A Green Kind of Witch

Blue Moon Bay Witches #0.5

by Sierra Cross

Cinderella + Mean Girls

Before Hazel was a magical crime solver, she was a forgotten, bullied middle sister.

Born to a family of elegant yet shallow Beige Witches, Hazel fears her own magic will never be good enough.

In this funny and emotional prequel novella, the seventeen year old discovers what kind of witch she really is and newfound powers bloom.

But not everyone in her life is happy to see her succeed.

And at Blue Moon High, standing out can be a deadly curse.

Is she destined to be a magical outcast, or will Hazel ever a place she truly belongs?

A clean read.

Welcome to Blue Moon Bay, a cloudy, romantic, Oregon beach town where everyone's guarding a supernatural secret. With the help of a socially awkward shifter and an ex-cheerleading vampire, Hazel Greenwood solves magical mysteries and finds true love. And eats countless delectable pastries.

Genres: Fantasy, Witches, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fiction, Romance, Ebooks

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2023

About the author

I live for magic. Modern magic, infused with heart and humor. Sometimes with an edge. Always with bright romantic sparks.

When I’m not spinning urban fantasy tales, you can find me flying after my 6-year-old witchling, cackling with my coven, or savoring a book while cuddled up with my cat familiar and, of course, coffee.

Want to know when the next book drops? Sign up for my newsletter at www.sierracrossauthor.com

Reviews

[Verelien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book. But the ending was very abrupt..

[Patty (IheartYA311) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, appropriate prequel.

[Ashli Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute little prequel to these books I have been dying to read! Makes me itch to get started on book 1!

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was not like other girls…

(ich hatte anderes cover und habe mich täuschen lassen, hätte ich dieses cover gekannt, hätte ich das buch mit der kneifzange nicht angefasst, no hard feelings)

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

This was a fun quick read with a decently interesting magic system.

I liked the grandmother and hope she’s in the actual novels though I’m not sure if she will be.

I feel like Hazel would be getting in trouble after her shenanigans at the end of the novella but who knows. I don’t think it will be mentioned much or even at all in the actual novels.

I think this is my first time reading a novella and what I’ve heard from others is true. You don’t really have enough time to get all that invested in the characters and the plot, but it was still a fun read considering I was looking for something short and sweet.

[Eforw · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reads like a badly written wannabe wattpad novel.

[Leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, beetje cliché maar goed genoeg. Young adult, geen romance. Leuk herfst boekje voor tussendoor.

[Kassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the prequel I got but not necessarily wanted because I’ve already read Blue Moon Bay Witches 1 and 2–(Fangs and Frenemies & Scones and Slayers.) I say that because this was way too short and left me wanting to know more about Hazel’s past

The third book in the series comes out in a couple of weeks and this prequel makes me excited to see where this will lead Hazel next because I was starting to miss her and her antics.

Getting to see how Hazel was initiated and what lead her to the life she was living in book 1 was really cool too. This makes you connect a lot more with her and I enjoyed seeing that. It also made me love Granny Sage even more. That women is an angel.

I can’t wait to sink my talons into Fruitcake and Familiars and onto the continuation of the lives of those in Blue Moon Bay.

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was just a super sweet book and the characters were just so sweet and cute, i loved it and definitely recommend to people looking for a short cozy book with very minimal fantasy vibes :)
rating : 3 ⭐️

[Melanie Wallis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute little prequel to the rest of the series. I liked the introduction to the characters and the start of relationships. I will be interested in seeing how everything develops in the rest of the series.

[Lucie Hemmings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this magical book. It was great, wonderful and fantastic book. I recommended you like witchcraft and fantastic magical books. You reading this series and this book.

[Cynthia Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will read more!

[Silke · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay, really had to get into it but liked the story after a little bit of reading. It was very short so read it in almost one evening.
Am gonna read the following books tho!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun! I am looking forward to the main trilogy and boy do I hope Max is still Hazel's friend!

[Laura..devouring books like crumpets · Rating 5 out of 5]

For A great little Novella it packed a punch will definately read on

[Jade Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little YA prequel, but god the mom is so brutal to her kids emotionally 🙄

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed a quick read to help me out with this year’s challenge and this was a perfect fit. I really enjoyed the characters introduced and look forward to deep diving into the world of the Blue Moon Bay Witches!

[TenshiMari · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just... painful. Everyone is so unnecessarily cruel to each other. It's one thing for bullies to be cruel, but Hazel's family is borderline abusive towards her. They all belittle her, call her hopeless and a failure, throw away her baking, the sister being cruel is one thing, since sister rivalry is a real thing, but the mom? I have no excuse for her. And the dad had no backbone whatsoever, he just let his wife walk all over him while she's cruel to Hazel. It made this entire book so unpleasant to read.

[Trauermaerchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do I wanna be that person? Eh. Maybe. I don't know.

I hated every single second of reading this.

Let's start with the writing. Maybe I would've enjoyed this more if I was younger but I didn't like the humour and the writing felt a bit like a minimally elevated version of a wattpad book.

The plot had some potential I guess but it was lacking connection between major points. I think this book needed to be a bit longer to truly make sense. And honestly, I was bored (and I don't mind a low stakes slice of life; this just lacked the writing to make that kind of thing enjoyable).

I hated every single character except for maybe the grandmother (and she's on thin ice ngl, mostly because she's really only characterized by her singular purpose of being Hazel's connection point to green magic). For some of the characters that was excusable considering they were young teenagers but this also extended to all of the adults and especially the main character (who's not even that much younger than me but feels like a middle schooler). This was especially annoying because literally anything the main character does gets excused.

The relationship between Hazel and Cindra had potential but ended up down the drain.

Cinderella meets Mean Girls is accurate enough but executed in a way that just looses any fun it could have been (and I say this as someone who loves Mean Girls and enjoys Cinderella). The characters were caricatures of their roles rather than fleshed out people.

Maybe this would be more appealing to young teenagers but I just don't think it's well executed, including in consideration of what it is so I'm not willing to rate it any higher. Teenagers deserve well written books as well. It also honestly feels like it doesn't know who it's marketed to.

I was originally going to pick up the rest of the series as well because they focus more on Hazel's adult life but nope, I'm out.

[Kaitlin D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: In a family where glamour magic, known as a Beige Magic, is everything, Hazel doesn’t quite fit in. Her family cares greatly about image and appearance. Hazel earns a nickname of Goody Too Shoes for being a straight A student who likes to help others. Hazel’s mother is not shy about stating her opinions about Hazel not being apt in learning Beige Magic, and she sends Hazel to work with her Granny Sage to learn a “lesser magic” known as Green Magic. Her mother holds great influence over the rest of the family to treat Hazel like an outcast for not being a Beige Witch and puts down Hazel’s efforts. Hazel comes to love the beauty of Green Magic and its diverse kitchen spells. Despite being told her magic is weak by her family, Granny Sage points out that Hazel is a quite powerful Green Witch and will be her heir. After being a loner/outcast for all of her life, Hazel is finally starting to find a sense of belonging.

Vibes: Cinderella meets Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

It was a cute, quick read. The story occurs during a short period of time in Hazel’s senior year while she is an apprentice at her Granny’s bakery. There was some spelling errors in my copy. It was a little distracting how her family showed little care or interest in her wellbeing. It’s very typical outcast/middle child syndrome. As it was a novella, there wasn’t much time to get too attached to characters that may not be in the rest of the series. It did end rather abruptly toward the end.

[Brooke Bryson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars in my bookish world means - It's fine. I'm not at all bummed that I read it, I might tell a friend who is looking for something I specifically saw in this book.

A Green Kind of Witch is a novella prequel in the Blue Moon Bay Witches series written by Sierra Cross. The first word that comes to mind when chatting about this book would be sweet.

Did I enjoy this book? Sure, but were there some bits missing, in my opinion? Yes. There were a couple of spelling and grammar things; for me, that's not a biggie, other than making my poor brain scramble to sort out a couple of sentences. For me, the biggest missing piece was a little more meat to the story.

I really loved the characters, and the overall premise of the story kept me going, but it felt like a high-level glance at a pretty interesting storyline. I would have loved for the story to be fleshed out a little bit more because, for me, some of the plot points read like a checklist.

On the other hand, there were some delicious sprinkles of foreshadowing that I really enjoyed. I also really enjoyed the conversational, breezy writing style.

Will I continue the series? Probably. I'm interested to see what Hazel does with this new witchy world of hers and supporting character, Max; I'm looking at you, friend. I think I know your secret, but I guess I will have to read the next book to see if I'm right.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is an adorable precursor to the Blue Moon Bay Witch mysteries, which gives plenty of backstory and introduces the reader to the characters (which I found very relatable).

Hazel's strained relationship with her family emulates what many young people go through, and I felt it was very well portrayed as someone who went through something similar with my own family (minus the magic, of course). The author documents what high school is like both for the popular crowd and those that are considered nobodies and those who get bullied, and I feel like this is certainly a subject that needs to be brought to the forefront of people's minds.

While I definitely enjoyed this story as an adult, I also feel as if it's certainly suitable for younger readers, such as junior high or perhaps even middle school, which makes the well written portrayal of family issues, bullying, and becoming one's own genuine self all that more important.

Overall, very well written, and I am excited to read the following stories in the series.

