From Bad to Cursed (The Witches of Thistle Grove, #2)

by Lana Harper

Opposites attract in this wickedly charming rom-com by Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback’s a Witch.

Wild child Isidora Avramov is a thrill chaser, adept demon summoner, and—despite the whole sexy-evil-sorceress vibe—also a cuddly animal lover. When she’s not designing costumes and new storylines for the Arcane Emporium’s haunted house, Issa's nursing a secret, conflicted dream of ditching her family’s witchy business to become an indie fashion designer in her own right. 

But when someone starts sabotaging the celebrations leading up to this year’s Beltane festival with dark, dangerous magic, a member of the rival Thorn family gets badly hurt—throwing immediate suspicion on the Avramovs. To clear the Avramov name and step up for her family when they need her the most, Issa agrees to serve as a co-investigator, helping none other than Rowan Thorn get to the bottom of things.

Rowan is the very definition of lawful good, so tragically noble and by-the-book he makes Issa’s teeth hurt. In accordance with their families’ complicated history, he and Issa have been archenemies for years and have grown to heartily loathe each other. But as the unlikely duo follow a perplexing trail of clues to a stunning conclusion, Issa and Rowan discover how little they really know each other… and stumble upon a maddening attraction that becomes harder to ignore by the day.

• ISBN10: 0593336089
• ISBN13: 9780593336083
• Publish Date: 17 May 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593336083

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

From Bad to Cursed is the second novel in Lana Harper's The Witches of Thistle Grove series. It's also one of several witchy-romance series that I've been enjoying. If you're looking for something more fun and casual to cheer you up (we've all been there!), consider giving this series a try!

Isidora Avramov is what you might expect as part of this witch family. She's a necromancer that summons demons for the thrills. She rocks all the dark witch vibes while still having a solid heart. Her adoration of animals may seem out of character until you get to know her.

However, Isidora does relish in one common family trait – continuing the family feud of sorts. She and Rowan have never gotten along, and their family history doesn't help. However, they will have to learn together if they want to stand a chance at saving Thistle Grove.

“I serve my goddess, my ancestors, and above all, myself,” I intoned quietly.”

I have a confession: I've been enjoying these puny witchy book titles FAR more than I would like to admit. I think they're half the reason I've picked up so many series like this all of a sudden. The characters and representation are just icing on the cake.

I enjoyed Payback's a Witch, so I was basically counting down the days to the release of From Bad to Cursed. As my description probably gave away, the second novel in the series jumps to new characters. We're still in Thistle Grove but moving on to other issues and love interests.

That isn't to say that Emmy and Talia are out of the picture – they're still in town, so they make a few appearances. It's nice to see how they're doing, don't you think? I'll admit that part of me had been hoping to continue Emmy's story, mainly because I wanted a first-person perspective of what it was like to run (and change) Thistle Grove. But I'm not complaining about what I got.

From Bad to Cursed did a solid job leading readers around for a bit of a mystery. It was fun trying to put the puzzle pieces together alongside the leading characters. I think I got it only a chapter or two before they did, which is always satisfying.

The romantic trope in From Bad to Cursed is very much enemies to lovers, which I'll admit is my weakness. It worked well here, adding additional layers to the threat the town faces.
Next up, we have Back in a Spell (due to release in 2023), which looks like we're jumping to the perspective of Nineve Blackmore and Morty Gutierrez. I can't wait!

Thanks to Berkley and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks