Coven Be Charmed

by Caitlin Ryan

A little charm goes a long way with witches.

Rose Cromwell is a life coach but that doesn't mean she believes in all that woo-woo stuff. When her romantic weekend away at the mysterious Honeydrop House turns supernatural, she doesn't believe it. A witch? She can't be.

It turns out it's harder to escape who you are than it is to outrun a bushfire. Rose is thrust into a world of witches, warlocks, witch hunters, and demons where ancient tensions put her in the middle of a fight to destroy not only the coven but Rose herself.

With no choice but to turn to the coven, Rose discovers none of the coven are what they seem. In fact, nobody is what they seem. Not even her girlfriend.

Genres: Lesbian, Paranormal

414 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2022

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ – There’s no right way, I guess, to find out you’re a witch and your new coven needs your help to fight demons and warlocks and whatnot before you learn to do more than light a couple of candles.

I really like the gallery of characters and the never-ending twists and who wouldn’t want a sweet sausage-stealing goat as their familiar? One minute I want to say it’s a cosy witch story, the next it ups the ante and it’s not so cosy anymore. Rose, the main character, is a life coach who absolutely definitely doesn’t believe in anything magic. Rude awakening doesn’t even begin to cover what she feels when her whole life falls into the paranormal. She goes from judgy and disbelieving to determined and steadfast as she realises how little control she has over what’s happening. I liked the older witches, Alice and Lottie, a lot but the two younger ones, animal-lover Hayley and wonderfully sarcastic Serena, stole my heart.

However, there were too many editing issues for the reading to go as smoothly as I would have liked and way too many mentions of JKR’s wizards’ universe for me to enjoy fully. The author explains in a note at the end of the book that “the inclusion of these references is not intended as a support of the author”, which feels a bit naive to me. I will, nevertheless, keep an eye on these witches and hope they grow into themselves. There were witches before HP, there will be witches after, and this particular coven has a lot of potential. Also, did I mention the goat?

I received a copy from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[AnnMaree Of Oz]

Kindle Unlimited. DNF @ 28% in.

A few Harry Potter references in here, and I really do struggle with those, these days. The author does mention it at the end of the book, and states it's not her intention to support JKR's views, but still wanted the references to magics... but they then list several other shows and films that could have easily replaced those references, and while some were infact spread around what I had read - I guess I question really needing to have pop-culture references anyway? It's just not my favourite thing.

Anywho, I ended up not finishing, mainly because I didn't like the tone overall, of a clueless witch stumbling around with no idea, and sarcastic side-characters giving her a hard time, while she is probed and prodded into things she doesn't want to accept. While other blatantly obvious plot points happen around her, with her unphased/unknowing.

I didn't feel there was anything original or unique here to hold my attention, and if I'm honest I really did not like the main character at all, she seemed judgmental and spoiled.

Try it for yourself, as always on KU.

[Carol Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical!

Rose’s girlfriend takes her away for a romantic weekend at Honeydrop House but whilst there Rose finds out she is a witch. Unbelieving of this fact and trying to return to how her life was before sets her on an adventure where she is completely facing the unknown to save her girlfriend from demons and other magical powers at play. While doing all this, Rose finds nothing was as it seemed, not even those around her.

This was amazing! So much fun and adventure packed into an exciting story filled with magic, wonder, drama, angst, and lots of unexpected twists and turns. There was such a mystery in this story that I was questioning everyone and everything and even unsure who some people might turn out to be. Caitlin very cleverly built in a suspense that truly made the story one you couldn’t predict and even if you were picking up clues and certain you knew how it was going to turn out — trust me you’ll be wrong!

I loved all the clues, the vivid descriptions, and the wonderfully vibrant cast of characters that joined Rose on this discovery and adventure. With anything witchy and paranormal, there were elaborate and quirky personalities and things happening, which I could just picture perfectly from the fantastic descriptions. Every bit of this story was a treat and most enjoyable.

I was completely swept up and immersed in the story from the very beginning and had so much fun reading it. I can’t recommend the story enough and am excited to read more of Caitlin’s stories in future. Hopefully there will be more stories of Rose’s adventures in the future.

[Women Using Words · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coven be Charmed is a fast, fun and easy read, geared for those that enjoy witches, demons and warlocks. If you are one that falls into that category, then this one might pique your interest.

This enchanting tale requires one to suspend their beliefs, and that includes Rose, the main character. She’s a life coach, a planner and a doer. More than that though, she’s a firm nonbeliever of all things magical. However, all of that changes when she’s thrust into the supernatural. Entertaining and somewhat strange events begin to puzzle Rose after a romantic weekend with her girlfriend and a grand mystery ensues. Rose’s world—and her reality—is turned on its head and she’s never the same again.

Though Rose is captivating enough, it’s her merry band of witches that’s most engaging. They bring the charm in spades, Hayley and Serena especially. Alice and Lottie, the two others in the “bewitching” group, are also quite likable and lovely. Together these women—and a goat—push the narrative in interesting ways.

