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Mated by Midnight #1

Midnight Bewitched

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Barbarian. Beast. Murderer?

On the surface, my life looks picture perfect. Journalist for the New York Times. Engaged to one of the city’s most eligible bachelors. Loving family. Great friends.

But, as it turns out, looks can be deceiving.

When my entire future is ripped away, I choose the one spot on the map that might just be my ticket back into the good life—this time, with a byline on the front page. And one less jerk by my side.

The tiny town of Midnight Hollow is quaint, picturesque—and boasts a trail of murders just begging to be solved by yours truly.

Everything is going to plan until tall, dark, mysterious, and sexy comes stomping into my life–literally. Sutton Hale is the beginning of the end for me.

Bewitched by his charm, I don’t realize I’m in too deep until it’s too late to escape.

Midnight Bewitched is the first book in a slow-burn paranormal romance where nothing is as it seems. Journey with us to Midnight Falls but be warned: this town has secrets its inhabitants are determined to keep hidden.

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 21, 2022

1099 people are currently reading
928 people want to read

About the author

Jessica Wayne

84 books693 followers

USA Today Bestselling Author of steamy PNR and fantasy romance.

Ever since my grandmother first handed me a Nora Roberts novel, I KNEW I wanted to write romance.

I love love. Crave it. For me, genre doesn't matter as long as there is a beautifully epic love story woven into the storyline.

Which is exactly why I chose to write across so many genres. Paranormal, fantasy, contemporary, suspense...no matter which of my books you choose you always know what you're getting: a love story for the ages.

And before I was an author, I was a reader! Please be sure to follow me here, or add me as a friend! I love to connect!

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5 stars
525 (40%)
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369 (28%)
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284 (21%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
Profile Image for Southern Lady Reads.
936 reviews1,394 followers
October 13, 2022
A really good concept with a touch of Beauty and the Beast-like fantasy elements? I just had a super hard time getting into this one!

I just think the writing was a little repetitive and couldn't get into it for some reason? Needed another round of editing.
Profile Image for Tina.
263 reviews27 followers
April 4, 2022
Murder, mystery, and a sexy lumberjack-ish man with secrets.
What's not to love!
I was SO excited to get my hands on an early copy of this book. (I paid for it, it wasn't for a review.) It came with this adorable postcard that reads Welcome to Midnight Falls The cutest, most murdery town you'll never leave. It's PERFECT!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's a retelling. I don't want to give details on what retelling because You'll enjoy discovering it on your own. But this book has everything. Lots of sass, some steam that I believe will amp up in future books, and a fun mystery.
One negative for me personally was quite a few F-bombs. I know that doesn't bother others but it was a bit much for my taste. Also WARNING cliffhanger. Your soul will be in agony till the next book is published. I read this book in 24 hours and can't wait till the next comes out.
17 reviews
July 6, 2022
The summary is nothing like the book *spoilers*

The story immediately dragged me in. I loved how it started with her in New York before the breakup instead of throwing me into the new town she vacations in right away. It allowed me to learn about the characters personalities, even though only half of them play a role. All of that matches up with the first half of the summary. The second half, not so much.

Serenity does meet a hot dude, but she's not drawn in by the full moon. He kind of stomped into her life (more like tackled her), but he wasn't a huge influence like it says. The summary never mentions witches and curses and that's the most important detail. That's what the story is about.

This small town is cursed by a witch and every year someone dies to keep the curse alive. BAM! That's the actual synopsis. I personally don't like journalist stories because the girls are too nosy. They don't know when to quit and keep endangering themselves. This one isn't for me but that doesn't mean it's not for you. Give it a go if it's something you enjoy.
Profile Image for Candice Ryan.
272 reviews
April 6, 2022
This book was an edge of your seat thrilling mystery that had me reading late into the night and finishing the book in one sitting. I loved the eerie town and all of its quirky characters. The mystery sucks you in and leaves you in constant wonder... wondering what the heck is going on. Why is everyone so weary of the woods and being out at night. Throw in a sexy town recluse who may or may not be just what everyone's afraid of. I was all sorts of confused. Anytime I thought I knew what was going on.. turns out I was mostly wrong. There is no shortage of action. Of the scary and sexy alike. The steam, the mystery, the chemistry, and these unique characters all work together to bring you an amazing fantasy tale.

