Spellcaster

Weatherstone College #1

by Jaymin Eve, Bianca Dyck (Translator)

Willkommen im Weatherstone College. Meide die dunklen Gänge. Störe die alte Magie nicht. Und vertraue niemals einem Spellcaster.

Nie hätte ich gedacht, am Weatherstone College, der renommiertesten Zauberschule der Welt, angenommen zu werden. Es ist nicht so, dass ich keine Magie besäße. Sie ist nur ... unberechenbar. Ich muss lernen sie zu kontrollieren, und zwar schnell. Denn gleich an meinem ersten Tag laufe ich Logan Kingston in den altehrwürdigen Hallen in die Arme. Er ist der mächtigste Spellcaster seiner Generation, und unsere Familien sind Todfeinde. Logan Kingston trachtet mir nach dem Leben – doch jedes Mal, wenn ich den Blick seiner tiefgrünen Augen auf mir spüre, empfinde ich etwas ganz anderes als Angst. Was mir Angst macht, ist die dunkle Energie, die mich in Weatherstone zu verfolgen scheint. Niemand anders bemerkt die tödliche, lauernde Gefahr. Niemand außer Logan …
Enthaltene Chosen One, Enemies to Lovers, Touch Her and Die, Dark Academia
2 von 5

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Dark Academia, Enemies To Lovers, Witches, Audiobook

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2025

About the author

Jaymin Eve is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and sci-fi novels filled with epic love stories, great adventures, and plenty of laughs. She lives in Australia with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and a couple of crazy pets. To date, she has sold over three million ebooks, and still can't believe that she gets to create fantasy worlds as a job. 

For action, adventure, romance, and a guaranteed HEA, start one of her series today.

Reading order:

Secret Keepers series (Paranormal Romance) House of Darken. House of Imperial. House of Leights. House of Royale.

Storm Princess Saga (PNR/Fantasy)
The Princess Must Die. The Princess Must Strike. The Princess Must Reign.

Curse of the Gods (Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance series) UpperYA/NA
Trickery. Persuasion. Seduction. Strength. Neutral. Pain.

Supernatural Prison (UF/PNR romance -shifter, vampire, fae, magic user) Upper YA/NA
Dragon Marked. Dragon Mystics. Dragon Mated. Broken Compass. Magical Compass.

NYC Mecca Series (UF/PNR Romance - shifters) Upper YA
Queen Heir. Queen Alpha. Queen Fae. Queen Mecca.

Hive Trilogy (UF/PNR Romance - vampires) Upper YA
Ash. Anarchy. Annihilate.

Walker Saga (Fantasy/adventure/romance - gods, mermaids, dragons) YA
First World. Spurn. Crais. Regali. Nephilius. Dronish. Earth.

Stay updated:

http://www.jaymineve.com

https://www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Au...

Reviews

[ashlyn (gansey’s version) · Rating 1 out of 5]

*ARC provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley*

I'm typically not a harsh reviewer when it comes to ARCs because reading is subjective and I never want to harm an author's career, but this was truly so bad that I started taking notes.

Setting aside my issues with the pacing, plot, relationships, dialogue, and basically everything about this book, I want to start with the most concerning aspect of this book. I'm white, so obviously I'm not the most qualified person to dictate whether or not something is racist, but the characterization of the only Black character in this entire book (other than 2 side characters that are each mentioned once and basically get no dialogue) really bothered me. Noah, who is the best friend of Logan (the love interest) is introduced in a concerning way, which was basically the tall large threatening black friend of a male villain love interest, who isn't even given a name for a good amount of the time he's in this book. On the main character's first impression of him, without him even saying anything or moving, she says he's built like a linebacker (this takes place in America but none of these witches/warlocks do sports!!!!! or even partake in any sort of human culture like football why would this be the first descriptor that comes to mind?) A direct quote in her first encounter with him is "there was a coiled energy about him that told me if needed, he could turn from neutral to deadly in a heartbeat." Mind you he's literally just standing there and being tall and Black - seems like someone is stereotyping idk. Noah gets absolutely no character development, has no personality traits other than being the friend (more like bodyguard the way he's written) to Logan. You could have replaced his character with some sort of protecting familiar and there would have been very little change he has so little dialogue. This wouldn't have necessarily bothered me if it didn't feel like the shittiest excuse for diversity I've ever seen. It's not a move for inclusivity if you're just writing a poorly written stereotype of a Black man whose only purpose is to stand next to the love interest. There were some other quotes that made me side eye both the main character and the author. One that stood out to me was, "Your master left. Hope you're not on a choke chain." This was said to Noah by Paisley, the main character. Genuinely disturbing and there's no way the author didn't recognize that this was NOT the way to phrase the sentiment she was attempting to convey. Another one that bothered me was, "Noah stood three feet away, dressed in all black, because that wasn't creepy. 'We need to get a fucking bell on you,' I said with as much snarl as I could manage." These quotes wouldn't bother me if Noah was white, but the author made a conscious decision to write a Black character then had her main character say things that, to a Black man, come off as racially motivated. It's worth noting that there are no other non-white characters (unless you want to count the Paisley's best friend, Belle, whose mother is from India? She lives in India, but I'm not sure if it's stated that she's Indian though I guess it's implied. But all of Paisley's physical descriptions are about her being a redhead, which doesn't immediately make her fully white but still felt like a really poor attempt at inclusivity, almost like the author last minute decided to make her mom live in India).

