The Vine Witch 
Luanne G Smith
3.5 / 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐



In the Vine Witch, we meet Elena who has spent the past 7 years under a curse, living as a toad.
She returns to the vineyard where she grew up to find it has been sold to a city lawyer, Jean-Paul, who, because he shuns magic, has been unable to produce a decent bottle of wine. Chemistry blooms between the two of them and he is willing to have her help him, but of course, doesn't want her to use magic.

I loved the idea of there being different kinds of witches that had different connections to different trades. There was a pastry witch also, and there are potion witches and a fire-Jinni.

There is however some black magic going on, with animal exsanguination, and Elena must solve the mystery before she is implicated.  I thought a lot of the plot was very predictable, and I could see many of the action points coming a mile off. (so why couldn't they?)

I did like the idea of magic going into making a delicious wine, because maybe it really does, and the bits of French were delightful,  but it just didn't quite rise to 4 stars for me. I could maybe go 3.5

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, my opinions are my own.