I am in desperate need of book 2 though.....
Profile Image for Elise.
493 reviews4 followers
May 15, 2022
It started off strong and I could really relate to the FMC. Cheated on? Yep. Older brothers in your business? Oh yeah. Hung over and loose your crap on your boss? Haven't we all... ?..... well I have lol So anyway the FMC is a reporter and needs to get away from life but she is left info about murders and she just HAS to find out the story. The town was odd and there was mystery but half way in I wanted more character development. The FMC keeps saying how she's a great fighter..... stop saying it and show me already. Overall it was OK
Profile Image for BeautyAndTheBooks.
310 reviews101 followers
September 8, 2023
I don’t know exactly where this book went wrong. But it has to be somewhere because I did not like this.
A lot of people say the main characters had no connection between them when reading different books. But even then there is something. Even if it is a connection that feel forced. Here it was nothing. With anyone. I felt like she had a connection with her siblings, but that doesn’t hold the story when they aren’t there for 90% of the book.
The plot also didn’t capture my attention. I could see what the author wanted, but something got in the way. I just can’t put my finger on it.
Profile Image for Cheraz Tane.
135 reviews
April 15, 2022
This book was pretty kool.. Has a bit of a fairy tale feel to it.. It does have a cliffhanger.. But that's just an authors 4play.. I love the FMC and her brothers that feature at the beginning of the book..
I do need the next book to read thou
Profile Image for Lauren.
1,089 reviews120 followers
April 25, 2022
Mated by midnight

I just didn't like it. Odd storyline with odd characters I didn't love or hate. i was just completely disinterest in everything going on here. I found myself bored to tears, while skimming at the very end. And yet the entire read was mediocre for me.
3 reviews
April 15, 2022
This book is compelling. It had me on the edge of my seat. The pacing is fantastic- kudos to the authors for such a gripping story. This gave me feels reminiscent of a junior higher sitting around a campfire hearing a ghost story being told by the cutest boy in 8th grade. In other words, I had all the feels! The story is a little spooky. It definitely has a haunted house, you don’t want to go into the basement alone, feel to it. And there are some great plot twists. Again, kudos to the authors for the ambiance.

And the ending. Oh my goodness, the ending! If you hate cliffhangers, this is not the book for you. But if you like the type of cliffhanger that makes you want to scream, throw the book, and then cry because the next one is not out yet, this is for you!
Profile Image for DeeDeeWReads.
1,154 reviews16 followers
April 15, 2022
This book will keep your guessing and turning the pages. Serenity is a girl that has it all. A good job, a man she loves and is marrying, and a family she adores. One day changes several of those things.

She decides she needs time away and when a package arrives at her door, she finds where she is going. A lot of mystery follows, a town that is hot and cold, and a yummy man. You know there has to be a yummy man always! :)

I'm not lying, you need to read this, but I am going to warn you. It ends in a cliffhanger like no other!!! There, you WERE warned.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Nance.
1,124 reviews17 followers
April 16, 2022
Midnight Bewitched was an exciting and thrilling read!
Serenity is a journalist and when a turn of events leaves her life upturned she decides to take a vacation. She goes to a small town where things aren’t exactly as they seem.
This was an intriguing story filled with mystery and suspense. There is also a Beauty and the Beast kind of vibe. If you love paranormal romance than you should check out this book!
Profile Image for Elizabeth Summers.
100 reviews
December 12, 2022
Interesting and mysterious read.
It started out slow and in the middle it got interesting when Serenity meets with Sutton and agrees on helping him solve the mystery. Serenity was smart but reckless sometimes with the dangers of the new world she discovered. It ends on an abrupt ciffhanger, hopefully Serenity can help the town.

Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Romance: 💗
Spiciness: 🔥🔥
Action: 💥💥
Angst: 😞
Hea: cliffhanger.
Profile Image for Dayzee.
929 reviews14 followers
April 17, 2022
Cozy Sexy Mystery Town is here!

Welcome to this cozy mystery town full of secrets and good looking people!! Especially this handsome stranger who lives in the woods. Serenity is full of sarcasm and curiosity; that’s the life of a journalist but she needs to be careful as not all it is what it seems!! Get ready, once you start reading you will be bewitched!!! 😉 Cant wait for the next book!! So much fun and giggles!
Profile Image for ~Jennifer~.
996 reviews8 followers
February 8, 2023
I’m invested!

