The Arcane Taste of the Witchwood Boys

Witchwood Boys #4

by C.M. Stunich

Those witch pricks betrayed me in the worst possible way.

I’m not about to run home and bake f*cking cupcakes, move on, and pretend to be happy.

I’d rather rage.

These men told me I wasn’t allowed to leave, that they’d follow me anywhere.

Well, it goes both ways, my dear stubborn husbands.

You aren’t allowed to leave, and I will do anything to enforce that.

I’ll slaughter the Hag Wytch. I’ll break our world and the Witchwoods both.

Because you were I am a villain, and I will kill the world for you.

I’m sad. Please send cockies. I mean cookies.

Not cookies baked with jizz, but actual cookies.

***includes 12,000 words of brand-new bonus material!

The Arcane Taste of the Witchwood Boys is a reverse harem/why choose romance (meaning one woman with three men). This is a genre blending series that’s a little bit cozy, a little bit dark, a lot bit spicy, and full of love, romance, action, and fantasy. Inside, you’ll find epic battles, a woman that’s part owl god, and our world blended with a fantasy forest. This is a complete series in 4 books (this is #4).

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

556 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2025

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

[Hilleri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first 3 books and was excited for the finale, but was greatly disappointed. I had a really hard time getting through this one. It was all over the place and hard to follow. Lots of word fluff, holes in the storyline and just in general, disappointed. The dialogue was lacking. Sadly, I was hoping for more. Even the smut was lacking, so many oppritunities to kick up the spice, but falled flat and flacid. Just seemed like CM Stunich pushed through to throw it out and be done with it or to meet the publish date (which was missed by a month), no organic flow whatsoever.

[Reya]

After that illegal cliffhanger, this book better revive my boys back fast or I'll riot.

[Misha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me 23 days to finish this book due to pure force of will after loving previous 3 in this series. I feel tired. Now I need something to get me out of this slump cause by most anticipated read of this month turning into boredom olympics.

What I liked:
- The world of this series is the perfect blend of cozy and deadly. CM Stunich did a supreme job on worldbuilding and it's a hill I will die on.
- I love how these man are completely obsessed with Kate and would do anything for her.

What I didn't like:
- This series had generally very strong characterisation but I feel like in this final book it got slightly lost since suddenly everyone has the same goal, same motivation and for some reason behave quite the same.
- The plot. FFS. How many times can we do the ol' fuck and run routine? It got boring pretty fast.
- The ending was weird, rushed and made little sense.
- The magic was attempted to be explained before but the spells made little sense anyways.
- I personally felt offended by how fast the emotional impact of book 3 cliffhanger was disregarded. I would prefer to marinate in the despair a bit longer to make it feel intentional.

By the way, I gave 5 stars to all the previous books. I definitely expected much more from the finale.

[Julia's Book Haven · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a rough one for me, I basically forced myself to finish it. And I actually did something I never do which was start a book and then put it down for like a whole week before starting it again and finishing. So this is the longest it’s ever taken me to finish a book in probably years. This series was definitely a miss for me. It was just way too long and had way too many unnecessary scenes that felt like filler. And if I’m being honest way too much sex lol which is not something I say lightly about a RH book. Plus I was really hoping we would get some background info about the Witchwoods, the Hag and the curse and there was nothing which drove me crazy cause I wanted to know how this all started. Just one chapter would have probably been enough to give some explanation but the characters didn’t care to ask any questions about anything which was so weird. I know lots of people loved the series though so take what I’ve said here with a grain of salt I guess.

[Lammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

This series is up there with the best of the best 😊.

The plot, the characters, Kate and the Witchwood Boys … every thing about this was unique and amazing.

[Bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF’ed around 50%. I got annoyed because the FMC took on a curse to undo the cliff hanger from the book 3, and then the rest of the book was just “omg how are we gonna undo this curse” 🙄 I skimmed to the end and didn’t think the conclusion had enough of a payoff to keep reading.

[Bookish Serendipity Shannon williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing!

Ughhhh I’m so sad this series is over but sooooo happy the coven got their happy ending.

This book was full of all the emotions, twists, and sooo much spice.

It was amazing. I loved this series so much. Thanks for the amazing ride!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a filthy finish to the Witchwood Boys series.

I was disgusted by the amount of bodily fluids (and flesh) consumed in this book. This is a gross story full of nasty, perverted magic and witches. But, as gross as this whole series is, I enjoyed it. I loved watching this coven transform in the face of known and unknown horrors. I loved the strange creatures that inhabit the witchwoods. I loved the spell work and Brooks' expertise in the kitchen. I loved Tanners swagger, but also his squishy, obsessive love for Kate and his coven. I loved imagining Lo as a former skinny goth guy transformed into a beast of a man, who still wanted to wear eyeliner. And I loved Kate for being so brave, for being terrified and sickened by her circumstances, yet determined to thrive.

