The Wedding Witch, by Erin Sterling

Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way, but when his friend Declan—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees.

Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.

But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1957. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

A delightfully funny, slightly spooky witchy romance

The third Penhallow brother meets his match in The Wedding Witch! If you’ve read the second book in the series (trilogy?), you’ve met her too: Tamsyn is the human acquirer of witchy artifacts who causes a fair amount of trouble in The Kiss Curse. Sterling does a great job of redeeming her in this book, turning her into the perfect match for the grumpy, reclusive—and sexy!— Bowen. Tamsyn is engaging and generally quick-thinking; she also tends to fantasize (mostly about Bowen) and has an endearing tendency to blurt out her inner monologue aloud. Bowen has good reasons to be grumpy, reclusive, and single-minded; guilt over his best friend’s apparent death weighs heavily on him. But not so heavily that he doesn’t lust over—and long for—Tamsyn just as much as she does for him. The attraction between them is hot, as are several of the intimate scenes.

The Wedding Witch is set in Wales, but sadly, I didn’t get as much of a sense of place as I hoped for, given that I have visited Wales three times, and loved it. Alas, the small town of Tywyll could have been almost anywhere in Britain (apart from its name, of course.) Tywyll House, on the other hand, definitely has atmosphere. And the characters, secondary as well as main, are interesting, quirky, and individual.

The plot is fun, but to be honest, there’s a bit of handwaving and a notable lack of explanation when it comes to just how everything works out fine in the end. And you know what? I didn’t care. I was having too much fun with the characters to worry about it. (That’s rare for me; this is a nit I usually pick.)

My only regret is that with all three Penhallow brothers paired off, I suspect this is the end of the series. I’ll be sorry to see the last of the Jones women and Penhallow men and the whole witchy world of Graves Grove. (On the other hand, as awful as the Penhallows’ father is, he is single; so is Gwyn Jones’s delightful mother. Given how well Ms. Sterling redeemed Tamsyn in this book, I suppose it’s not out of the question?)

4.5 stars A delightfully funny, slightly spooky witchy romance, perfect for the season.

Challenges: COYER Unwind, Chapter 4; NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 4
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

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