The Witchwood Boys are Trending

Witchwood Boys #1

by C.M. Stunich

They tricked me into a dark and unholy union.

Three bastards in witch hats, leather pants, and iron masks.

These supernatural stalkers have claimed me for their coven.

They won’t go away. These assholes will. not. leave.

All because I fell for an urban

Touch the Witch’s Tree on a moonless night and discover magic.

Wholesome magic kinky rituals, blood sacrifice, and jizz potions.

Oh, and a forest god who eats people—while they’re still alive and screaming.

Send help, and I’ll send cupcakes.


The Witchwood Boys Are Trending is a reverse harem/why choose romance (meaning one woman with three men). It’s a unique blend of cozy urban fantasy and dark horror, and while it starts spicy, it gets much, much spicier. Inside, you’ll find forced proximity tropes, grumpy-sunshine dynamics, and a main character with a banana slug tattoo.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Romance, Why Choose, Romance, Paranormal, Dark, Magic

378 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

C.M. Stunich is a self-admitted bibliophile with a love for exotic teas and a whole host of characters who live full time inside the strange, swirling vortex of her thoughts. Some folks might call this crazy, but Caitlin Morgan doesn't mind - especially considering she has to write biographies in the third person. Oh, and half the host of characters in her head are searing hot bad boys with dirty mouths and skillful hands (among other things). If being crazy means hanging out with them everyday, C.M. has decided to have herself committed.

She hates tapioca pudding, loves to binge on cheesy horror movies, and is a slave to many cats. When she's not vacuuming fur off of her couch, C.M. can be found with her nose buried in a book or her eyes glued to a computer screen. She's the author of over thirty novels - romance, new adult, fantasy, and young adult included. Please, come and join her inside her crazy. There's a heck of a lot to do there.

Oh, and Caitlin loves to chat (incessantly), so feel free to e-mail her, send her a Facebook message, or put up smoke signals. She's already looking forward to it.

Stalk me, please!
www.cmstunich.com
www.facebook.com/cmstunichauthor
www.twitter.com/CMStunich

I'm also on Goodreads, Spotify, Google +, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Reviews

[Hijinx Abound · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we are again people. This book has many things that are fucked up. And yet I read the entire thing.
Things I learned:
Many potions require cum from multiple men
Potions also require: blood, spit, and female “juices”
These additives change the color of the potion.
Sometimes people have to drink these potions.
In order to initiate a new coven member, there is a primal situation with each member must fuck the female and all must fuck in the forest.
Most importantly, don’t test out wild stories your grandma told you that may result in you being sucked through a tree into a parallel area where you will be trapped if you speak to anyone in the woods.

Read the trigger/content warnings.

Yes I will read book 2. No I don’t want to talk about it.

[Ash’s reading corner ✨🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is full of SA and the worst is that it’s not acknowledged. The author uses the excuse of magic to explain the reason it didn’t traumatize the FMC.

ALL THREE MMCs are rapists. Even when she confronts them the first time, they shrug it off like they can’t phantom the idea of assaulting someone being bad because it’s magic

It happens two times then she doesn’t bring it up or even think about it, as if it never happened and instead keeps being attracted to them and falling for them.

And to be clear, this is not dub-con , it’s non-con.. and it’s non-con done bad. So .. nope.

[britta ⋆˙⟡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The self indulgence is off the charts here.
The crow is named EBON 🐦‍⬛ 🚨 please stop trying to make ebon happen. ✋
FMC character is named Katelyn w “pumpkin orange” hair. If that’s not a self insert then I don’t know what is.
Vintage car and same music as every other book.
MMC all have fucked up hair colors, bad attitudes and jack off into cauldrons incessantly. So much semen. 🥹😫

[Lacee Kietzke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t even 🧙 🍄 💦

I loved this book so freaking much 🤣 C.M. Stunich books are like crack, once you start you just can’t stop. I’ve read so many of her series and they are bangers!
Witchy, sexy, spooky. It was amazing!!

[Mom Reads Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit here I was pulled in by the blurb. I have not really loved this author’s past stories bc I end up hating the characters. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 And tbh some of her past books read to me as super immature. I guess considering the ones I have tried to read featured 16 yo, it tracks. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But I am glad I gave this book a chance. That’s what I love about KU. You can read or try an author’s book for free (ish) or technically a very low cost

I ended up liking this fmc. And the crazy psychos that are her men. It’s all pretty surface level and Inwill admit at one point in the story I could hardly tell them apart. This seems to happen more and more these days w me and RH stories. They all mesh together.

The story is whack and I mean WHACK but tbh I am here for it. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

And I laughed. Oh this book is hilarious at times when the author isn’t having her characters spunk off and use it and drink it etc🤮

The author stated on her fb page the series has four books and they are all completed. She plans to release one a month. The guy on this cover is Brooks w the red and black hair. The guy on the second cover is Tanner (she released that cover on her socials). Third book will be Lo. Last one Kate.

RH no crossing ⚔️✅

Series 4-finished but releasing every 30 days or so ✅

KU✅

Spice is high 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Plot balances it all out✅


Annoying af friend group🙄. I cannot even begin to explain how useless her 3 friends are🤡 I see how Georgia slots in but the other two are just, there.
Whatever. That vibe was weird.
I cannot explain it. You just have to read it. It’s almost like the author has never had close female friends and doesn’t know how to write female friendships. 🤨

And I know that cannot be true but it just hit me at one point while reading the interactions between the girls that this doesn’t feel genuine or believable. It felt cartoonish and fake.

We shall see how it all rolls out in the end. It might be purposeful. Seeing that Kate always gets left, has trauma from that and feels lonely…maybe she is the one unable to form genuine bonds w these girls and the weird vibe is her fault. Either way. The friendships and those characters were actually horrible.

Non con stuff and body betrayal which I dislike (the BB) so if you hate that shit don’t read this. Tons of BB.


Be aware lots of Gore/Blood/Witch shit. It got gross at times for me.

At moments, the story felt like the flow was off. I would be reading and the scene would change and there was no warning. I also feel like the way she presented the female friends at the start of the story altered completely the next time they are in the story.
I will add she recycles A LOT. So words and phrases and actions start to get repetitive. Apparently she likes to use Ebon 🙄😆and similar music etc. So while the plot is fresh I think her choices to reuse names and details from her older books is not. I removed a star due to that. It is a big reason for some of her lower ratings. Stop recycling shit.
Maybe two spelling errors. NBD.

[Lilly 🖤 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 ⭐️

Possible rtc

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freaking fabulous

What a story!! I couldn’t stop reading. It was so gross, hot and sexy all in one. The imagination that CM came up with was mind blowing to me. I can’t wait to see what comes next in book two.

[LolaLovesRH · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must be colorblind

Because I’ve decided not to see any of the flags these men are waving. Who cares if they are bright red, they flash green sometimes lol. Jk jk, (kind of) jokes aside, the men in this story are down right arseholeeeee sometimes but I see their redeeming qualities for sure. I mean to say I’m literally obsessed with them-Like they are written by CM so we know they can’t be too bad (and they really could be worse LOL) . One of them is obsessed with the fmc,in the most crazy obscene, dare I say: most sexy way. This book itself is smutty btw, it’s a smutty smutfest and I’ve been needing that in my life. I also love me some horroromance and that’s what this is giving.

I will say, mind the warnings CM has a link that gives you some Safety warnings so it’s always nice to check that out. But I highly recommend this read and can’t wait for the next one.

Safety tingz:
-there’s a little bit of a dubious consent situation in the beginning that you can get more information on from the link this author provides.

Ow/om: there’s a little situation with ex boyfriend and girlfriend etc going on but not really drama. I’m usually bothered with this stuff (well OW not OM lol call me biased) but literally there isn’t really any drama going on so it didn’t bother me.

No virgin fmc or MMC.

No harmed Doggo or Kitties.

[beth m · Rating 4 out of 5]

witchwood

The way the book ended was weird. It just sort of left off on a cliffhanger, but not really. It just made it feel weird and incomplete. It was like the author knew she needed to stop her book so she could churn it out into a series and just decided to settle it there. It was underwhelming because throughout the whole book when they leave the woods they see the witch in reflective surfaces throughout, that it wasn’t a super impressive ending. That made it lackluster. Aside from that, I’m impressed with the development all around. The characters, world building, and plot. Could it use more? Always, but for this author, it was probably one of her better books.

