A wholesome witchy story about self discovery perfect for the autumn season.
With a little spice thrown in for good measure!

Absolutely loved this!! What a magical read. Perfect for this time of year. I read this within a day, I couldn’t put it down. I loved Dina. Lots of magic and love. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this! It gave me the spooky but cutesy vibes I wanted.
I really liked the bi representation, as well as the fact our FMC was morroccan.
I loved the spice and romance for the most part, but did find it was a bit insta love at the start.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone | Del Rey, and Nadia El-Fassi for gifting me a digital arc copy of The Best Hex Ever in exchange for an honest and fair review. I zoomed through Best Hex Ever faster than a witch on a broomstick at Halloween.

The Best Hex Ever is the witchy, cosy-fantasy debut by Nadia El-Fassi about a secret witch who hexed herself with a problematic curse that dooms her love life because the Hex will hurt anyone who falls for her. She possesses a cosy writing style with a lovely descriptive writing style that weaves together a delightful mix of atmospheric vibes, sizzling romance, and humorous shenanigans around a heartwarming, low-stakes storytelling with a comfortable, ambling pace. The witchcraft and magic were light, sweet, and understated in a realistic, wispy way as if they could almost slot into real life in the blink of an eye. I would have loved to see the mouthwatering recipes for the baked goods and teas included in the book. I still have cravings for croissants and scones from reading this book.

The characters are an inclusive cast that is well-developed, loveable, and cutely put together, making them relatable and endearing. The focus on the bonds of friendship and family in the characters brought a lovely, warm dynamic to the story centred on the female bonds for Dina's world around those of mother and daughter and close female friendships. I felt like part of Dina's family (blood and adopted) with her rich Moroccan heritage and culture threaded through her story relationships with her mother and brought to life through interactions at her family home and witchy ceremonies. Dina stole the show for me as a character; her character journey is a charming, emotional journal of self-discovery, which will resonate with us all as we can all be our worst enemies with our doubts and insecurities. To allow her to break her Hex and return Scott's love, Dina needs to open up to accept and love herself, be honest with her loved ones, and embrace her inner struggles with her sexuality/internal homophobia and magical identity.

The romance between Scott and Dina is light-hearted, with an insta-love attraction from when they meet at Dina's coffee shop and bakery business. Lots of longing and ruminating on desire and missed chances. All spices up under forced proximity, and all snaps into place upon them falling into bed. It's easy, quick and fluffy. Low-stake tension continues about the shadow of the Hex, but ends happily ever after with a bit of self-reflection and self-love on Dina's part, coming clean about her secrets and embracing all she is with support from Scott and her family.

A perfect cosy, witchy read to accompany a magical Autumn Day full of gorgeous descriptions (especially the food and tea), heartwarming friendships, and some steamy romance. If you want a heartwarming and spicy read with the vibes of The Pumpkin Spiced Café by Laurie Gilmore but with a magical twist, this book should be on your October-to-buy list.

[Rating 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for review submission]

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝘅 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 • 𝗡𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗘𝗹-𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶
★★★★

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁
- Romantasy
- Lighthearted autumn vibes
- Insta list
- Steamy scenes
- Dual POV

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Best Hex Ever is cosy, comforting, whimsical, and charming. It begins with the female protagonist, Dina, who owns a cafe that is supposed to emanate serendipity, since that’s its namesake. Serendipity has pastries and hot drinks full of sweet charms that will help a persons day go right. Scott, the male protagonist, is a museum curator who meets Dina, and as fate has it, meets her again and again and again. Whilst the lust was instant, the hex that follows Dina around, hurting whoever she loves, builds and builds until she can no longer ignore it.

There was a lot for me to love about this book. When I realised that Dina’s parents were welsh/arabic, I was thinking not to be dramatic but was this book… made for me? It really did hit a lot of right spots.

This was lighthearted, quick to read, and had a beautiful arc that started off sweet and ended spicy. This is the perfect autumn book for romantasy fans.

𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀
“𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘱 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.”

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮.”

“𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.”

“𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘢’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.”

This is a cosy but spicy tale about a brewing and baking witch Dina who unexpectedly falls for museum curator Scott. However, Dina has a hex placed on her by a former lover, meaning anyone who loves her will be hurt.

Unable to keep herself away from him, especially when they’re sharing the same cottage at their friend’s wedding…
Will she be able to undo the hex before something terrible happens?

I did find a little plot hole here. It would have been useful for the author to clarify that the hex only affected those who fall in love with her, not family and friends.

I love that Dina is a kitchen witch. Literally my idea of heaven to be a witch with their own café 😍

It was refreshing to see a small third act breakup that wasn’t because of a silly argument, it was done out of the love and care that Dina had for Scott.

