Byres Road

The Witches of Scotland Romance #1

by Steven P. Aitchison

🔮 Seven witches. Seven stories. One powerful destiny. 🔮

In the heart of Glasgow’s West End, seven women unknowingly carry the legacy of an ancient sisterhood. Each of them, the descendant of a long-forgotten coven, has built a life for herself—running bookshops, cafés, florists, and patisseries—blissfully unaware of the magick woven into their blood.

Until now.

When Isla Macrae, a sceptical bookseller, stumbles upon an old grimoire and a series of cryptic messages left by her late grandmother, she unlocks a mystery that has been hidden for generations. As she and her newfound sisters begin to awaken their dormant powers, they must navigate love, self-discovery, and a growing danger that threatens not just them, but the city itself.

Each book in The Witches of Scotland series follows one of the seven women as she discovers her place in the coven, her unique magickal ability, and the romance she never saw coming. With cozy witchcraft, slow-burn romance, and the enchanting backdrop of Scotland, this spellbinding series is perfect for fans of paranormal romance, magical realism, and found-family stories.

✨ Love, magick, and fate are calling. ✨

📚 Perfect for readers who
✅ Witchy romance with a touch of mystery
✅ Small-town vibes with a Scottish twist
✅ Strong, independent heroines finding love and power
✅ Slow-burn and fated mates romance
✅ Hidden legacies, ancient magic, and a dash of danger

Start the journey today with The Witches of Byres Road!

Genres: Romance, Fantasy

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2025

About the author

Steven Aitchison is an author of magick fantasy with his 9 book series The Witches of Scotland https://geni.us/hFD1N about astral projection, an energy magic system and Witches from the West end of Glasgow.

He has a degree in Psychology and has one of the longest running personal development blogs.

He loves a good conspiracy theory but more than that, he loves reading, writing and spending time in his own magickal worlds inside his head.

Sign up for his newsletter at https://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/fiv... for ARC opportunities, bonus content, and new releases or follow him on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram for frequent updates.

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Reviews

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Katie Roper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was enjoyable, perfect for cosy spooky season. Excited to be introduced to some characters and hear more from them as it develops.

[Margaret McGinty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it and the characters I’ve never wanted to go to two imaginary shops more in my life five stars

[ANGELA · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea behind the story, but the execution was just...off. There was zero character development, and the characters were not even consistent from one page to the next. One minute Cat thinks Alistaire is creepy and dangerous and completely over reacts to his knocking on the shop door in the morning, and by that evening she's teasing her friend about her admirer and seemingly fine with sharing everything with him. The author kind of just told you how to feel and what to think without ever actually developing the story or giving details. Their meeting to share information was done in broad strokes with no real, true information. Everyone kept hinting that magic was waking up for a reason, and there could be danger, but no one ever asked real questions about it. They just kind of went about their day, taking what info was given to them but not actively DOING anything to understand it better. She gets another letter from her grandmother and carried it around to read later...but never did. It was just forgotten in the story?

It was very obviously a man writing what he thinks women would say and do...and missing the mark completely. Like he was mansplaining the story to us. And then it just...ends. It didn't feel like a full story, it felt like it just ended between random chapters. Since it's a cliffhanger, and sometimes I've found the first book in a series can be a bit cliche'd while it sets up the characters, and then hit it's stride and develop, I'll likely read the next book to see if it's any better, as the story line is interesting, but I'm not sure I'll stick the whole series out unless the next book is a dramatic improvement.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an urban fantasy romance series set in Glasgow, Scotland and centers around seven witches. Periodically, an ancient evil raised its head in Glasgow and a new generation of witches are awakened, whose magic flies through their bloodline, to unite and defeat the negative forces.

The author provides intrigue at the overarching storyline with just enough information breadcrumb the reader along, as well as hooking you incredibly well with a heaping helping of emotional investment in the history and relationship between FMC Isla and her departed grandmother. There is a grimoire that is consistently changing and revealing clues as it’s being read, which was provided by a mysterious and attractive gentleman who knew the Isla’s grandmother. There’s a neighbor who also knew the members of Isla’s grandmothers coven. Another witch is introduced in this first book, Cat, and she quickly becomes a trusted friend, and she is a great balance to Isla. She owns a coffee shop while Isla owns a bookstore.

I really like the way this book is written, the characters and the setting are very richly described. It’s a novella length book and was over way before I was prepared for it to be. I dove straight into book two!

[Kay Pealstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an especially good series. My only complaint is that they are each short books. Even I had this first book in my library for a few days, once I started, I read them all in a day. I could not put them down. I am hungry for more of their stories. I will be watching for more of Aitchison's series, even as I wait to hear more of the 7 Magickal Sisters.

Byres Road kicks off the series laying out the premise of the 7 who will become a Coven and that there is another world besides the one we live in - the tick-tock world of noise, and busyness, constant kaleidoscope of interactions - pulling us away from the quiet, thoughtful thinking we all need.

I wasn't ready for each book to end. This first one was abrupt, but actually the intersection of the next Scottish Witch that will grow the 7. Each that continues the stories, was close to their grandmothers, each learning bits of magick without the naming of them.

Try the first 2 and you will be hooked.

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy read and its ok I will check out the next one but its very rushed but I like the premis. She becomes besties with Cat within a day despite working next to each other for years and never speaking, Cat was blonde when introduced but then had red hair later on and random people just keep turning up saying oh yeah you have magic yet why did they never say anything before? It has a good basis but maybe instead of so many individual books it should have been a few longer ones and not be so rushed. It may also just me me I also dont understand why the owner of a bookshop goes to waterstones to get a new book i mean I guess yeah they may have more stock on what she reads but shouldn't she as an independent bookshop owner avoid the competition (literally across the road) and order in the books she likes herself?