[Linda Mundorff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hazel is a seventeen-year-old high school student struggling to fit in socially. She lives in Blue Moon Bay, Oregon along with her parents and sisters. She has a strained relationship with both her mother and younger sibling and what is most difficult for her is the fact that she comes from a family of witches, and she seems to be the only one not progressing in developing her powers. Her mother, frustrated with Hazel’s lack of witchy progress, is often brisk and unkind in her interactions with Hazel.
The author writes well, her character development fits the typical high school drama scene, and as it is a young adult story, it will resonate with that population. I like her writing style and could easily relate to the mental anguish that Hazel experiences every time she must deal with her mother and younger sister.
The book is good, and it starts well, but unfortunately, for me, I felt the book had an abrupt ending, although it is book one of a series. I felt the author could have given us a little bit more to establish the focus of book two.

[Vitoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was interesting, but the writing didn’t do it justice.

There were a few times I wanted to dfn the books, but the plot kept me hooked. I do wish we got to know more about the characters, specially the side characters and what seemed to be the love interest in the beginning- I say what seemed to be because it felt like that was a storyline that was meant to be developed more but was abandoned mid book.

There were a few things that have me that “there should be more to this, where’s the rest?” impression- from the main character’s relationship with her sisters to a witch council that was later introduced. And even though it’s a prequel, I still feel like the storylines introduced should be completed or reach a natural stopping point, not have an abandoned feel.

Overall a quick, short read that had a lot of potential (I loved the magic system, but it, too, should have been more developed) but was unfortunately a let down.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Green Kind of Witch is a cosy, short read that is cute in its own way. Some details are fleshed out properly, such as the details of magic. Other details, mainly the character building and appearances seem a bit lacking. As for the storyline, it is your typical high school story. On one end you have the typical quieter girls that just want to be themselves, on the other hand you have the popular clique that is troublesome. It is just gently laced with magic.

There was some spelling and grammar mistakes that made me re-read the sentence thinking it hadn't registered with me, but the mistakes were minor.

I will most likely continue the series, mostly because of the last line in the book as it implies that Max has a secret of her own. One I would like to explore as she is an intriguing character.

[Saph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute short read, a bit cliché and cringey but sometimes you need something lighthearted to read.
The one thing that annoyed me was the german teacher “Fraulein” with her horribly written accent (that sounds more french than german) seriously? If you MUST include a german character for whatever reason, do we have to make them into a joke? This is cringe.

Fraulein G watched the video, then nodded slowly. “Zee evidence is crystal.” She handed me back my phone. “Breaking proper consent rules eez a serious violation of zee safety code. Zee rules are here to make zee school a safe space. You are not making zees space safe. I am very disappointed. All of you vill come vith me to ze principal’s office.”

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book it definitely is a Cinderella meets Mean Girls. the girl who's family kind of already knows her magic ability and most of them are able to like mess with their clothing and stuff like that. so they send her to kind of go work after school with her grandma on her dad's side who has like a bakery to kind of help her also come into her magic. and she finds out she's a green witch then. but her sister is kind of a popular girl and in school they kind of pick on her and other girls and one particular girl they pick on all the time and she ends up kind of making friends with her and reveals that she has recently came into her magic Magic's kind of a secret. wasn't really a lot to the story though that's my only downside but will probably keep reading the series

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Green Kind of Witch

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Review:

A prequel to the Blue Moon Bay Witches series. This was such a cute, and fun, cozy paranormal read!

I ended up reading Book 1, Fangs and Frenemies first, and then Scones and Slayers next. I read A Green Kind of Witch last, and I enjoyed it just as much as Books 1 and 2.

Hazel is a relatable character, which is something that makes it easier for me to get sucked into a book.

I can’t wait to read more by this author!

[Melissa Basnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green witch

Hazel is born into a family of Beige witches that are boring for her. She feels out of place in her family since she is different. She goes to work at her grandmother's bakery and she feels like it is a punishment and she is being pushed out of her family since she cannot do the spells that they can. She discovers she is so much more and finds new get that accept her for who she is. She is also accepted into a coven of Green witches that feels more like what she thought her family should have been !ike. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the rest of the series.

[Arianna Michele Ramsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Witches

Oh my goodness! This was the cutest quick read I have ever read.

Hazel, our FMC, is a teenage witch struggling with her magical identity until it’s revealed she is truly a green witch, unlike her sisters and mother. In this short tale, she embarks on a journey of self discovery along with her Gran’s help, but like many high school teenagers, she runs into girl problems. Thankfully Hazel finds someone who hopefully will be her first true friend.

What sort of mischief will these two get into further in the series? And, what’s gonna happen with that boy she’s been crushing on for 4
years!?!