Witches in Love

by Isabel Hansen

If you could only do magic for one day a year… what would you use it for?

Mira has always been the worst witch in the coven, incapable of even remotely controlling her magic. LJ is the most skilled witch the coven has seen in centuries, but she refuses to follow the rules they set out for her.

On the Winter Solstice of their sixteenth year, the two girls walk into their coven’s Becoming Ceremony as witches and walk out as exiles. The rules of the coven are clear: as of midnight, they will both lose their powers. From then on, they will only be able to use magic once a year, on Halloween.

Mira wants to appeal for the High Council to return her powers but she will never learn to control her magic without help. All LJ wants to do with her magic is get revenge against everyone who has wronged her in her life but she could really use a helping hand. Working together only makes sense.

Over the coming years, Mira and LJ slowly fall out of touch, but they never fail to return to their hometown and meet up every Halloween. Their partnership is great, but they both know it will have to come to an end soon… and feelings developing along the way will only make it harder to say goodbye.

Genres: Lesbian, Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT, Halloween

Unknown Binding

Published October 16, 2021

About the author

Isabel Hansen is an emerging Canadian romance author. She is an asexual lesbian, and an LGBTQIA+ advocate. When she is not writing, Isabel likes to read and play with her two dogs.

If you'd like to get notifications of new releases and special offers on her books, join her email list or visit her website.

Reviews

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This was a cute, sapphic, witchy romance. I really liked the premise and it was the perfect read leading up to Halloween. I honestly don't really have any complaints for this book. It's not perfect, but there wasn't anything specifically that took away from my enjoyment of it and it's a really quick read. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some good recs for spooky season, or just looking for more wlw romances.

Thank you to BookSirens for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[AnnMaree Of Oz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute young adult story with magics, covens and rules meant to be broken. A fairly simplistic plot.
Kindle Unlimited.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun and quick read. Perfect for the season, full of Halloween fun but no scares.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute! Love that it was set at Halloween.

[Tomethee Chalamet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arc Review: I received an eARC of this book from BookSirens for free and I'm leaving my honest review voluntarily. Thank you to the author Isabel Hansen and to BookSirens for providing me with the book.


This was a very cute slow-burn romance set in motion from the very beginning of the book. The witchy setting was really cute and perfect for this too. Circumstances have our two heroines meeting and spending Halloween together every year (how cute is that ahhh!!! I loved the spooky Halloween undertones). We spend a few years watching them grow in age and as people, find their way back to each other and we're scared when they almost become strangers. I really liked both of our main characters and especially how they grow around each other.

More in the beginning the book had a few typos, and sentences were missing words (I could tell from the context of the sentence) towards the end. I just wish this one had been edited more, and I have taken note of all the mistakes I noticed if the author or publisher needs them. That was one thing for me that it took a while to get over, but as soon as I tuned it out and just enjoyed the story I had loads of fun.

[Emily Bedford · Rating 2 out of 5]

really fast paced but didn't like it

[Sinamile · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review: Received for free via BookSirens for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you to BookSirens and the author Isabel Hansen for the opportunity.

TW/CW at the end of the review.

Aw, I really enjoyed this. It took an embarrassingly long time to get started in it, but when I did I read it in one sitting. It's such a soft easy book and more than anything I liked how short the chapters were. Mira and LJ are likeable characters too, different from each other, but in a way that makes them compliment each other when they're together.

I kept trying to fiegur out what it is about this book that maked me enjoy it as much as I did. The author is asexual which naturally meant that I wasn't being bombarded by teen sexual fustraiton. My asexual ass was thriving because the romance was soft and cute!

I noted a few spelling and gramtical errors. There were words missing sometimes and the tenses sometimes changed from past to present. I also noted one instant in the beginning where, in Mira's POV, it said 'myself' instead of herself. But otherwise this is a good, enjoyable and quick read and would definitely recommend it to people that want something soft with soft romance and a soft, easy plot.

