Violet Thistlewaite was once the infamous Thornwitch. Instead of embracing that reputation, she’s left it behind and moved to a nearby village to open a flower shop. No one knows who she used to be, and she’d like to keep it that way.

Violet was once the infamous Thornwitch, but nobody in the village knows her past. After the dark sorcerer she worked for is killed, she runs from that life and opens a flower shop. She is determined to do only good from now on.

Nathaniel and Prudence Marsh run the apothecary and are Violet’s landlords. Nathaniel was once an alchemist for the queen, but he returned to the village to run the shop after his parents died. He and Violet both had different dreams for their lives, and now they are trying to move on from what happened to them.

When a blight begins taking over the land, Violet and Nathaniel work together to find the cause. A suspicious alchemist also arrives in town and creates more trouble. The stakes never feel as high as the end of the world, but you still root for Violet and Nathaniel to solve the problem.

One reason I love cozy fantasy is that it feels like a warm hug. This is a story about forgiveness and community. It also shows that people shouldn’t be defined forever by the worst thing they’ve ever done.

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore has magic, romance, humor, and enough danger to keep the story moving without losing its cozy feeling.