Marked Witch : Urban Fantasy Romance

by A.C. Wilds

Caught between truth and the need to survive.

Thea Arendale is caught between the truth and the need to survive. She is the most successful hedge witch in town. She had her dream job, faithful clients, and supportive friends.

Until she didn’t.

When Claudia, a mentee and friend, betrays Thea and ruins her name, Thea’s forced to close shop with no other way to survive. That’s when they find her.

A coven of male witches demand she lend them her power and cast a forbidden spell. A spell with disastrous fine print -- she failed to read.

Now, she’s caught in an unbreakable contract signed through desperation. and forced to live with five breathtaking men who have their own agenda. Thea must obey or find a way out. And if she doesn’t, her life will be shattered, and the truth will be buried.

Marked Witch is an urban fantasy multiple partner romance. Some themes may be triggering for some. Please be cautious when considering if you want to be tempted to the dark side.

If you love these tropes Marked Witch is a

Kick-butt Female Characters
Witches and Magic
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Contractual Circumstances
Alphahole Shifters
Familiars
A whole lot of minchina (it's a Sicilian word -- look it up)

Genres: Witches

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2023

About the author

A.C. Wilds was born and raised in New York City. She lives in an outer borough with her husband and two girls. She loves horseback riding, mythical creatures, and everything books. When she isn't at her desk writing the next great escape, she can be found with the blankets over her head reading a steamy paranormal tale.

Reviews

[Veronica LaRoche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg I am completely hooked on this story and these characters. Thea is hired by the Atramento Coven and her life is about too be flipped upside down. I am loving the guys and I need too know wtf will happen next.

I voluntarily reviewed this Advanced Reader Copy of this book

[Taylor Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is listed as "urban fantasy" but it's a reverse harem.

The FMC, Thea, started the story off by being deeply upset about being betrayed by a friend, who had ruined her reputation and name within witch society... then proceeds to blindly sign a contract with an unknown coven who turn out to be the darkest black male witch coven known. Because she was thirsty af for them.


I wanted more from this story. I kept with it because witch magic is cool and always different depending on who's telling the story. However! The guys all randomly saying "how about we do some magic?" Isn't my idea of a magical book. They didn't ever tell her wtf they needed her for, even at the end it was kept vague and she's still just going with it. Is she stupid? Doesn't seem like it, but every choice she makes *is* stupid. Half the time she's complaining about wanting out of the contract she willingly signed, but she already said her name was ruined. What's she going to ruin if her reputation is already smeared? Why does she run out of the room like a child but when the guys do it she gets exasperated? How did the council suddenly know who and what she was? There was too much that was vague and half-thought out. There was a lot of her being thirsty while they continued to lie and just expect her to go along, which honestly worked out because she stayed.

The concept was interesting, I just wish the author took more time. I don't even know Damian, or the others really. I don't even know Thea because all she thought of was her own moral dilemma (which came off weak, honestly) and that she wanted their d!cks. I feel unsatisfied.

[BookFiend]

DNF at 12%. This was shaping up to hit many of my major annoyances already. 1. The heroine is TSTL. All we know at this point is that she's been screwed over by a former "friend" bc she lost all her money and her business. Does this make her justifiably wary about going into business with shady (but HOOOOT 🙄) guys that she gets an off vibe from? Absolutely not. She thinks about how things are off over and over, and she thinks she recognizes the symbol as problematic, but does she do any research or ask her friend? Nope again! She just signs on the dotted line bc of 2. She can't stop thinking about how HOT the guys are. That's all she's really thought about them at this point—they started hot and then somehow got hotter. It was completely vapid. I can't stand a heroine who can only think about how hot the MMCs are and has nothing else going on in their head. No wonder she was taken advantage of (or so we're told). 3. Already nonsensical plot development. She just found out that she's locked herself into a contract that seemed too good to be true (gasp!) with a dark coven. Shocker, I know. Suddenly she gets all high and mighty about her reputation and how her clients won't ever use her again. Um, weren't we told that her reputation is already in tatters and her clients already dumped her? In fact, the book blurb even says her name is ruined. We're told that several times and now suddenly she has a small client list left that she needs to protect as well as her good name. If details can't be kept straight from 1% to 12%, I am not sticking around to see what else changes.

[Jolene St Germain Triggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a crazy ride for Thea and her crew! I don't want to mention them by name because I loved her discoveries of the bonds with each one but Thea the grey witch for hire has some adventure cut out for her. She thinks she is an average albeit solitary witch with a bit above average skills, skills she has apparently had attention drawn to. What's a girl to do, gotta lay low for a bit, what better way than to take a nice big contract with a bigger payout than she's seen. I thoroughly enjoyed the discovery and growth of each bond, the sweetness of Jaime possibly has him a tiny bit more than the rest, but there is still plenty of time for any of them to change my mind. Can't wait to read the next one!

[Victoria Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off really great. I was completely on board with it. We had some decent story building going on. But then, she moves in with the guys. The story goes downhill and becomes very predictable from there. She wants out of the contract but is so thirsty for the vitamin d she will take all she can get from them. She argues with them one page and sleeps with them the next. And the guys themselves? Indistinguishable from one another. The author does a poor job of making them their own..except for perhaps Sutton. The book starts to feel rushed and then becomes really predictable. But by then, I was ready for it to be over.

[Christinaraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. It was hot and steamy and full of pretty witches with an agenda that the main characters gets tricked into being a main character in a fight she knows nothing about. It was fun and entertaining and a bit crazy . The story is told from different points of view as we slowly get to figure out what is really going on. Secrets are discovered and hinted at too along the way. I enjoyed the story and characters and bit of mystery too.

[Sissy Satterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read other books by this author and decided to give this one a try. I am glad I did. Thea and her guys work really well together, I enjoyed the story. This is a spicy read, and I liked it. It will be interesting to see where things go next. Good Read! No Spoilers!.

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

[Danielle Gumm · Rating 5 out of 5]

an absolute one click story

I loved this book and have for awhile iykyk lol I can not wait to see what Thea is going to do next and how the guys are going to react! One click this book you won’t regret it!

[Cherylynn Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

This book is really good a must read. I can’t wait to read what happens to Thea and the guys in the next book.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has been an awesome start to a new series. I adore these characters and the story is absolutely amazing. I can't wait to read more.

[Catherine Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUST READ!!!

As usual, AC has hit it out of the park again!! I absolutely love Thea and her personality, and her ‘inner witch’ just cracks me up! Each of the guys have their own very distinct personalities, and you might not like them all at the beginning, but as the book goes on and you learn more about them, you’ll slowly fall in love with them all. 10/10 would recommend!!