#PracticalRulesForCursedWitches

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb:

magical training by breaking a powerful family’s curse. But her own affliction—to never find true love—gets in the way when she falls for the girl she’s trying to save.

Magic is in Delilah Bea’s blood. Her absentee father is the world’s most famous cursebreaker, while all the women in her family are fated to never find true love. So when Delilah sets out to complete her magical Calling and gain her full powers as a witch, she has the perfect task in mind—breaking the Bea family curse.

But Delilah’s Calling is hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, the spoiled son of the most powerful family in the country, and breaking his curse suddenly becomes her official assignment. Every generation, a pair of Pelumbra twins is doomed, with one twin draining the other of their life and magic. Kieran grows weaker while his sister, Briar, becomes…something monstrous. 

As Delilah and the twins set out on their quest, they quickly realize that breaking the Pelumbra curse isn’t going to be simple. For one thing, the rest of the Pelumbra family doesn’t actually want their curse broken—and they’ve sent hunters after the trio to ensure they fail. For another, something about Briar gets under Delilah’s skin, distracting her and making her want to kiss the perpetually grumpy look off her face. But with time running out for the twins and Delilah’s own true love curse getting in the way, they may not stand a chance of finding their happily ever after.

Review:

A delight sapphic witchy romance about breaking curses, falling in love, and getting your happily ever after. This was a touch of Practical Magic meets Howl's Moving Castle, Delilah Bea's family is cursed so that any man who falls in love with a Bea woman will forget all their memories of said lover once they fall in love. Delilah is a witch who's father is a famous cursebreaker and when it's time for her Calling, a ceremony in which she is tasked to perform a magical feat to prove that she should be allowed to keep her magic, she opts to break the family curse.... too bad someone objects and sets a new task for her: to break his family curse. Kieran Pelumbra is the spoiled son of the most powerful family in the country and breaking his family curse has become her official assignment. Delilah should be mad but when she finds out that Kieran is dying and he doesn't have much time left and he is sorry for doing this to her but she is his final hope before he dies... she relents. Keiran needs Delilah to help him break his family curse: a curse that has killed every single set of twins in the family, and Keiran needs Delilah to help him find his twin Briar who has run away. Delilah is determined to break both her own curse and Keiran's curse, yet when she meets Briar she doesn't expect to be so completely taken aback by the prickly, eye patch wearing snarky girl who would sooner wrap vines around someones neck than ask for help. Delilah and Briar immediately get off on the wrong foot but the longer they spend together the more Delilah is beginning to realize that the reason Briar gets under her skin so much might be because she is falling for her. But can she fall for a woman when she is cursed to have all her lovers forget her? With the clock ticking and so many curses to break, can Delilah do it all? This was such a cozy romantic read and I loved the witchy atmosphere and the banter between Briar and Delilah was really cute. It's a great read for the autumn time and it's got a sweet love story at the center. I've loved Kayla Cottingham's books and this one was another great read! If you want a witchy sapphic read I would absolutely recommend this one!

Purchase Link: Amazon

Tour Link: TBR Beyond

Author Info: website

Release Date: August 27,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley , Random House Children's | Delacorte Press, and TBR Beyond Tours for sending me an arc in exchange or an honest review*