But all of the problems could have been resolved if she’d just have told someone sooner. I get that it would have been difficult to have the conversation with her mum and her reservations. But I don’t understand why she never told Scott about the Hex, especially when things started getting worse and he was narrowly avoiding accidents.

It was still a cute and easy read and did have an underlying message of self love and acceptance 🫶🏻

A cute, cozy, and surprisingly spicy rom-com! This was such a fun read. It's going to be a lot of people's favorite autumn book- a bakery, magic infused baked goods, magic, romance, found family, and a spooky wedding: all the things that will make you feel warm and snuggly, with some serious romance and open door romance to add some giggling and feet kicking.

I loved the diversity of the characters and the magic of this book. Middle Eastern inspired representation done right. The found family was so fitting in this setting- the main character's mother accepting Diana's closest girlfriends as her daughters and treating them as such is so perfectly relatable; she may be my favorite character.

The juxtaposition of the coziness with the very explicit spice was jarring though. I love cozy fantasy, I love super spicy romance, but it gave me a bit of whiplash to have them together in one book. I also wish that the romance had been built up a little; the only thing that they seemed to have in common or like about each other was how much they wanted to jump each others' bones. I'm not a fan of insta-love, which may explain why I wasn't super invested in the romance.

Overall a charming and fun autumn read, and one that I would recommend to my romance and cozy fantasy loving friends. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book.

October and Halloween are coming, it might be summer right now but, reading this gorgeous cosy, witchy, funny and definitely spicy romance totally brought that feeling! I do love witchy reads and there’s something about a fun romance that totally transports me away from the humdrum of real life!

Nadia El-Fassi has taken real life and added a real zing of magic, from Dina’s London cafe that brings a little bit of joy and comfort to her customers, to Dina’s parents sentient home that will wrap you up in a snuggly duvet in front of a cosy fire or thwack you with a pair of socks if you steal it’s credit, to the gothic mansion surrounded by a dark, magical forest that will envelop you in nature.

Dina is a kitchen witch who runs her own cafe in London, that specialises in hot drinks and amazing baked goods that attract customers from far and wide. Scott is a museum curator, working hard to gain the respect of his colleagues and seniors and entice people to visit the museum where he works.

Their story comes to life at the wedding of Dina’s best friend Immy, where Dina is the maid of honour and Scott is the best man. I know you’ve read a wedding romance before but, El-Agassi brings something fresh, warm and quite enticing to the trope.

Trust me, I flew through this book in one afternoon and I definitely enjoyed reading Scott and Dina’s story, which despite being quite spicy, also had an important theme running through it that we should all take note of!

If you love witchy vibes, a healthy dose of spice, great friendships, sentient houses with attitude and true friends, then you this is the read for you.

Thank you to Random House U.K., Cornerstone and NetGalley for the arc of Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the ARC

Looking for a new witchy romcom for the spooky season? Look no further. I really enjoyed this book. I thought the relationship between our main characters was adorable. I loved how our fmc tried to save our mmc from the curse she thought she's endanger him with. And I loved how he fought to be with her. Also the integration of food? Delicious

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This was a really good comfy read with lots of autumn vibes, a nice magic system and awesome cast of characters. Loved the inclusion of the Moroccan heritage and culture. There were a couple of places where the writing made me cringe just a little, but overall I really enjoyed this one!

There's so much I really enjoyed about this book.

Firstly, I love a sentient house. The House is a supporting character in its own right, and this one is a bit sassy and sarcastic, and I love it!

I love Dina and Scott together, but what I really loved about Dina is that she, to the outside world, is really put-together, and inside she has her own insecurities. It made her incredibly relatable, and quite endearing.

Scott is also lovely. He's passionate about his work, and adorable.

I would have liked some more Juniper, and Heebie on the page, because they're both adorable. Overall, though I really enjoyed this, and would be completely into a sequel.

I want to be best friends with Dina and visit her cafe everyday. Dreamy.
I enjoyed the plot, and the characters were really easy to like. This was a super fun, quick, cosy, witchy read, perfect for this time of the year and going into autumn/spooky season. There was a fair amount of use of the C word though, which I'm not against, just not in the spicy context.


Review will be posted on goodreads and on my bookstagram @hanreadingjournal

Thank you for this eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for approving me for an arc of this book.

Let's just say I was in a HUGE reading slump prior to picking this up and I zoomed through it! A very cozy, magical and spicy romance that will have you giggling. The Best Hex Ever follows Dina, a bakery owner and a witch who stumbles across a guy who enters her bakery one day and catches her eye....however Dina is is Hexed which means every partner she has gets bad luck.

