DRC Review: The Farewitch of Foxe Holler by Ellen Pauley Goff

Release date: 7 July 2026

Rating: 2/5

Synopsis: Self-taught chef and baker Honey Frost is Foxe Holler’s resident Farewitch. Proud of her family’s legacy for curing all manner of ailments with the right recipe, Honey is determined to be the Farewitch the Holler can depend on, even if she’s taken on the role twenty years too early.

Honey’s normal routine is disrupted when the reclusive Warlock living at the edge of the Holler appears for the first time in decades with a peculiar request: he needs a Farewitch. It seems the Warlock has been struck with a mysterious curse-born illness.

Initially reluctant to get involved—warlocks and witches do not get along—Honey changes her mind when he offers compensations she can’t refuse— access to his infamous library of old texts and kitchen grimoires. Now Honey is the newest resident of his moody farmhouse, Knight Manor. Which happens to have one gorgeous kitchen. And a lot of secrets. And a Warlock that maybe…isn’t so frightful at all. Or old. Or bad looking.

Curing people should a piece of Hummingbird cake for any Farewitch, but the grumpy farmhouse and even grumpier Warlock aren’t keen to help with their own healing. And that’s not the only trouble. The Widow Witch, century-long scourge of the region, is due to blow into Foxe Holler for her annual visit and this time, she has business with the Warlock.

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Review

Touted as Steel Magnolias meets Practical Magic, I can agree on the latter but not really the former. An overuse of Southern idioms does not equal making a story feel authentically Southern. I didn't have any expectations going into this one; I knew it is a debut, and because of that, I kept reading despite the desire to DNF. I wanted to give the whole book a chance. In the end, I enjoyed main plot but didn't so much care for many auxiliary parts.  

I did find many parts of the story endearing. Honey makes an effort to be optimistic and, when she tends to the residents of Foxe Holler, shows a genuine love for them. I found her a sympathetic character in these instances. Knight Manor's personality evoked nostalgic recollections of other stories with similar abodes and struggles for outsiders to win them over. One of the secondary characters won my heart over and mostly kept me in the story single-handedly with his charm. I expect readers will love him, too. I won't spoil more than that; I do enjoy some surprises in stories.

The Warlock (he has a name, but I'll let readers discover that also) didn't feel very romantic to me. While a good grump who warms up to a love interest can be one of my favorite parts of a story, I didn't think the Warlock effectively warmed up to Honey. In fact, one of the main drawbacks for me was the lack of connection between the two. The spark wasn't very strong, and I found I wasn't curious to find out where the relationship would go with the two love interests as much as I was interested in other plot points and their conclusions. 

The synopsis here gives the impression the book will be a cozy romance, but the stakes are way too high and the book a bit long. Cozy romantasy is a hot genre right now, so I understand the synopsis framing, but I would temper expectations to avoid disappointment. It has cozy vibes and buzzy plot devices, i.e. magical cooking, but it really doesn't completely fit into the genre. In my opinion, of course.

I might have liked the book much more but I started nitpicking the overuse of "Southernisms," and the overt negative stereotypes made my eye twitch. I know firsthand how much rotten enmity the façade of nice in the South can hide. Unfortunately, the one-sided, negative, stereotypical caricature instead of an intellectually honest depiction put me entirely off the story. I am aware one's experiences can shape narratives, though, so I pushed through despite all this. In the end, the main character's overabundance of hostile inner monologue—and by extension the entire narrative—soured the reading experience for me.

My thanks to S & S/Saga Press via NetGalley for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

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