This is such a great read! It is so cute, fun, and has a lot of bookish elements! I really love the main characters and the fact that they both love books is such a fun bonus.

This feels like the perfect read for the time between Halloween and Christmas. It has witchy-spooky fun, as well as, a bit of that Christmas magic since part of the story takes place over Christmas.

In Black Witch Magic, the first book in the Paranormal Hunters series, we are introduced to Selene Blackstone, a small-town librarian cursed from finding love and leaving Brimrock for all eternity. Selene has resigned herself to such a fate so when Aiden O'Hare shows up in town, she's determined to not get her hopes up that they could work. When it's revealed that he's only in town to research the backstory of her grandmother, well, that should make it easy for her to hate him, right? Wrong. Despite her better judgment, the two of them find themselves falling for each other.

I thought this was a quick, light-hearted paranormal romance/mystery book to breeze through during spooky season but there were a few things that didn't work for me. I thought that it was too long and some of that could be attributed to the extraneous details included, the repetitive descriptions about how Aiden is sarcastic, a loner, etc. I also thought that the constant references to Aiden not wanting to spend time with the Myers family was too much. Yes, he is allowed to not want to celebrate the holidays but he's also staying at his best friend's house for Christmas and New Year's. It wouldn't have killed him to be a little less rude. Eddie wasn't the most supportive friend when Aiden started spending more and more time with Selene but I didn't understand why Aiden tried to keep it a secret from his best friend. He didn't even try to introduce them. I also was not a fan of when Selene dressed up for the date - they had known each other for two days at this point - and Aiden was like, I miss her usual style. There were also frequent ride-sharing references and how no one could catch a ride but the town seemed pretty walkable? Everyone was able to walk the 12 blocks? I didn't understand the point.

Lastly, another reviewer remarked that nearly all of the townspeople that make Selene's life difficult have Jewish-sounding last names and now I can't stop thinking about it. I will also agree with the reviewer that in an all-white town, the exploration of what affect race has on the hatred of the Blackstone family is not explored.

All in all, I'm glad I read it and appreciate NetGalley for the advanced reading copy. I hope that the next book in the series has more world-building as well. I would like to see more of the small-town!

*3.75 Stars*

Black Witch Magic is a paranormal romance centered around Selene, a twenty-six year old witch who's been cursed years before she was even born. She supposedly can't live her town nor find happiness in love.
Enters Aiden, a paranormal investigator, who's spending the holidays with Eddie, his best friend and colleague along with Eddie's family. But Aiden does not like the holidays and the constant cheer is getting to him so he keeps escaping on his own.
Anyway, sparks fly but trust is haaaaaaaaaaard.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, it wasn't perfect but it was nice and I had a good time reading it. I didn't see the big twist coming, I thought someone else was the big bad.
The romance felt a bit too insta-love-y for my taste and I didn't really fell for the main characters. My favorite characters was Selene's best friend and her aunt and we didn't see them nearly enough.
I guess something didn't click for me in the romance department but I really did enjoy the rest of the plot.
Anyway, this was fun and I will most likely read book 2.

Black Witch Magic is filled with witchy fun, mysterious old curses, and paranormal adventure.

Aiden and Eddie, best friends and paranormal investigator co-hosts of an online paranormal show are headed to Eddie's hometown of Brimrock, Massachusetts for the holidays. Aiden is none too excited about the whole holiday rigamarole but he is amped at the prospect of investigating the town legend of the Blackstone curse.

Selene Blackstone is forever stuck in her hometown. Her grandmother, Luna, was cursed over 40 years ago. Her life is filled with the same old thing. Used to being the town's scapegoat for all things unexplained, she has resigned herself to her life as a town recluse and would rather spend her time surrounded by dusty old books and her witchy best friend.

Aiden and Selene meet unexpectedly and immediately hit it off. It isn't long until mysteries and old ghosts come back to town and threaten everything between them. Aiden struggles with his plans for his job and partnership with Eddie and his future plans for their show versus his growing whatever it is between him and Selene. And Selene must survive this newest bought of fear, ridicule, and slander heading her way due to the town's newest mysterious happenings.

Black Witch Magic wasn’t a hard-hitting mystery, it actually reminded me a bit of a Scooby-Doo episode... well, maybe an adult smexy Scooby-Doo episode. But, the whole book was fun and cute and totally hit my Halloween witchy happy place.