CW/TW: bullying, homomisia, underage drinking, emotional neglect, social anxiety

[Carey P.W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in two days but could have easily just read in one sitting if I had the time. The novel reminds me of the old 80s film, The Worst Witch. If you know the film, then you will probably like this novel. The novel’s two lead characters, LJ and Mira, get into all kinds of mischief and their strict, intimidating witch instructors are constantly scolding them. The lead characters are very likeable, especially because they are both outcasts but for different reasons. Mira is the worst witch; LJ is the best witch whose rebellious attitude and behavior ostracizes her from her fellow classmates. The reader can empathize with their social isolation, especially since they are young and still figuring out who they want to be. Their own self-discovery makes this a good coming-of-age tale. This novel is a wonderful, Halloween-themed story that would make a good film since there’s never enough films specifically focused on the night of Halloween.

I like that the novel jumps right into the story, and the reader can immediately connect to the characters. The plot moved at a good pace, and I enjoyed the development of the characters’ feelings for each other with humorous, awkward scenes as they both grappled with these romantic feelings. My only real criticism is the novel could be edited more. There were some typos that were missed. Overall, the book was well-written.

[Amari Clegane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Witches in love is a story of unlikely friends who through unforeseen circumstances are removed from their coven. Each year on Halloween they have the ability to use their magic that was sealed away and through these yearly meet ups their relationship grows. The book is pretty short but it’s also sweet. The main reason I can’t rate it higher even though I did really like it is because there were a ton of typos. I don’t know if this was because of the ARC I received or if these errors have been fixed but they are there and are kind of jarring. Other than that I did really enjoy my time with it and it short enough that you can enjoy it in a few sittings. Give it a read it a good one.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a middle grade book or a young adult, but it definitely felt like it was for the younger readers. It is a very basic read but it is quick and has a fun plot that is easy to follow. I liked the main character Mira but I didn't really see the romantic connection between her and LJ. Overall it is a fun and easy read that I'm sure many people will love.

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

[Mary-jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a perfect Halloween book for y/a reading.

I loved the friendship and romance that the 2 young witches have.

Following them from year to year on Halloween enjoying their magic and growing together makes this an excellent read.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute book!!! I really LOVE how it develops and focuses on the relationship between LJ and Mira, and you get to see where they are by checking in on then every Halloween over the years - it's really cool to see their growth as people but also see their magic grow and change with time!!! And then inside this over-the-years growth, each year you also have these adventures that help build up their past with the coven and this society of witches!!!
Really it's a recommendation for anyone looking to have fun and cuteness with sapphic witches!!!!

(I received the book through BookSirens in exchange of an honest review :) )

[Looby Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the premise of this story and it was written well however there were a significant number of typos, missing words, and extra words that made it more difficult to read.

This was a surprise as Isabel’s books are normally spot on.

The story did hold my attention though and as a young adult book it should do very well with that age group.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Brittany Zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and Book Sirens for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was really cute! I enjoyed the premise and thought LJ and Mira were great together. This was a really sweet, quick read. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read. I loved that it was centered around Halloween. You don’t really get to see that, that often.

I thought this was sweet, fun, witchy and such a quick read. I highly recommend it!

[destiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

[S. Wigget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't interested in the revenge pranks--too juvenile, I suppose. Maybe if they only pranked one year instead of once a year, it would've been fine.

[✨ Brianna Raquel ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know why but this book felt very middle school to me. Maybe it’s the prose…I am glad that there are more wlw books for teens though/ They deserve to see themselves in books as well.

Thank you to BookSirens and Isabel Hansen for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Isabel Hansen book I’ve read and I have to say, this was so much better than the last one (not that the other one was bad or anything, but I prefer Witches in Love over the Amber Stars). This is a light, very sapphic, and cute reading.

This is an “enemy (of sorts)” to friends and then to lover’s trope with a paranormal romance. The storyline was so much richer and so was the character development and their personalities, although I just wished that it could have more romance/chemistry, their friendship is pretty much developed but the romance part, not so much. But other than that, I truly enjoyed this book and I hope that Isabel turns into a series.

