This week we are discussing Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper, Ch. 23-End.
Content Warning!!!This book contains situations and subjects related to: sex, magic, sexism, cheating, and loss of autonomy (possession).
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper.
Discussion:
Jacilyn: Hello friends and welcome to our third and final discussion of Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper. I have to begin by saying I was so sad that the sexy time scene with Talia and Emmy was mostly fade to black. I know that the one pepper spice rating definitely appeals to some people, but for my particular tastes I was left disappointed. I was *also* disappointed by both Emmy and Talia during their fight afterwards. I think both of them were being stubborn and unyielding, but I think both of them also made good points. Talia is 100% correct that Emmy was working overtime to convince herself she didn’t love Thistle Grove, and Emmy was 100% correct that Talia wasn’t willing to even try leaving the town to visit Chicago. And, to be fair to Talia….. Emmy did run away.
Michaela: I thought the fade to black was done well, but I also enjoy a good fade to black. I don’t like everything to be super spicy, and sometimes it's not always necessary. I wasn’t really expecting much more from this kind of romance novel, it felt a little too wholesome leaning almost and more focused on the entire picture than just the main couple.
That fight was very disappointing. They both had points but for me Talia not being willing to compromise at all was a bit ridiculous and unfair. Emmy was thinking about different solutions and Talia was just like “no I can’t leave Thistle Grove, no matter if it's just a short visit”. Talia is completely right that Emmy was trying to keep Thistle Grove distant but at the time she didn’t know that for sure. Even so, Emmy can love both Chicago and Thistle Grove, and feel pulled to both places for different reasons. Talia comes around to compromising on the visiting subject in the end, but being together cannot work if both parties aren’t willing to work together and from where I sat it felt like Talia was not willing to do anything besides convince Emmy to stay or give up. Talia had a hard time accepting that Emmy and Jess are not the same person. I think Talia’s mentality in this fight was a fairly good representation of people who can’t imagine leaving their small town, which Jac and I are from a town like that. That is just something that drives me nuts, both being stuck in a small town and unwillingness to compromise. Like most romance novels, communication would have fixed a lot of this argument or at least calmed it to a real discussion.
I appreciated that Lin also called Emmy on her bullshit though. I don’t think Emmy wanting to make a separate life for herself was a bad thing, but pushing literally everyone away without any communication on the subject….that shit hurts when you’re on the receiving end of that forced distance. Lin is a beautiful human and brought it up to Emmy so softly but seriously and concisely. I also liked that Emmy accepted that she was being a bad friend and said it out loud too, that is such a big thing with me. Communication, again, we love it!
Jacilyn: The third challenge was another opportunity to see how different each family’s magics are. I’m so fascinated by it, and I’m glad to have found out that this book is the first in a series, because I’m dying to learn more. Every time Gareth gets knocked down a peg it feels sweeter and sweeter, and the magic that came from the Avramov and Thorn magics combining was so cool, but unfortunately dangerous. I figured Talia would end up being okay, but my heart still skipped a beat when she was thrown up against the wall.
Emmy’s ability to be one with the magic flowing through Thistle Grove is so cool. I had a feeling this whole time that the Harlows are more important than they let on, and I totally agree with Emmy that Elias choosing to keep their role a secret was stupid. It has just enabled the Blackmoores to take advantage of their authority over the years, and it’s beginning to suffocate the other families' livelihoods. I had hoped that at the end of the book, we’d get to see Emmy revealing that truth to the town as a whole.
Michaela: The way Talia was hurt was absolutely insane and also so cool. I need way more info on the magic within these families! I will probably keep reading this series just for the magic system, the characters would be a bonus. I was not expecting Emmy to take up the role as Talia’s replacement, that caught me off guard for sure. It definitely felt like it would be against the rules of the whole Harlow involvement stuff but the mantle said it’s not so…I guess.
The Harlow power is super interesting and just awesome. I hope we get to see more of what that really means in the other books. I was expecting the Blackmoore’s to have stolen power from the Harlow’s over the years, I much prefer them being a magical filter than my theory. The Blackmoore’s needed to be brought down a million levels from their snobby high horses, they were all insufferable and way too self-important.
I did feel like the ending of this one, while amazing magical gauntlet and happy twist ending, was a little rushed. We went from volunteering to replace Talia, to competing in the 4th challenge, to winning, to a happy ending in like 5 chapters? There was so much build up and then the end felt like it was in fast-forward. There was a lot of Emmy self-reflection in all that too, which while important started to feel slightly repetitive. It also felt like it was missing a short little epilogue or something but maybe that’s just because it felt rushed to me. There was a satisfying resolution but it was sudden.
Jacilyn: I agree that the ending felt a bit rushed. I love that Talia let Harlow take the victory, but at the same time…. Emmy only technically won one challenge, even if she did compete in Talia’s place as the Avramov scion. I don’t know, I wonder about some of that login, personally. I was hoping to get a bit more insight into Emmy and Talia as an official couple before the story ended, too. In any case, I’ll definitely continue reading this series and I look forward to seeing what Lana Harper writes next.
Well friends, that’s it for this book. Join us next month when we’ll be switching gears to an autobiography. We’ll see you then!
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