This book is really quite good. There are few things I felt didn’t add up in the plot, but the plot was good. If your sick of rejected mates and you like werewolves and other supernaturals, this book is nice refreshing quick read.
Profile Image for Mona  Brown .
1,795 reviews18 followers
April 21, 2022
Midnight Bewitched

A brand new series from two amazing authors that will suck you in and not let you go. There's so much mystery surrounding this town that you will feel like you are watching a show. I love the storyline and trying to figure out what is going on. I have so many questions.
Profile Image for Emily Pennington.
20.7k reviews360 followers
April 22, 2022
Looking for Explanations . . .

Serenity Kellis has the kind of questing personality where she needs to find answers. That’s why journalism called to her and kept her seeking those answers. But two years still on the back page of the Times starts to dim the enthusiasm. When the passion turns to a “job”, something has to happen. When someone sends her news clippings about a town called Midnight Falls in Virginia, where each of the unsolved murders was committed on the same day in the same town. No one can figure out why. And the murders call to her journalistic spirit. This is far better than going to the beach. This will turn her into a homicide reporter with front page news!

So Serenity goes on her quest. The Victorian house she stops at is magnificent. There are trees and more trees. Woods border the property. Benches and statues and even a fountain catch her eye. Rose bushes are blooming and wisteria is climbing the trellises. It is quiet, beautiful, and absolutely perfect! But when something moves just inside the tree line, the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her gut warns her to get back to the bed and breakfast right now.

A man almost naked steps out of the trees, a feral look on his face and growling. Instead of running in fear, Serenity stares at him quietly until he moves back into the woods. Was that a man or a creature? When a voice sounds behind her, she visibly jumps. The woman was not offended, but tells her to stay out of the woods and she’ll be fine. Yet that is exactly where she wants to go and see for herself! She can believe he was a predator, but he was not a wolf as the woman wanted her to believe. Will she get to meet Sutton Hargrave officially? Will he help her uncover the secrets of Midnight Falls? Will she even get to delve into the murders she hopes will be the highlight of her career?

This book is really well-written, keeping the reader alert and responsive to the subtle changes that signal some significance to what we are seeing and hearing. It’s difficult to judge who the good guys and bad guys might be as we begin to meet the characters. Grab your copy and follow along in this suspenseful story that is full of secrets yet to be discovered… assuming one lives long enough to reveal what is found!
Profile Image for Donna (BookDragonGirl).
1,469 reviews9 followers
March 5, 2023
THE AUDIBLE VERSION IS FANTASTIC!!

•••••

This book was FANTASTIC!!! It had me flipping through the pages, crying about having to put it down to go do life and swooning over the yummy tall, dark and handsome!! But really this book keeps you on the edge of your seat!!!

The plot flowed beautifully and kept the pace going, so it was hard to stop reading!! The characters in this story are all really well written!! I loved the main character, Serenity, she is a strong woman who goes through an awful lot. It’s hard to keep this good woman down. She has an amazing family who are always there for her, and a brother who is a cop and is very protective of her. I love Steven. Then she meets Sutton, another great character, and he is that tall, dark and handsome lumberjack-ish guy in the woods. The town’s people don’t like her, most of them, and the other couple at the B&B she’s staying at are really odd. Actually this whole town is very odd.

The mystery and suspense keep you on the edge of your seat. The romance keeps you swooning. This whole story just keeps you totally engaged!! This is a number of genres, but most paranormal romance with lots of mystery suspense. You will love it!!!
725 reviews7 followers
November 20, 2024
The FMC is a reporter who decides to involve herself in a case that, if it were real, should’ve been picked up by the FBI decades ago and would’ve been bigger than the Zodiac killings just for its longevity and weirdness alone.

The fact that a small-town police detective can say to the FMC’s face “there are dark forces at work here” and she doesn’t immediately laugh and/or question him as to whether he still believes in the Satanic Panic of the nineties, or ask him why he hasn’t been in touch with the FBI, just goes to show how incompetent a reporter she really is.