Next, this was incredibly poorly written, and I can only compare it to the 2010s paranormal romance-ish book you read in middle school that was soooo tropey in every way. The setting, the characters, their mannerisms, the relationship, etc. This was not a compelling novel at any point, and I really wanted to DNF it in the first 10 chapters but decided to stick it out and see if it got better. The pacing was genuinely awful and I was so bored half the time. So many scenes felt unnecessary and were like a chore to read. The worldbuilding was incredibly clunky and just shoved at you through dialogue. The first half of this book at least has some things happening, but I cannot point out a single thing that happens in the second half other than like 2 sex scenes. There was essentially no 3rd act conflict and the ending was the definition of unsatisfying and anticlimactic, giving the reader absolutely no reason to continue this series. The romance is bland, the plot is all over the place ad barely there, there are no stakes and no cliffhangers, the questions that need to be answered aren't clearly defined enough to be intriguing, and none of the characters are likable!!! Why would I torture myself with the second book?

One thing about this book that so clearly stood out was the absolutely terrible dialogue, characterization, and relationships in this book. First off, Paisley is the youngest of five children, who all go to this super prestigious school (which really didn't seem that prestigious to me because there's only like 5 schools but anyway) and all of them are walking clichés with no personality traits, just very clearly defined walking tropes. Also, this author is definitely an only child because no siblings would ever interact this way?? They're constantly calling each other baby sis or big bro, and I'm pretty sure no sibling has ever used this term seriously. They tease each other, but in a really gentle and nice way, which was just entirely unrealistic. Like they were always happy and content with each other and never fighting...sorry have you ever interacted with five siblings all within 4 years of age? They also kind of felt like that parody movie of the Brady Bunch, where there's like a weird almost sexual undercurrent at times? They talked about sex entirely too much for my comfort (I can confidently say I've never bragged about my boobs to my brother!) None of the relationships, family or otherwise, are even slightly realistic. Everyone, especially Paisley, who is supposed to be 22, acts WAYYYY younger than they are, and the college treats them like they're high school students and not literal adults. It felt like the oldest sibling was about 17, when the youngest is actually 22! I genuinely have a theory that this started as a YA novel set in a private high school (thus the literal uniforms like they're at Hogwarts or something) but at the last minute the author decided she wanted to write smut so she just ctrl + f'd every character to be 22 instead of 16. Everything would make so much more sense if they were 16. The dialogue is so clunky and unrealistic, I genuinely questioned if it was written by AI because I cannot imagine a human thinking the dialogue is realistic. It was jarring to go from a sentence nobody would ever say or think in real to life to modern day slang like "situationships". (NOT accusing this author of using AI in her book by the way)

Logan and Paisley. You'd think that since this is a "romantasy" (it's not, in my opinion as a professional romantasy reader) there would be some frequent appearances from the love interest, but no. He really doesn't show up much, and Paisley for the most part doesn't interact with him. Obviously there are some moments of tension or like insulting each other, as well as 2 smut scenes, but other than that he's pretty absent. He has no development whatsoever, and no actual personality, just kind of staring there stoically and giving nothing away on his face, but sometimes threatening her family or her. When he is there, he's honestly pretty annoying and insufferable, which I personally don't find attractive at all. I also cringed HARD at their first kiss, which is never a good sign. One of them says, "fuck it" and then kisses the other, which is such a cliché that it reminded me of when I was in middle school, and my friend brought me on her first date with her boyfriend, and I had to hide behind a bush with our other friend while they had their first kiss, and he (a 13 year old boy) said "fuck it" and kind of kissed her. That was my mental image. There was no banter at all, very little tension, and pretty much nothing that makes a good romance.

Some of my smaller issues that just bothered me
- Her name is PAISLEY. no offense to the Paisley's of the world but I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be super badass and Paisley is just not giving me that vibe. If she was super feminine and nice and sweet and soft then was also a badass, I'd love that, but that was the not the vibe here.
- Again with the names, I'm not viewing a guy named LOGAN as a super powerful scary villainous wizard guy. He just seems like he's going to spike my drink
- I immediately clocked that this author was not American, because the way America was mentioned was so weird? Like Paisley is from Spokane, Washington and this college is in a rural area of New York, but it's in "the wilds of New York state". And the school system was referred to as primary and secondary school, which is not at all what American schools are referred to as. Even some of the phrases used were just not fitting for America. I don't really know why this author wanted to set their book in America when it could have easily been in any other country. Not a big deal it just bugged me
- there was a weird random love traingle introduced that had a very obvious outcome, and didn't really amount to anything, so that was just weird. This felt like yet another thing that was reminiscent of 2010s paranormal fantasy/romance except it's missing the things that made those so good (like the tension, banter, compelling plot, romance, etc)

Truly hated this, would not recommend it, and have no interest in reading the second book.

[Reads With Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was atrociously bad in quality.

[Kaila.Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4ish stars. This was fun, easy, quick read. Like a hallmark movie of a spicy dark academia book (but no Christmas tree farm)

[🌺 Hannah 🌺 (very busy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1) by Jaymin Eve definitely gave me strong Harry Potter, Twilight, and mysterious dark academia school vibes. I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the way I hoped it would. This ended up being about a 3.75/5 star read for me, but I’m rounding down to 3 stars overall.

I’ll start with a positives.. I actually enjoyed the cheesy college clichés and dramatic writing. It honestly made me laugh. If you love dramatic paranormal school settings, this will probably work for you.

