Rockstars, witches AND responsible kink representation! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
The amount of representation all around in this book is great. Plus - a man who values open communication, well that's just magical.
I would say this book is very much a cozy magical romance with a side of rockstar. The focus is the magic and the romance and he just happens to be the drummer of her favorite band.
Overall I was a fan of the story. There were moments to me where the pacing seemed a little funky and through a bit of the middle section I realized just how long the book was feeling. But I couldn't stop reading.

Giving it a 3.65 but rounding up to a 4.

Nostalgic scene kid vibes, a witchy FMC and rockstar MMC with banter, spice, and a unique magic world? I’m so in.

This book was such a good time. Somehow spicy and cozy all at once, with the greenest flag golden retriever of an MMC who also happens to be a pleasure dom who likes primal play? It shouldn’t be possible. The cast of characters were so diverse and I can’t wait to learn more about them in future books. Never tokenized, no cheap cheesy tropes, this book was an entertaining read start to finish and I ate it up.

Cute and powerful witch meets golden retriever drummer ready to rock her world!
(get it?)

Jinxes and Drumsticks was a super fun read, and I loved the take on an MMC with golden retriever energy in the streets, but dom energy in the sheets. Lillith and Damien are down bad for each other from the start, and are such a cute couple.

I had a lot of fun reading this one, and enjoyed the spice and the magic aspects.
Some of the plot pacing was a little off for me, with a few things feeling very rushed, but it didn't stop me from enjoying my time reading!
I loved seeing disability representation with our FMC - and that it never stopped her from being an absolute baddie!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Aidoneus Press and NetGalley for sending me an ARC.

This was really engaging from start to finish. I would absolutely check out more from this author. I would recommend this one to my followers.

I saw the cover, read the blurb, and couldn't not request an ARC. Jinxes & Drumsticks is a bit outside of my usual genres, especially being lighter and comedy-ish, but I'm really glad I picked it up!

⭐⭐⭐ (3.25) | 🌶️🌶️ (2)

It was a wild ride, to say the least. I was NOT expecting genuinely stressful, high stakes. I was fine with insta-lust, cool, which then transitions pretty quickly into instant deeeeeeep infatuation - not always a fan of that tbh - but it read so easy, which I think is a mark of good writing, and the author having a really solid grip on her characters. Once I was presented with our leads - Lilith and Damien - I had them. They are so solidly written, they just evolve. By the end of the book I was devastated to leave them. 😭

That said, I had both an amazing time with the writing - and a tough one. The storytelling is good, and so long as you go in knowing the relationship is a quick burn while the plot is a slower burn, you should be good. The pacing definitely tripped me up at first, but once I recognized the cadence of the story, I could buckle in and enjoy. The pace of the romance is ZOOMING. It's immediate, like, chapter one. It ramps up quickly without feeling too quick to care about the characters. The dilemmas are solid. The hesitancy is logical. Both characters fall FAST, and they fall HARD, and it is DELICIOUS.

Damien is, by his own admission, kind of a fuckboy, and he falls fast for women, but when he does, he really does have good intentions. He just… He finds people easy to love, and he's not willing to pass up the chance (so long as all parties are into it) to see if they capital-w Work. In return, he himself is very easy to love. I fell for him immediately, that's for sure. He's just a sweet golden retriever that's been shuffled from home to home, always too much to handle, or losing his novelty. But Damien! Deserves! A forever home!! He's full of humor, always down for the bit, and protective of those he considers his people. He's not perfect by any means, and because of that he feels so real. His jealousy didn't feel toxic; it felt misguided but reasonable. In almost every case I was upset right beside him. The absolute euphoria he felt? So did I.

Lilith is wonderful. I found her so relatable, and her internal thoughts are reliably hilarious. The author straddles the line of Lilith's being caught in this whirlwind of a love story - fear over it not lasting, the hope that it will; trying to keep herself and her heart safe, while still allowing herself to be loved. Her relationships outside of the MMC were varied, and while I'd have loved to see them more in depth, they didn't feel 2D.

What made my reading experience tough were some aspects of the plot: the villain and such. It's difficult to express without dipping into spoilers, but. A change happens that feels MUCH too easy, everyone seems to not bat an eye at something I felt lowkey unbelievable. I felt like I missed something MASSIVE, like a skipped chapter, where I was left suspicious while the story carried on its merry way.

I also wasn't delighted with some of the “end” of the plot, and how it worked out. It just… doesn't make much sense. Again, I was left feeling like I missed something. 😕 The story ends with a decent HEA - or a HFN (Happy For Now); it can be read as a stand alone, but there's a planned sequel (which I'll absolutely read!) so it's obvious Damien and Lilith's tale isn't over. It's not THAT that bothers me, I actually really enjoyed the ending! It's more the final confrontation type situation that left me confused.

Lillith has been quietly crushing on her favourite drummer's hands for a while. When the band comes to her small town in California and she meets Damien, the sparks fly and Lillith decides to take a chance. What was supposed to be a fling, turns into something much deeper very quickly. But it's not Damien's rockstar life that will get in the way of their future, but Lillith's family curse. Magic is real, and much harder to fight than fame.

Lots of consensual spice, well-developed characters and strong world-building makes Jinxes and Drumsticks a much deeper read than it may appear. Works as a stand alone novel, but looking forward to a sequel, perhaps with a narrator shift.