[Shannon Lorimer Author · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that this book is set in Glasgow's West End. The concept is super fun, especially because I love anything witchy related. For me personally I felt the beginning of this book was very slow paced (I have ADHD, so admittedly if something isn't fast paced I will get bored. So that could very well be on me). But I struggled to connect or care about any of the characters. This book is part of a series, so this basically acts as a set up for the series. It ends on a massive cliff hanger so you have to jump into book two. But this one didn't grab my attention enough. So I don't think I want to read the next in the series unfortunately. But just because this book wasn't for me doesn't mean it won't be for you. I think for a reader who doesn't mind a slower pace this will be enjoyable.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this from a Facebook ad for KU, it sounded fun. It is a very short and easy read. But partway in it just felt off. I clicked to see who the author was and was not surprised to find it’s a male. There’s just something inauthentic when a male writes for female main characters. Women don’t really talk or act the way men write them. Overall though, cute book. It ends on a cliffhanger, so I’ll read the second most likely.
Also, I think only a guy would consider knowing somebody for a couple days over only 100 pages or so a slow burn before they jump into bed together. It is a fade to black when they decided to jump into bed, so if you’re hoping for spice.. there is none.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine that someone had read a lot of Nora Roberts, especially the key series, and also really liked The TV show Charmed. Then they wrote a novel and decided that every 130 pages, they would chop it up and make that a book.

I thought it was an interesting enough plot to finish the book but still annoying

And throw in women becoming Bi because they developed magic powers even though they had never been bi before. Sounds awful right? Well, I made it through the first two books even though they were more like novellas and I have zero interest in reading more. Too many plot holes and dividing up a storyline like that is a crime against literature.

[Alisa Lund · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - Ok. The beginning was rough. I honestly had to look up if this was an AI written book. I think a few spellings were missed in editing, and yes, I get it's written in UK terms. But still. And a coffee shop opening up at 9am? For people going to work? Not realistic. But ... I got past that and continued reading. It's not horrible. Writing is simple and it's a fast read.

But, the book is not a stand alone book like most in a series. It's more a really long chapter. But I will continue on to "book" 2.

1 star for the beginning, but felt it grew to 3 stars by the end.

[Carla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into it. I thought there was a lot of unnecessary info, for ex: she always thought about turning part of the bookstore into a coffee shop but never did anything about it. This is right after a stranger hands her a seemingly important, glowing, mysterious tome. It didn't make sense to me why she never noticed, in her small shop, that the largest section was the occult section. Didn't care for how much we talked about her body in the first 10% of the book.

[heather stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byres Road

Thoroughly enjoyed this first book of a series of newly discovered witches and looking forward to reading the next one. Maybe some of the previous characters in Steven P Aitchison's previous Witches of Scotland books will turn up in this series!
If you liked The Witches of Scotland books you will enjoy this one.

[Daniel Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romaance and Intrigue

Another magical series filled with intrigue with an added bonus. Reminds me of a Nora Roberts novel, which means that after book one, I'm already loving this series! I'm happy to see the author go down this path. Two of my favorites - witches and romance! And it's not smutty. Perfect for adults and young adults. Now on to book two!

[Jacqui Bound · Rating 5 out of 5]

witches of Scotland romance series book 1

As we learn about Isla her gran and the journey as her powers awaken , her meeting with a man her new friend Cat also now awakening, we discover the grimoire love friendship and just as they’re about to discover their true power darkness can creep in

[slsmitty25 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn into the story by the thought of finding out later in life that there was something so much more to oneself. I really liked the main character Isla, the bookkeeper, though I may be biased as a Librarian. She is smart, skeptical, intelligent and yet able to suspend disbelief when needed. Isla shows strength of character even when she is afraid and not sure what is going on around her.

[Rick Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you fell in love with The Witches Of Scotland and then the Edinburgh files. you are sure to fall in love with the Romance series. the characters come to life from the first page, looking forward to book two to find out what has happened to Cat? also, how Isla copes with her new life as a witch.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

what the heck

Having read the other witches of Scotland I was totally unprepared for this one. I'm not usually a romance reader and this is so very different, so much fun. Loving it

[Margaret lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glasgow

What a brilliant start to a new series! I loved the first book it was riveting I have already downloaded the next book , great characters and great storyline a well deserved 5 stars

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice and easy read for me! It took me straight into the heart of Glasgow, which I loved. However, I do feel as though the plot was rushed. By the time our MC finds out who she is, it’s almost immediately that she starts to dissect what brought her to this point.

[Jodioren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of the book and the characters well enough but it feels like a YA book and doesn’t really end - it’s just chapter one and you need to read book 2 to get the story. And probably book 3 and 4….

[Deborah Grundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story. Written well and entertaining.

The book has a life of its own. The author pace is thoughtful and building. Subject is bought forth in wonder and self awareness. Great read going to book two.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it!

Good book, very interesting. I have to say though, all the mentions of "trembling hands" just seemed a bit ridiculous!
And man, whiplash at the very end!! Totally leaves you hanging!

[L. Christina Witherspoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story line

I enjoyed the book. I was worried it would be all kissy. But not. It wad too short. At least the next book is ready.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay. I guess I would have to read all the other books to get involved with the story but I did not find it interesting enough to move forward with other books in the series.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick fun read.I already like the characters and the story

[Kate Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving the characters! now for book 2

[Rachel Boss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but I probably won’t read more.

[Rae Frazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had goosebumps all throughout the book

I loved reading this cute, light story about magic. It seemed every other page or so, I popped out with goosebumps, Delightful read.