Cozy Winter Witch Vibes: A Review of Back in a Spell by Lana Harper

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Summer is nearing its end. I am counting down the days till Spooky Season. I’m ready for chilly nights under fluffy blankets and fog laden mornings also under fluffy blankets. If I could live in perpetual autumn, I would.

Oh how I wish I was one of Disney's dancing skeletons.

There are still a few weeks to go before RHRML goes balls to the walls with the Spooky Season vibes. Which is why I’m giving you a little spooky-lite read this week. Though funnily enough, the story takes place in the winter months. So we’re jumping right over Spooky Season with this one. But it’s got witches and magic! So close enough!

With that, please give a warm welcome to Back in a Spell by Lana Harper!

It has a gorgeous cover in my opinion.

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’re read any other review on this site then you will know that I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. Tis my curse. This is the one and only warning you get. Synopsis time now!

One year before the start of our story, Nineve “Nina” Blackmoore was dumped by her fiancée a week before their wedding. How tragic. Well it’s time Nina dives back into the dating pool. Or at least the hook up pool. Her bestie sets her up on a dating app and encourages her to go on a date with the first mega hottie she sees. That hottie being Morty Gutierrez, a nonbinary bartender, silk aerialist, and co-owner of the Shamrock Cauldron. Please note, Morty uses he/they pronouns and I will be using both of them in this review.

Morty and Nina have an instant attraction to one another. But that attraction quickly disappears when Morty learns Nina’s last name. The Blackmoore family recently attempted to buy the bar Morty’s family owns. Yeah, they didn’t like that. Not many people in the town of Thistle Grove like the Blackmoore family; they’re the snooty, entitled rich people of the town, it’s very reasonable that people don’t like them.

Anyway, the night after this failed date, something magical happens. An ancient goddess calls to Nina from a statue in the depths of Lady’s Lake. Nina naturally has no idea why this is happening or who this goddess is, but the goddess does give Nina’s powers a major boost. (Nina Blackmoore is a witch, by the way. Her entire family is, as are many of the other founding families of Thistle Grove. Back in a Spell has a lot of lore I’m not going to get into in this review. This is actually book three in a series, but you don't need to have read any of the other books to follow along. So points for that!) On top of Nina’s powers being stronger than everyone else’s, Morty also gets magic. Morty is a human, they don’t come from a magical family, and typically, the only way a human can get magic powers is if they marry a witch and go through with a special ceremony. Morty and Nina didn’t do anything that resembles this ceremony, so why is this happening? Who is this goddess and what does she want with Nina? And why is she tying Nina and Morty together? Can Nina solve this puzzle? Find out in Back in a Spell.

Truthfully, I picked Back in a Spell up on a whim one day. I didn’t really know what to expect from it other than it’s some sort of love story mixed with witchcraft. I was drawn in by the pretty cover and cheap price. In all honesty, after reading this book, I don’t have any strong feelings one way or another. My short review for Back in a Spell is that it’s simply fine. It could be better, but it could also be worse.

Best I can say is "meh."

Let’s start with the main couple, Morty and Nina are the main reason people are likely going to read this book; the book is primarily a romance after all. Nina and Morty are foils. This is an opposites attract type of relationship. Nina is reserved, a workaholic, she's broken, she’s living in the cold shadow of her family; she isn’t really living her life as much as just existing. Morty on the other hand is quite lively, he’s always off on an adventure or doing something somewhat dangerous, and while he’s a hard worker like Nina, work is not what drives his life forward. Together, Morty teaches Nina to chill and live life while Nina teaches Morty about magic; yeah, Nina certainly has much more growth in this book than Morty does.

But how do they work together? Are they a believable couple? Are they one I as a reader want to root for? I don’t really know. I don’t dislike them, but I don’t always buy their relationship. To me, these two are in lust and not love. Their connection is physical and only strengthened due to the witch bond. Yes, they share their traumas and help one another to grow, but I don’t believe the two will last long together. Back in a Spell certainly finishes with a Happy For Now ending; which is totally fine, both Happily Ever After and Happy For Now work for me.

The biggest issue, and the main issue, I have with this book is the length it takes the characters to learn about the goddess at the bottom of the lake and what she wants with Nina. For the vast majority of the book, Nina is playing around with her overpowered magic. She doesn’t crack open a book to attempt research. She keeps her newfound strength to herself; granted she doesn’t want to tell her family about what’s happening because her family would take advantage of it, but even the one family member she does willingly tell doesn’t do any research for her. Nina does nothing and it annoys me. There are questions to be answered and a main character not seeking them! It takes until roughly the last third of the book before anyone seeks out any sort of answer regarding the lake goddess thus making all the information come in a rush. I would have preferred, and I do believe it would have worked better, had the author dropped bits of information throughout the read and not just the final third.

Now, I want to nitpick a little. The first five or so chapters have at least two italicized words on each page. Personally I felt half of the words didn’t need to be emphasized. I found the continuous use of italics to be annoying. It was excessive. It was unnecessary. Like I said, this is me really nitpicking, but this choice bothered me, ok? I know this shouldn't be an issue, I have no real reason to bring it up in this review, but I am bothered by it; and no, I will not explain further.

Sorry not sorry.

When it comes to Back in a Spell, I found it to be just okay. Listen, romance is not my genre. Or I’ve not found a romance subgenre I vibe with yet. Nothing is egregiously wrong with this book. While I wasn’t a big fan of the main couple, I’m sure others will love them for their opposites attract style relationship. For me Back in a Spell is fine, it’s perfectly average. A true two-and-a-half/three star read if I’ve ever seen one.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds, I hope you all had a fun time. I will see you all again next week with another new review; this time with a book that’s more my speed. If you can’t wait that long, then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly suggest giving a listen to my podcast Nothing to See Hear. You can find the show on Spotify and YouTube. It stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk Disney, Barbie, 90’s wrestling, Scooby-Doo, weird moments and people of history, and so much more! There’s bound to be an episode that strikes your fancy.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!