Reading this series was a fun experience. But, I'll be forever haunted by cumcakes and cockies. 💀

[MaRiSa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Maggie R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwrenching

Sorry this review will probably suck because I’m too busy sobbing to write well. This book is the perfect conclusion to what has to be one of the best series I’ve ever read. I won’t lie and say this book didn’t hurt… it hurt bad, but it also made everything better.

[Mommet · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did this make me cry?

A book this absolutely filthy should not have me bawling my eyes out!! Wth.

I am going to miss the Boys so very much.

[LolaLovesRH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo good

I loved this book so much omg, it was steamy of course but jeez no one can’t say there wasn’t a plot here because this book had me in shambles. Kate is such a wonderful, gorgeous and downright enchanting fmc. I loved the men, I love them and even loved Kate’s friends. I sobbed, I stressed omg this book stressed me out in the best way. Of course cm gives us a happy ending but I will admit I’m happy to hear she will be adding a little more because I wasn’t ready to give these characters a good bye. So many close calls, I’ve been through so much with these characters, I don’t want to let them go. But I want to encourage people to still read because the ending is still a very good ending.

There’s a reason this author is still my favorite author till this day. Highly recommend reading.

[Sammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Will update when my sister is done reading this

EDIT:
I was honestly disappointed in the finale of this series. I loved the first three books and had so much fun. This book just seemed like it wasn’t completely thought out. Nothing really happened and various plot holes. Even the smut wasn’t great. Just all over the place.

[Erica Ravenclaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have liked a bit more at the end, a softer landing back into our current time line, ya know? Overall loved it, what a wild kinky ride!

[Christina Sturgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5 🌟
Spice: 3/5 🌶️
Characters: Kate, Brooks, Tanner, Marlowe

[Hijinx Abound · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we are at the end of this unhinged story. I read all 4 books. I made it through copious amounts of bodily fluids and baked goods & healing salves infused with those fluids. These 4 going 2 steps forward & 15 back. Poor unsuspecting friends getting dragged into the insanity. Interesting takes on the negative side of social media and small towns.

This last book was harder to get through than the other three. There’s a lot of “training montage” time. It was not quite as unhinged as the other books. That doesn’t mean it was boring. There were still WTF moments.

I cannot promise you’ll love this series but I can say it will have something you aren’t expecting. And a lot of fluids.

[Kimberli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

I wanted to like this series. There were some things I liked about this series. But overall I just didn't like it. I can't say the writing is bad. I usually like this author's books. This series was just so hard to get through. I kept putting it down, which isn't like me. But again, I don't think it's the writing. I think this series just didn't work for me.

First, I didn't understand where the curse came from, nor why the first Hag was cursed. Secondly, if the first Hag Wytch was cursed for something she did, why did the curse get passed on to someone else who didn't do anything? Third, we're told that over the years the portal sucked in lots of people. Yet, until Brooks went through, nobody else survived? I mean Brooks' mentor saved him. Why didn't she save anyone else? Why was there a Witchwoods anyway? Where did it come from? How did there become a portal to the human world? If there were so many rumors about the tree, and people kept disappearing, why wasn't there a full on investigation of it? Maybe I just over think things, but I just didn't get the point of the tree or the woods.

My next issue with this series was all the sex. I'm not complaining about the sex scenes in and of themselves. I'm talking about 90% of the sex being purely for magical purposes. It wasn't sexy or romantic. While I understood that they were attracted to each other, and didn't mind having sex for magical reasons, as the reader I had problems with it. It happened that way most of the time. It was a necessity rather than a loving way to connect. It was all about cum, blood, sweat, and tears. Not romantic in my opinion. And can I just say that the whole spitting in the mouth thing actually made me gag. Maybe it's a kink for someone, but it was revolting in my opinion.

We never find out how the guys made a new portal to the witchwoods. We never really find out how humanity dealt with the month they all slept. Yes, the author tells us that humanity basically just tried to explain it away. But an entire month is more than something humanity would just shove off as weird. Did
Marlow get revenge on Miriam and Dennis?

That's pretty much my take on this series. It was ok. It just wasn't my thing. I really didn't enjoy it that much. It might be your kind of series. There's nothing wrong with the writing. I just couldn't stay interested in it.

