beautiful St Augustine Florida.
July 1, 2026
Okay there is a LOT to explore with this book. In general all the things I loved were towards the beginning and my main complaints are towards the end, so a chronological evaluation should do the trick!
Right at the beginning I’m hooked. Confused, but hooked. I went into this my favorite way, completely blind, and was immediately happy to be introduced to constructs and names I recognized from Voudoo practices, a religious system rarely, if ever, explored in magical media.
Now even with my (limited) knowledge, I had a hard time following along. Eventually I got the hang of everything, but it was a tough first half. But to add to that, I really liked the little scraps of paper at the beginning of each chapter with helpful vocabulary! The author wrote these like pages from Milla’s books, with her handwritten commentary and thoughts as add-ons. It was a very clever and charming way to help the reader along, and as a bonus, it showed, when easy to assume otherwise, that Milla’s careless attitude did not extend to every inch of her life and she does in fact give diligence and dedication to her area of study. It cleverly tells us that she really does care about her demense.
The conflict starts right away, and we jump almost immediately into meeting everyone — Diego and Julie — as they start damage control to address the horrid review a karen left about Milla’s shop. The incident was a good introduction to Milla’s character and it was clear right away which character flaws were gonna be the target for development in her.
On a technical level, all the characters are very engaging. I get the feeling that our main two, Ludmilla “Milla” and Darkly, are pretty trope-y, but I don’t read a ton of trope-y books so they’re still pretty fresh concepts to me. Milla is sharp and nonchalant with a classic amount of repressed trauma, and all her flaws are on display right from the beginning. Darkly is our mysterious wild card. He’s a fun character and gives Milla someone to quip with and project her trauma onto. They are mistrusting of one another (or, at least, Milla distrusts Darkly), but they form an intriguing connection after some time.
When Julie, Milla’s bubbly friend, appeals her plan to sell ICYMI brand merchandise in Milla’s rustic gothic antique store to attract customers and basically bury Karen/Kayleigh’s horrible rating with good ones, you know immediately that it’s going to feed into the main conflict, and it was fun trying to figure out how (spoilers: I was wrong). And I’m a big fan of capitalism being a tool of the villain so I was deeply excited at this. Add in the influencer-dom critiques, and I was ready to stay up all night.
!!!Spoilers from here on out!!!
After some conflict, some world-building, and a family tree that I honestly still don’t understand, we’re introduced to Milla’s new apprentice, Ana, whom it is immediately clear is going to be a problem. In fact, give it a few more chapters, and it’s even clear who the villain is going to be. And I have a small problem with that.
These early signs aren’t horrible: Ana is suspiciously well-versed in the ICYMI business right from her introduction, makes eyes at Darkly, and at some point starts being very mean and demanding towards Julie. These are fine hints at her true character that could easily be mistaken for a naive young girl who’s susceptible to social media trends and still learning and developing socially.
But where it starts getting frustrating is about 3/4ths of the way through the book when Milla starts discovering names of who could potentially be behind this grand scheme. When she gets to the name Annalise you think she might get it, but no. Okay, fine, both pretty basic names. Then she gets to the name Anaisa. Clear enough yet? Apparently not, cause it still takes her about 20 pages to figure it out. There’s nothing unforgivable about having a character be so unaware and unquestioning, but when you let your reader in on it so easily, it just gets annoying. Suddenly I’m pissed at Milla and part of me is rooting against her for being so dumb. And that was an issue for me.
Moving on. So while I try my hardest to understand what C.R.O.W is and what an aural insurance agent is and how they hold power and Milla’s precarious status and the word “demense” and all the fun bits of Spanish, Scottish, and Czech sprinkled in, the plot catches up to the characters pretty quickly. People are dying mysteriously, Milla is overwhelmed with a pretty god awful support system, her roommate Diego is pulling her by the scruff through life, she unavoidably ends up neglecting a few responsibilities, and as a Sisyphean nightmare goes, it’s all downhill from there. Once she forgets one thing, everything else just keeps tumbling down — an incredible metaphor for living with neurodivergence. As she tries to tackle these problems with the added weight of Darkly being a smug little dick and following her everywhere, she ends up further neglecting 1)her shop and 2)her friendship with Julie. This gives way to easily allowing Ana to take over the shop and leaves Julie vulnerable to some serious manipulation.
The callback to Kayleigh was very fun and unexpected! I definitely just thought she was an annoying trigger for the main conflict. I didn’t even consider her being the villain, and it was such a good idea when Milla presented it to Darkly that the redirect totally worked on me.
After the visit to Julie’s apartment, things get messy for me. Milla is able to unravel some strands connecting things and people to other things and people and I sit there and listen without hearing. Somehow Milla and Darkly end up going to visit the house of someone who has passed away, New Orleans, someone else’s house, and a beach I think? My confusion during this section may very well have been my own fault so I’ll keep that from being reflected in my rating. But it was definitely a lot that happened very quickly with little time to linger.
I want to add that despite being completely lost, I managed to immediately latch onto the Han Solo quote when Milla is talking to Madison on the phone and that’s really embarrassing for me but I’m also proud.
The New Orleans scenes especially confused me like crazy and I honestly still don’t know what happened there. The addition of vampires came seemingly out of nowhere but that’s not unforgivable. But what I don’t love is that somehow a big threat (Marie Laveau) was so easily thwarted and then forgotten about. I know this is a series, so hopefully she comes back in a future book, but for now it was just kind of a big scene that fell way flat.
After their various trips to wherever, Darkly and Milla take their sweet time to return home for some reason when they’ve already figured out that the community is in immediate danger without Milla. Their search for Ana comes to a head at the ICYMI convention, and then they fight. It’s an okay fight.
I have something to say about this ending sequence. It takes up about 1/4th of the book in total and it lasts from about the time Milla and Darkly arrive in New Orleans until the very end. Characters fuck up, it’s normal. We expect it. Milla fucks up a superhuman amount in this sequence. Okay, kind of annoying, but my main issue is that she will not shut up about it. Almost every single chapter and even scene breaks in between chapters ended with, “And thats when Milla realized: she fucked up” and that’s almost verbatim how it was phrased every single time. And it increased ten fold in the final battle, with Milla realizing her biggest mistake every other sentence, and then realizing an amazing advantage she had in between those, rinse and repeat until Milla inevitably is able to defeat Anaisa. The entire thing reads like an 2nd grader’s playground fight: Milla uses her strong secret powers, and then Anaisa uses her SUPERstrong secret powers, but then Milla uses her ULTRAsuperstrong secret powers, etc. etc. for 50 pages.
So the fight was fine. Confusingly worded, repetitive, annoying, but with an interesting aim from the antagonist and a satisfying full-circle type feeling at the end. But after that it’s just downhill again.
Milla spends the entire book, and I cannot stress enough how it was literally the ENTIRE book — every single page — bottling up her feelings and fears, refusing to open up, suspicious and paranoid of everyone, not directly because of her trauma, but because of her fear of consequences.
Her and Ezra attempt a morally questionable ritual, it goes horribly wrong, Ezra is gone and Milla remains to bear the burden of the incident. SOMEHOW, C.R.O.W. does not know exactly what happened during this incident, but they send an agent (Darkly) to investigate and figure it out, and asses whether Milla is doing good at her job. The entire plot of the book revolves around C.R.O.W. being a looming and dangerous threat to Milla. She fucks up so many times out of fear of C.R.O.W. And after the final battle, when Milla has made it clear from her own point of view that there is no way C.R.O.W. won’t know everything after she used her Way (still not following what that is very well) in the final battle to defeat Ana, Darkly says “nah we’re fine”. And then they go to the beach.
That is an insanely unsatisfying conclusion. Milla did not mature emotionally at all the entire book, there are absolutely no consequences to her actions, and there is no change to the system. Again, I know this is a series so hopefully the author explores this more in the future, but how in the world am I supposed to want to pick up the next book when the first one ended so disappointingly. It truly felt like we were back to square one and nothing got done at all. I really don’t know.
The last half of the book just feels poorly edited to me. There were so many instances where I was dumbfounded by what was going on in one specific scene, not overall. I don’t understand the entire scene where Darkly plays cards with the ghost/soul. I reread the first page of chapter 36 about a million times trying to figure out what I missed and why the interaction made no sense. I don’t understand the entire thing with the vampires. I have no idea what the hell happened to Darkly at the end of chapter 28 and the beginning of chapter 29, and why Milla switches up so quickly when seeing Marie Laveau when she was running from Darkly 2 seconds ago. They never even explain that to each other even though they acknowledge that it happened.