That said, I struggled to really get pulled into the story. It took me a while to read (mostly because I’ve been busy), but even when I had time, I didn’t feel super pulled in. There weren’t many big twists or shocking moments until maybe the last 10 pages, and while that ending was super surprising, I’m not sure it’s enough to convince me to continue the series.

I’m also not a fan of insta-lust, and this book leaned hard into that trope. The pattern started to feel very very repetitive.. Paisley worrying about her affinities, a monster showing up, Logan saving the day, a trip to the library to hunt down a nonexistent book, a party, another monster attack, her very Twilight-esque siblings stepping in as bodyguards… and then Paisley wandering off alone at midnight again…. Anddddd repeat 😅

I can definitely see why people either really love this book or don’t vibe with it at all, and I feel like I landed somewhere in the middle. I am curious about what was revealed at the end with her mom but at this point, I’m undecided on whether I’ll pick up the next book.

If you enjoy paranormal academy stories with familiar tropes and don’t mind insta-lust and repetitive structure, this might still work for you. For me, it was okay, but not a standout.





—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-


I’ve heard this is a cheesy, academia, witchy romance and that’s kinda what I need right now 🪄✨💫🖤

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this. First of all, I couldn’t put it down, I started and finished this book in less than 2 days. Second of all, idk there was something about it that drew me in. Maybe it was the MMC, maybe it was the monsters, the magic? Something really captured me, and I think it was the story as a whole.

Set at a college with witches and warlocks and so much more, Spellcaster captured my attention and didn’t let go until the last page. I cannot wait for the next book (hopefully there will be one) and I really liked this book and its premise and characters and romance.

—hate to love
—academia
—witches, warlocks, oh my!
—quick and fast paced story telling

I did give this 4/5 stars because I did feel like something was off throughout the book, I’m not sure exactly what it was but yeah, hence the 4 ⭐️ but overall I REALLY had a good time reading Spellcaster and can’t wait to see where this story goes.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

listen - from chapter 1 I could tell this was going to be kinda trash, I was just hoping for delightful trash (and there's nothing wrong with some delightful trash every now and then).

however, this was so ridiculous and there's NO TEA DRAMA RESOLUTION! it's largely a lot of young adults going to college which...yay?? but i was bored by many of these interactions.

we NEVER see the love interest. they don't interact or really converse they just kind of randomly quip at each other. they're supposed to be enemies but he saves her life a bunch?

there's a lot of cringe dialogue unfortunately /:

there's NO conflict resolution or big reveals at the end. we're literally left with a "we'll talk about it later" and that's IT? the least interesting last 50 pages of a fantasy romance book ever. honk SHOO

it was initially fun in a yeah sure why not type of way, but it got to be too ridiculous and the end was so lame.

**thank you so much to The Hive / HTP Books for the ARC**

[kitkat (semi-hiatus ♡︎) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up
>> ARC review

⊹ ࣪ ˖  “to fight a monster, she’ll need a monster.”


if zodiac academy and harry potter had a baby, this would be it.

spellcaster is a fast-paced, enemies to lovers, romantasy. this book centers around paisley hallistar, a young witch who got accepted into weatherstone, a magical academy. unfortunately for her, the son of her father’s rival also attends weatherstone, and of course, he’s also hot. in an incident with dark magic, paisley finds herself asking her enemy for help. in a game of dark magic, love and rivalry, who will come out on top?

i really did enjoy this book. it checked all the boxes for me: dark academia, magic, family rivalry, even childhood friends. the one thing that i found it lacked was the enemies to lovers aspect. i would call it something more like reluctant allies to lovers. also, the pacing throughout the book was on the slower side, but it did pick up at the end, which i enjoyed.

features -
♟️ dark academia
🖤 “who did this to you?”
♟️  enemies to lovers
🖤 slow burn
♟️ elemental magic
🖤 “fuck it” moments
♟️ family rivalry
🖤 dark magic
♟️ childhood friends to ????
🖤 cliffhanger

plus, have you seen the cover???? i’m dying over here!!!!! 😭🙏


>> thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc - all thoughts are my own <3

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 ★

i was having fun with this at first, but then it went down in disastrous flames VERY quickly. the writing is the biggest issue, it’s immature and completely takes you out of the story imo. the fmc Paisley was fine, i liked her bond with her family and how protective her siblings were of her. i couldn’t get a proper read on the mmc Logan, but all i know is the romance was not it. the weird sex dreams and even just the way they interact with each other is truly so off putting, make it stop.

”In the doorway stood my enemy. But tonight I needed him. To fight a monster, I needed a monster.”

I’m not understanding why Paisley jumps to believe that Logan is this terrible guy, when she wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for him saving her a million times. I’ve never seen a character almost die more than paisley, at this point girl I’m over it. i really enjoyed the magic school setting, but the magic and world building itself makes no sense. the dialogue made me want to bang my head against the wall.. there’s a very moronic use of the word “witch”. please tell me why the fmc chose to say “who does he think he is? he thinks I’m his booty witch” and him saying the lovely “did you just witch slap me”.. give me a damn break. the cliffhanger ending did nothing for me, i can promise you i won’t be continuing.

[April Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before I start ranting and nitpicking let me start off by saying, new adult books normally aren't for me. So if you like these paranormal college romps, you will probably love this one. For me though, let me tell you all the ways this book irritated the fuck out of me.

editing to add a .5....THIS IS NOT ROMANTASY. its paranormal. for the love of God can we all agree that modern times with witches is fucking paranormal? 100% marketing FAIL. I know a lot of people who read academic new adult paranormal books that will love this. but they wouldnt know cuz you think its labeled romantasy.