[Veronica LaRoche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read. This book had my emotions all over the place. The huge sacrifice that Kate made was huge. I can’t get enough of Brooks, Tanner, Marlowe and Kate. Truly an amazing series with crazy foods lol. I will never forget cumcakes or cockies lol. The characters are definitely unforgettable. An amazing ending to another phenomenal series.

[AMO · Rating 1 out of 5]

that was painful

I finished by skipping a lot. Book three wasn’t great but this one was awful. I was close to not bothering to finish but figured it would annoy me to not know how it ends after finishing the 1st three books. Now that I know, I could have saved myself the time and just put the book down.
What upset me was the continued dubious consent that bordered heavily on non-consent/rape. And it happened throughout the entire book repeatedly (almost the theme of this last book). I especially hated the times when she was conscious (vs when she wasn’t) saying “no” to only then secretly “like” what was happening. Way to set back “no means no” about a decade, CM.
The reasons for the non con are weak and unnecessary. It just ruined the end of the story for me.
The HEA was predictable and a bit blah.
It was a weird series, I generally like this author a lot but this was far from her best work.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculously terrible. I find myself irrationally angry at this book, this series, this author. There were red flags from the beginning telling me I wouldn’t like this series - it was too much, too dark, too gross to be honest - just not for me. But, LIKE A COMPLETE IDIOT, I kept on reading, and kept on reading, and kept on reading. Again, idiot here!

At 99% with 1 minute left:

Nothing.
We understand nothing.

Whelp, no truer words ever printed in any book ever.

[Krystal Skye H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series!

This book was the extra time with her coven that Kate needed to be able to break her curse. I wonder if the other hag witch just didn't accept her fate? Like Kate was pretty much accepting and happy (as she could be) while in the witchwoods alone. The other hag witch seemed to be there for years before she passed on her curse instead of breaking it.

This series is definitely a favorite 😍 🙌 It was funny, and I really enjoyed her covens obsession with her. Her friends getting their own coven was pretty awesome.

The cons:
* Georgia's entire personality.

* The number of times the "no running" thing is used. Like she's turning into a rage monster and is trying to kill yall. She should be running to protect you.

* The ending of this book seemed rushed and out of sorts. I wish we would have got literally ANY chapters of the boys after the tree was burned. I'm not a fan of skip forwards, and the ending does it multiple times. 3 months skipped before Kate went into the tree - 6 months skipped after, where we don't see the boys until after they created a new portal. It would have been rather easy to switch between group perspectives since Kate was blacking out all the time for her curse. The actual ending was in epilogs, which also doesn't make sense. Epilogs are when skip forwards should occur, but it was content that were just the next chapters of the book. Idk I enjoyed the series as a whole, but the ending gives "unplanned" or "bored of writing this story, so let's just hurry up and end it" vibes.

I would have preferred more focus on the plot instead of the weird family dinners with people they didn't even like or scenes at the bagel shop where they threaten Nathan for the millionth time. Lots of focus on fluff - which would be fine if it weren't the last chapters of the last book in the series.

Other than the above complaints, the series was amazing, and I enjoyed the wild ride.

[The Bodacious Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have such a love-dislike relationship with this author.
She wrote one of my most favorite series Havoc. But the way she chose to end that series kind of ruined it for me. I hated the direction that she went with it and personally, I wouldn’t have done it that way and I really didn’t like the last book which really made me sad because I love the series otherwise, like really loved it
And without giving away any spoilers, she did the same thing with this series, gosh dang it. I loved everything about this series and it was so excited for the final book. But then she did it again. She took it in a direction that I hated. I would’ve never yet again chosen for the series to end in this way.
And even though I was so happy to see the characters again that I love so so much. I absolutely hate the direction she chose to go with for the leading lady. I feel like she should’ve Scooby Doo’d them instead. It should’ve been all of them against the baddie. Not the way that she chose to do it instead.
So even though I give the series as a whole five stars because let’s be real, it was really good. I personally hated the direction of the final book. She did the same thing to me with havoc and I guess we’re just not on the same wavelength or something.
Again, it’s nothing against the writing or anything. It’s just the direction she chooses to enter her series with. They’re just not how I would’ve seen them go.
But I would still definitely recommend this series.

[Shawna Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsically fucked up with a HEA, what more could you ask for?

[Laura Pell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this series. I truly enjoyed the first two books, but by the third book things were dragging. I felt too much of the storyline in book 3 focused on Kate and her fear of loneliness, and then getting the boys to confess their love to her (I understand that her fear of loneliness was a big part of the storyline, but it already came up SO often in the first two books that I didn't feel we needed to dwell even further on that in book 3). I wished more time had been spent on them learning magic together. In the end the final book was a total let down. I was hopeful that it might redeem the third book, but instead it was even worse. I would've much rather have read a synopsis on how this series ended.