Also Dies-well was not a good addition. He came out of nowhere, did nothing important, and I didn’t like him. He was unnecessary and his presence felt really forced. It feels like he was just added in because the author needed something to slow Darkly and Milla’s trip back home down and then barely even tried to make him an actual character.
And then to close, I do want to put one of my biggest issues in its own separate section. Correct me if I’m wrong, but seemingly the only black characters were villains, or at least semi-villainous people. So why were the only black characters bad people? With a magic system heavily reliant on and even directly incorporating historic Voudoo practices and figures — as in literal Marie Laveau the Voudoo Queen from 19th century Louisiana — it doesn’t feel great to have point blank none of the main magic users as black people. And I don’t even think any of the side characters were black. The closest we got was an anti-hero abusive now-deceased ex-husband who is implied to be black. Frankly, this is bad. And the portrayal of Marie Laveau’s character, especially in the wake of an absence of any good and heroic black characters, bothers me greatly. Specifically because she was a real person, and an extremely meaningful one at that, an inspiration at a time when free black women were unheard of.
You can have black characters who are cruel and unpleasant. You cannot have ONLY black characters who are cruel and unpleasant. And you especially cannot have ONLY black characters who are cruel and unpleasant in a culturally African American inspired book. Now I’m white, so pretty much the opposite of an expert on racism, so I’ll just leave all this here and if someone smarter than me would like to comment their perspective, please do.
Overall, an okay book. The author’s vision shines through very clearly but just really needed some refining in the execution. Still, I’m glad to have read this and am excited to read more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Right at the beginning I’m hooked. Confused, but hooked. I went into this my favorite way, completely blind, and was immediately happy to be introduced to constructs and names I recognized from Voudoo practices, a religious system rarely, if ever, explored in magical media.
Now even with my (limited) knowledge, I had a hard time following along. Eventually I got the hang of everything, but it was a tough first half. But to add to that, I really liked the little scraps of paper at the beginning of each chapter with helpful vocabulary! The author wrote these like pages from Milla’s books, with her handwritten commentary and thoughts as add-ons. It was a very clever and charming way to help the reader along, and as a bonus, it showed, when easy to assume otherwise, that Milla’s careless attitude did not extend to every inch of her life and she does in fact give diligence and dedication to her area of study. It cleverly tells us that she really does care about her demense.
The conflict starts right away, and we jump almost immediately into meeting everyone — Diego and Julie — as they start damage control to address the horrid review a karen left about Milla’s shop. The incident was a good introduction to Milla’s character and it was clear right away which character flaws were gonna be the target for development in her.
On a technical level, all the characters are very engaging. I get the feeling that our main two, Ludmilla “Milla” and Darkly, are pretty trope-y, but I don’t read a ton of trope-y books so they’re still pretty fresh concepts to me. Milla is sharp and nonchalant with a classic amount of repressed trauma, and all her flaws are on display right from the beginning. Darkly is our mysterious wild card. He’s a fun character and gives Milla someone to quip with and project her trauma onto. They are mistrusting of one another (or, at least, Milla distrusts Darkly), but they form an intriguing connection after some time.
When Julie, Milla’s bubbly friend, appeals her plan to sell ICYMI brand merchandise in Milla’s rustic gothic antique store to attract customers and basically bury Karen/Kayleigh’s horrible rating with good ones, you know immediately that it’s going to feed into the main conflict, and it was fun trying to figure out how (spoilers: I was wrong). And I’m a big fan of capitalism being a tool of the villain so I was deeply excited at this. Add in the influencer-dom critiques, and I was ready to stay up all night.
!!!Spoilers from here on out!!!
After some conflict, some world-building, and a family tree that I honestly still don’t understand, we’re introduced to Milla’s new apprentice, Ana, whom it is immediately clear is going to be a problem. In fact, give it a few more chapters, and it’s even clear who the villain is going to be. And I have a small problem with that.
These early signs aren’t horrible: Ana is suspiciously well-versed in the ICYMI business right from her introduction, makes eyes at Darkly, and at some point starts being very mean and demanding towards Julie. These are fine hints at her true character that could easily be mistaken for a naive young girl who’s susceptible to social media trends and still learning and developing socially.
But where it starts getting frustrating is about 3/4ths of the way through the book when Milla starts discovering names of who could potentially be behind this grand scheme. When she gets to the name Annalise you think she might get it, but no. Okay, fine, both pretty basic names. Then she gets to the name Anaisa. Clear enough yet? Apparently not, cause it still takes her about 20 pages to figure it out. There’s nothing unforgivable about having a character be so unaware and unquestioning, but when you let your reader in on it so easily, it just gets annoying. Suddenly I’m pissed at Milla and part of me is rooting against her for being so dumb. And that was an issue for me.
Moving on. So while I try my hardest to understand what C.R.O.W is and what an aural insurance agent is and how they hold power and Milla’s precarious status and the word “demense” and all the fun bits of Spanish, Scottish, and Czech sprinkled in, the plot catches up to the characters pretty quickly. People are dying mysteriously, Milla is overwhelmed with a pretty god awful support system, her roommate Diego is pulling her by the scruff through life, she unavoidably ends up neglecting a few responsibilities, and as a Sisyphean nightmare goes, it’s all downhill from there. Once she forgets one thing, everything else just keeps tumbling down — an incredible metaphor for living with neurodivergence. As she tries to tackle these problems with the added weight of Darkly being a smug little dick and following her everywhere, she ends up further neglecting 1)her shop and 2)her friendship with Julie. This gives way to easily allowing Ana to take over the shop and leaves Julie vulnerable to some serious manipulation.
The callback to Kayleigh was very fun and unexpected! I definitely just thought she was an annoying trigger for the main conflict. I didn’t even consider her being the villain, and it was such a good idea when Milla presented it to Darkly that the redirect totally worked on me.
After the visit to Julie’s apartment, things get messy for me. Milla is able to unravel some strands connecting things and people to other things and people and I sit there and listen without hearing. Somehow Milla and Darkly end up going to visit the house of someone who has passed away, New Orleans, someone else’s house, and a beach I think? My confusion during this section may very well have been my own fault so I’ll keep that from being reflected in my rating. But it was definitely a lot that happened very quickly with little time to linger.
I want to add that despite being completely lost, I managed to immediately latch onto the Han Solo quote when Milla is talking to Madison on the phone and that’s really embarrassing for me but I’m also proud.
The New Orleans scenes especially confused me like crazy and I honestly still don’t know what happened there. The addition of vampires came seemingly out of nowhere but that’s not unforgivable. But what I don’t love is that somehow a big threat (Marie Laveau) was so easily thwarted and then forgotten about. I know this is a series, so hopefully she comes back in a future book, but for now it was just kind of a big scene that fell way flat.
After their various trips to wherever, Darkly and Milla take their sweet time to return home for some reason when they’ve already figured out that the community is in immediate danger without Milla. Their search for Ana comes to a head at the ICYMI convention, and then they fight. It’s an okay fight.
I have something to say about this ending sequence. It takes up about 1/4th of the book in total and it lasts from about the time Milla and Darkly arrive in New Orleans until the very end. Characters fuck up, it’s normal. We expect it. Milla fucks up a superhuman amount in this sequence. Okay, kind of annoying, but my main issue is that she will not shut up about it. Almost every single chapter and even scene breaks in between chapters ended with, “And thats when Milla realized: she fucked up” and that’s almost verbatim how it was phrased every single time. And it increased ten fold in the final battle, with Milla realizing her biggest mistake every other sentence, and then realizing an amazing advantage she had in between those, rinse and repeat until Milla inevitably is able to defeat Anaisa. The entire thing reads like an 2nd grader’s playground fight: Milla uses her strong secret powers, and then Anaisa uses her SUPERstrong secret powers, but then Milla uses her ULTRAsuperstrong secret powers, etc. etc. for 50 pages.
So the fight was fine. Confusingly worded, repetitive, annoying, but with an interesting aim from the antagonist and a satisfying full-circle type feeling at the end. But after that it’s just downhill again.
Milla spends the entire book, and I cannot stress enough how it was literally the ENTIRE book — every single page — bottling up her feelings and fears, refusing to open up, suspicious and paranoid of everyone, not directly because of her trauma, but because of her fear of consequences.
