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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'
Enchanted to Meet You: A Witches of West Harbor Novel by Meg Cabot
16 reviews
sariereads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Stalking, Colonisation, and Toxic relationship
caitlinjadams's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Fun, magical, small town romp with a plot to save the day! I’m interested to see what form the series will take!
Is this my favorite Meg Cabot book? No. Is it my least favorite? Definitely not.
Is this my favorite Meg Cabot book? No. Is it my least favorite? Definitely not.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Bullying, and Sexual content
Love spellsdragmags's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
mamawantsbooks's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Meg Cabot is legit my ride or die author. I will pretty much always auto-buy whatever she releases and I’ll usually love it. I’ve grown with her since The Princess Diaries to realizing she also had adult books and devouring everything she’s written.
This was absolutely no exception except now I need the rest of the series because it was so good I’m greedy and want more.
Plus sized rep? OF COURSE. I know I’m biased, but I do love how Meg shows her representation in her writing. Things just *are*. There’s not a big deal made or an obvious in your face, these are just characters who happen to be gay or plus sized or BIPOC but they’re mayors and entrepreneurs.
The story does resolve pretty quickly and I would have liked a little more explanation but sometimes we don’t need that. A good cozy book about witches (a gender neutral term!) trying to save their town and some minor fake dating and major romance thrown in. I saw a reviewer describe this as “peak Meg Cabot (in the best way!)” and honestly that’s the best way to describe it. Meg is the queen at romcom books and she has absolutely done it once again.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the opportunity to read this ARC and review it!
This was absolutely no exception except now I need the rest of the series because it was so good I’m greedy and want more.
Plus sized rep? OF COURSE. I know I’m biased, but I do love how Meg shows her representation in her writing. Things just *are*. There’s not a big deal made or an obvious in your face, these are just characters who happen to be gay or plus sized or BIPOC but they’re mayors and entrepreneurs.
The story does resolve pretty quickly and I would have liked a little more explanation but sometimes we don’t need that. A good cozy book about witches (a gender neutral term!) trying to save their town and some minor fake dating and major romance thrown in. I saw a reviewer describe this as “peak Meg Cabot (in the best way!)” and honestly that’s the best way to describe it. Meg is the queen at romcom books and she has absolutely done it once again.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the opportunity to read this ARC and review it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, and Classism
reading_historical_romance's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
3 stars for this magical, cozy cute read! (I’m also shamelessly loving that the title can be a 2020s pop culture nod to Taylor Swift.)
I’ve been a fan of Meg Cabot’s writing since The Princess Diaries, so I was very excited to have my ARC request approved by Avon. I went in wanting to love it, and if the manuscript had been edited only slightly so that it was YA or New Adult, I would have. I have to give it 3 stars because it is supposed to be a Paranormal Romance, and it just doesn’t quite get there. For an adult Paranormal Romance, it suffers from a very youthful tone and storylines, overplotting, lack of character development, and heavy-handed moralizing.
The novel follows a self-taught cottage witch, Jessica, and a natural born witch, Derrick, as they work together to fulfil a 300-year-old prophecy, which will ensure that Jessica’s small Connecticut hometown of West Harbor – a town that has a history of persecuting witches -- will still exist after Halloween.
Meg has a great voice, and when she lets free with her humor, using atmosphere/setting as character, and choice of random details in building character, her writing absolutely sparkles. There were some great hilarious moments in this book that reminded me all over again of why I love her writing. The text messages between Jessica, and her best friends, Dina and Mark (who have 3 beagles!), and everything about the Trivia Night, were perfect. Jessica’s relationship with her cat, Pye. I loved how we get to know Jessica by watching her “glow-up” her customers with her fashion sense. We really do care about sweet, dim Billy who is genuinely kind, and deserves to be happy.
I loved the magical elements of the story, the quotes from Jessica’s grimoire, and the “Nine Rules” that good witches should follow. (All of these are good morals.) The underlying plot that there is a “Chosen One” that needs to prevent the destruction of her town from an apocalypse was not explained very well, though. I’m still not sure why Derrick was “sent” to West Harbor in the first place, or what his witch “job” really is? By the end, it seems Derrick didn’t actually “do” anything to prevent whatever bad thing was supposed to happen from happening. I also don’t think that the symbolic use of the wolves was clear.
I think this novel would have worked better if the plot had been simpler: Lost soul Derrick arriving to give lost soul Jessica a mission to mentor a young witch, and they end up finding true love! More time could have been spent on developing both Derrick and Jessica’s characters, and their love story. Instead, we got a paragraph or two of statements telling us why they love each other (after less than a week). We aren’t shown anything in the narrative about what makes them Fated Mates, other than that they’re both witches with complicated histories with their witchiness.