I totally recommend for a fun and cute paranormal read with a bit of steam.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I love the concept of Black Witch Magic (and I also really enjoy that it's a witchy novel set around Christmas). However, I found myself frustrated: I felt like I had to be more than halfway done at some point, but I checked and I was only 35% through it! Still, it was nice reading it around Halloween and I'm also thinking about what kind of librarian witch I'd be.

This book was a quick and cute read! It spans across the holidays so it's perfect to read in both autumn and winter. I really enjoyed the storyline of the heroine being a witch and the hero being a paranormal investigator, it felt very original to me.

I enjoyed Aiden and Selene's relationship, they kept a healthy mix of snarky and flirty toward each other, which I enjoyed.

I really Loved Noelle's character and the friendship her and Selene have together. Noelle is the hype friend that everyone needs. I really liked how she challenged Selene, looked out for her best interest, and always had her back.

Selene was a strong character, but still had a lot of self doubt and fears. Her whole life she has dealt with judgment and unnaceptance from others, yet held her head high as best she could. I found her to be very relatable. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

If you like witchy women, mystery, romance, and strong characters then give this a read!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A family curse, witches, bookish romance .. what more can you ask for? This book was very fluffy but also spooky. It was a light read perfect for Halloween and a great transition into Christmas (yes, I’m skipping right over thanksgiving). I thought the premise was very interesting and there was a plot twist I was not expecting. The romance between Aiden & Selene is such a slow burn ... and honestly I didn’t get enough of it. They had cute moments together but there was more focus on the threat looming over their town. There was a little bit of steam but 1/5 🔥‘s. I did appreciate that the sex scenes embraces sex safe in a non awkward way. I honestly felt a little disconnected from this book, there wasn’t enough character development. The backstory of the curse and history of the Blackstone witches had so much potential but there wasn’t enough of it for how much it overshadowed the romance portion of the book.

To be honest, this wasn't a great book. It was pretty disjointed and unrealistic. I skimmed through most of it because I couldn't get into the characters or their relationship. The best thing about the book was the unsatisfying sex they had the first time - you rarely see real sex scenes in romance books. I couldn't really believe that the whole town hated Selene for something she had nothing to do with. It felt like a super small town (1,000 population?) but really had 30,000 people... that is so weird for EVERYONE to know about and hate someone. I also struggled with the historical curse really only being 2 generations back. That's like 60 years. It would have been more believable to be 150-200 years ago, where there was some distance between the characters and the ancestors.

I didn’t think I needed a paranormal interracial romance in my life, but apparently Mika Nicks knew better. I read it Halloween weekend (well finished it) and I couldn’t put it down. It was funny and delightful and combined two of my favorite things: witches and librarians.

Amazing. Everything I could have asked for. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a Halloween book but overall amazing.

Selene Blackstone works at Brimstone's Public Library, keeping her head down and trying to make everyone forget that she comes from a long line of witches. Thanks to her grandma and her evil witch ways, her family is cursed for all of eternity. None of the witches in the family will be able to fall in love or leave Brimstone. Then in rolls Aiden O'Hare, paranormal investigator, in town to investigate the Blackstone Family. Selene may just have found the man who can break her curse, and Aiden may have just discovered that witches really are real.....
What a fun book! This is book one in a new series. I am already looking forward to book two. I loved Selene and her friends. There were a couple of steamy sex scenes, so you probably wouldn't want your teen reading this. Anyone older than that who enjoys paranormal and fantasy books with lots of humor and fun characters will definitely want to check this out.

This was a cute love story with a witchy/holiday vibe! The main characters are sweet, awkward, and generally very cute. This was my second paranormal romance and I think I liked it! It's definitely not my go-to romance subgenre, but if you're looking for a paranormal mystery with a romance then this is absolutely the book for you! I'd give it a 2/5 for steam.

Black Witch Magic is a paranormal romance that follows a cursed witch unlucky in love, an intrepid paranormal investigator, and a small town haunted by a menace. It has an entertaining premise and a gorgeous cover, but ultimately is a boring read with little to recommend it.