Her and Ezra attempt a morally questionable ritual, it goes horribly wrong, Ezra is gone and Milla remains to bear the burden of the incident. SOMEHOW, C.R.O.W. does not know exactly what happened during this incident, but they send an agent (Darkly) to investigate and figure it out, and asses whether Milla is doing good at her job. The entire plot of the book revolves around C.R.O.W. being a looming and dangerous threat to Milla. She fucks up so many times out of fear of C.R.O.W. And after the final battle, when Milla has made it clear from her own point of view that there is no way C.R.O.W. won’t know everything after she used her Way (still not following what that is very well) in the final battle to defeat Ana, Darkly says “nah we’re fine”. And then they go to the beach.
That is an insanely unsatisfying conclusion. Milla did not mature emotionally at all the entire book, there are absolutely no consequences to her actions, and there is no change to the system. Again, I know this is a series so hopefully the author explores this more in the future, but how in the world am I supposed to want to pick up the next book when the first one ended so disappointingly. It truly felt like we were back to square one and nothing got done at all. I really don’t know.
The last half of the book just feels poorly edited to me. There were so many instances where I was dumbfounded by what was going on in one specific scene, not overall. I don’t understand the entire scene where Darkly plays cards with the ghost/soul. I reread the first page of chapter 36 about a million times trying to figure out what I missed and why the interaction made no sense. I don’t understand the entire thing with the vampires. I have no idea what the hell happened to Darkly at the end of chapter 28 and the beginning of chapter 29, and why Milla switches up so quickly when seeing Marie Laveau when she was running from Darkly 2 seconds ago. They never even explain that to each other even though they acknowledge that it happened.
Also Dies-well was not a good addition. He came out of nowhere, did nothing important, and I didn’t like him. He was unnecessary and his presence felt really forced. It feels like he was just added in because the author needed something to slow Darkly and Milla’s trip back home down and then barely even tried to make him an actual character.
And then to close, I do want to put one of my biggest issues in its own separate section. Correct me if I’m wrong, but seemingly the only black characters were villains, or at least semi-villainous people. So why were the only black characters bad people? With a magic system heavily reliant on and even directly incorporating historic Voudoo practices and figures — as in literal Marie Laveau the Voudoo Queen from 19th century Louisiana — it doesn’t feel great to have point blank none of the main magic users as black people. And I don’t even think any of the side characters were black. The closest we got was an anti-hero abusive now-deceased ex-husband who is implied to be black. Frankly, this is bad. And the portrayal of Marie Laveau’s character, especially in the wake of an absence of any good and heroic black characters, bothers me greatly. Specifically because she was a real person, and an extremely meaningful one at that, an inspiration at a time when free black women were unheard of.
You can have black characters who are cruel and unpleasant. You cannot have ONLY black characters who are cruel and unpleasant. And you especially cannot have ONLY black characters who are cruel and unpleasant in a culturally African American inspired book. Now I’m white, so pretty much the opposite of an expert on racism, so I’ll just leave all this here and if someone smarter than me would like to comment their perspective, please do.
Overall, an okay book. The author’s vision shines through very clearly but just really needed some refining in the execution. Still, I’m glad to have read this and am excited to read more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 24, 2024
(3.75) Magic, mystery, murder, and a slow-burn forbidden romance.
"Milla was the Witch of the Demesne, and the demesne made her more. It was a reservoir, an anchor, and a burden all at once."
There are so many parts of this book I absolutely loved. The magic and mystery were definite strong points, but other parts left me feeling conflicted. Overall, the good outweighs the bad and I would definitely still recommend this book if the themes above appeal to you.
The Plot: There are multiple mysteries to unravel. Every single character is hiding something and I was dying to figure things out. The author does a great job of dropping clues in a way that gives you some of the information but leaves you wanting to know more. Some reveals were truly surprising. Some were telegraphed a little too clearly. I guessed the two biggest twists very early on, which lessened the impact of the big finale.
The Magic: There’s a well established magic system with a deep history and competing power structures. For the most part you learn about things through experience although there is some info dumping in the beginning as things are set up. I did find a few minor parts confusing but it doesn’t take away from the magic being one of the stronger parts of the book.
The Characters: Because everyone is hiding things, I feel like you don’t get a true sense of Milla and Darkly until later in the book. Darkly came across as a little bland for me initially and it’s not until he starts dropping the mask of control that I found him interesting. I admittedly didn’t read Brown’s other book that focuses on him, so maybe that would have changed things. Milla is incredibly judgmental early on and pretty selfish when it comes to her friends. It leaves her plenty of room for character growth and it plays in heavily to the plot, but it made me dislike her for a good chunk of the book. By the end I really came to respect how she stepped up and took ownership of her demesne and her own Way. Both of them are at their best when they’re together, facing danger and embracing their true magic. They truly have the chance to shine as the plot progresses.
The Romance: A little bit of enemies to lovers, a little bit forbidden romance, and a slow burn with a splash of spice.
The Pacing: This was my biggest issue. The first half of the book reads very slow. There’s a lot of setup needed and the pacing really gets bogged down with the details. Although there are scenes that piqued my interest early on, I didn’t truly get excited about this book until the 50% mark. The plot is at it’s strongest when Milla is tending her demesne and using her magic, and you don't get much of that early on, but the momentum builds quickly once things start happening.
The MLM portion of the book was a lot more prominent than I expected from the summary. There’s a lot of info dumping with how uplines and downlines work which I found boring. I’ll admit, I’m already familiar with the controversy surrounding MLMs but I think it would still be over explained even for someone with zero knowledge. At one point the word ‘upline’ was used four times in the span of a paragraph. A lot of this detail is what slowed things down for me in the first half.
The Writing: There’s a lot of repetition with dialogue/descriptions/thoughts. Not a dealbreaker for me, but noticeable throughout. A lot of foreign language used in connection with the magic that is sometimes explained and other times not. Also Darkly is Scottish and is written with a heavy accent throughout the book, to a point where it almost became distracting. I can normally tolerate that so if that bothers you even in the slightest, this is going to be too much.
Overall: The first half is a flat three stars for me but the second half is 4+ and more than made up for it. I really think it pays off in the end. The story is exciting, and mysterious, and action packed, so if you're willing to push through in the beginning there's so much to look forward to.
"Milla was the Witch of the Demesne, and the demesne made her more. It was a reservoir, an anchor, and a burden all at once."
There are so many parts of this book I absolutely loved. The magic and mystery were definite strong points, but other parts left me feeling conflicted. Overall, the good outweighs the bad and I would definitely still recommend this book if the themes above appeal to you.
The Plot: There are multiple mysteries to unravel. Every single character is hiding something and I was dying to figure things out. The author does a great job of dropping clues in a way that gives you some of the information but leaves you wanting to know more. Some reveals were truly surprising. Some were telegraphed a little too clearly. I guessed the two biggest twists very early on, which lessened the impact of the big finale.
The Magic: There’s a well established magic system with a deep history and competing power structures. For the most part you learn about things through experience although there is some info dumping in the beginning as things are set up. I did find a few minor parts confusing but it doesn’t take away from the magic being one of the stronger parts of the book.
The Characters: Because everyone is hiding things, I feel like you don’t get a true sense of Milla and Darkly until later in the book. Darkly came across as a little bland for me initially and it’s not until he starts dropping the mask of control that I found him interesting. I admittedly didn’t read Brown’s other book that focuses on him, so maybe that would have changed things. Milla is incredibly judgmental early on and pretty selfish when it comes to her friends. It leaves her plenty of room for character growth and it plays in heavily to the plot, but it made me dislike her for a good chunk of the book. By the end I really came to respect how she stepped up and took ownership of her demesne and her own Way. Both of them are at their best when they’re together, facing danger and embracing their true magic. They truly have the chance to shine as the plot progresses.
The Romance: A little bit of enemies to lovers, a little bit forbidden romance, and a slow burn with a splash of spice.
The Pacing: This was my biggest issue. The first half of the book reads very slow. There’s a lot of setup needed and the pacing really gets bogged down with the details. Although there are scenes that piqued my interest early on, I didn’t truly get excited about this book until the 50% mark. The plot is at it’s strongest when Milla is tending her demesne and using her magic, and you don't get much of that early on, but the momentum builds quickly once things start happening.
The MLM portion of the book was a lot more prominent than I expected from the summary. There’s a lot of info dumping with how uplines and downlines work which I found boring. I’ll admit, I’m already familiar with the controversy surrounding MLMs but I think it would still be over explained even for someone with zero knowledge. At one point the word ‘upline’ was used four times in the span of a paragraph. A lot of this detail is what slowed things down for me in the first half.
The Writing: There’s a lot of repetition with dialogue/descriptions/thoughts. Not a dealbreaker for me, but noticeable throughout. A lot of foreign language used in connection with the magic that is sometimes explained and other times not. Also Darkly is Scottish and is written with a heavy accent throughout the book, to a point where it almost became distracting. I can normally tolerate that so if that bothers you even in the slightest, this is going to be too much.
