Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone ?

Release Date: November 18, 2025

After Karina the Tempest, Protector of the Queen’s Realm of Mereth defeats the Evil Sorcerer Guy Shadowfade, she shows mercy on his right-hand, the Thornwitch and implores her to change her ways and be good. And so, begins the life of Violet Thistlewaite…Florist. Violet moves to the village of Dragon’s Rest in the shadow of Shadowfade Castle and opens a florist/garden shop. She is determined to be good and instead of using her Thornwitch magic, digs deep and finds a well of different magic that she uses to conjure plants and flowers for her shop. She is immediately welcomed by many members of the community, but her landlord, Nathaniel Marsh seems set on disliking her. She slowly breaks through his tough shell and finds something special with him; she wants to be honest with him but is sure he and all the townsfolk will hate her when they learn her secrets. But when a ghost from her past and new magical problem threatens the town, the choice to keep her secrets may be lost.

Nathaniel never wanted to run the family apothecary, his dream was to become an alchemist and use that knowledge to make new concoctions for the business. But with the death of his parents, he is forced to return home and help his twin sister Pru to save Marsh Apothecary. Unfortunately, he learns that his parents went into debt to send him to school, making him feel guiltier than he already did. To make ends meet, he agrees to rent out half of the building to a newcomer. Angry at circumstances and wracked with guilt, he is determined to make the shop a success and ignore his inconvenient attraction to the witch that is renting part of his shop and sharing his workspace in the greenhouse. He tries to keep Violet at bay, but when a magical blight strikes the town, he is happy for her help, until he learns the truth of her past. Can they overcome their combined secrets and save the town and find their HEA?

I was intrigued by the title, sucked in by the blurb and held captive by the story. The story starts a bit slow, but it soon picks up speed and made it almost impossible to put down. The book has a lot going on but never loses focus on the transformation of Violet from villain to heroine. This story has wonderful characters, a murderous pothos plant, rock goblins, gnomes, secrets, magic, a slow-burn romance, warm love scenes, betrayal, surprising twists, shocking revelations and finally closure and the promise of HEA. What a great read, and I was shocked to learn this was a debut novel – it certainly didn’t read that way! I sincerely hope that Ms. Krempholtz writes Pru’s story, but I will read the next book regardless of who she writes about!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *