Witch Season by. Julia Bianco | ARC Review – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Witch Season

Author: Julia Bianco

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 6/30/26

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Witches

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The villain isn’t supposed to be king.

That is the price of magic – not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.

Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches – people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst – into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.

When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, and his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.

But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.

Content Warning: violence, death

World Building: This is an urban fantasy set in Los Angeles, but one where there are witches and covens. There are power families like the Khatris. Ordinaries are people without magic. And sometimes people can “snap” where magic starts growing in them which makes them unsettled, volatile and dangerous. Katherine is someone who did snap as a teenager but now is an Executor for a coven, so she knows there is hope for those who have snapped.

Characters: Katherine is an Executor or enforcer for the Aestas coven and I like her as a character. She’s had a traumatic past but she cares about the young who has snapped, because she sees herself in them. She wants to do the right thing, always. Silas Khatri, is from a powerful witch family, but he’s lived a privileged life. But now his parents want him to take over a leadership role he doesn’t want. Sylvia is the leader of Aestas and Katherine’s mentor. She has a past with the Khatris and right now she’s trying to keep her leadership role but the Khatris are suspicious of her.

Romance: Silas has a reputations as a charmer, flirt and womanizer but something about Katherine gets under his skin. He is attracted to her right away maybe because she doesn’t like him. But with more time spent together the attraction grows, and even Katherine can’t deny she wants him. There is spice, but I didn’t feel like it was prolonged or too graphic. I did find one of the spicy moments happening at a very interesting time. I would have loved a little more build-up in the romance for them. Though there are some things that happen in the story that indicate these two wouldn’t be together, I was still rooting for them. The ending does feel a little abrupt though.

Story: I enjoyed this urban fantasy and the coven politics. I like the characters like Katherine and her best friend, and even love the attraction between her and Silas. Sylvia was an interesting character because she doesn’t seem like a villain at first but her betrayal is unforgivable. I did feel the ending was abrupt and wonder if there will be a book two? I would love to see what happens with Katherine and Silas!

Final Thoughts:

This urban fantasy has coven politics, witches, betrayal, twists, interesting characters and a romance I want to see more of. I hope we get a book two!

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