Conjuring Affection

Coven of the North Star #1

by Elizabeth Davis

Alison Conner is your average Minneapolis-based twenty something: she likes beer, indie bands, and wine nights with her best friend Linnea. Oh, and she’s a witch. But not, you know, a useful witch—she can cool the air with her mind, but only if there’s a ghost around. It’s not exactly a power they make movies about. She’s a party-trick-only witch, and that’s fine.

Also fine? Linnea’s brother Erik. Which is a problem, because Linnea has made it clear she’s not okay with that.

But when Erik is around, Alison can’t exactly help herself.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Witches, Novella, Paranormal, Adult, Paranormal Romance

119 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2016

Reviews

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept reading this because the author does so many twin cities location drops and references that it was fun. But it was not magical for me at all. The relationship was underdeveloped and underfed with no real intimacy, but I think Davis improved if I recall a more recent release. I just wouldn't start here.

[Kika · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Conjuring Affection' is a charming, quick afternoon-read that introduces a fantastic group of witches (The Coven of the North Star) and delves into the tricky business of friendship and dating, particularly where the two intersect. Alison is a fantastic heroine in deep with her best friend's brother, and you really root for her as she juggles her love for both Linnea and Erik. Davis caps things off with both seriously steamy love scenes, and a lot of strong, poignant scenes between the besties and the ladies of North Star.

I'm super pumped for more with The Coven, and to find out how Alison and Erik fare in the future.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun to read! Relatable characters, witty dialogue, a steamy, palpable love story! Oh, and witches. Fairly useless witches in terms of their powers, (making the story even more enjoyable to read) but modern day witches nonetheless.

Alison and Erik's love story is one that just feels right. I can't wait to see what Davis has in store for the rest of the series!

[Bookgyrl · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this was just OK. I thought it would be about witchcraft, but in this story it is just an afterthought. It played a miniscule part. Alison and Erik start a relationship while keeping this a secret from Alison's BFF Linnea (Erik's sister). I had hoped for a bit more. The storyline was too thin for me.

*** I received an ARC via Netgalley.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! 3.5 stars. I liked the MC and the banality of the setting. I liked the banality of her witchy-ness at first, too, but it was never much of a part of the story and by the end I was less sure that I liked it. The main conflict is mostly her love interest and her best friend both being jerks, which kept it from 4 stars, though everyone talks though it and gets the happy ending eventually.

[andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

ehhh not sure about this one.

the plot was flimsy and cliche. i'm not super sure how i feel about best friend's bro tropes when they include irrationally angry friend and i definitely don't like surprise cancer diagnoses for "drama".

also, i thought this was witchy. there was barely any witchiness.

[Anja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saucy and fun to read, which the characters' relationship was a bit more developed though. There was some romance missing for me, but maybe the emotional capacity of the characters matches where they're at in life anyways. I would recommend this book.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute! And also very hot. I love that they were witches but the story was not about them being witches. I’ll definitely be reading the second book in this series.

[Shawna (endemictoearth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Very sweet novella with a touch of magic (the tiniest caress of magic). MC falls for best friend's younger brother and fights their mutual attraction for a bit. A cozy little read.

[Rel Carroll · Rating 2 out of 5]

If none of the plot lines are solved or even helped by magic, then what's the point of making this a 'fantasy' romance? The romance itself was pretty standard, and the characters were often inconsistent. Not the best.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute quick read.

[Allison N Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's just a typical love story with a MC who happens to be a witch. Still good tho

[Meg Bevilacqua · Rating 2 out of 5]

While charming in its characters and supernatural premise, ultimately, this book failed to deliver on its promise. Alison's romance with Eric was nicely portrayed, but for me, "my best friend is temporarily pissy that I'm dating her brother" wasn't enough of a conflict to warrant a novel.

The witchy world-building is interesting, but fails to affect the romance plot in any meaningful way. The whole book felt like an excerpt from a larger, potentially better story, but serialization doesn't excuse the need to make each segment compelling in its own right.

[Taria0508 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the witty dialoge, the characters the setting and the writing. It was a fun, fast read, with interesting characters....
but one point I didn´t get at all. The fact the the female character is a witch has zero influence on the story. The whole witch part could be left out and the story would work. I know this will be a series (according to the title) but for this first book the supernatural theme was unessesary. Every conversation about witchcraft, even the womans group could have been replaced with other themes without influencing the plot. Maybe it will play a real role in the next books. So I only give it 3 stars bc the witch part was not understandable for me at all and bc it was so unimportant for the story arc it was kind of boring. The rest was really good!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. Honestly, the perfect novella. Some witchiness (without it emcompassing the whole story??? holy shit sign me up), some sweet smut (is it possible to sign up twice), and lovely friendships. The whole story felt incredibly realistic, despite the witches and magic, with the overall dialogue and development of Alison and Erik's relationship. Finally a new adult fantasy?? Give me MORE.

I originally rated this 4 stars, because I wanted more backstory and plot, but it's a novella. The entire point is to be short, sweet, and to the point... And this was! Such a cute little story. I would love to see more of this story and writer get published in the future!

[Melissa Polk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be, hands down, the most adorable thing I've ever read. And yes, I did just call a romance novella with sex scenes adorable. Get over it.

I love that the witchcraft was secondary. It's just a part of who they are and their world, not like a focal point and that makes it so fantastically refreshing.

I can't wait to read the rest of this series!

Re-re-re-re-re-read: Uh, yeah. I still love it. That is all.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful quick quite sexy read!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great new author and great story line! Really cool to read about a Minneapolis coven being that I live in the TC's!!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute.