Darcy McGuire
Boldwood Books
1 March 2026
428
eBook - EPUB
Historical Romance
ARC via NetGalley
Clio Blair is a fire witch—gifted, defiant, and hiding more than just her magic. With the power to speak to the dead and glimpse their final memories, she’s called in by her uncle at Scotland Yard to help solve the murder of Viscount Beachley. His ghost lingers, his wife is missing, and the trail leads straight into the glittering world of the ton… where Clio has no place.
Enter Lieutenant General Thomas Grey: brooding, scandal-shadowed, and bound by honour to assist the investigation. He never expects to be paired with a sharp-tongued witch who walks with ravens and burns like fire beneath her skin. As they’re forced into close quarters and dangerous secrets begin to surface, so does a desire neither of them can resist.
But Clio knows a witch’s heart is a dangerous thing to give away—especially to a man who swore never to love again. And Thomas knows desire alone won’t protect her from the dead who would use her, or the living who would destroy her.
Solving the murder may save them both—but surrendering to passion could consume them completely.
The Bewitching Miss Blair was an interesting work that combined paranormal elements with historical romance and murder mystery. I thought the premise of the piece was excellent; however, not everything worked for me in the execution. The two things I felt let the book down just a tad was the insta-lust romance, which went from hate to passion with little development of the relationship and feelings in between, and the fact the murder mystery part of the story felt very secondary to the spice. I would say the balance was 70% spice to 30% plot, but I would have appreciated a more even 50/50 at least. The plot did conclude, but it felt a little lacking in depth. The world building of the fantasy elements was generally good enough, and the characters' backstories (especially that if Thomas Grey) were well handled. I considered a bit on the rating for this one, but in the end I am giving it four stars. Despite a few flaws, it was still an entertaining read. Just bear in mind it is heavier on the spicy romance and the plot is a little more in the background when deciding whether or not this one is for you. P.S. The raven rather stole the show.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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