Overall: The first half is a flat three stars for me but the second half is 4+ and more than made up for it. I really think it pays off in the end. The story is exciting, and mysterious, and action packed, so if you're willing to push through in the beginning there's so much to look forward to.
August 6, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars for me!
There wasn’t a better way to get ready for my favorite time of the year, Spooky Pumpkin Season! Ritual Income: Witch of the Demense is the first book in an Adult Urban Fantasy. It’s a bit longer than usual, but don’t let that scare you. B.L. Brown keeps you pulled in. I felt too called out with the MLM depiction, as you will if you have been pulled in too many times like I have. 🤣 I loved all the different types of magic and cultures represented (don’t be afraid to give some things a Google if you need to know more about some of them). So, make sure you read the introduction page for an explanation. There is also a map. I LOVE a book with a map I can reference and see the world as I read about it. Content/Trigger warning can be found in the front of the book as well. There is also a little element of magic heading at the start of each chapter, which was a nice touch. If you’re looking for a lighthearted witchy book, this one isn’t it. We are diving headfirst into it, and riding this wild, winding story all the way.
Mills is our FMC, and I identify with her just wanting to be left alone. Not only does she have magic, she has the power of sarcasm and uses it well. However, Darkly, our MMC isn’t going to allow that to happen. He is there on a mission to get things done. Of course, things are not going to go smoothly. You will think you know what it going to happen, then you’ll change your mind, then change it again. Prepare to scream at both the characters and the author, laugh a little (especially if you enjoy sarcasm), cry, and be amazed. Brown really has a way of building this world in front of you without actually having to lay out pages describing it. The characters just seem to show you, and I think it was rich and beautiful. Although, I do personally enjoy dark over sunny. I look forward to the next book to find out more on what is going on with Milla’s magic, and how much trouble they can get into.
I want to thank R&R Book Tours and B.L. Brown for the ARC copy for an honest review.
Point of View: Third Person
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5, but the scenes that are spicy are hot 🥵 and open door.
Tropes:
🔮 Rich/Multiple Magic Systems
🔮 Slow Burn
🔮 Enemies-to-Lovers
🔮 Grumpy vs Sunshine
🔮 Black Cat Energy
🔮 Dark Secrets
🔮 Strong FMC
🔮 Golden Retriever MMC
🔮 LGBTQIA+/Pan Rep
🔮 Shadow Daddy
🔮 Found Family
Blurb:
A hipster witch takes on MLM Huns in this slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, urban fantasy.
Every witch has her Way…
Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity.
But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch.
As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide:
Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
There wasn’t a better way to get ready for my favorite time of the year, Spooky Pumpkin Season! Ritual Income: Witch of the Demense is the first book in an Adult Urban Fantasy. It’s a bit longer than usual, but don’t let that scare you. B.L. Brown keeps you pulled in. I felt too called out with the MLM depiction, as you will if you have been pulled in too many times like I have. 🤣 I loved all the different types of magic and cultures represented (don’t be afraid to give some things a Google if you need to know more about some of them). So, make sure you read the introduction page for an explanation. There is also a map. I LOVE a book with a map I can reference and see the world as I read about it. Content/Trigger warning can be found in the front of the book as well. There is also a little element of magic heading at the start of each chapter, which was a nice touch. If you’re looking for a lighthearted witchy book, this one isn’t it. We are diving headfirst into it, and riding this wild, winding story all the way.
Mills is our FMC, and I identify with her just wanting to be left alone. Not only does she have magic, she has the power of sarcasm and uses it well. However, Darkly, our MMC isn’t going to allow that to happen. He is there on a mission to get things done. Of course, things are not going to go smoothly. You will think you know what it going to happen, then you’ll change your mind, then change it again. Prepare to scream at both the characters and the author, laugh a little (especially if you enjoy sarcasm), cry, and be amazed. Brown really has a way of building this world in front of you without actually having to lay out pages describing it. The characters just seem to show you, and I think it was rich and beautiful. Although, I do personally enjoy dark over sunny. I look forward to the next book to find out more on what is going on with Milla’s magic, and how much trouble they can get into.
I want to thank R&R Book Tours and B.L. Brown for the ARC copy for an honest review.
Point of View: Third Person
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5, but the scenes that are spicy are hot 🥵 and open door.
Tropes:
🔮 Rich/Multiple Magic Systems
🔮 Slow Burn
🔮 Enemies-to-Lovers
🔮 Grumpy vs Sunshine
🔮 Black Cat Energy
🔮 Dark Secrets
🔮 Strong FMC
🔮 Golden Retriever MMC
🔮 LGBTQIA+/Pan Rep
🔮 Shadow Daddy
🔮 Found Family
Blurb:
A hipster witch takes on MLM Huns in this slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, urban fantasy.
Every witch has her Way…
Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity.
But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch.
As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide:
Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
November 5, 2023
Stars: 4.5
FMC: Milla
MMC(s): Darkly (Keir)
Tropes: Disaster Witch Milla, Hipster Witch, slowburn, ginger love interest, enemies-to-lovers, found family, cryptids, MLM
> Reviewer add: So many leggings, Bi/Pan MMC (you have to read Shady Depths), C.R.O.W. seems overbearing, Death, Death, Death, so much Death, but still a cute story, Magic, The Song is Banana Boat not Day-Oh.
Perspective: Third person
Plot or character driven: Both
Spicy scenes breakdown:
> Present? Yes
> Detailed? Yes
> Multiple, with only one character? No.
> Multiple, with both/multiple characters? Yes.
> Personal favorite? In New Orleans.
> State of the joystick? Human.
Burn speed: Fast
Can this be read as a stand-alone: Yes. It takes place in the same universe as Shady Depths though, so you can read that too.
Re-Readability: I had so much fun with this, I’m going to say yes.
Content/Trigger Warnings/Enticements: Front of book.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book, and this is my voluntary, honest review.
“My number?” Milla spun on her heels. “We were just dry-jumping in an alleyway and you want my number for lunch?” She gaped at the Scotsman, daring him to say something, anything, that was less ludicrous than that. He shoved a hand in his pocket, sweeping the other through his hair and letting it rest at the base of his neck. Silently. Milla rolled her eyes and flipped him both middle fingers. “Lunch on that.”
Milla, Disaster Witch Inc, is running a cute little boutique of Antiquities and Curios, while keeping the secrets of all secrets. A Karen shows up one day and tries to make a wreck, and then her Witch Momma shows up and does what Witch Momma’s do, informing her that she’s about to get a visit from C.R.O.W. in the form of an A.I.A. and a witch apprentice. Our sweet little disaster witch baby almost sleeps with the A.I.A. until they realize who they are in a comedy of SNAFU. The secrets and the leggings keep coming. So many.
There was so much screaming and capslocking at the author white I was reading this. She got all my theories, right and wrong, got my moments of absolute screaming when I pieced everything together.
While this is fantasy (paranormal maybe?), perhaps bordering on magical realism since it takes place on our earth and there are humans that are definitely not aware of magic, there’s also a mystery going on. There are multiple mysteries. Who or what is Milla? What is her Way? What is Darkly’s Way? What is it about these leggings? And it all comes together while our characters are falling apart and back together again.
Also, Milla is my disaster witch. IYKYK.
This was meaty, like Darkly. I said what I said.
FMC: Milla
MMC(s): Darkly (Keir)
Tropes: Disaster Witch Milla, Hipster Witch, slowburn, ginger love interest, enemies-to-lovers, found family, cryptids, MLM
> Reviewer add: So many leggings, Bi/Pan MMC (you have to read Shady Depths), C.R.O.W. seems overbearing, Death, Death, Death, so much Death, but still a cute story, Magic, The Song is Banana Boat not Day-Oh.
Perspective: Third person
Plot or character driven: Both
Spicy scenes breakdown:
> Present? Yes
> Detailed? Yes
> Multiple, with only one character? No.
> Multiple, with both/multiple characters? Yes.
> Personal favorite? In New Orleans.
> State of the joystick? Human.
Burn speed: Fast
Can this be read as a stand-alone: Yes. It takes place in the same universe as Shady Depths though, so you can read that too.
Re-Readability: I had so much fun with this, I’m going to say yes.
Content/Trigger Warnings/Enticements: Front of book.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book, and this is my voluntary, honest review.