[Kelly Mccurdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witchy

Anything that C.M. writes is amazing. This is no different. The Witchwood Boys Are Trending is another masterpiece that she has written. She takes a legend from the woods and turns is into real life. She takes you on adventure that will have you scratching your head and going oh $h!t all at the same time. This book kept me on the edge of my seat needing to know more. I can’t wait until the next book comes out!

[Erica Ravenclaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better check those trigger warning friends, this is dark.

Would have been 4 stars for *interesting and weird* but knocked one off due to absolutely creepy ending. Basically something happens in a threesome that she is unaware of, because she’s face down and no one says “hey this thing is going to change, cool?” And then a handful of pages and one male tantrum later, she winds up apologizing??? It gave me the ick. Also explain the hats!?!

[Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW: This book consists SOLELY of SA and RAPE.
I can’t believe all the high ratings for this book, if they’re not being paid to do so then they are lying to anyone who will listen including themselves.
This book starts with SA, followed by coercive gang rape and rape thereafter because the magic system effectively drugs the protagonist into not having a choice. The narrative and the protagonists own thoughts are continuously pushing an agenda of victim blaming and usurp the weirdest philosophical notion of nature being ‘neutral’ and therefore incapable of being ‘bad’ and/or understanding ‘consent’ and thus the natural order of things is rape. It reminds me of the disgusting clip of Ethan Klein saying ‘women naturally want to be raped’. All the male POV’s are essentially rape apologies with extra steps (and not ‘I’m sorry’ apologies, the kind that try to tell you ‘actually 🤓☝🏽there’s perfectly valid reasons for this to happen and thus it should’).
I’m glad the kids are becoming illiterate so they don’t have to be exposed to such a disgusting narrative.
This book was HARMFUL. I’ve read gory, non-fiction books before and have never felt as sick to my stomach as I did reading this fictional ‘romantasy’ (heavy on the air quotes). I thought surely this was a mistake, the prose literally had me gaslighting myself into thinking I wasn’t reading what I was actually reading.
I understand the therapeutic nature of story telling and creating narratives around trauma. But I also understand that ultimately these stories, if written down should be kept personal, confidential and not be used to make a buck. Some of the things we think after being traumatised can be damaging, not just to ourselves but others. Sometimes we write sequences that essentially retraumatize ourselves in an attempt to change the narrative to assist our brains moving through it. And that’s fine. Writing like this for therapeutic purposes is fine. But selling it to be read by others and having the audacity to label its trigger warning as ‘dub-con’ is bad.
This was gross. I feel filthy. And I fucking hated this book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark, dirty, spooky book and the magic in it feels sinister and filthy. It's made me feel weird and I liked it, but also didn't at the same time. It's giving horror reverse harem and I can't tell if these witchy men with their big muscles and magical pointed hats are good or evil (or just fucking gross). I like that I can't imagine what could possibly happen next in the story.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Dang

I was not expecting this to be such a good book, but it blew me away and left me with a hangover. A very original take on a not new storyline. The lore/magic system is top notch, detailed, and different.

I’m devastated I have to wait until the next book comes out to continue the story but it’ll be worth it.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half but the h was absolutely awful in the second half. Nearly every single interaction in the last half between the Hs and the h I did not enjoy. She’s just too mean for my taste.

[~ jj. (the literary overdose)✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

Finally! A five star read after months of supplementing my daily life with 3⭐️ stories that didn’t quite hit the mark. Well, damn me to Hell and slap a motherfuckin’ witch hat on my head - I want to be a part of this coven!

"and this is why women choose the bear."

The Witchwood Boys Are Trending was such a delightfully chaotic book full of quick wit, toxic masculinity and divine femininity - that mixed unhinged rituals with modern day cognizance. I fucking LOVED every second of it. It was so ridiculous that I think I became more and more obsessed as I was reading.