That, and the fact that in the first act she identifies a killer by a particular “patch of fabric” on the ground beside her body… almost as if it had been planted there by someone who knew she would be called to the scene and would recognize a garment oft worn by the desired suspect…

She’s more than happy to follow whatever leads the MMC gives her, even though in his own words, he’s the prime suspect for the murders, and everyone else warns her away from him, and he always seems to be able to find her in the woods, and he looks EXACTLY like the picture of his so-called grandfather in the creepy old book she found in the library that subsequently and suspiciously disappeared without the librarian’s knowledge. His story doesn’t even make sense: the first killings happened a century ago, and there’s one a year, and he claims that everyone in town blames his “family” and will not accept that his grandfather is dead, though he claims to have buried him himself. (I would’ve said, okay, exhumation and DNA test mayhaps?) He also claims that he cannot go into town “anymore” because he’s so hated there, but he knows everyone in town by name and reputation and says it’s because they “grew up together.” So which is it? You and yours have been exiled for a century, or just within living memory of a supposedly twenty-something dude? Then there’s the fact that he’s, y’know, alive, and wears clothes, and has possessions newer than 100 years, which means he must surely be shopping SOMEWHERE. How is it that he cannot purchase supplies to repair his house at the same place he bought his food and tee shirts? It’s not as if the town is the only place that sells these things… he just needs to go further afield. Which brings up the rather obvious question of why he can’t just leave town and find a job/apartment elsewhere…

I mean, we as the readers can tell it’s because he’s some kind of cursed immortal being, but why isn’t FMC asking these questions is all I’m saying.

She goes through the whole unraveling-the-story game with the MMC who’s been obviously lying to get this whole time, but she isn’t even really that salty about it because he’s hot and she just broke up with her fiancé a week ago and doesn’t possess a vibrator or a single brain cell. She attends the murder mixer where one person every year gets killed, confronts the witch who cursed them all, then realizes she’s not succeeded at all and the book ends. Buy book 2 if you wish to see this ridiculous woman floundering to solve the next whodunnit, I guess.
238 reviews3 followers
May 5, 2023
3-1/2 stars

Really enjoyed the majority of this book, Serenity was a strong character, she was funny, have had me laughing out loud at some of her self musings. She wasn’t one who lived in denial land, just the regular, normal denials that are sensible, adding to her character. It was at around 80% in, did things with her as a character start going downhill. She is supposed to be a college educated journalism degreed person, she sees herself getting into the investigative reporting area before she was fired from her job, and at this point, her firing was becoming more justified, she’d be looking at firing all over again. Additionally, she has a homicide detective, brother, who she has done ride alongs with, who has spoken to her about his job, yet all that seems to be thrown out the window. She comes to a conclusion about who is responsible with no facts whatsoever, one of the most sacred rules of legitimate journalism, fact check, fact check, fact check. She has a conversation with her brother, who reminds her of that, and yet she still is off on a tangent. She keeps talking about her brother being able to arrest the responsible person, which she is in a whole other state! Her brother is NYPD! She ought to have the very real knowledge that he cannot arrest anybody, they are not in New York! He even tells her this, yet, she still has the same thought of him arresting the responsible party after that! What?! What is this foolishness?
Also the drama that she creates, she becomes a ridiculous drama queen with Sutton when he expresses to her that he wants her to leave. He tells her exactly why he wants her to leave, he’s concerned for her safety, doesn’t want to risk her life, and she has the most ridiculous things to say, and think behind that. She doesn’t ask questions, gather more information, just dismisses the warnings and information told her right out. No information gathering, no feigning agreement, then go on about doing what she ends up doing. Instead character ruined. Then there is some redemption, when she actually gets back to what a good journalist would do and gets back to researching, gathering info for trying to solve a crime. She loses some of that rebuild towards the end. At least she realizes how her idiocy blinded her. I would have rather her remain tenacious, rather than be made an idiot.
Sutton, I don’t know about him as a character, he was on the flat side. There really was no depth to him. There did not seem ability in the writing to be able to give him more as a character through the first person point of view writing.
Cliffhanger ending. I’m curious to see what happens next, but by the end of this book, I really was not all that invested.
Profile Image for Rachel.
2,340 reviews131 followers
August 7, 2023
Wow. I didn't know what I was getting into with Midnight Cursed but wow, Heather and Jessica did an incredible job. It started in NYC with food trucks then turns in a different direction. It sure kept me on my toes.