“My number?” Milla spun on her heels. “We were just dry-jumping in an alleyway and you want my number for lunch?” She gaped at the Scotsman, daring him to say something, anything, that was less ludicrous than that. He shoved a hand in his pocket, sweeping the other through his hair and letting it rest at the base of his neck. Silently. Milla rolled her eyes and flipped him both middle fingers. “Lunch on that.”
Milla, Disaster Witch Inc, is running a cute little boutique of Antiquities and Curios, while keeping the secrets of all secrets. A Karen shows up one day and tries to make a wreck, and then her Witch Momma shows up and does what Witch Momma’s do, informing her that she’s about to get a visit from C.R.O.W. in the form of an A.I.A. and a witch apprentice. Our sweet little disaster witch baby almost sleeps with the A.I.A. until they realize who they are in a comedy of SNAFU. The secrets and the leggings keep coming. So many.
There was so much screaming and capslocking at the author white I was reading this. She got all my theories, right and wrong, got my moments of absolute screaming when I pieced everything together.
While this is fantasy (paranormal maybe?), perhaps bordering on magical realism since it takes place on our earth and there are humans that are definitely not aware of magic, there’s also a mystery going on. There are multiple mysteries. Who or what is Milla? What is her Way? What is Darkly’s Way? What is it about these leggings? And it all comes together while our characters are falling apart and back together again.
Also, Milla is my disaster witch. IYKYK.
This was meaty, like Darkly. I said what I said.
October 18, 2023
This was 3.5-3.75 stars for me, so I’ve rounded up to 4 stars. And the biggest reason for that is that the story can get really confusing really fast if you don’t pay attention to even the smallest details, which is what really caught me up for about the first 200 or so pages. The other thing that kind of tripped me up is that some foreign language sentences are translated so you can understand what it means, but not all of them are. So, I spent some time looking up a lot of what Diego says. That might seem a little nitpicky, but it did distract me enough from the story that I feel it’s worth mentioning in case another reader doesn’t speak Spanish.
As I mentioned, I got a little caught up in the first 200 pages, and that was due to some of the confusion of everything happening. I also spent a lot of time in the first 17 chapters just flipping back to the definition/magical item/note at the top of the chapter itself. Which was far harder on the kindle version than the paperback version. Again, this may seem nitpicky, but it was hard to remember some of them as you’re trying to delve into the story. Once I stopped worrying about that and stopped reading the definitions, it went a lot smoother.
Some spoilers may lie ahead!!!!!
As for the story itself, there are a lot of twists and turns and lots of little threads to keep track of. But it was fast-paced, enjoyable, and really brought me in once I got past my own hang-ups. Darkly’s Scottish sentences can get really confusing with the dialogue and how things are written (I’m not great at hearing Scottish brogues in my head whilst reading, so others may find this very true-to-life and not notice it), but the relationship he builds with Milla, the strength he gives her just by existing in support of her, is very beautiful and the juxtaposition of how he treats her and how we discover Ezra treated her.
I do feel that the MLM part got very confusing at times, but it wrapped up neatly at the end. Poor Julie felt like a disposable side character by the end, and I desperately want to know about her future.
And finally. The spice rating. 2.5 out of 5 chili peppers because there IS spice. But there’s no “completion” spice. Meaning they never actually have on-page sex even though they get so close so many times. I’m mentioning this for my “it has to be at least 4 chili peppers” people.
Overall, the book was fun and engaging with twists and turns and a really good wrap-up ending that leaves it open for the next book.
I did receive a free copy in exchange for my honest review.
As I mentioned, I got a little caught up in the first 200 pages, and that was due to some of the confusion of everything happening. I also spent a lot of time in the first 17 chapters just flipping back to the definition/magical item/note at the top of the chapter itself. Which was far harder on the kindle version than the paperback version. Again, this may seem nitpicky, but it was hard to remember some of them as you’re trying to delve into the story. Once I stopped worrying about that and stopped reading the definitions, it went a lot smoother.
Some spoilers may lie ahead!!!!!
As for the story itself, there are a lot of twists and turns and lots of little threads to keep track of. But it was fast-paced, enjoyable, and really brought me in once I got past my own hang-ups. Darkly’s Scottish sentences can get really confusing with the dialogue and how things are written (I’m not great at hearing Scottish brogues in my head whilst reading, so others may find this very true-to-life and not notice it), but the relationship he builds with Milla, the strength he gives her just by existing in support of her, is very beautiful and the juxtaposition of how he treats her and how we discover Ezra treated her.
I do feel that the MLM part got very confusing at times, but it wrapped up neatly at the end. Poor Julie felt like a disposable side character by the end, and I desperately want to know about her future.
And finally. The spice rating. 2.5 out of 5 chili peppers because there IS spice. But there’s no “completion” spice. Meaning they never actually have on-page sex even though they get so close so many times. I’m mentioning this for my “it has to be at least 4 chili peppers” people.
Overall, the book was fun and engaging with twists and turns and a really good wrap-up ending that leaves it open for the next book.
I did receive a free copy in exchange for my honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2024
Number 2 on my SPFBOX reads and another great read.
Milla is a witch who just wants the world to forget her, leaving her to attend her demesne in St. Augustine and her antique shop. Damaged and grieving after the lose of her mentor, Milla’s wallowing is interrupted by C.R.O.W who not only send her a new apprentice but also an AIA agent to monitor her.
The story starts off innocently enough, but in a bid to make amends with her Stich Witch roommate, she agrees to sell some of the tacky ICYMI clothes (think cheap and ugly Lululemon). Not to mention she almost had a quickie with a random stranger who turned out to be the AIA agent. But nothing is really as simple as it seems.
I was cruising along, there were many questions left open to keep me curious: What’s going on with her magic, what actually happened to her mentor, what’s the deal with her apprentice, and what is the DEAL with these weird clothes? What the author did so well, was either make us think we knew the answer (and we were Oh So Wrong!) or we learn a bit more, dig a bit deeper and realize we know nothing. Little insights kept us reading along and I was never prepared for the full truth and I loved that. There was so much more intrigue and depth to every facet that kept me reading - which is saying something as this was pretty long for an UF (571 pages when typically UF is about 300-400)
World Building: One thing that always makes a book great to me is well done world building. One of the things I loved about this book is that it is clear through the story how rich the magical world is, but it’s not told/explained to us but we see it through the narrative. It was also so unique and different from every other UF I have read, pulling from many cultures which made it feel so vibrant and real. The magic was like nothing I had ever read before, each persons magic felt specific and clear even if we didn’t see them use it much. Love the specific abilities they had and the consequences for using magic.
The only negative I had was first the random hook up in Ch 3(?) it threw me and was very happy that wasn't how the rest of the romance went. My second was the resolution of the story felt a tad rushed, it felt a bit flippant to what had just gone down, but I am guess the fallout will happen in the next book.
**Will it make you cry?** Good chance. There is some emotional trauma our FMC needs to work through.
**Romance?** Y.E.S. While at the start I was a bit iffy about the romance, I did enjoy it mostly
**Spicy?** This one is pretty spicy (at least for me) - While I’m not usually one for spicy books, these ones worked will with the plot line and their are two explicit scenes.
**Humor?** Bits. More sarcasm than anything, but the book has some good wit.
**YA/NA?** I’d put this as adult. Our FMC is 26 and has been through A LOT in her short life, so their is an emotional maturity to her, and what she is going through.
**Fight Scenes?** Yes, we do get a couple of magical fights.
**Soft/Hard magic?** Hard. Each type of magic has their specific way it works (or their Way as it’s called) and its limitations.
Milla is a witch who just wants the world to forget her, leaving her to attend her demesne in St. Augustine and her antique shop. Damaged and grieving after the lose of her mentor, Milla’s wallowing is interrupted by C.R.O.W who not only send her a new apprentice but also an AIA agent to monitor her.
The story starts off innocently enough, but in a bid to make amends with her Stich Witch roommate, she agrees to sell some of the tacky ICYMI clothes (think cheap and ugly Lululemon). Not to mention she almost had a quickie with a random stranger who turned out to be the AIA agent. But nothing is really as simple as it seems.
I was cruising along, there were many questions left open to keep me curious: What’s going on with her magic, what actually happened to her mentor, what’s the deal with her apprentice, and what is the DEAL with these weird clothes? What the author did so well, was either make us think we knew the answer (and we were Oh So Wrong!) or we learn a bit more, dig a bit deeper and realize we know nothing. Little insights kept us reading along and I was never prepared for the full truth and I loved that. There was so much more intrigue and depth to every facet that kept me reading - which is saying something as this was pretty long for an UF (571 pages when typically UF is about 300-400)
World Building: One thing that always makes a book great to me is well done world building. One of the things I loved about this book is that it is clear through the story how rich the magical world is, but it’s not told/explained to us but we see it through the narrative. It was also so unique and different from every other UF I have read, pulling from many cultures which made it feel so vibrant and real. The magic was like nothing I had ever read before, each persons magic felt specific and clear even if we didn’t see them use it much. Love the specific abilities they had and the consequences for using magic.
The only negative I had was first the random hook up in Ch 3(?) it threw me and was very happy that wasn't how the rest of the romance went. My second was the resolution of the story felt a tad rushed, it felt a bit flippant to what had just gone down, but I am guess the fallout will happen in the next book.
**Will it make you cry?** Good chance. There is some emotional trauma our FMC needs to work through.
**Romance?** Y.E.S. While at the start I was a bit iffy about the romance, I did enjoy it mostly
**Spicy?** This one is pretty spicy (at least for me) - While I’m not usually one for spicy books, these ones worked will with the plot line and their are two explicit scenes.
**Humor?** Bits. More sarcasm than anything, but the book has some good wit.
**YA/NA?** I’d put this as adult. Our FMC is 26 and has been through A LOT in her short life, so their is an emotional maturity to her, and what she is going through.
**Fight Scenes?** Yes, we do get a couple of magical fights.
**Soft/Hard magic?** Hard. Each type of magic has their specific way it works (or their Way as it’s called) and its limitations.
March 22, 2025
This one took me some time to get through: 1-she's meaty; and 2-the first half is SLOW. The world building at first is incredibly confusing. There are so many absurd words and acronyms that I would yell at the book and put it down. So, the first half is really really tortuously slow.
From the beginning, Milla is clearly a witch with a tortured past. The author hints at Ezra a lot, but it's clear that it was a TOXIC relationship. I got Bella/Edward vibes from them. But she loved him and didn't see just how awful he was. All because of this, she made ridiculous choices and was so sensitive and just overall not likeable.
Enter Darkly, the goofy male lead. His parts were pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed him. There's hints to a darker side of him which steadily become more and more obvious throughout the book. I think the author really built him up well and I really look forward to reading his prequel.
There are so many side characters it's not even funny. I still don't remember who everyone was.
Okay, so the plot and writing. Writing was great; though I feel the author has a love for their thesaurus which showed up in some bizarre words that should have had a more common word instead. First half of the plot is slow due to the world building. It was a little bit thrown in your face and not overall smooth. The second half when we're finally able to get the story going is great! Honestly, I'd give the second half of the book 4.5 stars; the first half is why it's only 3. There were several times I had to reread sections because it wasn't clear how someone got from A to B or how they moved or why they said certain things.
In the end, the big reveal was quite obvious. I was annoyed the characters didn't figure it out sooner. Also, when they finally reveal her powers, they were also obvious. But in the characters usual manner, she's a jerk about it. "Oh, you want me to harness my Way, well here it is and I'm gonna use you as the tool you are." Seriously? (that's not an exact quote). The only guy who has stuck with her through thick and thin and she's just...boom...you're a tool. And then "I'm so sorry. Let me sacrifice myself for you." So, meh.
TL/DR:
Beginning is slow and boring.
Ending is very fast paced and really interesting lore included.
Female lead is obnoxious.
Male lead is great.
I'd recommend, but go in with the expectations that the first half is SLOW.
From the beginning, Milla is clearly a witch with a tortured past. The author hints at Ezra a lot, but it's clear that it was a TOXIC relationship. I got Bella/Edward vibes from them. But she loved him and didn't see just how awful he was. All because of this, she made ridiculous choices and was so sensitive and just overall not likeable.
Enter Darkly, the goofy male lead. His parts were pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed him. There's hints to a darker side of him which steadily become more and more obvious throughout the book. I think the author really built him up well and I really look forward to reading his prequel.
There are so many side characters it's not even funny. I still don't remember who everyone was.
Okay, so the plot and writing. Writing was great; though I feel the author has a love for their thesaurus which showed up in some bizarre words that should have had a more common word instead. First half of the plot is slow due to the world building. It was a little bit thrown in your face and not overall smooth. The second half when we're finally able to get the story going is great! Honestly, I'd give the second half of the book 4.5 stars; the first half is why it's only 3. There were several times I had to reread sections because it wasn't clear how someone got from A to B or how they moved or why they said certain things.
In the end, the big reveal was quite obvious. I was annoyed the characters didn't figure it out sooner. Also, when they finally reveal her powers, they were also obvious. But in the characters usual manner, she's a jerk about it. "Oh, you want me to harness my Way, well here it is and I'm gonna use you as the tool you are." Seriously? (that's not an exact quote). The only guy who has stuck with her through thick and thin and she's just...boom...you're a tool. And then "I'm so sorry. Let me sacrifice myself for you." So, meh.
TL/DR:
Beginning is slow and boring.
Ending is very fast paced and really interesting lore included.
Female lead is obnoxious.
Male lead is great.
I'd recommend, but go in with the expectations that the first half is SLOW.
October 23, 2023
"You don't know what you have until it's gone"
This is the thought that came to mind while reading this story. Millie is a witch who wants to stay hidden. After losing her lover a few years ago, she just wants to sulk and work in her little antique store she purchased after moving to St. Augustine. She quietly became the witch of the local demesne under the radar but her secret was found.
Millie decided not to check in with the Coven for the Regulation and Oversight of Witches (C.R.O.W) as a result she needed to complete a task in order to remain in control of her demesne as well as a witch in good standing. As a result Millie was partnered with a Mentee to train as well as placed under supervision of an Aural Insurance Adjuster to monitor her behavior to ensure she works within the parameters of C.R.O.W.
Millie's character was a work in progress. She was jaded and a little bitter because she was alone. Millie never took into consideration how her actions affected those around her which was made evident when she insulted a customer in her store that lead to a chain reaction with their patrons MLM Huns targeting Millie's antique shop via online reviews on Social Media and online review apps.
Thankfully her Insurance Adjuster Darkly was patient and helped Millie realize that everything wasn't about her and that she had an entire demesne to take care of as well as its inhabitants and residents of the surrounding community. A demesne Millie took for granted and made it known several times that she really didn't want the responsibility.
An act of betrayal that threatened not only her demesne but the witches and mortals living in her care causes Millie to understand the importance of her role as a witch. Millie was faced with the truth about her lover as well as the role she played in his death. Now faced with a harrowing truth Millie must decide if she will remain hidden or finally get over being a pawn in everyone's game and get in line with C.R.O.W ans prove that she is the formidable witch everyone believes she can be.
Expect to Find:
Urban Fantasy
Various Witches and Other Magical Beings
Enemies to Lovers
World and Lore Building
Slow Burn
This is the thought that came to mind while reading this story. Millie is a witch who wants to stay hidden. After losing her lover a few years ago, she just wants to sulk and work in her little antique store she purchased after moving to St. Augustine. She quietly became the witch of the local demesne under the radar but her secret was found.
Millie decided not to check in with the Coven for the Regulation and Oversight of Witches (C.R.O.W) as a result she needed to complete a task in order to remain in control of her demesne as well as a witch in good standing. As a result Millie was partnered with a Mentee to train as well as placed under supervision of an Aural Insurance Adjuster to monitor her behavior to ensure she works within the parameters of C.R.O.W.
Millie's character was a work in progress. She was jaded and a little bitter because she was alone. Millie never took into consideration how her actions affected those around her which was made evident when she insulted a customer in her store that lead to a chain reaction with their patrons MLM Huns targeting Millie's antique shop via online reviews on Social Media and online review apps.
Thankfully her Insurance Adjuster Darkly was patient and helped Millie realize that everything wasn't about her and that she had an entire demesne to take care of as well as its inhabitants and residents of the surrounding community. A demesne Millie took for granted and made it known several times that she really didn't want the responsibility.
An act of betrayal that threatened not only her demesne but the witches and mortals living in her care causes Millie to understand the importance of her role as a witch. Millie was faced with the truth about her lover as well as the role she played in his death. Now faced with a harrowing truth Millie must decide if she will remain hidden or finally get over being a pawn in everyone's game and get in line with C.R.O.W ans prove that she is the formidable witch everyone believes she can be.
Expect to Find:
Urban Fantasy
Various Witches and Other Magical Beings
Enemies to Lovers
World and Lore Building
Slow Burn
October 19, 2023
DISCLAIMER: I have received this book as an ARC.