I could totally see a film/tv show based off on this book and I would 100% watch it!

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book that was provided by BooksSirens.

[Ngoni Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute and simple story, contains magic, love and real fun. LJ and Mira's lives connect during the worst periods of their lives. They Evolve over the years in a very alluring way.

I can't complain about a thing from this book.

I received a copy of this book free of charge and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Hayley Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet book. I enjoyed the growing friendship between LJ and Mira but I do wish there had been a little more chemistry and romance.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ridley Zarate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free and I’m leaving a review voluntarily.


4.5
I really only have one complaint, or I guess criticism: this book could use some editing. It doesn’t take away anything from the story and it’s still written super well. I’m just picky because I’m an editor, myself. Sapphic romance is one of my favorite things to read, and I love how cute this story is. Their relationship is a little slow moving, and it does take a bit for them to get together, but it’s ok because of how cute it is. It’s wholesome, and I love it.

Thank you to booksirens and Isabel Hansen for the opportunity to read this book.

[Sapphic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to start out by saying that at 25 I'm likely nearly a decade older than the target audience for this book. I knew going in that would be likely, since it is categorized as YA Fiction, but the description intrigued me enough to give it a shot. There is some excellent YA Fiction out there that I really enjoy, so I went in with an open mind.

Unfortunately I don't have much positive feedback to give. Unlikely friends to lovers can be a fun trope, but the characters themselves were also walking clichés so it ended up falling flat for me.

Mira is the typical good girl, a stickler for the rules. Anything beyond that is shocking, despite being best friends with LJ for 6 years. LJ on the other hand is the stereotypical goth reject. Dark hair, makeup, and clothes, angry with her parents. Doesn't want to show anyone vulnerability and wants to break all the rules.

Other than Mira's magical improvements we hardly see any character growth over the 6 years in which the story spans. They are the same at 22 as they are at 16.

Furthermore, I have a difficult time believing the progression of their love story. How things can be so intense and then they wait another year to speak again. I don't buy it. Whether they are lovers or best friends, this just doesn't make sense. The whole plot hinges on them returning every year and the reader has no idea what happens in between. I get the schtick but it could have been done better in a way that made the characters more dynamic.

The ending left me disappointed. Though a happy ending, it seems more bittersweet to me. Without giving too much away, I wish they'd overcome the major obstacle and changed the status quo.

The number of grammatical errors and typos were unforgiveable. I expect a couple here and there, particularly with an indie author. But there were some sentences where words were missing altogether and I couldn't fully decipher the intended sentences. It definitely could have used one or two more edits before being uploaded. It read more like a fanfic than a novel. I understand hiring an editor is expensive, but the author could at least have had a friend read it through once just to mark those mistakes.

There are certainly some entertaining moments, and young adults can still enjoy aspects of it. It is about a 4.5 hour read at a casual pace. So nice for a rainy day. Additionally it is great to have more LGBTQIA representation for a younger audience.

You can take my review with a grain of salt, but I sadly won't be recommending this book to anyone else.

***I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.***

[✨ Meg reads and dim sum ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very cute sapphic romance between two young witches. A fun and cutesy Halloween story, this was really easy to read. My main issue with this book is how disjointed the entire story is. While the MCs meet at a young age, after the first part, the book skips one year, every year, to just describe what happens on the Halloween of each year.

All of the time jumps makes the stories feel rushed yet also soooo slowburn, and forces the reader to be constantly tracking when everything happens. Because the girls are only meeting one day a year, it seems like the relationship development is just not there. Also, I was confused as to the specific years they chose-- I think the first part starts in 2006 or something, which I thought was a random long time ago, but once they started doing time jumps I thought "ok, maybe they'll bring it to present day." But for some reason, the story just ends several years in the past, with no sort of epilogue bringing it to present day? The years didn't even provide any time setting nuances like having things you can only find in the 00's so the timing seemed really arbitrary to me.