The mixed reviews blow my mind because CM literally laid it all out right there in the first 10 pages *gestures wildly* - like her own personal recipe for a spell to make you question where you stand on the moral alignment chart. Bats, hats and jizz potions included.

I totally want to see more time being spent in the Witchwoods because the 21st century is a BORE, and my growing concern for our pumpkin haired fmc’s internal dialogue has me wondering: is she sound of mind, or fully embracing her mental unwellness to cope with the situation she’s found herself in?

I’ll do anything to get home—even kill a sentient clump of moss.

Ahh, and kill you will, my darling.

Anyway, now I’m curious to see what our dysfunctional coven of hotties gets up to next. So if you need me, I’ll be over here gathering bones and stones, waiting to see what nonsense the fates (or this book) throws my way.

[Julia's Book Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

[MaRiSa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

The Witchwood Boys Are Trending is exactly as fun as it sounds!
I am familiar with C.M. Stunich and some of her works are my absolute favorites in the genre. I also love the way she comes up with so many interesting characters again and again, and that’s what ultimately keeps me coming back to her books.

Our FMC, Kate, is a mostly logical kind of person, but for her birthday she plans to test her grandmother’s tales about an urban legend in her hometown. The Witchwoods legend, that someone who sticks their hand into the tree stump of the Witch’s Tree in the McKay Community Forest gets sucked into the Witchwoods.
Our MMCs, the Witchwood Boys Brooks, Marlowe and Tanner, are all kinds of crazy characters and I love them and the FMC. I love the way Social Media is weaved into the plot also, and the ways our MMCs struggle with “modern” stuff.
The author warns the readers plenty, but this book really is spicy and crazy and weird, and I’m here for it. There are some things though I could go without happily… If you know you know. I’ll just say potions and body fluids xD
There are some tropes I really enjoy, like time travel/distortion, getting pulled into other worlds, enemies to lovers, forced proximity. I also enjoy the horror elements and how they are written, and I generally enjoy the way the whole Witchwood thing is portrayed.
This book also reads really fast and I finished it in almost one sitting. I’m glad there are 2 other books out already and the fourth and last one is coming out soon (and is written already, so the release date is set- I’m looking at Scarlett Force, C.M. Stunich 👀). There is a cliffhanger at the end, so I’ll probably read the next book soon.
Anyways, had a blast reading this!

[Holly's Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I absolutely hated the first 40% of this book because they straight up SA her. Marlow legit told her he would fuck her if she didn't speak, if you speak you get trapped in the woods, so he shoved his fingers in her until she had to scream for him to stop. That absolutely disgusted me. Then they had to do alot of witches brew and rituals that require them to have sex, blood, and semen. They chased her through the woods and all took their turns fucking her. I did not like that at all. The fact that they literally brush it off when she said she got assaulted was terrible. They legit did not care because they had to do it to get out of the woods. This whole relationship was toxic af it wasn't even funny. Kate doesn't even care because shes so afraid of being abandoned and left. She just let them do whatever they want and say whatever they want. She tries to fix everything when they're the ones who fuck up. Another heroine with no backbone and lets the heros walk all over her. Wtf was with them always wearing their dumb ass pointy witches hat? And why tf do they have to hum and dance for the spells? The fact that Kate only cares that they're trending on TT for coming out of the tree and not what she went through? Not the overbearing men who legit wouldn't let her shower without them or how they follow two steps behind her. This author always writes so weird to me I feel like the characters know things we don't and alot of their conversations make no sense. I wanted to finish this because i've heard such great things. I don't even know what I just read.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started good.. dragged on the bickering.. ended abruptly

So unfortunately this is a series I will be DNFing.

I normally read darker romances so this felt very light and I had no issues there. I feel it’s mostly witchy weirdness so a majority of people should be able to read it without being too triggered.

I dove head first and couldn’t set this book down. I haven’t read anything like this and really enjoyed the concept. The part where it lost me was the dragged out bickering. Now I like a strong MFC however *tiny spoiler * I felt like her and lo back and forth dragged on and on. It felt elementary and a way to make the book longer. I genuinely started skipping pages to try to move the book along, but they were still fighting. Then boom it ended on a cliff hanger.