Serenity wants to be an investigative journalist and after a series of unfortunate events (one cringe moment with her boss) in NYC she picks up a story about a ritual killing in a small town. I gotta give it to her, Serenity is a stubborn one, when a friendly face isn't to be found she doesn't let that stop her. She digs in determined to figure out what's going on. I liked Serenity. I like that she's close to her big family, that she's determined to help and her snarky commentary was great but at times I wanted to shake her. She has her lapse in judgment and doesn't really understand but she means well.


The townspeople I'm not touching, there's just too much weirdness. I will say Finneas was my favorite person in the town. However, Sutton Hardgrave is a tasty treat that Serenity can't stop drooling over. He is the mysterious brooding type who when you get to know him, he pulls at the heartstrings. Sutton has sex appeal but there's a sadness to him that you just wanna make it better. He's a great leading guy but he's keeping secrets.


Omg, it's a murder mystery (which I love watching, you know the ones) while also giving off horror movie vibes. I mean weird town, creepy people, and a serial killer on the loose, how could I not get sucked in. There are hints of the supernatural, the elements slowly revealing themselves. Not to mention the tragic lesser-known history of the town. I loved following along with Serenity as she was hunting for clues, knowing the stuff that she doesn't realize yet, and finding more clues with her. I thought I had the killer but there was one heck of a plot twist, no one could've seen it coming. It was great.


Midnight Cursed was fantastic, Savannah Rivers did an amazing job narrating, between her portrayal of the characters and the intriguing plot I'm hooked. What's gonna happen next? I don't know but I'm gonna find out. I will be listening to the second book, Midnight Hunted, very soon.


Profile Image for Ruth Hinojos.
372 reviews4 followers
April 18, 2022
Fue un gran libro, normalmente casi no leo libros sobre misterio pero este me engancho desde el principio, fue una gran manera de unir los hombrelobo con el misterio de asesinatos. En este libro sigues a Serenity quien es una periodista en el New York Times que por un evento desafortunado terminan dandole "vacaciones forzadas" en su trabajo esta mas que convencida que debe encontrar la proxima noticia explosiva para recuperar su puesto. Pero cuando llega a Midnight Hollow nada es lo que parece y al investigar los asesinatos que han habido por 100 años nada tiene sentido hasta que se encuentra con Sutton.
Realmente fue un libro divertido lleno de misterio y por supuesto seres supernaturales. No podia dejar de leerlo y no puedo esperar para el siguiente libro.

Gracias a las autoras por darme esta copia avanzada a cambio de una reseña honesta.

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It was a great book, normally I hardly ever read mystery books but this one had me hooked from the beginning, it was a great way to tie the werewolves with the murder mystery. In this book you follow Serenity who is a journalist at the New York Times who, due to an unfortunate event, ends up giving her a "forced vacation" from her job. She is more than convinced that she must find the next explosive news to get her job back. But when she arrives in Midnight Hollow, nothing is as it seems, and investigating the murders that have been going on for 100 years, nothing makes sense until she meets Sutton.
It really was a fun book full of mystery and of course supernatural beings. I couldn't put it down and can't wait for the next book.

Thanks to the authors for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for The Caffeinated Grimoire.
730 reviews5 followers
October 20, 2022
Serenity ♡

This was a good start to a new shifter series with a unique twist, curses centuries old and a town stuck.

Serenity may work for the New York Times but her career is anything but flashy reporting on vending truck wars rather than anything ground breaking. When she goes to report on the latest vendors squabble what she finds is a murder victim instead and being the first reporter on the scene it's just the thing to push her career forward but when her Fiancé decides to break things off a month b4 their wedding to pursue things with his paralegal Serenity goes on a bender over the heartbreak forgetting about the story which then leaves her career no better off than he private life. With everything crumbled around her Serentiy decides a break is just what she needs and when someone mysteriously leaves clippings in a envelope at her door about a string of unsolved murders in a town called Mignight Falls she sees an opportunity to put her life back on track.
But Midnight falls is anything but your average town stuck in the dark ages, the people of the town are anything but welcoming and what she uncovers will definitely have her questioning her sanity. She may have come to Midnight Falls for the story but she stays for much more. A town trapped by a century old curse one they believe she can help break especially Sutton the mysterious tall dark and handsome stranger who lurks in the woods. But when she doesn't heed everyone's warnings to leave before All Hallows Eve she may just find herself trapped along with everyone else with no way out.
Profile Image for user13747.
30 reviews
June 2, 2025
❗️DNF 52%
Rating: ⭐️

Frankly, I’m quite surprised I got 50% of the way. Must be a short book. One I don’t plan to finish.