In addition to the incoherent timing, the writing got really choppy at times. There didn't seem to be a lot of transitions and sometimes the tenses switched from past to present, which may have just been a formatting/grammar error in the ARC, but confusing to read nonetheless. As a result, the character's motivations didn't seem explained at all. Like I have no idea why LJ hates her parents or is so anti-coven, and Mira's love for the coven is never fully fleshed out. These are all instrumental parts of their character that shape their interactions, yet the book fails to explain/contextualize this.

However, if you just want to read a cute Halloween story and don't care as much about the semantics, this book has some noteworthy "awww moments."

Thanks to the publisher and BookSirens for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute little story about high school reluctant-friends-to-lovers. It was short and I was able to read it in one morning while I puttered around the house. The chapters are super short and it follows a "yearly" structure where to book is divided up into 4 or 5 parts which each take place over a day. This truly isn't my favorite structure for any book, but this book was short enough that I stuck it out for the ride.

Two witches reject/fail out of their coven when they're sixteen. Following this they only have their power for one day a year on Halloween. They take this day every year to practice their magic and get petty revenge on the people who were bitchy to them. Eventually this yearly ritual blossoms into a chaste romance with a happy ending.

Since it's set at Halloween it would have been a perfect autumn read and I recommend that others read it then. As I read it in May, the seasons didn't quite match up, the cute romance can be enjoyed any time of the year.

Unfortunately, this book is riddled with small grammar mistakes and continuity errors. At the beginning, Mira has two different last names (Curtis or Carson), which I assume just means her name was changed in some draft, but imperfectly. There's also a few cases where a quotation mark " is replaced with a colon : . This is a really simple mistake that could be fixed with a simple going over, so this reads like a first draft.

Overall, a nice wish fulfillment piece that I was happy to read and happy it was short. If there had been more depth, it could have been stretched out to a longer story that took place over more years and followed the characters for longer before their happy endings, but it was fine as was. It reminds me of 'Payback's a Witch' by Lana Harper (also sapphic) and 'The Ex Hex' by Erin Sterling (het pairing), and I recommend those to people who enjoyed this book as well. <3

[cleo ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A really cute, slowburn queer witchy romance between two girls who couldn't be more opposite!

LJ, the gloomy, rule-breaking Queen of Darkness, is the best witch the Coven has seen in recent years, and sunshiney rule-abiding Mira... well, she's the worst. After both being exiled from the Coven and losing their magic, the two girls bond and become best friends. But every year, for one whole day on Halloween, they have their magic back, and thus begins the two girls' yearly Halloween jaunts pulling pranks and learning magic - and discovering their feelings for one another.

It's a pretty fast-paced book, with each section focusing on each year's Halloween hijinks over the course of 5 years. Their nightly adventures are fun, and it's great that the two girls each had visible character growth, with each drawing out changes in the other. This book promises queer witchy romance, and it delivers, with a very tight-knit story that focuses on the burgeoning relationship and changing dynamics between them as they bond over their shared experiences.

Probably my only gripe is that it was so focused on the two girls that I felt a lack of exploration of the world and other characters around them; I felt it had more potential to dive greater into the witches' and the Coven's lore, LJ's backstory and tumultuous relationship with her parents, why she prefers to be called LJ instead of Lola Johnson, the priestesses, etc etc. But I wouldn't fault this book for this lack, since it IS a story focused on the development of the romance between LJ and Mira, which it definitely delivers on.

All in all, this book was a magically fun romp and if you need a little witchy cheer in your life, a cute queer romance, definitely pick this up!

[Wisperlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

[I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.]

This is a lovely, personal little story about two teenage/YA witches moving past revenge into healing and love. The characters were lovely and the "opposites attract" approach worked well. I'm a liiiiitle unsure if arranging your life and future around a relationship when you're barely 20 is a good life decision, but it works in the limited context of romance. I adored the character development both went through.