The only content that pushes this novel out of the YA or New Adult category is direct statements about sexual activity occurring between Jessica and Derrick. All of these statements are minor/vague, and none contain detailed descriptions. In all but one scene, sexual activity takes place entirely off-page.
Although most of the characters are adults in their 30s, they read as much younger. There are also overt, outright morality lessons and commentary throughout the narrative. The climax of the novel, in and of itself, is a straightforward didactic event.
For example, the novel includes statements like: “Magic is everywhere and in everyone”; “That’s the real crime—the crime of persecuting someone for their supernatural beliefs, a crime for which people around the world even today continue to be accused, and to suffer and die. I believe the court systems should be held accountable for this”; and “You did use your powers. Your powers of compassion and empathy.”
I do not object at all to a book that's about why it’s important to be a decent human being, and that makes direct statements to the reader about what that means. Those books are targeted to, and properly categorized, as middle grade and YA, not as adult fiction or Paranormal Romance.
Overall, this is a fun, cozy read for the fall, and should be enjoyed when curled up in a blanket and sipping a warm pumpkin spice-flavored something. This is also the first book in a series, and I am looking forward to reading the next one to see the direction the series will go.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
I’ve been a fan of Meg Cabot’s writing since The Princess Diaries, so I was very excited to have my ARC request approved by Avon. I went in wanting to love it, and if the manuscript had been edited only slightly so that it was YA or New Adult, I would have. I have to give it 3 stars because it is supposed to be a Paranormal Romance, and it just doesn’t quite get there. For an adult Paranormal Romance, it suffers from a very youthful tone and storylines, overplotting, lack of character development, and heavy-handed moralizing.
The novel follows a self-taught cottage witch, Jessica, and a natural born witch, Derrick, as they work together to fulfil a 300-year-old prophecy, which will ensure that Jessica’s small Connecticut hometown of West Harbor – a town that has a history of persecuting witches -- will still exist after Halloween.
Meg has a great voice, and when she lets free with her humor, using atmosphere/setting as character, and choice of random details in building character, her writing absolutely sparkles. There were some great hilarious moments in this book that reminded me all over again of why I love her writing. The text messages between Jessica, and her best friends, Dina and Mark (who have 3 beagles!), and everything about the Trivia Night, were perfect. Jessica’s relationship with her cat, Pye. I loved how we get to know Jessica by watching her “glow-up” her customers with her fashion sense. We really do care about sweet, dim Billy who is genuinely kind, and deserves to be happy.
I loved the magical elements of the story, the quotes from Jessica’s grimoire, and the “Nine Rules” that good witches should follow. (All of these are good morals.) The underlying plot that there is a “Chosen One” that needs to prevent the destruction of her town from an apocalypse was not explained very well, though. I’m still not sure why Derrick was “sent” to West Harbor in the first place, or what his witch “job” really is? By the end, it seems Derrick didn’t actually “do” anything to prevent whatever bad thing was supposed to happen from happening. I also don’t think that the symbolic use of the wolves was clear.
I think this novel would have worked better if the plot had been simpler: Lost soul Derrick arriving to give lost soul Jessica a mission to mentor a young witch, and they end up finding true love! More time could have been spent on developing both Derrick and Jessica’s characters, and their love story. Instead, we got a paragraph or two of statements telling us why they love each other (after less than a week). We aren’t shown anything in the narrative about what makes them Fated Mates, other than that they’re both witches with complicated histories with their witchiness.
The only content that pushes this novel out of the YA or New Adult category is direct statements about sexual activity occurring between Jessica and Derrick. All of these statements are minor/vague, and none contain detailed descriptions. In all but one scene, sexual activity takes place entirely off-page.
Although most of the characters are adults in their 30s, they read as much younger. There are also overt, outright morality lessons and commentary throughout the narrative. The climax of the novel, in and of itself, is a straightforward didactic event.
For example, the novel includes statements like: “Magic is everywhere and in everyone”; “That’s the real crime—the crime of persecuting someone for their supernatural beliefs, a crime for which people around the world even today continue to be accused, and to suffer and die. I believe the court systems should be held accountable for this”; and “You did use your powers. Your powers of compassion and empathy.”
I do not object at all to a book that's about why it’s important to be a decent human being, and that makes direct statements to the reader about what that means. Those books are targeted to, and properly categorized, as middle grade and YA, not as adult fiction or Paranormal Romance.
Overall, this is a fun, cozy read for the fall, and should be enjoyed when curled up in a blanket and sipping a warm pumpkin spice-flavored something. This is also the first book in a series, and I am looking forward to reading the next one to see the direction the series will go.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Violence
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Stalking, and Sexual content
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