Rating: 3 stars

The retreat promised the other half of her soul.

It was a promise with a waitlist: black-sand beaches, redwood fog, luxury glamping, ceremonial cacao, and a bonfire where every guest casts a sigil for the kind of love she’s been waiting her whole life to find.

Draw the symbol. Feed it to the flames. He’ll come.

Marlowe only attends because her boss pays for her to go. It’s all nonsense, she tells herself. An evening of designer spirituality for women desperate enough to believe the lie.

Then every woman’s wish starts coming true. Including hers.

Damian is everything she asked for—patient, devoted, ruinously handsome—and the only person trying to convince her not to sign up for the next retreat.

Because the fire wasn’t symbolic. The women didn’t manifest anything. Every wish was answered by design.

Now the retreat’s charismatic founder and the secretive sisterhood behind her wellness empire expect Marlowe to honor a bargain she never knew she made.

And walking away has never been part of the program.

The fire doesn’t forget what was promised.

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

Damiana was an enjoyable read for me because I enjoyed the witchy vibes of the story and the romance that develops between Marlowe and Damian. The witchiness in this story that I enjoyed was with regard to the plot with the cult. How all of the women that Marlowe meets at this retreat that her boss sets her up to go to for the day, all within a couple of days, find themselves the perfect guy for them. But it’s actually all too good to be true, which is what you discover when you read their story.

From the start, the story hooks you because you see these women are about to get themselves into something truly dark. It’s not until you are introduced to Damian’s character and he decides not to play by Aurora and the cult’s rules anymore, though, that you truly learn the extent of what happened the night Marlowe and the rest of these women made their wishes. And with him, you find out how long this cult has lasted and exactly what they are doing to bring people into their ranks. I enjoyed these aspects of the story because they brought the plot of the story together for me as you start to see how this cult truly operates.

Will also admit this is my first book I’ve read that had a cult setting to it and I loved it. I loved that it was about women who had a hard time finding love, looking for love in the absolutely wrong place. I found that aspect of the story absolutely powerful and was completely here for it.

However, I felt like Damiana needed more world-building, too. The plot develops way too quickly from the start; some aspects of the cult are explained, but others are left unanswered. For example, we are just expected to trust Damian because of how Marlowe feels about him. But how do we know he’s not going to betray her in the end? This was what bothered me about this book because it felt like we were supposed to just trust him because Marlowe does. Yes, I love him and Marlowe’s relationship, and I did find myself wanting to trust him, but he grew up in this cult. And with everything that happens at any moment, things could’ve very easily gone sideways.

Overall, though, I enjoyed reading Damiana because of the cult and witchy vibes in the story and loved seeing Marlowe and Damian’s relationship continue developing. I just felt like the world-building and pacing of the story itself needed some work to make it a much better read for me. I recommend this book to anyone looking to read a cult story with witchy vibes and anyone who wants a book with a little bit of romance too. Damiana was published on October 22, 2026, for anyone interested in giving this book a read.