The book is sloppily edited though. We have letters missing, turning "fly" into "ly." We have entire words missing, and I'm not sure if "I want to [character name]" means they want to find, see, talk to, punch, or kiss said character. We even have sentence structures mashed together, with one character "setting the curtains setting off fireworks." These editing misses show up pretty much every chapter.

The story, in a couple places, also shows the same lack of a good editor's touch. One of the witches plays a (honestly mean and potentially dangerous) prank on another girl whom she "hates more than anyone." WE NEVER find out why this enmity, nor does the hated girl show up again, making me wonder what the heck that was even about. A good editor should have told the author to go back and flesh that out (or drop it, but one or the other).

All in all: cute story, I'm rooting for these witches to get a heist sequel to steal [spoilers] back, but needed a more thorough editing pass.

[Danielle Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was really looking forward to reading this. I think I got my hopes too high though because this was... not my favorite. The concept of lesbian witches who only get to use their powers for one day was really intriguing to me. However, the book falls flat in a lot of places.

The relationship between the girls is strained at best, unhealthy at worst. They don't talk to each other outside of the one day they get together every year, and LJ is not a good fit for Mira. While LJ does help Mira learn how to use her powers, Mira really is the hero of her own story, while LJ puts her in situations that Mira finds uncomfortable and wants to get out of.

It is specified when each year is, I find this unnecessary because outside of a specification at the beginning of some chapters, it's not shown in the writing. It takes place in the mid-2000's, a time with iconic (if not a bit unappealing now) fashion and media. I think just adding a few odd references could have made it more interesting.

Maybe I didn't enjoy this because I'm not the biggest fan of revenge stories, but I do think Mira deserved better. I would be interested to read more by the author to see how she improves as a writer as well.

[cc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the premise of the book very promising, but I must admit I am a bit disappointed in how it was executed. My main problem with this book can be noticed throughout the whole story, and it is that the novel feels like it is a rough first draft. Reading it, I couldn’t help but feel like the author had a clear idea of where she wanted the story to go and she had some specific scenes in mind, but said scenes were poorly interconnected, and the story didn’t take enough time to be properly developed (there wasn’t any emotional weight to the characters’ actions because the reasoning behind them was barely mentioned and the story moved on very quickly).

I thought the characters were quite interesting in theory, but, then again, I don’t think they were adequately fleshed out. Even now, I don’t think I could really list more than one character trait for each of the main characters. This, naturally, affected their romance. Once more, I found the relationship between the two girls to come a bit out of nowhere, even if the whole book followed the two leads’ time together.

Overall, this was a light read, very easy two get through, but the book was, in my opinion, underworked, and the whole story felt quite rushed.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily. This book follows Mira and LJ who both fail to pass their Becoming Ceremony and are unable to join their coven as full witches. Although the coven took their magic, Halloween grants the girls 24 hours a year to have it back.

We follow them for 5 years after they lose their magic and watch their relationship develop.

I didn't exactly gel with this book. I'm a fan of fast paced books with plot twists and surprises, and to be honest - this book was the opposite. There were also a lot of spelling and editing mistakes, such as missing words in sentences. I wish we had a chance to see their relationship fully blossom, however; we were only left with a couple of paragraphs.

I wish we could have also have had a chance to understand the coven dynamics before jumping right in. I was a little confused that they were shunned by all of their friends, but their family relationships carried on pretty much the same.

[Elpis G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Witches in Love is a coming of age story that focuses on two witches who ultimately decide not to join their coven. Mira because she didn't have the magical skill and LJ who decided she didn't value the coven over her life. The two of them lose their powers 364 days of the year except for halloween and every halloween they meet up and do magic.

The story was very simple in concept and a very fast read but it was well done. Both Mira and LJ have some unresolved issues from their childhood with Mira never having a good teacher and LJ having a lot of of assumptions being placed on her from everyone based off of her skills. I think I would've liked to see more plot and development between them during other times of the year but this worked well too and was a satisfying sapphic romance.