[Kayleigh Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. This conclusion was a drag. Extremely repetitive, the storyline was just an infinite cycle of suffering and self sacrificing sentiments that drove a wedge between the lovers that was never satisfyingly resolved. Big nothing burger of a plot until 93% where suddenly lots of action is rushed out to resolve the big bad in one understated anticlimactic disappointment.

The resolutions do not fit the challenges, leaving the overall reading experience feeling unfinished. Left wanting so much more and not in the "I want to live in this world" kind of way, but in the "I didn't get enough out of this experience" kind of way.

Really disappointing because the series was a real treat until this ending.

[Yana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the first 3 books, I loved the main characters. However, this book was hard to read. It just lacked a lot of the things that made the other books great.

The story was again good and original, but there was a lot of repetition, and it dragged a bit. I missed the humour, the banter, the love, and even the steamy scenes from the previous books.

There were also minor inconsistencies, like when Brooks tells Kate that the Hag Wytch was part of his mentor's coven. A few chapters later, he tells her the same, and she acts like this is the first time she hears it.

Overall, it was a good book, a nice end of the series, but not nearly as good as the first 3 books.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two books were great. But the last two? Just felt like a cash grab. The story was unnecessarily stretched, character personalities suddenly shifted without reason, plot holes started popping up, and contradictions undermined previously established logic. Add to that some boring storyline choices and moments that existed purely for shock value... and I’m honestly just upset at how much potential was wasted.

One thing I initially really appreciated was how the author didn’t pretend the plus-size, quirky FMC would naturally be seen as attractive by everyone. The MMCs even openly stated that if it weren’t for the coven bond - which forced them to spend time with her and get to know her - they wouldn’t have looked twice. That felt refreshingly honest, especially compared to the usual plus-size trope books where instant lust overrides all realism.

I don’t know - maybe it’s controversial, but I actually liked that element of truth. Their connection felt more authentic because it was rooted in genuine emotional development, not insta-lust or magical physical attraction. It made their growing love feel earned.
But then, in the last book, the author weirdly backtracked on that route.

Unfortunately, I have to give a big minus for the way the cat was portrayed. The clear mistreatment and misunderstanding of cat behavior really bothered me. I sincerely hope the author doesn’t have cats, because if she thinks they're just "assholes" by nature, that’s flat-out wrong. The biting, stress, and distrust are responses to abuse (even mild) - not personality traits. Learn how to treat cats properly instead of pushing anti-cat sentiments into your books.
To most, it might be a non-issue, which is fair, but to me the clear dog-loving, whilst cat-hating rhetoric was annoying.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still keeping this as an actual rating of 4.5 stars, but adjusting it from 4 to 5 stars after reading the new bonus epilogues.

One of my biggest complaints before and why I downgraded to 4 stars was because we spent so much of the series fighting for the happily ever after and this last book in particular apart, that when they finally reunited, if felt far too abrupt and the HFN only felt happy for right this second, and the happily ever after was just wishful thinking based on how they’d been in previous books. With the addition of these new bonus epilogue editions, we got to revel and roll around in all the good feelings and them enjoying the life they worked so hard to build together. It was almost exactly what I needed to make it perfect so that I was able to boost it upward toward that 5th star.

Stunich gets all the props for originality in creation of worlds, characters, and storylines. This whole series was unlike anything I’ve read before and I continued to just be wholly enamored with all of it and her ability to spin these tales on my mind that just felt completely and realistically wickedly magical. Looking forward to what new unique vision she creates next.

[Kitch · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ What a complete fall from the start of the series. This book was an absolute pain to get through, I started skimming halfway through. And there’s almost no time with the MCs together. It’s just fight, rape fuck, blood, run and hide, nearly kill the boys, rinse & repeat. What the hell happened?! There is more connections happening between the MMCs which admittedly we needed. Then the random trap card of another Witchwoods Diety so the FMC could “divorce” the MMCs. Full fill her loneliness that the curse demands then MMCs to the rescue and poof over. I loved the chaos of the first 2 books and the connection in the 3rd. But I want a redo for this one. I’m so disappointed.

[Wendy Lange · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not dark, GROSS 🤮

I read everything this author wrote. The F-boy series was so awful I abandoned it. Wish I would’ve done the same here. If you are hanging in there hoping for a brilliant explanation of who and why and closure, good luck. Zip, zero, nada. There is a HEA, I guess. This isn’t dark. It’s just gross. That’s the hook. Grossness, gore, violence and depression. I’m looking for other options……