1. upon first meeting the hero he literally just stands there and says hello and everyone very dramatically is like "YOOOUUUUU EVIL DICK."

2. the writing this is very cliche and cheese ball. and not in a good way. i love me some stinky cheese but every chapter had me rolling my eyes at some dumb shit the characters said at least twice.

3. the dad makes a joke about mom getting a new hobby and he calls it (i shit you not) "knitting and yarning." YARNING!! i thought this was a bad dad joke, NOPE. everyone was cool and we moved on. my little crocheter heart of course DID NOT. this reference to yarning was mentioned again and i nearly threw this fuckin' book.

4. i'm not sure why hero thinks heroine is gonna remember things she did when she was 4. i said "SHE WAS FOUR!!!" at least 3 times.

5. the fuckin' names. someone's name was JOHNNO. okaaaaaay.

6. every time they wanted to say "man" they said "warlock" which was really weird and i didn't get used to it at all. so one character said he had to "warlock up" to get the courage to talk to heroine and it was just odd.

7. one of the friends is a romance reader which awesome to see if she wasn't so annoying about it. and she needs a job and has NEVER thought of getting a job at a bookstore. the one she goes to. all the time. that knows her by name.

and lastly...

8. there is ZERO resolution of the plot. none. you're left with half a sentence and a lot of people saying they'll talk later. BOOM end. FUUUUUUUUUCK THAT.

i rarely ever write this much for any review. i rarely rant. but this had me eyerolling so much i got a headache. WITH THAT SAID....i had an experience reading this. not entirely bad. yes the characters are all hot dummies, the plot is contrived, and there is absolutely zero resolution but...i kind of had fun reading it? i kind of want to read the next one? so that should say something about this journey.

arc kindly provided by the publisher and this less than steller BUT NOT AWFUL review full of my opinions are all my own.

[Susan Carolynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Spellcaster was the perfect book to kick off fall and cozy season reading. I loved the witchy college and dark academia vibes. Think Zodiac Academy x Fourth Wing, but more of a paranormal romance instead of romantasy.

In terms of plot, the mystery element with monsters and secrets made this book stand out—versus if it were solely a romance. The beginning hooked me immediately, though the pacing slowed down a lot towards the middle of the book.

I was a bit frustrated with the ending because I felt like nothing was revealed and had even more questions than answers. I'm guessing all of said questions would be answered in sequels, but I'd have liked more of an explanation. Like why are Logan and Paisley drawn to each other, what really happened between their parents, etc.?

The romance wasn't my favorite either. It wasn't exactly insta love, but I didn't feel their romantic chemistry. Logan kept alluding to his and Paisley's deep connection stemming from childhood, but that wasn't explored further. I wish more of that connection was shown on page. But still an entertaining read for fall!

Thank you so much to HTP Books for sending me an ARC of Spellcaster. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

cheesy, but like, a fun cheesy.

Up until the 90% mark I was pretty confident I wasn't going to continue the series. I did have fun with the read but I wasn't overly invested. BUT THEN THEY HAD TO GO AND THROW THAT ENDING IN!

So yes, I will be continuing the series.

If you like romantasy, don't mind a little cheese, and enjoy the urban fantasy college setting this could be a really fun one for you!

Whats to love...
- spicy
- dark and broody MMC
- witch college
- monsters
- enemies to lovers (light)
- family forward story


Audiobook: 1/5 - This is one to skip on audio the mixing is awful!

The male narration volume is so low it sounds like a whisper in comparison to the female narrator. It makes this audiobook impossible to listen to. If I did not have the ebook and was not immersion reading this I would not have been able to continue.

Normally when there is a volume difference between male and female narrators (in dual audio) this is a inconvenience but not unmanageable. Because this is duet there is no way to feasibly adjust the volume when the narrator changes.

Aside from the volume differences - and because I did listen to the full audiobook (just had to follow along with the ebook to catch the male narration), this is an OK audiobook. I really enjoyed the female narrator and her pausing, pacing, inflection, and voice variation were all great. I cannot really comment on the male narration performance other than to say that I was unable to hear him well enough to determine the quality of his performance.

I really do hope this can be fixed before this audiobook goes live!

3.5⭐️| IG | TikTok |

Thank you LibroFM & Harlequin Books for the gifted book & ALC. All opinions are my own.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ When I saw this stunning cover and the amazing tropes, I immediately wanted to read it!

At 22, Paisley receives an invitation to the most prestigious witch college in the world, where her siblings are already studying and her father is a professor. He warns her to stay away from Logan Kingston, the son of his enemy, even though their families used to be very close. But why is Paisley so drawn to Logan? And Logan himself doesn’t seem to see her as an enemy—quite the opposite, he actually helps her.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn’t really enjoy the first part—there were a lot of conversations between the heroine and her friends that didn’t add much to the story. It felt more like I was reading about high school students rather than characters in their twenties. Plus, Logan didn’t appear very often.