Final remarks…

I was entertained by this fun fantasy. The editing snags a bit here and there, but it didn’t distract me enough that I didn’t want to finish it. This is the first story in the series, so there’s room for things to be tidied up. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

Strengths…

Imaginative
Appealing characters
Interesting plot

[Jas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was read for Sapphic Book Club, hosted by @sapphicbookclub.

I’m awfully late, because I’ve been neglecting my reading. But it’s not this book’s fault! It was certainly an experience, mostly a nice one. But sadly I have few things I need to bring up eventually.

Let’s start with positive! This was a lovely adventure, and it was refreshing to remember that hey we can have wlw relationships established already in the beginning. I’ve read too much romances lately, haha. So this was a nice change of a pace. Fantasy, nice world-building that didn’t quite hit the right spots, but still I enjoyed it! And the story had fun turns! The characters also had great potential, some of them I could really feel and admire. I could've spent more time with them. In general, I enjoyed the book.

I feel like the writing style of the author wasn’t really for me. It didn’t really capture me, but it gave me everything I wanted in the end. A good story, and a decent ending. Of course I would’ve wanted slightly more, because now the story didn’t quite feel complete. Yes, there’s going to be another book, but the story still should stand on its own, and this didn’t feel complete enough.

I guess I’m going towards the negative. There were some grammatical mistakes, but I can usually blink them away. Everything doesn’t need to be spotless for me to enjoy it! But there were far too many Harry Potter references. They were a lot like slaps to the face, and I found myself groaning aloud (sure, I’m a noisy reader anyway haha, but still). I’m glad the author acknowledged them in the end, but they brought absolutely nothing to the story. I understand the author, Harry Potter brought me into this lovely genre and cemented my path, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But all those references actually cheapened my enjoyment and made the story feel not so powerful. Maybe if the references were towards other franchises too, after all the author acknowledged them, it would’ve made them more balanced and palatable? But now I just wanted to scream every time a Harry Potter reference came up. It wasn't good.

Other than that, I don’t have much to complain about. It was an enjoyable story, even with its faults. I truly hope the author reconsiders the stance they’re taking, because when my biggest grievance is the references, it’s really a shame. A simple acknowledgment doesn’t make it okay in my eyes, we need to be louder. And that’s why I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone, even if I'm glad I got to read it and it was a really fun story otherwise.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copy of the book was provided to Sapphic Book Club in exchange for an honest review.



Caitlin Ryan's lighthearted urban fantasy is the first in a new series focusing on the witches of Honeydrop House. This is also the first of Ryan's works I've read, and it focuses on Rose, a down-to-earth life coach who's bemused to find herself in possession of magical powers following a yoga retreat endured under duress for her sister's sake.

I appreciated the author afterword explaining that the numerous Harry Potter references that frame the magical system are a reflection of the formative impact Rowling's books had on Ryan, and are not intended as an endorsement of her transphobic views, but they made the experience of reading the book much less engaging for me. Unfortunately, every time I hit one I spent several minutes staring into space feeling sad and angry, which really killed the mood of the book for me. For readers who don't have that problem, this has the potential to be much more fun, but I'm not entirely convinced it was necessary: the relationship between witch and familiar, and other aspects of the magical system, have other precedents and could have been developed in other ways.

The ensemble cast were well-drawn, with several offering intriguing details for development in later books in the series, including a potential future romance for Rose. The established relationship within this book would have benefitted from some fuller development: because there was relatively little interaction between the couple within the book, I didn't feel like I got a sense of why Rose cared so much about Billie, and this would have added to the weight of the plotline developed here.

Honeydrop House itself is a delightful location: I'm a total sucker for magical house tropes, and love the idea of the house changing itself to welcome the coven's new members. As the initial book in a series, it does a lot of heavy lifting in the world building, leaving room for future instalments to run with the premise.

I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy urban fantasy and don't mind Potter references, for whom I think it will be an enjoyable new series.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A copy of the book was provided to Sapphic Book Club in exchange for an honest review.



This story follows Rose, a life coach who ends up finding out she is a witch after attending a retreat with her sister. Rose gets thrown into the deep end of the world of magic and witch craft, and has a steep learning curve.

This is my first book by Ryan and I enjoyed it. It's been a while since I have read an urban fantasy book, let alone one involving witches. The small glimpse into this world was fascinating and I am excited to explore more of the world in the sequel. I liked Rose and what little I got with the other witches in the coven. With how quick everything went down in this book, there wasn't much time to get to know the other characters.

The one aspect that keeps it from a 5 star for me, is that there was one aspect of the world that was completely glossed over or ignored anytime it came up. I have a feeling that it was being saved for the sequel but the avoidance of this one world building aspect came at the determent of getting to better know the characters. In one particular instance, Rose and another character (no spoilers), desperately needed to have a sit down conversation, and they do, off page. This discussion provides some important character development for both characters, and we didn't even get to experience it.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to the sequel. I hope there is more world building and more time getting to know the characters. I would recommend this for fans of urban fantasy and witches.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has potential and it's well written. But I must say that I couldn't stand the main character, she appeared to me quite selfish sometimes and a hard case of denial.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coven by Charmed follows Rose on her journey of discovery. If there was any way to discover you were a witch, I suppose doing so at a bed and breakfast wasn’t the worst way to find out.
The Honeydrop House has a way of attracting witches through its doors. Once you’re there it seems as though you’re there for a reason. Rose does exactly what anyone would do when she’s told she’s a witch. Laugh and think it was all an elaborate joke. I mean, witches, warlocks, vampires, and ghosts? None of them are real.
What I absolutely loved about this book; was how easy it was to fall into the Honeydrop House and get lost in the cast of characters. Each witch in the coven were unique, had their own temperaments, and I swear they all made me laugh, grit my teeth, and have my heart beating faster full of anxiety.
There were a lot of little pop culture references that made me feel like Rose was my age and someone I could relate to. Though she did seem to have a little more of a handle on her life than I do. Even if she had to take lessons on how to be a witch from a ghost.
Also, just, I have to say it. Zombie cows. That’s it.
There was an aspect of memory loss that played a part in the main storyline, and it was done so well. It was interesting to see how differently it affected some of the coven. Lottie was a complete surprise; I was not expecting that at all.
This first installment wasn’t heavy on the romance. It provided the foundation for an epic romance though. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens because I was seeing the seeds of a couple different opportunities (my inner fanfic author popped out and wanted to ship certain characters together). So there weren’t any spicy scenes in this, but there was plenty of action and witchery afoot.
I really enjoyed reading this. It was a fast, easy read and I’m looking forward to reading more about the coven at the Honeydrop House.

[frances walker]

A copy of the book was provided to Sapphic Book Club in exchange for an honest review.



dnf @ 33% sadly :( i was really vibing with this one but the poor editing really hindered my enjoyment unfortunately. the grammar was all over the place. i can forgive some mistakes, especially with indie authors, but my understanding was frequently affected by these issues. the book also could have used more editing in terms of plot/character continuity - one second rose hates someone's style and makeup and the next she is saying how she thinks they are hot, for instance. i just felt very confused.

if you can look past these issues, this novel is really fun and has great potential! i loved the set up - rose is a life coach, and then on a vacation at a b&b with her girlfriend, she learns she is really a witch - and there are all sorts of dangers around her! there were several mysteries i wanted answers to, but they weren't enough to plod through the weak editing for me personally.

maybe it helps to explain it this way - i kept wanting to pick up the book because i would remember an interesting character or plot point, but then i would find myself irritated and putting it down because i was so confused (and not in a good way!).

i would recommend this to people who don't notice grammatical errors (i am a bit of a stickler!), and who like witchy, queer fun with a dorky goat!

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.5 stars

Coven Be Charmed is the first entry in the Honeydrop House Witches series and spends a great deal of time building up the world through hints, dramatic confessions, and confrontations, and a big bad who ends up leaving more questions behind him. And, as a first book, it has a lot of lifting to do, not least of which is introducing Rose to her coven.

Rose is the middle child of a rather toxic family setup. Her mother obsesses over the golden children. Rose is the one left out and looked down on, even though she loves her family. She’s not only ignoring the signs of her own trouble with her family, but the issues in her relationship with Billie, too, who won’t even give her a clear answer about what she does for a job or where she goes when she’s gone. But Rose loves Billie, so she ignores all the flags and just gets on with her life. And when that life is upended, Rose does what she does best: makes a plan and follows through.

Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.

[Gabby Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copy of the book was provided to Sapphic Book Club in exchange for an honest review.



Coven be Charmed was a nice, easy read, with supernatural themes running throughout. Rose is witch but doesn't know it, and her girlfriend is a hunter which she also doesn't realize. She somehow lands herself in the centre of a conflict between a local coven, the enigmatic Hotensio Quince, and the hunters.

This book is great for anyone wanting to ease themselves into the fantasy/sapphic genre as it's quite a light read.

Although there could be a lot more character and plot development I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

[Megan H · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was different

I read this thinking that it was a romance action witchcraft type book... Not so much. Billie and Rose really didn't have any romantic chemistry to me. Maybe in the next book they'll figure out they're better off as friends. That being said, Rose and Serena those two have something and hopefully in the next book they can explore that a little more.

[Leslie J Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical!

Great story about magic with the magical touch by Caitlin Ryan! Can't wait for the next story!

Witches always make awesome stories, add in a little romance and raging warlock and you've got yourself a wonderful story.

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, solid character development, some relationships/connections are perplexing, but might lead to somewhere that makes sense down the line

[Subira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is great, the reading time is not too long and the writer did a great job on telling the story.