“Rosemary Bay, garden witch and sex magic enthusiast, was not soulmates with a cop. “
This one sentence from a book was all I needed to know what a wild ride this book would be. I expected a spicy romance with not much emotional interest. Boy, Ou Boy, how I was surprised. Collen made Bewitching Rosemary one of the most surprising romance books I read in 2024. Let`s see together why ?
Please be aware that this review will have some explicit content and sexual language. Spoiler sections will be marked.
“Tick tock, buddy, that biological clock is ticking away. Before you know, you’ll be an old maid with bad knees and no one will want your crotchety self and dried up testicles.” “I’m thirty-four, Nat.”
If you read the first book in the Star Island series, Hedge Witch, you have already met Rosemary Bay; if not, let me introduce you. Rosemary is one of five Bay sisters: Lavender, Rosemary, Laurel, Verbena, and Sage. They all live in a cottage on Stare Island and are witches. Rosemary is a garden witch who dabbles in sex magic and everyone else’s business.
“Funny? No, it’s damn hilarious. Your soulmate is in the parlor, Rosemary. Your soulmate. You’ve been talking a big game for the last month. Hell, you’ve been doing it for years. ‘Once my soulmate shows up, we’ll spend three days between the sheets. I can’t wait until he gets here so we can have sex under the full moon. The second I see him, I’m attacking him like a spider monkey. We’re going to do so much sex magic,’” her older sister mocked her.”
In book one, we learn about a curse threatening the Bay sisters and meet Laurel and her soulmate, Owen. The story leaves us with plenty of unresolved dangers, which this book picks up again.
At the beginning, Rosemary meets her soulmate, Asher Evans, the new Star Island sheriff. For Rosemary (a free spirit who loves dancing naked on every possible holiday, and takes mild natural drugs on special occasions ) this is an unpleasant surprise. Also, it looks like the villain’s brother from book one is coming to Star Island to find out what happened to his sibling. Will Rosemarie`s fears come to life, and will she and Asher not have anything in common? Will the Bay sisters survive another of the evil siblings?
Review
Overall Rating: 4.75/5 🪄
Characters:
Atmosphere:
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Enjoyment:
Spice
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“Eh, I was a wild teenager. But I’ve calmed down. I threw a beer bottle at a fence when I was seventeen, not knowing there was a cop on the other side. So, yeah, I was arrested once. And then again when I was twenty-one.” “You throw another beer bottle?” “Nope. I gave Officer Ramirez— he retired a few years ago— a heart attack at the beach on the Vega Peninsula.” “That doesn’t seem like an arrestable offense.” “I was naked,” she said plainly.
So, let`s see. This book is a work of magic. Rosemary is one of the most enticing antagonists I have read in paranormal witchy romance in a while. She is funny in her inner monologues, and I loved her as a character—the little chatty garden witch who loves good sex and is enjoying life to the fullest.
I adore her personality and the care she gives her flowers and family. I must say she is probably my new life guru. I love FMC, who knows how to have fun and is wild but also kind of wise and not unnecessarily reckless.
“Bad boy for life!” She giggled. “I think you mentioned earlier that you were ‘interested’ in me. Care to elaborate?” Her lips curved into a smile. Asher looked behind them to make sure no one was within earshot. “I’ll let you in on a secret.” He leaned closer to her. “I don’t devour the pussy of a woman I’m not interested in.”
Asher, in the beginning, is what I consider a fairly average guy. He is the protector, and he looks like a vanilla kind of guy. But that is not true during the book; Asher`s personality is nicely developed. My first impression was that he would not have any depth, but his family history and other things made him enjoyable in the end. And if personal development is not enough for you, his bossy, filthy mouth adds an unexpected edge that will keep you turning pages?? I must say that my man enjoyed the spicy side of this book, even though he did not read it ?
Sage: ”Me? Most likely I have an army of pissed off witches and warlocks set on hunting me down this time around because I buried them alive in retribution for their desecrating the sacred woods of my patron goddess.”
In this book, we will also learn more about Sage and Verbena, and I am excited to follow up on their stories.
I still enjoyed the magic system in this book very much. Witches are divided by nature into subsections like house witch, garden witch, harvest witch, etc. It just adds coziness to witchcraft.
The plot of the book is quite predictable from the beginning. Still, the execution is full of unexpected emotional depth, humor, and surprising moments.
Spoilers
Spoilers
First, let’s talk about Rosemary’s past life. The same as for Laurel, we will experience her last life, and oh boy, I was crying like a little girl. Colleen improved her game, and Rosemary’s previous life was unfortunate. It was too much for my silly heart when she needed to leave her kids. Secondly, I loved how Rosemary and Asher got together. Even when Rosmery knew he was her soulmate, they talked, and it wasn’t just insta-love, but they based it on genuine connection.
“This afternoon was pretty perfect. Let’s leave it like that.” She took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Text yourself from me. And then text me tonight and tomorrow and the day after. And call me. Talk to me all night. Tell me stuff about when you were a kid and all your hopes and dreams and shit. And then ask me out on a date. Okay?” “Definitely.”
It is not only their connection but also the chemistry between them that is working so much better than in the previous book. The banter was excellent, the spice was terrific… just fantastic ?
“Your dick is wonderful.” She wrapped her hand around it, guiding him back onto the bed next to her. “That’s the oddest compliment I’ve ever received,” he said and nipped at her shoulder. “Wonderful, beautiful, handsome, perfect…” “Keep that up and it’s going in your mouth,” he teased. Rosemary smiled wickedly. “I’ll raincheck you on that for later tonight.
I also like the introduction of guardians and their role in magical society. It nicely addresses the problem of dealing with villains.