But the further I read, the more I liked it! The story became more intense, the chemistry between the main characters was undeniable, and the ending completely surprised me! Now I can’t wait for the sequel🖤

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓dark academia
✓who hurt you?
✓slow burn
✓enemies to lovers
✓elemental magic

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing (Canary Street Press) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[_blondebooknerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Jaymin Eve Doesn't Give Me Book 2 Early I'm Hexing Someone 💅🖤

4 stars and one aggressive scream into the void because JAYMIN EVE HOW DARE YOU END IT THERE. I picked this up thinking I’d get a fun witchy college romance and instead I’m sitting here SHAKING because I have to wait A FULL YEAR for book two?? Remind me to stop going in blind. Actually, don’t. I clearly live for this chaos. That said — it is now only fair that I’m personally selected for the ARC. I don’t make the rules. ✍️

Weatherstone College is basically “Welcome to Dark Academia Hogwarts, except the student handbook says: Don’t walk the halls at night, don’t touch the ancient magic, and DEFINITELY don’t trust the spellcasters.” Naturally, Paisley (queen of unpredictable magic and suppressed memories) immediately makes eye contact with Logan Kingston — the forbidden warlock son of her father’s #1 enemy. The second they share a page, my Kindle started smoking. Is it love? No. It’s rage, obsession, and erotic nightmares. And I was SEATED.

The monster attacks? Creepy. The magic? Unhinged. The family feud? Generationally petty. The romance? NOT QUITE THERE YET — but the desire? FILTHY. This is peak “we’re not even together yet but I’d burn the realm down if someone touched you.” I personally needed about 200 more pages of Logan + Paisley screaming at each other and/or almost kissing. The slow burn was BURNING. 🔥

Audiobook-wise — I vibed with the female narrator, but the male voice was so deep it occasionally felt like I was being gently possessed by Lucifer. Also could NOT tell Logan and Noah apart half the time 😅 I need my enemies-to-lovers warlocks to sound slightly more distinct, please and thank you.

My only complaint? NOT 👏 ENOUGH 👏 CONTENT. I would’ve gladly lived in Weatherstone for like 200 more pages. Paisley’s chaotic friend group? Elite. Her big magical family? Adorable. Logan? Needs therapy but I support him.

Perfect if you love:
🖤 Who Hurt You?
🖤 Slowburn Enemies to Lovers
🖤 Elemental Magic
🖤 Dark Academia Vibes
🖤 Consent Is Sexy™

Now somebody portal me into book 2 because I’m not waiting patiently. 😤📚

[Luce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I've picked up from Jaymin Eve and as someone who is not a fan of witchy/warlocky type novels I knew this was going to be a risk. But I am pleasantly surprised!

The story had me hooked from the prologue. The world-building was fabulous and I never felt overwhelmed with the magic system, and the author managed to intertwine it into the writing without it slowing down the pacing.

I found the romance a little underwhelming and whilst it took a backseat to the main plot for the most part, I was enjoying the book so much I didn't mind!

If you love a slow-burn paranormal story with a strong plot line, compelling magic and a tension filled romance, this is the book for you!

[GiGi · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 60%, never again.

The story ends with a cliffhanger before it even starts. To attract the reader's attention, the "who did this to you? trope begins in the prologue, and then in chapter 1, we are 6 months back when the story actually starts.

Don't fall for the clickbait of enemies to lovers. There's nothing like that. Now, let us begin with the setting - Harry Potter, but 27 years later, and with a lot of swearing. The age criterion for this magical school is 22 years old. The young magician's powers are bestowed upon them on their 22nd birthday. That's what happened with the FMC. The 'supposed archnemesis' is 2 years older than her and in his third year of college.

There are a few types of magic wielders - elemental aka affinity (fire, air, water, earth, and metal), nature sprites (the ones who can talk to animals), spellcasters (who master all affinities), healers, and necromancers. Characters in this book don't go along with necromancers because they are scared of or hate them. But I think being a necromancer is very cool.

Paisley knows more people at the age of 22 than I know at my age of 20. There are more dialogues and conversations, where 5 people are having a conversation. That is how the plot is progressing, rather than actually anything happening. And when something happens, it leaves us confused, and we move on to more conversations, the same way Logan comes in and out of frame to talk to Paisley and then disappears.

Paisley has a friend who reads books and also reads smut. These four girls are having a conversation about smut book recs, and one of them goes " By the way, what’s the name of your book? Asking for a friend" like a person in a comment section. I cringed.

The second time I cringed was when the same four friends were having a conversation, and they were talking about the plot of a book where an angel fell from heaven and came back for revenge. Lucifer much? That book ends with a cliffhanger, and we get to know that the next volume is getting released in June of next year. THE SEQUEL TO THIS BOOK IS COMING OUT IN JUNE 2026. The author sneaked their own future release like this... I got second-hand embarrassment because they are called the best sellers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, etc, etc. Now, one can imagine how the author is trying to fill the plot holes to keep the story moving.

Moving on, Paisley is stupid. Monsters are attacking her, and she decided 'I'll deal with this on my own'. Logan saves her every single time because he has to be there. Both their families have some issues to deal with, and Paisley falls in the middle of it somehow. He called her 'precious' and I can't help but think it's a cat's name.

The girl called him bro, and the boy goes 'Don't call me bro'. CAN YOU BOTH HAVE A RATIONAL CONVERSATION LIKE LOGICAL PEOPLE AND TALK ABOUT THE BIGGER ISSUE THAT IS THE MONSTER WHO IS ATTACKING HER FOR NO REASON?

It's also a tell and not show story.

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5.0

I have read a good many of the books Ms. Eve has written and loved most of them. This one, though? It’s a… mess. Reasons I have to say that:

1. The book feels like the first third of a beginning book. Almost like the author had some basic plot points that would make up a good duology but wanted an entire series, so she took the first couple of points and dragged them the length of an entire book.

2. Probably because of point one, there was SO MUCH unimportant minutiae!! Good grief, little tidbits that mean nothing to the overall plot made up 75% of the book!

3. The character’s actions made absolutely NO SENSE! (This is probably the biggest reason for the mess). Paisley (FMC) and Logan’s (MMC) families had a falling out when they were very young and now Logan’s father hates Paisley’s family. SO, when Paisley arrives at school, it is a given that Logan is a horrible, rotten bad guy that is “obviously” the villian - Despite having never had any contact with him since they were FOUR YEARS OLD. AND, she obsessively sets about to prove what a low life horrible person he is without one iota of evidence, proof or even reason. In fact he is doing all he can to help her. But, that doesn’t matter, he MUST be bad!
That and so many other examples, such as having oral sex with your enemy WHILE YOU ARE LITERALLY DYING! Internal damage, blood all over the place dying… but sex will help..

4. Nothing even happens in the entire book to actually further the plot until the last page, then it’s a cliffhanger because the one thing we learn must be strung out to book two and beyond.

And that’s just the major annoyances. I’m a bit flabbergast because Ms. Eve can and does write so much better than this. *sigh*

[TheConnieFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

[°❀⋆.monica ೃ࿔*:･ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had way more fun with this book than I was expecting! I don’t think it did anything new for the romantasy genre, but I feel like it knew its place and did exactly what it set out to do - be entertaining, engaging, and overall a fun time.

a dark academia setting will always be a favorite of mine. there’s something about a creepy university with a bunch of strange events that never fails to provide me with a good time.

on the other hand, I’m not the biggest fan of instalust/instant attraction, but how self aware our main character was about her attraction towards logan cracked me up and honestly if I kept finding myself in the presence of a hot warlock I don’t know if I’d behave any differently LOL

overall, I really enjoyed my time reading this story and I’m very curious the direction it will take! I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for the sequel.

thank you to NetGalley, MIRA, and the author for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mel Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were so many things about this book that were a lot of fun. It has a very easy writing style that is quick to binge. At times, I did feel that the character read a little young and made decisions that felt very rash for a 22 year old. I did really like the friend group and I think if you love a close knit family unit, this will definitely work for you as well. There are lots of siblings and very present parents. The creatures were super cool (I love a good creature story), and I always wanted to know more about them. The big thing that didn't work for me was the romance. I felt like they didn't get a lot of on page time together so the chemistry just wasn't there. The moments they were together it was him referencing things that didn't really make sense to me as the reader, and having sex. I know this is things that will come and I'm assuming it will be a fated mates situation, but it didn't work for me in this book. The ending was very intriguing, though, and I will continue.

[Lena]

DNF @ 23% thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the gifted arc!! I was really excited for this one, but the writing style just isn’t really doing it for me. I’m finding the dialogue to be kind of childish, and there wasn’t anything that really hooked me. I can always tell if I’m going to like a book by the 20% mark, and I just don’t have the time anymore to power through books I’m not vibing with.

[Rachii Reads ☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so incredibly cringey - DNF before halfway.

There were so many instances that were just silly and took me out of the story. The FMC saying “I’d be sat,” “play-wharlock” (playboy), and “witch slap” …. Yeah idk I just couldn’t. I know the FMC is a college age girl but come on. It’s a no from meeeee.

[Sophie (lambsbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

With no other option, I dug deep for the strength to lift my hand and knock, only to find the door opening before I even made contact. In the doorway stood my enemy. But tonight I needed him. To fight a monster, I needed a monster.

A dark academia with monsters, enemies to lovers, “who did this to you,” witches, “I had nowhere else to go/no one else to turn to” yes, this was fun. It was trope city and kinda basic, but it was fun.

My words were polite; hopefully my face followed suit; it didn’t always do what it was told.

But wait lmao there were no actual enemies. This was definitely “slap this trope on it because it sells” but 1. There was no good reason for the “enemies” (and he wasn't a monster??) and 2. They didn’t act like enemies, just two people (really, just the FMC) who snipped at each other once in a while. Like…why did the FMC consider the MMC an enemy?? It made zero sense, she didn’t even know him. And we didn’t get to read about their backstory enough from his side to understand any “enemies” designation. So there was that.

Also, I’ve forgotten their names as I’m writing this, hence FMC and MMC, oops lmao

This had good potential, and it was entertaining, hence the rating (I dunno, maybe it's 3.75 stars who knows), but it did fall flat in terms of what it promised and actually delivered.

Thanks so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and the author for an eARC!

______________


What a…weird cliffhanger


Rtc

[Dayna | daynas.bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

i went into this book so excited because it has all the elements that i’m obsessed with! dark academia, set it a magical academy, enemies to lovers with a past, elemental magic, etc.

all in all it just fell a bit flat in the writing and character development department for me. i have to give a huge hate off for the prologue- I WAS HOOKED- but then it took a huge turn into info dump “telling not showing” land. the fmc is 22 but just graduated high school (because they’re magically held back to align their magic awakening with graduation?) and really does act like a high schooler despite this being new adult set at a college. the writing unfortunately felt juvenile to me. dialogue felt forced and too formal at times, especially between the siblings who are supposed to be close (?). don’t get me started on the fact that her dad is a professor so he’s also always present, which again made it feel juvenile in that she’s always being protected by adults / her older siblings.

what i liked about this book was the concept of paisley having a mysterious connection with her childhood friend who was separated from her until he shows up at school. they have a deeper connection that causes both of them to feel ~connected~ in many ways, i’m a sucker for a power sharing moment.

this book was a super quick read and the world has promise! i think the writing style just wasn’t for me.

thank you to the publisher for an ARC for an honest review!