Milla is a witch grieving the loss of her husband whilst struggling to run a gothic antique oddities shop. When her store gets doxxed by a ‘Karen,’ her friend gets swept up in a pyramid scheme, and a sexy but annoying Scottish witch is sent to investigate her, Milla is plunged into a chaotic storm. Not only does she have her personal life to contend with, but a series of mysterious deaths across the Mississippi Delta begins to hit too close to home and Milla must investigate before any further harm is done.
B.L. Brown has done it again! Ritual Income is a brilliant novel! Set in St. Augustine, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana, this book has all the witchy gothic vibes one could ask for. I think fans of American Horror Story: Coven will absolutely love this novel. It’s fun, sexy, and a tad scary; a combination that made it difficult to put down when I started. Not to mention, the sexual tension between Milla and Darkly is absolutely scrumptious. The spice is scarce but immaculate and although there isn’t a ton of it, the relationship between Milla and Darkly is full of deliciously smoldering attraction. The world building and characters are amazingly fleshed out and I absolutely love the magic system in the story. Setting this story in the modern world made for an interesting layer to the plot and I think it was done really well. I really loved this book and I can't wait for what is to come with this series.
If you haven’t read the prequel to this series ‘Shady Depths’ I highly recommend picking it up as well, although I’d recommend reading it after reading this one.
Spice rating: 🌶🌶/5 — a little bit of spice but mostly sexual tension
Will I continue the series? Absolutely!
Would I read another book by this author? Absolutely!
Would I read again? Yes!
Milla is a witch grieving the loss of her husband whilst struggling to run a gothic antique oddities shop. When her store gets doxxed by a ‘Karen,’ her friend gets swept up in a pyramid scheme, and a sexy but annoying Scottish witch is sent to investigate her, Milla is plunged into a chaotic storm. Not only does she have her personal life to contend with, but a series of mysterious deaths across the Mississippi Delta begins to hit too close to home and Milla must investigate before any further harm is done.
B.L. Brown has done it again! Ritual Income is a brilliant novel! Set in St. Augustine, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana, this book has all the witchy gothic vibes one could ask for. I think fans of American Horror Story: Coven will absolutely love this novel. It’s fun, sexy, and a tad scary; a combination that made it difficult to put down when I started. Not to mention, the sexual tension between Milla and Darkly is absolutely scrumptious. The spice is scarce but immaculate and although there isn’t a ton of it, the relationship between Milla and Darkly is full of deliciously smoldering attraction. The world building and characters are amazingly fleshed out and I absolutely love the magic system in the story. Setting this story in the modern world made for an interesting layer to the plot and I think it was done really well. I really loved this book and I can't wait for what is to come with this series.
If you haven’t read the prequel to this series ‘Shady Depths’ I highly recommend picking it up as well, although I’d recommend reading it after reading this one.
Spice rating: 🌶🌶/5 — a little bit of spice but mostly sexual tension
Will I continue the series? Absolutely!
Would I read another book by this author? Absolutely!
Would I read again? Yes!
July 5, 2024
Slight spoilers
There are some... unique ways the author describes things. Some of it is engaging and then there are others that just yanked me out of the story.
"The horrid flap-slap of the raw-head’s flayed skin scuttled closer,"
"The meat ka-ploshed in the Matanzas River"
These are just a few examples of the ones that made me pause and think it myself, "there's definitely more effective ways to describe this than that"
It also took a lot for me to get into this book. I thought about DNFing quite a few times and I think part of that is because of how long this book is. I don't mind a 800 pg long epic as long as there's content that aids the story. This had a lot of fluff.
There was also a lot of information that the author just assumed the reader understood. I know a little about wicca but nothing about vodun or the other types of witchcraft so I ended up having to research what was going on if I couldn't infer it. Or if I had to look up what things meant in the many, many, many different languages included in this freaking book. Nothing ruins the immersion of a story like having to stop to do research.
I didn't like the characters, I really didn't like the love interest. I felt like they had no chemistry. You don't find out any information until the last couple chapters of the book (or at least not any information that is pertinent to our main character and advances the story).
This book is definitely meant for a specific subset of readers that meet all of the qualifications to make this book interesting. If you don't meet every single one of these check boxes, you honestly just might as well stop reading because it really doesn't get any better. If I had any sense I would have DNFed the first time at 3% but I'm an overachiever and had have to finish things I start so here I am.
There are some... unique ways the author describes things. Some of it is engaging and then there are others that just yanked me out of the story.
"The horrid flap-slap of the raw-head’s flayed skin scuttled closer,"
"The meat ka-ploshed in the Matanzas River"
These are just a few examples of the ones that made me pause and think it myself, "there's definitely more effective ways to describe this than that"
It also took a lot for me to get into this book. I thought about DNFing quite a few times and I think part of that is because of how long this book is. I don't mind a 800 pg long epic as long as there's content that aids the story. This had a lot of fluff.
There was also a lot of information that the author just assumed the reader understood. I know a little about wicca but nothing about vodun or the other types of witchcraft so I ended up having to research what was going on if I couldn't infer it. Or if I had to look up what things meant in the many, many, many different languages included in this freaking book. Nothing ruins the immersion of a story like having to stop to do research.
I didn't like the characters, I really didn't like the love interest. I felt like they had no chemistry. You don't find out any information until the last couple chapters of the book (or at least not any information that is pertinent to our main character and advances the story).
This book is definitely meant for a specific subset of readers that meet all of the qualifications to make this book interesting. If you don't meet every single one of these check boxes, you honestly just might as well stop reading because it really doesn't get any better. If I had any sense I would have DNFed the first time at 3% but I'm an overachiever and had have to finish things I start so here I am.
December 22, 2025
This was awesome! A witchy urban fantasy with tons of detail and folklore, Voodoo loa (dieties), a bunch of MLM huns selling leggings, and the setting split between St. Augustine and New Orleans? Sign me 1000% up!
I love the complexity of the magic system, and how much it, and the various magical beings depicted in the book, draws from various cryptids/folklore from around the world. Most of them I'd never heard of!
I also love how in-depth the book was in regards to the Voodoo religion (which doesn't always get proper representation in fantasy), the Loa, and the depiction of witches in New Orleans. Brown's attention to detail is incredible - she clearly did her research!
This is such an incredibly unique book with a morally grey, multi-layered FMC whose full backstory is slowly unraveled throughout the course of the book. It's a tale about belonging, who the world determines is "Good" and "Bad", and wanting to be more than just the label you've been given.
Milla is a fantastic character, someone who has made terrible mistakes but is also willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. Her romance with Darkly is a very slow-burn, and their relationship feels a bit like a buddy-cop duo with a side of "oh no he's hot". I loved how much their relationship developed throughout the book (it's quite long - over 500 pages) and I look forward to where it goes from here.
The story arc wraps up pretty neatly in this book, but I look forward to returning to this world in the future to see what other adventures the characters have. (There are currently 3 books out in this series.) Amazing job BL Brown!
I love the complexity of the magic system, and how much it, and the various magical beings depicted in the book, draws from various cryptids/folklore from around the world. Most of them I'd never heard of!
I also love how in-depth the book was in regards to the Voodoo religion (which doesn't always get proper representation in fantasy), the Loa, and the depiction of witches in New Orleans. Brown's attention to detail is incredible - she clearly did her research!
This is such an incredibly unique book with a morally grey, multi-layered FMC whose full backstory is slowly unraveled throughout the course of the book. It's a tale about belonging, who the world determines is "Good" and "Bad", and wanting to be more than just the label you've been given.
Milla is a fantastic character, someone who has made terrible mistakes but is also willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. Her romance with Darkly is a very slow-burn, and their relationship feels a bit like a buddy-cop duo with a side of "oh no he's hot". I loved how much their relationship developed throughout the book (it's quite long - over 500 pages) and I look forward to where it goes from here.
The story arc wraps up pretty neatly in this book, but I look forward to returning to this world in the future to see what other adventures the characters have. (There are currently 3 books out in this series.) Amazing job BL Brown!
April 3, 2026
It could have been such a great story. The endless chatter of things that had nothing to add to the story or characters was so distracting. The main problem I had with the book was the continual descriptions of how physically ill and injured the FL was. Constantly puking or falling, having piercing migraines, cuts, split lip… it was constant. The long descriptions of moths rolling in her belly and ash in her mouth ugh. Then the author had her running… obviously the author has never had a migraine. It was over the top. Then the annoying accent of the ML. Darkley could have been so much more than a flimsy side character that had the weirdest accent he said “nae” way too much. Then there was the overuse of different languages. It didn’t add to the story and it was annoying. I skipped entire pages of the endless adjectives explaining clothing and scenery. When the characters were left with one dimensional personalities. It was also annoying that not once did I feel like Milla the FL was attractive at all. The amount of times she was described as having cold clammy white skin was just gross. No man that looks like Darkley is hot after cold clammy. That is not a thing. I stuck it out and finished the thing though. It was also very annoying that the big bad CROW agency just left them alone??? With no explanation??? Cmon that was her whole reason for hiding her “way” the whole time. Major holes made no sense. I know this is a harsh review but I’m so annoyed that I spent time reading the thing and it never got better.