Selene Blackstone is a lunar witch living in a small town called Brimrock, who works at the local library. She’s cursed to be stuck in the town her whole life, and also has terrible luck with dating. Selene has a close friend in fellow witch Noelle, but no close family, and she is the last remaining Blackstone witch. The townspeople antagonize her, as they believe local lore that villainizes Blackstones, witch or not. Selene is pretty much resigned to spending her life in a town that despises her, with few friends and fewer prospects, until she meets Aiden.

Aiden O’Hare is part of a paranormal investigation team for a small TV show in which he plays the role of the skeptic. Aiden doesn’t believe in ghosts, vampires, or witches. He comes with his work partner to visit Brimrock for Christmas, determined to unlock the mysteries of the Blackstone legend for their viewers, and debunk the myth. But when he meets Selene, sparks fly and both of them have to decide where their loyalties lie.

I loved the premise of this book: witches, curses, romance, small towns, it’s got great bones. The cover is also beautiful, hinting at a spooky romance. However, everything pretty much goes downhill from there. The writing is not great, and there is way too much exposition, not just at the beginning of the book, but throughout the whole story. None of the characters are well-defined; they all just seem to be written around the plot. There are also way too many characters for the reader to reasonably keep straight without clear characterization, and Selene and Aiden just feel like caricatures of awkward millennials rather than actual people. I really wanted to enjoy this book because the premise seemed so fun and engaging, but I was just so incredibly bored throughout. It is legitimately a chore to read.

One of the biggest issues with the book is that it is far too long for the plot. The conflict is minimal and so poorly established that the story drags for the vast majority of it, and it’s so thin that even Selene expresses disbelief at one point! The end is supposed to feel triumphant and exciting, but it really doesn’t. There are also moments that felt tacitly anti-Semetic, like the fact that most of the townspeople who hate Selene have Jewish-sounding last names. Not to say that Jewish characters can never be villainous, but Selene’s boss Miriam is a control freak who is out to get Selene, constantly overworking her, and sabotaging her. Obviously, it’s impossible to know if that was intended by the author, but she does come across as the stereotype of the puppet-master and overbearing middle-aged Jewish woman. Almost everyone who is prejudiced against Selene is white, but the racial aspect of the town’s hatred for her is never really explored.

There is one other huge problem with the book, which is a serious issue because it’s supposed to be the first in a series: the world-building is pretty much non-existent. A good fantasy or science fiction book does need a certain amount of scene-setting so that the reader understands the world. This could have easily been inserted into the story, as one of the characters knows nothing about the world of the supernatural, and an explanation would not have felt clunky or too expository. Obviously, a first book doesn’t cover everything, but a lot of the fun of reading a new paranormal series is figuring out the rules of the universe and how magic functions. This book basically ignores those mechanics and gives lackluster, half-assed explanations.

While Black Witch Magic initially looks exciting, it’s not worth the effort. It is only saved from an F because I laughed a couple of times while reading.

I picked this up based on the adorable cover, expecting it to be a cozy Halloween paranormal. It is pretty cozy, but it’s actually set around Christmas.

“She was a Blackstone. She was a witch. She was doomed to retrace the same miserable steps as the other women in her family, destined to live out her days in Brimrock under isolation and mistreatment. She would never find love. She would never find adventure. Happiness wasn’t in the cards.”


Selene’s a witch, but it’s not all it’s cut out to be. Thanks to a curse laid on her family around her grandma’s time, she’s unable to leave the town of Brimrock, which is unfortunate since most of the townspeople seem to dislike her. Aiden and Eddie are best friends and the stars of a paranormal investigative show. They’re staying with Eddie’s family in Brimrock over the holidays and hoping to mix a little work with their vacation by looking into the rumors about Selene’s grandma. A mix-up with a ridesharing app leads to Selene and Aiden meeting, and sparks fly. But it looks like the paranormal activity in Brimrock is heating up again. Can Selene and Aiden work together to find out who’s behind it?

I struggled a lot with this book. I never quite connected to either Selene or Aiden, so I wasn’t particularly invested in their relationship. Selene was fun, in that she had a cute dog, loved books and her job as a librarian (though not her awful coworkers), and generally seemed like a nice person. There was one scene, though, where she switched price tags on an item sold by a snotty townsperson which I thought was jarringly out of character for her. That’s stealing, and call me a snob, but doing it as revenge for the booth worker ignoring you to talk to her friend is not heroine quality to me. Aiden is also bookish, sarcastic (honestly more like rude), relentlessly neat and organized, he hates Christmas. That’s problematic as Eddie’s Aunt Priscilla seems to be a veritable font of Christmas cheer, and their inevitable clashes led me to decide that, while I certainly sympathized with Aidan’s reluctance to be pulled into all that nonsense, they won the awards for worst host and worst houseguest.

The story is sort of a mix between a cozy mystery and a paranormal romance. On one hand, we have Selene and Aiden’s developing relationship, and on the other we have the possibly paranormal mystery. It’s pretty fluffy in terms of both, in that their relationship mostly involves some kissing and then a few not particularly descriptive sex scenes. One in particular I enjoyed as it was a, shall we say, misfire, and I appreciated the veracity of that, plus how it went along with Selene’s curse. One of the barriers to their relationship to me was that I’m not a fan of characters who keep things from each other without good reason. I didn’t like how long the whole Aiden-investigating-Selene’s-family-without-telling-her plot went. The mystery plot was very enjoyable, but it did seem to drag, only picking up around three-quarters of the way through the book.

“I don’t get what you see in him.”
“He’s cute. Smart. Bookish. What’s not to like?”
“Um, he’s out to expose you, Luna, your whole existence as a witch?”


I honestly felt bad for Selene and Aiden as their best friends were pretty awful. Noelle, one of the few fellow witches in town, is ridiculously unsupportive of Selene. I appreciated that she pushed back at first on the insta-attraction (especially when they figured out who Aiden actually was), but she didn’t seem to have any sympathy at all for her friend’s feelings. She goes as far to tell her “I told you so” after a bad date rather than comforting her friend. Eddie seems incapable of understanding why introverted Aiden doesn’t want to spend all his time drinking, ice skating, or going shopping at the mall with Eddie’s family, none of whom he’d met prior to the holiday.

“A man with a greater vocabulary than most, known for his sardonic humor and dry delivery on Paranormal Hunters, he wasn’t at a loss for words often.”


My main issue with the book, though, comes down to a lot of telling vs showing. We’re told Selene and Aiden have great chemistry, but I didn’t really see that in how they acted around each other. There’s lots of descriptions of them kissing, but I didn’t feel any sexual tension from it. The worst for me, though, was with the magic. Selene doesn’t really know much about how her magic works, so the reader doesn’t really get to find out much either. Why is she a lunar witch and not a green witch like her friend Noelle? Are there witches in other places? It’s never really explained, and the timelines of when her grandma disappeared and how old Selene is didn’t seem to add up right. In addition, there were a lot of repeated elements that pulled me out of the story. There’s a lot of the characters waiting around for rides from URide, lots of Selene adjusting her glasses, lots of mentions of the exact make and model of Eddie’s car and the address of Selene’s house. I don’t know why it’s so important that we’re constantly reminded that Eddie’s car is a 1976 Dodge Caravan, or that Selene’s address is 1221 Gifford. It was jarring and pulled me out of the book every time.

Overall, unfortunately, this was not the book for me. If you like fluffy paranormal romances crossed with cozy mysteries, though, this might work out better for you!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

i started this book two weeks ago and got like 20% into it but got into a reading slump and then started school so i had absolutely no free time until today when i finally started to read this and i couldn't stop reading until i finished!! this was a really cute light paranormal romance with a little mystery element and i thought it was the perfect read for october!!

the story follows a Selene, witch and Aiden who's a paranormal investigator, whose newest case is about none other than Selene's grandmother,, they meet when they have to share a ride to a restaurant but they both have no idea who the other is. i thought their relationship was so cute, they're both huge nerds and their snarky banter was so fun to read!

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Black Witch Magic is a fun paranormal, holiday romance with lots of subtext on racism and microagressions! Selene Blackstone is a curvy Black girl living in a small town (Brimrock), working in the library by day, but is secretly a witch. Oh, and she is living with a family curse that traps her in Brimrock and destroys her attempts at having a relationship. Aiden O'Hare is the skeptic on a paranormal investigation show, spending the holidays with his friend and partner Eddie. Also, he is not the biggest fan of Christmas. I won't say too much more about the plot, but this was a great blend of romance, humor, and peril.