[Darcey · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was fun!!! not particularly memorable but it provided that trashy romantasy vibe ft. a protective dark tall hot “enemy” love interest, a fun magic system, really cute group of girlies, and a vaguely intriguing plot. enjoyable for sure, and I eagerly await book 2 for entertainment purposes.

[kiki’s delivery witch ౨ৎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I’m all for unique names in fantasy novels. Give me a Galadriel or a Daenerys any day, but PAISLEY??? It sounds like she’s about to sell me a boho chic scarf at a farmer’s market, not sling spells in a magical college. I kept waiting for her to whip out a crochet hook. And don’t get me started on her love interest, Logan, nicknaming her “Precious.” Every time he said it, I was yanked out of the story, picturing Gollum stroking her hair and hissing, “My precioussss.” Is Paisley the One Ring? Is this a fantasy romance or a Tolkien fanfic gone rogue? I’m still not sure.

The world-building had me scratching my head harder than my dog when he hears the word “bath.” So, witches can portal across dimensions, cast spells, but they can’t handle a smartphone? Apparently, magic and technology don’t mix, so Paisley’s stuck checking a wristwatch like she’s late for a lecture in 1995. You’re telling me these magical folks haven’t figured out how to enchant a Fitbit? Humans are out here launching rockets to Mars, but witchkind is like, “Nah, we’ll stick with sundials.” It’s giving “we live in a society” energy, but make it medieval.

Then there’s the age thing. Paisley and her crew are 22, which is great... I love an older protagonist who’s not a teenager angsting over prom. But why, oh why, are they treated like they just got their learner’s permit? They’re in a magical college, yet the vibe is more “chaperoned field trip” than “adults navigating a dangerous world.” I half-expected a professor to hand out juice boxes and tell them to use their indoor voices. If you’re going to age up your characters, let them act like they’ve paid a utility bill or two.

Now, let’s talk about the romance, or as I like to call it, “The Case of the Missing Chemistry.” By the time I hit 65% of the book, Paisley and Logan had exchanged fewer words than I do with the FedEx guy when my Amazon package goes AWOL. Seriously, their conversations are so sparse, I’ve had deeper chats with my kindle. Yet somehow, Paisley’s obsessed with him, and he’s her sworn enemy? Girl, the only thing he’s done is save your butt every time you’re in a pinch. That’s not an enemies-to-lovers arc; that’s a damsel-in-distress meet-cute with extra steps. I was begging for a single scene where they’d bicker over something real, maybe argue about who gets the last magical muffin in the cafeteria, just to give me something to root for.

The writing itself screams indie, and I don’t mean that as a dig. Indie authors are out here hustling, and I respect the grind. But Spellcaster feels like it skipped the editor’s desk and went straight to print. There’s so much telling instead of showing, I felt like I was reading a Wikipedia summary of a better book. “Paisley was angry.” Okay, cool, but maybe describe her clenching her fists or yeeting a spellbook across the room? Give me some flavor! The pacing isn’t bad, but it’s like the story’s sprinting to the finish line without stopping to smell the magical roses.

And the ending is less “cliffhanger” and more “see you next week for the answers.” It’s like the book just shrugged and said, “Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.” I wasn’t left gasping; I was left checking my Kindle to make sure I didn’t skip a page. The stakes felt more like a mild inconvenience than an epic setup for a sequel.

Overall, Spellcaster isn’t a total trainwreck. It's got some fun magical vibes, and I didn’t hate my time with it. But it’s like a sparkler: it’s bright and shiny for a moment, then it fizzles out, leaving you with a slightly burnt smell and a vague sense of “was that it?” If you’re into witchy college settings and don’t mind some plot holes you could portal through, you might dig it.

[Heathers_readss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly a moment of applause for the cover illustrator because it is absolutely stunning and definitely what drew me to the book originally, the title then caught my attention along with the promise of magic and dark academia.

Paisley belongs to a family who are well known for their exceptional abilities. Paisley herself is more of a wallflower hiding in the shadows and feeling inadequate.

She decides to attend a school (enter dark academia) and there follows the promised themes of enemies to lovers romancing.

The first part of the book is a little slow but if you are a persistent reader like myself and prefer to continue on then I will say the second half of the book is much better with more interesting events and dialogue and plot. I found listening to the audiobook was a lot easier to push through the beginning because the flow of the book felt faster moving especially if you increase the listening speed. The narrators also made me more engaged with the plot as a whole compared to how my experience would be physically reading the book.

All together I enjoyed the read I just wish there was some more pizzazz in the beginning to captivate my interest until you get to the good parts.

Thank you for the gifted copy!

Publishes - September 23rd

[Kiandra &#x1f98b; · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could actually cry, I should’ve made sure the series was finished before torturing myself

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a Harry Potter fan looking for magic-classes-at-boarding-school vibes with a healthy dose of spicy scenes, this is 100% for you.

Our main girl, Paisley, is off to her first year at magic school. Things are a little different in this world - she's 22, and that's the year your magic starts to bloom, so that's why its her first year. Don't ask me what she's been doing up til now.

The bonus of being 22 means she can talk about having sex with people often and we don't have to worry about her being too young. Which is lucky because Paisley and her friends are the horniest group of people I've ever met in a book. EVERYTHING is about getting laid for these people. Half the spice of this book is sexy dreams. These girls need a cold shower STAT.

