When I picked this book up, I thought it was a cozy mystery, but it was a bit more than that. There are some sexual encounters, as well as some rather violent murders (not described explicitly) but I still enjoyed the story. Cassie is a witch who loves humans. Endora is her familiar, a cat who can shape shift into a human. Medusa, her mother is on her case about getting married, she is 90 after all. Cassie is a journalist who writes a syndicated column called "The Kitchen Witch". She has published some books made up of her columns and she is on an author's tour with several other published authors. On this tour, she meets Mick, MS Kazimer, who is a best selling author of serial killer books. The kicker is that this tour was put together by the FBI to catch a real serial killer that is imitating the murders from the books. As Cassie and Mick fall in love, can they also stop the killing.

I loved the relationship between Endora and Cassie. They are telepathic so a lot of their conversations were not verbal, but still fun. They were sassy with one another, humorous and you could tell that they really cared about one another. Mick was also a great character. He was willing to do whatever he had to in order to catch this mad man. I wish we had gotten to know him a bit better, but I think we will in the next book. He also has a sense of humor and it showed, especially with his encounters with Medusa. A good, quick read and I am looking forward to the next one.

A well written light, fun story with a bit of everything.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Ah witches and paranormal, ,a favorite break from my usual cozy crafty reads. Reminds me of all my favorite witch movies, with some teenage Sabina thrown in. Has a little bit of everything in the story which makes it so enjoyable.

Super writing! Super plot super story.... If you take witches, magic, romance and mystery and put it all together it came out SUPERB! I truly was caught by the writing in this book. The author is very talented, I laughed a little, got caught by her plot line and just enjoyed every single character in the entire book. While it was a little slow at the beginning, it picks up and just keeps going. This is an author that I have not read much of before, However, now I have read both books in this series and truly adored them both! I am totally hooked on this series and cannot wait for more from this author. So if you like paranormal romance this is a definite buy buy buy buy buy book! I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna

Some Practical Magic is a light paranormal romance that will leave your nose twitching in delight. Having grown up with reruns of Bewitched, I had to smile as I read Some Practical Magic. Laurie C Kuna unashamedly pays tribute to the classic sitcom. Despite there being some “thriller” elements, Some Practical Magic is mostly a romance with a touch of humor.

Fleeing her mother’s attempts at matchmaking, Cassandra and her familiar/publicist Endora (who is hilarious whether in cat or human form) join a book tour. When she meets the headliner, horror novelist M S Kazimer, sparks fly. But all is not well, a serial killer is modeling his murders after those in Kazimer’s books, and the tour is an attempt to flush him out of hiding. Falling in love with a human is tough enough, but now Cassandra must refresh her magical skills in order to protect everyone from a vicious killer.

There is some explicit sex, but it is well done. Still, I wouldn’t recommend Some Practical Magic for teen consumption. In all Some Practical Magic is a cute romance, not exceptional, but definitely an entertaining escapist read.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Some Practical Magic from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Who is M. S. Kazimer and why do two guys show up in a non-descript car and trench coats? Who are they and what do they want with him? Who is Mirek Sandor? What does Mr. Kazimer 'think' the men are there for? Who is Cassie Hathorne? What kind of job do they do? When Endora and Cassie go on tour with Kazimer and Jennifer, whomever she is, what happens? Who or what is Endora to Cassie? What about Jennifer to Kazimer? When Cassie's mother shows up with Mort, her Endora, what happens? Who is causing the issues that Kazimer is having to work with the trench coat guys? What is this person hoping to accomplish? Will they be successful or not? You're going to have to read to find out. I laughed so hard at points with regards to conversations between Cassie and Endora. This book was a really fun read.

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

This book had some magic, some sizzle, and a big bad all rolled into a quick read.

Cassie is a witch who really feels more at home with humans. She's become relatively famous with her "kitchen witch" column, which is released in book format now. To further avoid her mother's attempts to get her to marry another witch, she eagerly joins a touring group of authors to promote her book. It's there that she meets a man who makes her sit up and take notice. Mick is only touring to assist in an FBI investigation into someone who is using his horror novels as inspiration. He's determined to make his most recent book his last and retire from the business, but can't live with himself if he doesn't try to stop this crazed fan.

When these two meet, it's clear that they are both smitten. With their different worlds, however, they won't have an easy road ahead, and that's only if they can survive a crazed killer. It was fun to watch two slightly awkward people try to navigate their complicated relationship.

I had a lot of fun reading this book! I love reading about witches, and I love a good romance. Cassie was so like-able, and the relationship between her and her familiar, Endora (Yes, that's the name of Samantha's mom in Bewitched), was really refreshing for me. I read a lot of romance books where the main female and male characters are pretty much it as far as cast of the story goes, so to have other characters who are more than just passing by was nice. I liked Cassie mother, Medusa, also. She reminded me of Debbie Reynolds character from the Disney movie, Halloweentown, which is a movie I still love to watch whenever it's on TV. Medusa was a little meddling, but had her daughters best interests at heart and was able to see when she needed to step back and when to interfere.

Agatha Cromwell (Debbie Reynolds) in Halloweentown.
Image from Buzzfeed

The serial killer thing was something I feel like I've seen on an episode of Law & Order: SVU. It kept the tension up towards the end of the story and brought everyone together when they needed to be though. The romance moved a little fast. I don't have a problem with insta-love but it went from 'hey, he's cute' to 'hey, let's get married' in less than a week, and moving that quickly towards marriage didn't seem to fit with either characters personality. Mick is reserved, and thoughtful, and was still getting over his relationship with Jennifer ending. And Cassie is sensible, and independent, and it just didn't seem to fit with either of them. It did get really mushy towards the end of the story too, with both Cassie and Mick talking incessantly about how much they loved each other. I'm not a very mushy person so that was a little annoying.

Overall, not terribly original but still a fun book with good characters. 3 out of 5 stars.

Cassandra/Cassie is a witch and had turned ninety and her mother was on her butt because she wanted to see Cassie married. Then her mother reminded her witches didn’t live much past two hundred and twenty years. Cassie’s mother was Medusa. Cassie was a journalist but also wrote some nonfiction books. She was going on a book tour . Endora was Cassie’s car/ familiar. For the last ten years Cassie had written a column on household hints ( also what her books were about) called “ The Kitchen Witch” for the Salem Evening News.Cassie was proud of her writing skills. Her Book “When Dust Bunnies Attack” was already tenth on the nonfiction bestseller list.Mirak Sanders/ Mick was known to his fans as M. S. Kazimer was a horror/suspense author. Jennifer was Mick’s former fiancee but still his publicist. Cassie and Mick were seated next to each other on the book signing part of the tour. Mick asked Cassie to autograph a book for him and told her he had her other books. Mick was having dinner with Robert Whitman who was suppose to be an author but was actually an FBI agent. A serial killer had started murdering people that duplicated crimes in Micks novels and using his murders as blueprints for his own murders. There had been fifteen in a five year time span. Mick was definitely attracted to Cassie and it was only getting stronger and Cassie was also attracted to him. Jennifer had finally ended their business association and flew back to N Y to pack her stuff and find her own apartment. It was never a good time for a witch to start a relationship with a human so Cassie’s mother and other witches had said.
I loved this story . It had a great plot and held my attention from the beginning to the end. I loved how this had the paranormal aspect but also the suspense of the serial killer in it. This story made me laugh at times. I was not happy to see Endora hurt in cat form by the killer. I liked how Medusa accepted Mick and the witches were all willing to help catch this killer. This was a great book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this story and also how it very successfully covered two genres and I highly recommend.

Absolutely brilliant reading. It got me from the beginning. It's got some mystery, some magic, some romance and some humour. I dare say my favourite character is Endora for her acid tongue. It's fast-paced and it's got some laugh-out-loud moments. It won't be the last book I read by this writer, that's for sure.

This book started off a little slow for me but picked up towards the end. If you like mysteries and paranormal this book could fit the bill. This did put a bit of a different spin on witches though. I wouldn't put it in the cozy category because it has sex in it for those that disagree with sex in their cozies. So be forewarned.

I am a huge fan of cozy paranormal mysteries and I picked up this book thinking it would fit that bill. Thankfully, I wasn’t wrong! Not only did this book have a great mystery, it also had a nice little romance going for it as well. However, if you don’t like a romance with your mystery, it didn’t really take up much of the plot at all. I also really did like the writing style and characters of the book. The two main characters were just confident enough that they didn’t come across as arrogant, and they were very sympathetic. Cassie’s mom added a dose of humor to the overall mix, with Endora (who was my favorite character) adding humor, too, with a touch of wise-ness. Yes, it did have a very minor cliffhanger in the end, but not concerning the mystery at hand. I was intrigued enough that I will definitely pick up the next one in the series. I will be back for more. If you like a light, fast, well-written, cozy paranormal mystery, give this one a try. Highly recommend!

Thanks to the NetGalley and Bell Ridge Books for the e-book which I reviewed voluntarily. This exact review will be posted on both Amazon and Goodreads.

This was the first time I’ve read a Laurie Kuna book and I was very happy that I did, she’s a great writer you can depend on to give you some time off from reality to enjoy yourself.

She has created an intriguing story with witty dialogue, believable characters and well thought out plotlines. There’s enough romance to heat you up but her scenes don’t cross a boundary into porn. I like the surprisingly light layer of humor that helps to take the edge off the suspenseful side of murder.

I would’ve preferred a different ending but overall felt reading this was a good use of my time.

You really should pick this up, the first in a series, because it's just a fun way to pass the time. Now you'll have more to look forward to when you're done with this.

Kitchen witch Cassandra Hathorne is fed up with her mother’s matchmaking attempts. So fed up, she agrees to travel along on a book tour with horror novelist M.S. Kazimer. There’s a real attraction between Cassandra and Mick, but their romance gets sidelined by a psychopath using Mick’s novels as blueprints for his own bloody killing spree. Can Cassandra use magic to save Mick and stop the killer, or will the couple have to rely on more human measures?