It also has tons of subtextual commentary on racism and microagressions. You can definitely read it at face value, but it's pretty clear that much of the fear, dislike, and consistent microagressions that Selene faces because people think she comes from a family of evil witches is a stand-in for the very real things Black people deal with, especially in small towns where most people are not non-witches *cough* white people *cough*. Even the arc involving Aiden coming to terms with witches being real parallels the importance of the white partner in an interracial relationship recognizing and grappling with what their partner faces on a regular basis. Oh and the big bad (without getting specific) turns out to be a self-righteous white woman. It's great.

But also you can read this as an engaging paranormal romance, and I'm betting plenty of readers won't pick up on what's really going on. But it's definitely there and I thought it was smart while still being a fun story. I would definitely read more from this author in the future! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

*Thanks to NetGallery for the e-ARC*

This book was adorable! We have a cursed librarian witch, a paranormal hunter, Christmas in a smalltown, and mystical magical things. Selene was a lovely character, when the story was from her viewpoint you could tell how sweet and kind she is as a person. You could see her struggles of being a witch and not being liked by the town. Aiden comes to town with his best friend for the holiday and he does not expect to fall in love, but he is pleasantly surprised by it. Aiden understood his comfort levels for socialization and it was amazing to see a character be firm in what they wanted to do. The secondary characters we developed and were nice interactions for the main characters.
I liked how this was a romance and mystery type novel, where at the end of the book we have the romance developed and the main mystery is solved. The ending finishes the story of this book but leaves it open to continue the series in the next one.
The writing style was easy to understand. I enjoyed the magic world-building and hope that the rest of the series will continue to give more information on the magic system.
This book received 4 stars because the story was enjoyable, but not perfect. I had a feeling that something was missing from the book while I was reading. I thought the romance was on-point and have no complaints about the relationship. I wish we had more information on the magic system with more details and knowing how it works. The mystery portion of the book was good and I did not guess it, but I felt like it was resolved way too quickly. Overall, this book was enjoyable!

Ladies and Gentlemen, she has done it again! Mila Nicks is one of my go-to romance authors and she surely did not disappoint in this sweet, riveting novel!

If you are looking for novels that are character driven, then this one is certainly for you. Selene and Aiden's chemistry was delightful and I found myself longing for more of their story days after I put this book down. The premise of a librarian/witch falling in love with a bookwork/paranormal investigator left room for plenty of playful banter that pushed the novel forward and cemented my love for this couple. While there were some steamy scenes, it never felt forced or over the top.

One aspect that I loved in the book was the friendships that the protagonists had in their lives. Selene's best friend, Noelle, is her polar opposite but pushes her to be her best at all times. My absolute favorite moment in this book is when Noelle understands that Selene will be taking a big step with Aiden in her future, but she still encourages her to take the step even though it will in turn change their friendship to some degree. It is refreshing to see such a selfless love between friends.

While there were some magical elements to this novel, it was balanced out by the romance portion of the novel. I would highly recommend anyone looking to explore the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre to pick this book up, as it is not too overwhelming and quite fun! It was the perfect book to read during spooky season!

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all readers. Whether you are interested in romance or fantasy, I am sure there is something that you will take away from this one! This book is the first installment in Nicks' new series, Paranormal Hunters. Be sure to look out for book number two in the series, Black Moon Rising, to be published on April 23rd, 2020

Thank you to Mila Nicks and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early! What a fun story! I enjoyed the paranormal activity aspect in this, and it came out just in time for Halloween! 4 stars!

It's spooooky season so anything with witch in the title, I'm prone to take notice of. The description of this story pulled me in and the characters kept me there! Selene is a witch with a family curse (the best kind) that renders her unable to leave her hometown and also makes her romantic life miserable. Enter Aiden- a cute, sarcastic ghost hunter who is in town for the Christmas holiday! They meet by happenstance and decide to give it a try. Selene tells him about the curse and they set out to overturn it. This book was so descriptive sometimes I felt like I was getting lost in the story and the adjectives, and I really wanted more magic! In the end, they lift the curse (extremely easily and almost casually) and make out a few times. There is one romance scene that gets halfway there for me- all in all, the making out was good enough for me! They investigate, lift the curse, and go out into the world to hunt ghosts together- sarcasm and magic make for a great relationship!