October 22, 2023
This book looks at the life of in person and online antique business practitioners who sell cloths in one(won) size(sea-i-zi/sir-e-zi with zi for exist or presence in ikwerre language of Nigeria.This is looked at from the life of Milla also Millapet as fondly called by Ezra who as a mentor leaves her in the craft of stitching witchery gone(ji/you for gi in Igbo and one pronounced won or gun being a male(for sending her missives).We see In the story and fiction Milla's capable(cap-a-bull/able) hands at her craft !Ezra bring her to the bar where she was safe from the CROW threats on the witches of stitcheery and their control.There is in the book an inference of the bar Being lawyers protecting business persons and craftmen from the "madam"(mar-dam or spoil dam).The book shows Milla's sacrifice of love for the Darkly(the ark Lee) in their sexual act together giving him what he wants pulling her off her witch as St Augustine.There is also the role played by Anaisa(Ah-na-esa/Ah-na-esa (meaning "opening go to perfect it or eat" and "A go perfect three or tree or t-ri" with to for eat in ikwerre language and na for go in ikwerre language also esa for three in engenni language ) who stripps their witchery bit by bit without tending the demesne as it deserved and not allowing the questions on what next..
May 16, 2024
So Bloody Annoying
1.25 Stars. Fantastic concept. So much potential for the plot. However, it was utterly ruined by the two dimensional and frankly altogether annoying main characters. The bulk of the dialogue was damn near impossible to get through due to its unnatural flow, but most importantly the REALLY annoying way Scottish jargon was overused, INCORRECTLY.
The amount of times Darkly used the word “nae”, he may as well have been written as a horse. It was the death of my patience. My eyes have rolled so frequently I fear I may be permanently cross-eyed.
Another frustrating element was the overuse of different languages. Listen, a little bit of French to spice things up here and there, fine, but there’s no need to use as many languages as you can possibly think of. It’s was all just a bit too much. Okay, a LOT too much.
I really wish I had DNFd this book but I’m too stubborn for my own good. It look me MONTHS to schlep through to the end. I’m glad it’s over. Now someone, please put me out of my misery ?
1.25 Stars. Fantastic concept. So much potential for the plot. However, it was utterly ruined by the two dimensional and frankly altogether annoying main characters. The bulk of the dialogue was damn near impossible to get through due to its unnatural flow, but most importantly the REALLY annoying way Scottish jargon was overused, INCORRECTLY.
The amount of times Darkly used the word “nae”, he may as well have been written as a horse. It was the death of my patience. My eyes have rolled so frequently I fear I may be permanently cross-eyed.
Another frustrating element was the overuse of different languages. Listen, a little bit of French to spice things up here and there, fine, but there’s no need to use as many languages as you can possibly think of. It’s was all just a bit too much. Okay, a LOT too much.
I really wish I had DNFd this book but I’m too stubborn for my own good. It look me MONTHS to schlep through to the end. I’m glad it’s over. Now someone, please put me out of my misery ?
April 2, 2024
While I don't normally reach for 600 page fantasy monsters, I knew B.L. Brown would deliver. I first met the witches of C.R.O.W. and others in Brown's world via her novella Shady Depths and I KNEW I'd be a sucker for anything else that those characters appeared in. Enter Ritual Income:
It has:
-Grumpy antique shop owners who dress like the emo kid of my teen dreams
-Overly attentive undead uncles
-local color and flavor of Florida chaos
-bean bag chairs
-a very good transcription of that savory scottish brogue that we all love
-TOO REAL MLM LIFE DEPICTION!! (Seriously, if you escaped one, maybe give yourself a little extra comfort in reading this)
-Voodoo? New Orleans? Literally magical hookups?
-SURPRISE! Vampires!
Brown's mastery of folklore, urban legend, and dedication to detailed magic systems makes this first series entry a must-read for fantasy lovers of any subgenre. You'll meet characters who cling onto your heart and refuse to let go--TRUST ME.
It has:
-Grumpy antique shop owners who dress like the emo kid of my teen dreams
-Overly attentive undead uncles
-local color and flavor of Florida chaos
-bean bag chairs
-a very good transcription of that savory scottish brogue that we all love
-TOO REAL MLM LIFE DEPICTION!! (Seriously, if you escaped one, maybe give yourself a little extra comfort in reading this)
-Voodoo? New Orleans? Literally magical hookups?
-SURPRISE! Vampires!
Brown's mastery of folklore, urban legend, and dedication to detailed magic systems makes this first series entry a must-read for fantasy lovers of any subgenre. You'll meet characters who cling onto your heart and refuse to let go--TRUST ME.
August 9, 2024
Book Review: Ritual Income
By: B.L. Brown
This book is written in third person and usually third isn’t my cup of tea but I really think it helped shadow the mystery of the story. This book had me captivated right away and I didn’t want to put it down.
I absolutely adored Milla she is a spitfire and full of snarky sarcasm. I enjoyed Ezra’s character and his story was fascinating. I think Diego was my favorite for sure. He has a sweet and energetic vibe.
I loved the slow burn of the story and how each character journeyed through the book.
She brings the story alive with her words capturing your senses. Highly recommend this book!
🔥Slow burn
🗡️Enemies-to-lovers
🌤️ Grumpy x sunshine
🐈⬛ Black cat energy
🤫 Dark secrets
💪 Strong FMC
🦮 Golden retriever MMC
💨 Shadow daddy
🌈 LGBTQ rep
❤️Pan-rep
❤️ Diverse characters
🌶️ Open door spice
By: B.L. Brown
This book is written in third person and usually third isn’t my cup of tea but I really think it helped shadow the mystery of the story. This book had me captivated right away and I didn’t want to put it down.
I absolutely adored Milla she is a spitfire and full of snarky sarcasm. I enjoyed Ezra’s character and his story was fascinating. I think Diego was my favorite for sure. He has a sweet and energetic vibe.
I loved the slow burn of the story and how each character journeyed through the book.
She brings the story alive with her words capturing your senses. Highly recommend this book!
🔥Slow burn
🗡️Enemies-to-lovers
🌤️ Grumpy x sunshine
🐈⬛ Black cat energy
🤫 Dark secrets
💪 Strong FMC
🦮 Golden retriever MMC
💨 Shadow daddy
🌈 LGBTQ rep
❤️Pan-rep
❤️ Diverse characters
🌶️ Open door spice
October 21, 2023
I started reading this book with some expectations of an adventure and some witchy vibes, but I was blown out of the water with the intricate world building, mystery, suspense, and storyline of this book! I quite literally couldn’t put it down, and there are very few novels I can say the same thing about. Milla’s story was written so eloquently and presented in such a way that kept me hooked from start to end. There was the perfect amount of comedic relief peppered around the intensity of the rest of the novel. I am SO looking forward to the sequel!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 21, 2023
It took me awhile to get into the storie and understand the characters, but when i got into it i started to love ste story, the plot and the characters.
Milla and Darkly are a very good team and I love the chemistry between them. Personally, I was able to empathize with Milla, which made me enjoy the story even more.
I really liked how everything built on each other and with every moment that something was resolved, more questions were added. It remained exciting until the end until Milla was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together herself.
I received an advance review copy, from Sirensbook, for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Milla and Darkly are a very good team and I love the chemistry between them. Personally, I was able to empathize with Milla, which made me enjoy the story even more.
I really liked how everything built on each other and with every moment that something was resolved, more questions were added. It remained exciting until the end until Milla was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together herself.
I received an advance review copy, from Sirensbook, for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 11, 2025
Who doesn’t love a witchy book with a self-destructing female main character who is drowning her sorrows in alcohol and is quickly categorized as suspicious by her government due to the way she manages her city? Even with this unusual introduction, it doesn’t get weirder than how quickly we are thrown into the mystery of this woman’s life. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy trying to piece together the main character’s history and the events that may have damaged her. The chemistry and yearning between her and the male main character are palpable, even when they keep their distance due to the need for professionalism. He always keeps her in mind, checking up on her, and being the most supportive character I have encountered in a long time. There is another book in this series, but I don’t see myself picking it up anytime soon, despite how much I enjoyed the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews