Killian appeared in a blink, spinning around the circle, his sharp fangs gleaming with malice as if wakening from a nightmare. For a moment, his demonic form appeared, his horns and wings flickering in the candlelight before disappearing back into the shadow dimension.
I didn’t get a good look, but from what I saw, he was magnificent.

Bewitched Shadows (Autumn Blake)

What kind of genre is this? It has definitely a murder mystery in it. But its also a romance (with some spice!). But it is also kind of a coming of age story. So let’s call it a spicy, romantic murder mystery with a strong coming-of-age trope. And although I am not really a romance reader, and I am not that much into the whole plethora of fantasy beasts (Fae, vampires, werewolfes, demons, witches… I mean they are all intriuging in itself, but all of them together at once?) I fairly enjoyed this one! I got this one as an ARC and I can say I am very thankful for getting this.

We follow our two main characters Ember and Killian. Ember is a young witch, living with her three sisters in their deceased parents house and trying to cope with her loss in the most unhealthiest of ways (drugs, sex and partying basically). Since the violent death of her parents she is also not able to access her magic properly, a problem which she tries to avoid more than solve. One day she meets Killian, a demon from hell, who has to deal with his own hurt and grief and who seems to equally hate and desire Ember. Feelings Ember returns. Their relationship towards each other becomes more intense and complicated when murders are happening to supernatural beings in the town and they decide to find the murderer together.

As stated above I am not the biggest fan of romance so far. I really decided to give romances a try this year, because I always want to keep an open mind and give the opportunity for changing my mind (If you want to see me explore more of the romance world this year, you can subscribe down below to be notified when I post a new blog article). And hey, you never know, maybe romance is totally my thing and i just didn’t get that so far. And I have to say this book did a good job regarding that already. Ok, I have to admit, the spicy parts were a big leap for a newcomer romance reader as me, but I do think that a lot of people will really enjoy this. I also was pleasantly surprised that although the whole dominant male thing was executed here, there was an emphasis on consent, which is more than I found in some other books and which I really appreciate (because really: if this consent is not given we are basically witnessing an assault and I am not up for that!). The romance part was personally more to my liking and far more easier to get into for someone like me not used to this kind of content. I found the relationship development quite realistic (given the specific circumstances I will not discuss to not give any spoilers) and I was really interested in knowing what would happen next.

The characters in itself were quite likeable. I do enjoy an anti-hero and Ember and Killian both fall at least slightly in this category. Although not really anti-heroes, they are still quite troubled and traumatized and don’t always act in the icest and most considerate way regarding others in their lifes. The character development based on those grounds was quite satisfactory therefore, as there was a lot of room to grow. The character growth was maybe a little hasty at the end, but still ok for the genre we are speaking of (not expecting it to be super extra realistic and believable as we are speaking about supernatural beings).
From a psychological standpoint we can see clearly the possible aftermaths of severe trauma in the form of avoidance (emtional as well as situational and regarding memories of the traumatic event) and unhealthy destructive behaviour (drug abuse, a lot of meaningless sexual encounters etc.). Both Ember and Killian struggle with feeling emotionally safe in regards to a partnership. The story is also about the hard path to overcoming trauma and its conseuquences and facing your fears for the sake of those you love and yourself.
Sadly, LGBTQ+ representation was not existent at all in regards of the characters.

The plot was quite nice and slower at the beginning (which I always like) and quite fast in the end (maybe a little bit too fast for my personal liking, but still entertaining). A strong suit of „Bewitched Shadows“ is the heartwarming portrayal of the family dynamic of Ember and her sisters. I quite enjoyed myself spending evenings with the girls and feeling their love for one another (yes, I am talking like I was sitting with them their on their sofa and watching a movie with them, because thats exactly what I did in my imagination 😉 ).

The ending was mixed for me, part really nice, partly i didn’t care for some of it. I would love to know your opinion! 🙂 For all that don’t want to say goodbye already to this world: In september 2023 there will be another book coming out, „Blood Enchanted“. This time it will be told from the viewpoint of Ember’s sister Jade, a character that was quite interesting in „Bewitched Shadows“, so definitely worth checking out if you enjoy this one. I will actually keep watching out for this (subscribe down below if you don’t want to miss this).

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3,75 stars! A good and entertaining read 🙂

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This is for you if…

… you are into spicy romances with dominant males, but also explicit consent

… you like a murder mystery paired with a fantasy setting with multiple kinds of supernatural beings (witches, fae, werewolves, vampires, demons, nymphs…)

…you like stories with flawed main characters you can maybe realte to better and their quest to finding their true and whole self

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Trigger warning: explicit depiction of sexual activity; physical violence; traumatic experience