A perfect potion of cozy, romantic, and enchanting fun.
A 30-something cottage witch bands together with a handsome stranger and a teenage goth in order to save their Connecticut hometown from an ancient curse.
When she was 9 years old, Jessica Gold discovered that her mother was magic. Well, not technically magic, but just enchanting enough for the impressionable child to take her father quite literally when he says, “Your mother is magic,” and set out to follow in her mother's footsteps. Using simple spells from Goody Fletcher’s Book of Useful Household Tips, a grimoire her mother unearthed from an estate sale, Jessica became a “cottage witch,” one who uses herbs and remedies to perform acts of good. That is, until Jessica decided to take Billy Walker to her senior prom. A harmless love potion meant to steal Billy’s heart ended up unleashing the terror of fellow high school student and storm witch Rosalie Hopkins. Years later, West Harbor still shivers at the chill of Rosalie’s jealousy-induced blizzard, and Jessica continues to lie low at her boutique, Enchantments, performing just the right amount of magic to make her customers feel charmed. Just when the residents of West Harbor seem to have forgotten the inexplicable, snowy events of 2006, the bearded and rugged Derrick Winters appears in Jessica’s shop. The sexy warlock reveals that there’s a deadly rift surfacing beneath their town, and only the “Chosen One” and the “Bringer of Light” can stop it. Jessica turns out to be the Chosen One, and the Bringer of Light is 16-year-old Esther Dodge, a high school student who can explode pumpkins with her mind. Can Jessica, Derrick, and Esther use their powers of good to prevent the destruction of West Harbor, or are darker forces at play? Cabot’s latest adult rom-com is charming and mystical, combining her usual humor with a strong female heroine to make an enticing new saga. The first installment of the Witches of West Harbor series will leave readers eager to follow Jessica and Derrick on their quest for harmony.
A perfect potion of cozy, romantic, and enchanting fun.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780063268371
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.
A collegiate diver and swimmer secretly pursue kink together, and risk falling in love along the way.
Scarlett Vandermeer is struggling. Despite a successful recovery from the injury that almost ended her Stanford diving career, she hasn’t been able to get her head together, and it’s affecting her performance. Plus, she’s trying to stay focused on getting into medical school. A relationship would be out of the question. By comparison, Lukas Blomqvist is a swimming idol, a record-breaker who wins medals as easily as breathing, and Scarlett has long been convinced he would never look in her direction—until one fateful night when a mutual friend lets slip that they have something unexpected in common: Scarlett likes to be submissive in the bedroom, while Lukas prefers to take a dominant approach. Now, they both know a big secret about each other, and it’s something neither of them can stop thinking about. It’s Lukas who suggests they have a fling—purely physical, just to take the edge off, so Scarlett can get out of her own head and stop overthinking her dives. Initially, their arrangement is easy to stick to, but the more time they spend together, the more Scarlett starts to realize that what she feels for Lukas is more than physical attraction. Complicating the situation is the fact that Scarlett’s friend Penelope Ross used to go out with Lukas, and the longer Scarlett keeps mum about her true feelings for him, the more difficult it is to keep the situation hidden from another person she really cares about. While Scarlett and Lukas’ relationship does begin as a physical one, their deeper psychological connection takes a little too long to emerge amid all the other storylines, resulting in a somewhat rushed resolution. However, Hazelwood’s latest is proof of the depth and maturity that has emerged in her writing over the years, and it highlights her embrace of sexier, more emotional elements than were present in her original STEMinist rom-coms.
A surprisingly sensual sports romance.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593641057
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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