The main character, Serenity, is bland, emotionless and just frustrating.

Sutton is… Honestly, I don’t know what to make of him. Boring?

I was hoping for some juicy drama, but it wasn’t like that at all.

To sum it up:
1. Serenity find out over a rather polite dinner with her fiancé that he wants to end their relationship to be in another relationship with his paralegal secretary or something. She hates him but honestly… I think he was kind of nice? This is someone who literally hates cheaters. But he was mature enough I guess? Considering the wedding was in a month, it was shit but he wasn’t cold hearted about it.

2. Serenity gets drunk, doesn’t submit her work on time and he boss rightfully-so gives her story up to another reporter. Again, the boss is pretty polite until Serenity seems to have a meltdown and he basically fires her. It’s just not believable whatsoever—she works at the New York Times… Surely HR would have stepped in somewhere, but no.
Again, it’s her own mistake.

3. Serenity’s family tell her to go on holiday to deal with everything and she ends up going to Midnight Falls —a shady down with murders etc that’s he wants to investigate and get her name back or something.
She meets Sutton, and every SINGLE line is about how she wants to jump his bones and frankly it’s jarring. Like surely there’s something more to Sutton than that.

The characters have no personality. Zero chemistry. Zero connection and it’s BORING.
Profile Image for Kathy Mayer.
861 reviews9 followers
June 7, 2022
Sutton is dreamy!

I love this book! I can't wait for the next book. Serenity is a journalist for the New York Times. She writes about local things close to the back of the paper. She is fed up with not getting to cover anything good. One day that changes when her source calls her. She discovers a body. And since her brother's a homicide detective she has been on a lot of ride-alongs. However, he chance to get a better story on the front page is ruined when something tragic has her drinking the night away. After she is fired she goes to visit family. She decides to take a vacation. Only fate picked where she would choose to go. She attempts to solve murders in a small town. And this town is not friendly to outsiders. Lets just say she stumbles upon the right few people to give her clues. That plus the library are great help, but she has no idea what she is up against. Unless you mean the tall, dark, muscled body of Sutton. She stumbles on him in the woods. He's sweet and hot! Serenity isn't one to listen to threats so when people tell her not to do something she doesn't listen. You guessed it already didn't you Sutton lives in the woods, can't go into town & is pictured on the book cover. There is a lot that goes on in this town that Serenity thinks is impossible. Until she sees it for herself. Can she stop the curse on Sutton so he can go into town & reunite with family?
Profile Image for Sarah | Retro Girl Reads.
1,616 reviews92 followers
April 29, 2022
When journalist Serenity Kellis’ picture perfect life falls to pieces before her very eyes, she decides she needs a change of scenery. As she’s looking for her next big read, she stumbles upon Midnight Hollow, a small town that’s known for a series of annual murders.

Determined to be the one to solve them, Serenity travels to Midnight Falls in order to do some digging. But nothing in this town is as it seems, and the more Serenity searches for answers, the more confused she gets. To make matters worse, she can’t stop thinking about Sutton Hargrave, a darkly handsome and mysterious man who’s helping her attempt to solve the murders.

Oh my gosh!!! This book was absolutely fantastic!!! I was completely hooked on this world from the very first page, and I couldn’t put it down!! I loved the town of Midnight Hollow and all of its secrets. The plot was intricate and well developed, and I loved the mystery of it all. Serenity was such a likable heroine as well; I loved her stubbornness and determination.

As for Sutton, oh my!!! You are certainly in for a treat with this man. He’s darkly brooding and devastatingly attractive, and I loved how protective he was of Serenity. Their chemistry was scorching hot, and I loved watching them dance around each other. All in all, this was an extremely enjoyable read, and I will be looking into the authors’ other work!
Profile Image for Rachel Cass.
265 reviews9 followers
April 21, 2022
Take me to Midnight Falls!

This first in series, and first collaboration between Jessica Wayne and Heather Hildenbrand was spot on! I was sucked in from the get!

I love Serenity! From moving up NY Times reporter to maybe-not-so-much, Serenity's life has become something she never predicted! Needing a break, and stumbling onto a mystery, she goes on down to Midnight Falls, Virginia! And oh, how things go from there!

