I'm so glad that in the last moments of 2022, I got to finish a 5-star read like I haven't had in a long time. I'll definitely be reading more from Kate Johnson, as I found her writing style wonderfully witty and thoroughly engaging. I'd love to spend more time with all of them in future stories (hint to the author if she ever reads this), particularly Lilith and Avery. Neither main character was immediately engaging to me—Essie was a condescending frost queen, while Josh was so down on his luck and … sad. Her accents are fun, her voice is clear and honestly, I just want to hear her narrate all of my future audiobooks.

The coven have cast a protection spell over the house making it untraceable, so it comes as a shock when the gorgeous Josh Hopkins Henderson arrives on their doorstep to tell them he is their new landlord and they owe rent since the 1700s! I especially appreciated that most of their drama came from the external challenges that they faced, rather than petty and immature manipulations. Josh was a good guy and that was his main trait; definitely not an alpha male which on one hand was refreshing but on the other… I need my book boyfriends a little more defined and maybe a teeny tiny bit alpha- ish? Essie is dressed up in corsets and stuff and Josh tries to have a coherent thought probably, but all he can think about is her "bosom". However, there are obstacles in their way, not just as pairing of a witch and non-witch who have hang-ups from their pasts, but there is an ancient monster stirring and if they can’t defeat it there will be no winter, no witches and definitely no Essie and Josh.I was expecting a cute and cosy read but this was fast paced, it had humour, a bit of steam, time travel, spells, and it’s set in Essex…it was a lot, but in a good way. I saw it in The Works while I was browsing, loved the look of the cover and the fact that it was about a bunch of witches living in a small English village hooked me. com}: Essie Winterscale lives in a huge and ever-changing house in the village of Good Winter, in deepest, darkest Essex. Essie had this alternative, quirky, long hair and dungarees thing going on, sort of “I’m not like other girls” but not exactly, and it worked great on her. After a bad breakup Josh moves from the States to a small, decrepid cottage in England that he inherited from his estranged father.

And for a character that no one can deny is an ineffective waster, I can’t see why he inspired so much devotion in a powerful woman. Josh, an american lawyer, quits his job and moves across the continent to renovate the mouldy cottage he inherited from his father.I was a bit unsure about the story at the start, I found it more challenging than I expected to keep track of the various witches living in Beldam House and the direction in which the story was headed. As Josh is drawn further into the lives of the inhabitants of Beldam House, Essie is determined to keep him at broomstick’s length.

All Essie ever wanted was to have a normal life but in the end she found herself drawn back to Beldam House because she just can’t stop her witchiness (although the ability to instantly chill wine is pretty awesome, even she has to admit).She does go through some growth in this book when it comes to learning to open her heart to the possibility of romance. Enter Josh, an American who has recently inherited property in Essex and is now the landlord of Beldam… if only he could locate it. It's as though the author didn't really know what direction they wanted the story to go in, so just added a bit of everything. I ended up devouring this book on a blustery Saturday morning, and I was so sad that I had read it in one sitting because I didn’t want to leave the world that Kate created. Essie Winterscale only ever wanted a normal life but she is unable to suppress her witchiness and is drawn back to the ever-changing Beldam House.