Then monsters start turning up, seemingly targeting Paisley, and her best defence against them is the brooding Spellcaster, Logan, who is the Sexiest Man Alive but also likely the one trying to kill her.

So yeah this is another adult fantasy that's basically written like YA only full of adult themes (sex).

I knew instantly reading this one that I was reading the words of an Aussie - no one swears as much, and uses phrases like 'no worries' (do they?!). It was actually kind of comforting, to be honest. But the book is set in somewhere America (with little explanation) so it can be a bit jarring at times.

There's a lot of little mysteries here - Paisley and Logan have a past, which he remembers but she doesn't. I spent the entire book waiting for this to be cleared up, but was disappointed. There's also some stuff related to her mother, and her grandmother, that leaves more questions than answers.

It kinda felt like the book was so busy building a enemies-to-lovers romance that it ran out of time for all the cool mysterious stuff. It follows the main thread of the monsters okay, but even that is mostly a cycle of: Paisley gets attacked -> friends and family insist she never be alone -> she goes somewhere alone to 'research' or whatever -> is attacked. So it gets a little dull in its repetitive nature. Also just incredibly frustrating the amount of times she agrees she shouldn't go anywhere alone and then immediately goes somewhere alone. GIRL.

The magic wasn't really developed much beyond 'elementals have power over elements'. There are also necromancers, who dabble in death, and then of course the super rare Spellcasters, who have unlimited power over everything in the universe essentially. Like, these guys are your character at the end of an RPG when you've maxed all your skills. Their only weakness is necromancy, but that doesn't seem to be a big deal because necromancy barely rates a mention in this book. These Spellcasters are super overpowered, so naturally, the only one we know is Logan. Who is obsessed with Paisley. Who has no evident affinity for anything yet, but weird things happen with her magic so get ready for her to dominate in later books.

I think the most frustrating part of this was just the lack of world building. There isn't really enough explanation to set up the scene or even touch on the world around it. We're thrown into the school pretty quickly, but even the school doesn't have a lot of character beyond stereotypes. It feels very Harry Potter because knowing HP helps fill in some of the gaps this book leaves. The magic systems feel a little lazy, but there are also spells and incantations used and why they use both isn't really explained at all. There are mentions of attending classes but no rhyme or reason to them, and not enough detail to understand any kind of schedule. I found it all too confusing if I tried to think about it all at once, rather than just the snippets that were happening as the story progressed. So you really can't think too deeply about this one because I think it will lead to a lot of questions and probably plot holes.

My favourite part of this was the family angle - Paisley comes from a big family, and is the youngest of the siblings to be attending the college. But her siblings are still there, and they're constantly hanging out, getting in each other's faces and are super protective of each other. I loved it. It was refreshing to not be dealing with an orphan, and because it was the most unique thing about the story, it really helped to make this book its own. Family is important, and it was nice for this book to recognise that.

The spice is there for romantasy fans looking for kicks - and it gets quite explicit. Naturally I cringed and skimmed my way through those bits but if the spicy stuff is your vibe you should enjoy this one immensely. It doesn't shy away or hide thoughts of sex with shame. This book embraces sexuality, and while it's not for me I respect the way it was handled.

I think this is going to be a winner with a lot of people, but there's a lot of potential stored up for the sequel. It's a typical enemies-t0-lovers, angsty kind of story, but the surrounding characters make things a little more interesting, and there are plenty of secrets that will keep you hanging for more.

With thanks to Harper Collins for an ARC

[Billie's Not So Secret Diary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spellcaster
by Jaymin Eve
Weatherstone College #1
Fantasy New Adult
NetGalley Audio ARC
Narrated by Savannah Peachwood, Jason Clarke
Harlequin Audio
Pub Date: Sept 23, 2025
Ages: 18+

At twenty-two, Paisley's magic bloomed, but while she could feel it, she couldn't use it and didn't know which element/magic she was the strongest in. But she was still accepted into Weatherstone, the most prestigious witch college, the same one where her siblings attend, both of her parents went to, and where her father teaches.

But on her first day, upon hearing that Logan Kingston, the son of her father's enemy, had transferred, her father tried to remove her from the school. Not understanding why, she pleads to stay.

As classes start, Paisley begins to see creatures roaming the grounds, coming after her.


Yeah, this audiobook had me pulled in just after a few pages. The narrator, Savannah Peachwood, has a great range with the female characters, but her counterpart, Jason Clarke, did a good job with the minor male characters; he bombed with the male MC! Maybe he was trying to be sexy and give the MC that 'air of mystery', but he failed because he spoke so softly that I had to turn up the volume to hear what he was saying, then have my ears blasted when Savannah spoke.

The world and magic system need a little more detail, especially with the different types of magic and what they are each good for.

Even though there is heavy H.P. vibes, and teens would like the magic, characters, and plot, this book is NOT suitable for readers under eighteen because of the adult content, which, even though I skipped most of it, what I read, I don't think was all that 'steamy'.

And yes, even though I have a few guesses of where the series could go, I want to read the next in the series.

4 Stars

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really interesting!

Very easy to read and imagine.
It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it has left quite a bit of mystery that has kept me intrigued and keen to read book 2!

Logan Kingston .. what an enigma you are.
Excited to read more smut in the upcoming sequel.

Plot: 4/5⭐️
Spice: 2/5 🌶️

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5