This town is definitely different, but I absolutely loved everything about it! There is so much mystery that I had to know what was going on! Why is everyone so weird toward her? *rude* Are they hiding something? And what is it!?

And let me just say one word that literally had me from the first moment: Sutton! Sutton Hale is my man! Mysterious, gentlemanly, gorgeous, growls...he is absolutely delicious! His and Serenity's interactions are fire...the tension is just so perfectly done!
All of the characters are so enjoyable, and I could totally see myself being friends with them! And Serenity's family!? Gold! Absolute gold!

Throughout the book, I found myself laughing, gasping, holding my breath, sweating, and fanning myself! All I can say is that Jessica and Heather need to get on book 2 immediately! I highly recommend!
Profile Image for Sarah Kessler.
267 reviews2 followers
April 16, 2022
Amazing new series.
If you’re new to PNR and have been wondering why we all love it, this first book would be a great introduction for you.
The book starts out like any hallmark story would, where the reporter stumbles upon a big break, her whole life before her seems perfect and then it all changes.
Desperate to get back on track she follows a mystery to a small town determined to solve it, but nothing in the small town is as it seems.
I loved the way the authors introduce us to Midnight Falls and all the people living there. As we get to know everyone in the town, you’ll definitely have some favorites and a few you want to suspect as being the person who has cursed the town and plagued it with murders.
Sutton is tortured and mysterious. I found myself wanting to know more about him right along with Serenity.
Serenity’s family is the best and I hope to see more of them and her friend in the next books.
The book ends with you wanting more. The mystery might seem solved but now we have a whole new battle Serenity must face, and she has to do it surrounded by monsters she isn’t sure she can trust and she now knows are real.
203 reviews
July 27, 2023
Great idea and was a pretty quick read but I just didn’t like it for a couple reasons:
1. The FMC was never fully described. Yeah she has blue eyes but what else? What color hair?
2. Midnight Hallow is the supernatural pack from the Sims 3 and that’s all I could think about while reading. I was wondering if that’s where the author got the name of the town from? (This point does not reflect my star rating)
4. The FMC being to nosy and not giving af if someone told her, it’s not safe to answer her questions. Why pressure someone to give you answers near the person who think is a witch?
5. The non stop, my brother is a cop he can save the day. Even the MMC told her, her brother is human he doesn’t stand a chance against a witch but she kept going on and on about how her brother can….yeah okay….
6. FMC wanting to save the day, without an actual solid plan. So you plan on finding the killer, then what?
7. The one “spice” scene, all I can think about is that she hasn’t showered for days, yuck 🤢 (doesn’t reflect my rating)

Due to these, I won’t be reading books 2 & 3. It kinda fell flat and bored me at times. The idea for this book was a great one.
Profile Image for Katelin K.
200 reviews
April 22, 2022
Amazing start to the series

Okay, so, this book was such a good and fun read. The night it came out I had taken some sleeping pills because I’d been having some rough sleep the nights before. I picked up my kindle just wanting to pick a book out. Saw this bad boy in my library and opened it. Probably shouldn’t have done that. I made it about 10% in before those sleeping pills kicked in. But the story was so good and had me hooked that I read until about 42%. That is a testament to how good this book is. I fought off sleep from sleeping pills that usually knock me out in 30 minutes for 32% of a book. I think if I hadn’t taken anything for sleep, I would have been up until I finished it. I was fighting sleep and didn’t want to put it down so much that I woke up in the morning cuddling my kindle. So excited for the rest of this series. Fantastic start by Heather Hildenbrand and Jessica Wayne.
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895 reviews2 followers
June 7, 2022
Serenity is a journalist in New York who can't seem to catch a break - losing her fiancé and her job consecutively. A murder mystery in Midnight Falls might just give her the story she needs to get her job back. But murder isn't the only mystery going on in this sleepy little town, and she's going to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of it, including what is up with the curse that keeps sexy Sutton Hargrave confined to the forest behind her hotel. However, the more she learns, the more she discovers she may have bitten off a little more than she can chew.

This is a collaboration a perfect blend of both authors. I love the writing of each of these authors on their own, but when they pool their talents, the results are explosive. It's filled with exciting adventure, tongue-in-cheek humor, wonderful characters - including the villains - and a sizzling, sexy match made in magic heaven. What more could one need?
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