3.5🌟 *NETGALLEY ARC REVIEW*

I’m not usually an insta-love fan, but this one worked for me.

Damien was the ultimate green flag. An obsessive golden retriever with a kinky side, a split tongue, and incredible communication skills. Kind, loving, and completely devoted. I honestly don’t think he had a flaw.

Cute, spicy, and witchy! The holy trinity! I think it could have been a bit shorter, as some of the sweeter moments blended together, but I still loved watching Damien take care of her. The pacing also jumped from slow to nonstop in the final 20%.

The side characters were a standout and added so much personality to the story, and I really hope we get more of them if this becomes a series. Maybe we can add the promises made to Oren too! Pretty please and thank you!

This book kept me pulled in, I loved it so much.
Dual POV, Magical, Musical and with a side of mayhem 🤍 I was all for it.. And that MMC 🔥🥵
Someone call the paramedics, oh wait!! No need,
He's the full package 🖤
Will come back to post my review once I've written it up ❤️

Posted a review on goodreads as follows, link here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8811033694

**Thank you to Net Galley for providing me an ARC copy of this as an e-book. This is an honest review, written in exchange for reading a free copy.**

I requested this book for the vibes: metal music, drummer boyfriend, and of course, witches and magic in the vein of Practical Magic and Halloweeen Town. Light an apple orchard candle and find a cozy blanket, this book is perfect for the upcoming spooky season.

🖤🖤🖤🎃🎃🎃🖤🖤🖤

I'll say what I liked about this book first: I loved the set-up for the romance; I mean, what girl hasn't ever fantasized about a musician from your favorite band running into you, let alone falling madly in love with you? Listen, I'm always down for a romance with a side of smut and witches. And the underlying plot of magic tying Lillith to her house, a family curse stemming from a bargain with a demon, and the Buried City, was certainly interesting enough to keep me guessing. It also helps that our main couple, Damien and Lillith, are very sweet together and have a lot of positive interactions that really show what a great relationship with open communication looks like (particularly with their set of kinks 😉). Their banter hit all the right notes of flirty, yet occasionally sarcastic, and hopelessly into each other.

I also adored the settings, from an herbal apothecary where Lillith whips up everything from shampoo to candles, to the Buried City. Give me an inter-dimensional pocket of a cozy fantasy world, complete with a bookshop, tavern, and beautiful forest to explore and I will linger all day.

All that said, I didn't love this book. Which, to be fair, isn't all on this book, it's more a me problem. If I had realized what kind of sex scenes would be going on, I probably would not have requested this book, just because most of the sex scenes turned out to not be my thing. (Just a word of caution: be better than me. Pay attention to trigger warnings, and as a comparison, if Lights Out wasn't for you, this book won't be either.) My main issue with the book, though, was the pacing of the plot, and the balance between romance and the magical world we were trying to build. Insta-love is never something I enjoy, and there was then a lot of weird pacing where we're feeling months if not years into a relationship, but yet it's still only the first couple-ish weeks of their relationship. After living in the beginning of Damien and Lillith's relationship for weeks, we then seemed to keep jumping forward in time to start picking up the magical plot again, but I can't even specify what kind of timespan this book covers because I have no clue other than in somewhere in the last few chapters, one of the characters mentions it's only been like 3 months since Damien and Lillith met.

One other thing I want to pick on a little bit, and then I'm done, I promise. This is the first e-book ARC I've ever read, so maybe this is common and I'm just an asshole. I KNOW I read an advanced copy that will be receiving more editing, so I only mention this because the amount of spelling errors and grammar and punctuation problems kept taking me out of the story. I genuinely hope it gets a couple more rounds with the editors to polish it up before its official publication in September. It was a common enough problem (about every other page or so) that I was starting to get really bothered by it. One scene in particular had me taking a deep breath to calm down.... DEFIBRILLATOR. Not defribulator. Anyway.

I'm sorry, I really wanted to love this book, as someone who loves metal, had crushes on drummers, and would love to have a bit of spellwork and magic in the world. I am glad I read all the way to the end, as it was satisfying to finally have some answers for Lillith's familial curse, and I was genuinely enjoying the romance between Damien and Lillith. Also, shoutout to Damien's bandmates and Wren for adding some much-needed levity and calling out Damien and Lillith's occasionally overwhelming gooey-ness. But there you have it. Come for the romance between a Goth witch and a metal drummer who fall hard and fast, stay for the magical world and see if Lillith manages to save it.

Jinxes and Drumsticks was such a fun read. I loved uncovering the story as it went instead of getting all the backstory upfront—it made every reveal more satisfying and kept me hooked.

It balances lighthearted moments with emotional punches that sneak up on you. One minute I was smiling, and the next I was questioning my life choices for getting so attached to these characters.

Some characters are just worth being devastated over, and this book delivers. If you want a fantasy that keeps you invested and feeling everything along the way, I’d highly recommend it.

I came for the magic(which I decided to do at 9pm), stayed for the banter(until 2:45am), and left emotionally attached to fictional people(the next day when I finished this book)!

Jinxes and Drumsticks was cozy, chaotic, hilarious, and had me kicking my feet more times than I’d like to admit. The chemistry was everything, and I absolutely devoured it.

10/10. No notes.