Overall, I loved the vibes of this book. The magic was very sweet and realistic. I especially loved how inclusive this story was. It was super refreshing to see parts of the Moroccan culture entwined within the story and elements of what it's like living in the diaspora. Although the story is quite light hearted and mostly fun there are some deeper themes that form the story too, such as accepting yourself.

My only critique is that for me personally it was a little too spicy, however for others I think this may be a plus. If you're looking for a Halloween/Autumnal romance to read this year its a must.

It's been a couple weeks since i finished, revising to 5 stars because i miss this world so much!!!

The title itself made this a must read for me. I've really been getting into witchy romcoms lately and this is a great one. I giggled and was devouring this whole story.
Highly recommended read.

Adorable. The perfect cosy witchy romance for autumn! I love Dina and her mother and their Moroccan heritage. Immy was my absolute fave character too, loved her quirkiness and love for Dina. The spice was just the right amount, I couldn’t get enough of the recipes and spells and Dina and Scott were relationship goals.

Really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cornerstone for approving me for this ARC. I love a good cosy read especially with witchy vibes so this is just my kind of thing.

I really enjoyed the opening of the cafe. The descriptions were done well for a debut and I could feel myself being transported into the cafe with its vibes and atmosphere. I did feel the descriptions of British weather weren’t quite accurate. I lived in London for 10 years and I still live in the UK, and we do not have the four seasons the author seems to be describing.

Dina is a kitchen witch, and I loved all the descriptions of her baking, the food, her witchcraft. It’s definitely a very cosy book and ideal for autumn reading.

The book mostly takes place across a weekend for a wedding at a house in the woods. Dina is the maid of honour and Scott is the best man. I really enjoyed the house setting. I’ve read quite a few romances set during a wedding destination and they start to get repetitive but this felt quite original.

One of my favourite things is a sentient house (not the wedding house) and this book had a sentient house! I was overjoyed when we came to this part. The house was hilarious and meddlesome. I loved it.

This was a fun lighthearted read. I think it was well-written for a debut. It is spicy and there is definite lust at first sight between the main characters which ran through the novel. I prefer more love than lust but I also generally prefer more closed door romances. I wouldn’t read it again but I think if you’re looking for a cosy, charming, happy witchy autumnal read, centred around female friendship, then this would be right up your street. (We can only do so much gothic eerie vibes.)

I’ve rated this 3 stars.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I enjoyed parts of it, but I ended up skim reading it towards the end because I was waiting for the big reveal about the hex. I felt the relationship between the two main characters was very rushed, but this could have been explained by some type of magic/witchy soulmates, etc, but it was never delved into.

I don't mind smut, but there was a lot, and it didn't advance the plot. The two main characters were constantly talking about how much they wanted to rip each other's clothes off. The magic felt like a side plot, and the hex was sorted in one chapter. I wanted more about the hex and trying to defeat it.

However, it was OK as a cozy, smut read.

5/5

Debut author Nadia El-Fassi brews up a delightful blend of magic, wedding shenanigans, pesky hexes, and sizzling romance in one bewitching debut. In a magical cafe in London, a kitchen witch fends off a love hex by guarding her heart from potential love interests and focusing on perfecting magical bakes for her clientele. Too bad her handsome new customer is the best man at her friend's wedding and avoiding him is impossible as they'll be stuck together for the entire weekend. Best Hex Ever promises a twist on that classic witch story imbued with coziness and served piping hot with a side of chai. Dina and Scott have the kind of instantaneous connection that had me hooked on their every interaction. Best Hex Ever is a wonderfully magical romance with sparks that ignite into an inferno (seriously this book is so hot). Nadia El-Fassi proves that romance and magic are often intertwined and some connections are their own kind of magic. I’m certain many readers will find themselves in this miraculous romance novel about charting your path and opening yourself up to love again. Nadia El-Fassi brings together a one-of-a-kind witchy debut that needs to be at the top of your list this fall.

This will be featured on my blog closer to publication.

This is a really lovely cosy fantasy romance. The different settings were beautifully positioned throughout the story. I enjoyed every character but particularly Dina - I found it really interesting for the heroine of a tale to make a genuine mistake and suffer actual consequences for her actions but still be treated sensitively so the reader understand her struggles. I thought the whole premise was well introduced and the secondary characters added to the plot and context. It was an easy read but with enough depth to remain interesting and gripping throughout.

I loved it! Just loved it! I've already pre-ordered it on Waterstones to read again. I'm more of a paperback reader myself so I am looking forward to experiencing the joy that this book was, again!