I love supernatural rom-coms, especially ones about witches. Here are two I read in October. Both with punny titles.
Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin
Lucy Carraway is a witch about to go to her ten-year High School reunion. She wishes she could brag about all of her accomplishments, but she feels like she has been stuck in a rut after never leaving her small town. One night, she and her sisters, who are also her coven, use their grandmother’s Wish Spell and Lucy finds that she can’t say no to any opportunities that are presented to her. She enters the town baking competition, a dive-bar karaoke contest, and agrees to decorate the house across the street from her. The cottage that she has always wanted. The cottage that now belongs to her High School crush, Alex.
Alex is a Merman who has never stayed in one place for long. His parents recently gifted the cottage to him as a birthday present. He feels like it is a trap. The cottage is notoriously jinxed. Nobody has ever owned it for long. He only wants Lucy to decorate it so he can sell it quickly and head back out of town.
This book was cute and kept me entertained while on a weekend out of town, but it was nothing too memorable. If the author writes more books set in this world, I may read them, but I will check them out from the library.
3 Stars
The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan
Emma Bluewater has moved away from the toxic Witch High Society of New Orleans in which she grew up. Her reputation was ruined when her betrothed, Bastian Truenote, left town just before their wedding. 10 years later, she has made a life for herself in Chicago with a witchy friend, a human friend, and a secret bastard sister. One day, Bastian comes waltzing in the door to the bar she owns, acting almost like he didn’t abandon her without even a note. It turns out that breaking the marriage contract has cursed his mother and she is dying. Emma agrees to a platonic marriage of convenience with Bastian, and they start planning the wedding. But can they trust each other? Why did Bastian suddenly leave with no explanation? Is there a meaner bitch in the known universe than Emma’s mother? I will answer the last one. No. No, there is not.
This was a cute book, and once I discovered the reason Bastian left ten years ago, I stopped hating his guts. It was able to hold my attention even while I was stressed out in a hospital waiting room, so that says a lot about it. As someone who struggles with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, there were a couple of times I was brought close to tears when Emma talked about how Bastian leaving wrecked her. There was even a little bit of spice to make me love it more.
4 Stars