Not the Witch You Wed

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher is a delightful, and playful paranormal romance that warmed my heart and made me laugh out loud. A second chance romance along with some magic and some laughs makes for a wonderful story. Violet Maxwell is the oldest sister from a set of triplets, and she’s the only one that doesn’t have any magic. She’s content with her role as the magicless witch and doesn’t mind that her two sisters have magic and she doesn’t. When she is told by the witches council that, as the oldest sibling, she must find a mate right away, she balks as she doesn’t know anybody she could spend the rest of her life with. Lincoln Thorne, a shapeshifting wolf, and the alpha of his pack, must find a mate by his 33rd birthday, only five weeks away. Lincoln (Linc) and Violet have a history. They were friends and dated briefly, until Linc disappeared one day, breaking Violet’s heart. So, when he reappears in her life, she’s not very happy about it. But, they eventually agree to a fake bonding in order to keep the Witche’s council off their back. Their old attraction resurfaces, and sparks fly. I don’t read many paranormal books, so I’ll admit this was a bit tough for me to get into because of all the different paranormal characters. But, soon enough, I figured them all out and then I was able to enjoy the story, and especially the romance between Violet and Linc. The author is very thorough in her world-building, and the action started almost immediately bringing me into the story right away. I can see this being a long series as there are already so many characters. The banter and humor between Violet and Linc was so much fun. There are a lot of characters in this book, and I can’t wait to meet more of them again in later books. I recommend Not the Witch You Wed to anyone who loves a paranormal romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It all starts with the catchy title and delightful cover. Those two things caught my attention right off the bat. Then I read the blurb and had to read this book. A paranormal rom-com and it's the start of a series! I'm in! The story is as much urban fantasy as paranormal romance, and it is witty and fun from the start. The romance is second chance, enemies to lover, and fake dating all rolled into one. Enemies to lovers is always good for banter, and Violet and Linc are hilarious when they get started. There's a fine line between love and hate, and this couple dances all over it. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and several are introduced at the beginning. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sort through and remember who's who, but April Asher makes each one distinguishable. It didn't take long and I remembered who was doing what and who belonged to which supernatural group. Asher gives them all to us in this fantastical world - witches, shifters, demons, angels... There's even a succubus! Not the Witch You Wed gives us a witch with no magic (or sleeping magic?) and a wolf shifter, and the chemistry is off the charts whether Violet wants to admit it or not. So, the story may have started out a little confusing, at least for me, but that didn't last long before I was totally invested in these characters and their world. Now that I've visited, I want to go back, so I'm over the moon that this is a series, and I'll be watching for whatever comes next.