I genuinely thought about skimming the next book but reviews said there’s not much development in their relationships and another cliff hanger. So with the 3rd book not even being out it’s a one and done for me. Sometimes book series can be great duets and you don’t need to push for a trilogy…

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am very disheartened by the handling of the triggers in this book. The trigger warnings on Stunich’s website brushes off the SA scenes by saying it’s a “rough start.” She then downplays the first SA scene in the book by claiming it’s “dub-con.”
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Trigger warning: description of sexual assault scene in the novel (see how that works?)
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The romantic interest held her down, threatened to rape her, and penetrated her while she fought him. That is not dub-con. It’s full-on non-con. I’m not judging anybody who has rape or SA fantasies; this might be perfect for you. I love C.M. Stunich, and she’s usually so good at championing against sexual abusers in her novels. I really have to question her flippant description of this highly triggering material.

Stunich is still on my follow list, but this series is a hard pass.

[Jaddybabby · Rating 1 out of 5]

*sigh* This book could have been so good but makes WILD choices that I could not get behind. I’m not the biggest fan consent non consent. There is a way to do it responsibly and this author did not do that. Sorry it’s not fun or sexy to read the FMC be straight up assaulted and lied by the MMCs to coerce her into a sex. Then to be lazy and excuse it with ✨magic✨ and “this was the only way to save us” is BS. Especially when it’s obvious that it could have been solved with clear communication. I’m all for dark romance but no consent in a story where they are all suppose to full in love? I’ll pass. I don’t want the FMC to fall in love with them I want them on a predator watch list.

[Anna Cason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh….. the anticipation for the next book to come out is going to kill me. IT WAS SO GOOD! I am heeeerreeee for this series.

[Moni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐
Co tu się wydarzyło? Fabuła odjechana ale w raczej pozytywny sposób. Chyba nie czytałam jeszcze takiej historii, z tak zbudowanym światem. Nie może być jednak zbyt kolorowo, bo postacie nie przypadły mi do gustu. Zakładam, że ich zachowania miały szokować, bo niektóre sceny były dość ostre ale jak dla mnie było tam za dużo niechęci i złośliwości.

[Lammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

Holy 😳. This book had absolutely everything. Fantastical world building. Amazing plot. Freaking awesome dickhead harem, and an awesome kickass mc. Brooks is the practical dickhead, Tanner is the obsessed dickhead, and then there is Marlow … the dickhead dickhead. And these boys are hawt 😈🥵. Thirst traps. Give this girl a glass of water 💦.

Katelynn is every type of sassy strong heroine you could hope for, and I am here for it 🤗.

[Nerdy.Scientist.Reads || NERDY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yoooo, this book was fucking wild! CM Stunich amazes me with how she can write multi genres and pull it off so well. I’ve never read a book quite like this one. It was weird, spicy, creepy, and just very unique.

[Valery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read a dark romance fantasy book in so long and after this one I don't know why I stopped reading them.

It's a weird book but like aren't all fantasy books like that?

[GoldenEyeOfHorus · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I liked the FMC. She was very human, but not in a "too dumb to live" way. The spice that was consensual was well written.

Ritualistic sex as a literary device is cool, hot even, but sex with the MMCs that the FMC can't even stand and that spend all their time making her life stressful and running her like a pet is decidedly not.

The ending was despicable. One of the more decent MMCs was in the middle of having sex with the FMC and silently invites another MMC to have a turn WITHOUT clearing it with the FMC. Then later when she finds out the MMC that initiated it starts giggling like it's funny, but what it is is r*pe. Never apologizes either. The other MMC that had a turn is upset and embarrassed that she didn't realize it was him and the FMC apologizes to him. Let me repeat that....she apologizes to him! The FMC has nothing to apologize for and was taken advantage of by both guys.

Not sure if I'll be continuing with this series.

[InkedSolaceReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg I’ve finally finished my first book of the year!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wild fantasy in a parallel world … couldn’t quite get past the witch hats these crazy guys wore or how they learned to perform magic.

Oh and that creepy hag scared the crap outta me, the author knows how to raise the hackles.