The Montrose women are living under a curse. They believe that any person they fall in love with dies. So, when Nickie brings home a boy, they freak out, and start telling her the stories of their past, including the men they have loved and lost.
The story has a bit of magic, a bit of mystery, and a lot of love of the family members (and the various men).
I read this book as part of a challenge to read a debut book by a POC. I found it funny at times, and liked the ending. ( )

This was a fun read but I didn’t absolutely love it. I struggled with how controlling Victoria was (obviously a key plot point) but it made it a bit too over the top for me. I cannot imagine a grown woman (Willow) and an almost grown woman (Nickie) actually going along with Victoria’s rules and stipulations. I did really enjoy the back and forth with Augusta remembering her past and how her actions affected the generations that came after her.

The Montrose family is full of secrets, the women of the family collecting them and keeping them from each other. Augusta, Victoria and Willow have managed to create a relatively good life for themselves, despite the curse on their family. But as Nickie gets older and develops her first crush, the women of the family come to realize that maybe it isn’t for the best to keep all those secrets to themselves - because they could harm those they love. ( )

Full Review: https://readingbeyondthebookcover.com/black-candle-women-diane-marie-brown/

4.0 stars. I recommend this book for the gentle reminder that not all curses are equivocal to ultimate doom. In Black Candle Women, through the Montrose women, readers will experience:

- how curses meant to break people can ultimately bond them.
- the reinforced power of family.
- an unsuspecting character becoming the catalyst of change.
- the inescapable emphasis on things happening for a reason.
- forgiveness is always an option. Nobody is beyond giving and receiving it.
- how protection can also be harmful.

I hope you pick this book up. It was a good time ;-). I look forward to seeing what other stories Diane Marie Brown will share with us.

Many thanks to Graydon House, Diane Marie Brown, and NetGalley for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

*Free e-book ARC received from the publisher through Edelweiss Plus - thank you!*

Four generations of women were impacted by one action, long ago. The matriarch, Augusta, was the protegee of a hoodoo-working woman who cursed them, and since then she, her daughter Madelyn, and her granddaughters Victoria and Willow, have all been unlucky in love. Now Victoria's daughter, Nickie, only seventeen, likes a boy but doesn't know about the curse. Will the women be able to share their secrets and free themselves from the past?

The set up of the story was promising, but the results were mixed. Readers alternate in close third-person perspective among Augusta, Victoria, Willow, and Nickie. Each woman is keeping secrets from another, and the way they're revealed to each other and the reader is piecemeal and frustrating. Much of the tension could've been resolved with a good long talk (or Google search) early on, though it was believable that Augusta's story grew legs of its own and became too difficult for her to tell the truth to her granddaughters. Whether or not there's actually a curse is in doubt - some of them believe it in, some of them don't - and plot points and revelations sometimes seemed more convenient than natural outcomes. I did like the bonds and love among the women, and seeing Madelyn's growth, and learning more about their history and relationship to the book of spells and recipes and poems that was part of their heritage. ( )