Like many other readers, I made the assumption that this book would be set over Halloween (or at least the fall). Although the prologue does open on Halloween night, the actual story is spread over the month of December leading up to Christmas and then New Year’s Day. It was on me for assuming based on the subject of witches and the paranormal, but I do wish that it took place at least in the fall without the snow which automatically creates a more romantic scene without really trying. However, the timeline does make sense because it’s how our two main characters actually come together as our male lead wouldn’t be in town for the plot’s initial set-up if it wasn’t for the holiday (the events themselves would not have happened the way they did if it was set during another season).

Brimrock, Massachusetts (not a real town – at least through an initial search as I was curious) is home of legendary magic and is home to its cursed resident, Selene Blackstone. Selene’s grandmother, Luna, a witch, was cursed after an incident with a succubus named Aurora. Each generation after now suffers the same curse where the female witches are unable to leave the town of Brimrock and are also unable to find happiness, especially with love. She at least has her best friend named Noelle and Noelle’s aunt Bibi to keep her company as Selene is last remaining Blackstone. Selene’s love of books has to therefore act as substitutes for her dreams of adventure and love. Just as she is about to give up on the latter, she meets Aidan O’Hare. Could it be that Aiden has come into her life to break her curse or is she doomed to suffer another heart break?

Aidan O’Hare is one half of a dynamic duo of paranormal investigators for YouTV (a play on the name YouTube – this actually happens A LOT – Uride = Uber for example). Their show Paranormal Hunters (a play on the actual show Ghost Hunters) features Aidan as the sarcastic skeptic and his fellow host, Eddie, as the believer. Together they have created 49 successful episodes and the legend of Luna Blackstone in Brimrock, MA seems the logical choice for the next episode. This is also perfect as Eddie’s family is from the same town and will be home to visit the holidays. Although Aidan GREATLY dislikes holiday festivities, he and Eddie head to Brimrock to stay with Eddie’s Aunt Priscilla and the rest of his family.

Aidan meets Selene through a Uride mishap and soon they start a relationship (after some antics). Unfortunately, during this time, there seems to be some mysterious happenings in Brimrock and Selene, as the link to the town’s “spooky” past, is the number one suspect. Not only must this but she protect the fact that she is an actual witch as well. Aidan and Selene must work together to find the true culprit to help clear Selene’s name.

The actual mystery part of the story is interesting and I think most readers might not be able to guess the ending. I was about a third of the way before I made two guesses and one was the right answer. Others that I know have either been right their first guess or had no idea until the end which makes for a fun mystery as its not obvious to every reader. It definitely added to my need for a fun fit to the Halloween spirit. The author also did well complementing it to the Christmas/Holiday season surrounding the mystery so it felt like a great balance between the opposing seasons. It was a nice mix of “spooky” mixed with heart-warming joy to make one cohesive novel.

I love the banter between Selene and Aidan as their interactions helped to build their chemistry. I wish their relationship was explored more as there seemed to be something missing that keeps me from becoming fully invested in their relationship. As they are a multiracial couple, I feel that it was a missed opportunity to not delve into this as there wasn’t much mentioned about this outside of a few descriptions of their appearance here and there. It could be something that comes about with future novels so it’s impossible to fully judge it one way or another.

Selene is a fantastic bookish character that is just trying to fit in to a world that constantly seems to reject her. As the town is weary of accepting her due to her family’s past, she feels very lonely even when surrounded by people (especially the other women she works with at the library). She has her dog Yukie and her best friend Noelle that she can be herself around, but it doesn’t help that she has to stand on edge to not make any mistakes. Her search for acceptance was very well done and I greatly enjoyed reading about this part of her story. My only negative with her is more on a quirk that she does more than her personality. Selene’s glasses were constantly discussed and she has to continuously push them back up off the end of her nose. As someone who wears glasses, this to me just seems to be an ill-fit pair and she might want to update hers. It got a little distracting when it’s mentioned multiple times within a few minutes of reading (or at least it felt that way).

The other characters in this story felt likable and it was nice to get bits and pieces about their individual stories as background pieces in the main story. I didn’t fully connect with Aidan’s hate of all things Christmas. I don’t understand how he even whined about going ice skating when that can be a year-round activity (depending on where you live). His reasons for this dislike are declared, but they don’t feel relatable as there is no substance to back up these feelings. I wish it was done in a little more detail as I’m genuinely curious to learn more about this hate of all things Christmas and family. I know tons of people that aren’t into many of these holiday activities, but Aidan seems to dislike them to the extreme so I am super curious to find out more.

This novel is the start of the Paranomal Hunter series which means there is some conclusion to the main story, but it is set up to continue in the next, which is due in 2021. As it is a series, it helps to make sense of the one true aspect of the book I didn’t originally care for. However, it makes sense and is the best way to write as part of a series. If this was a standalone, then it would have lost major points to me. The story itself builds to come to the conclusion of who is actually causing all this havoc in Brimrock and Aidan and Selene’s quest to find this person or thing. You reach this climax a few chapters before the end of the story so the last bits are all about the aftermath. As a standalone, to me, this is prologue type situation, but as a series, I can see why the author chose to keep it all together as the main story.

Overall, Selene and Aidan make a fun couple. Their romance slowly builds as they are each weary of becoming too close at times to each other. They have chemistry and experience some unfortunately roadblocks (one in particular I give the author major kudos for as it is something rarely mentioned in romances even though it can happen – you’ll have to read to find out though). The story’s mystery was fun and it was nice to see Selene and Aidan work together to solve who was behind the antics. There are some issues so the novel isn’t perfect, but it definitely has potential. I would encourage readers to give this novel a try as this story offers slightly more than the typical romance as you have the mystery added in. The story is a fantastic set-up for what’s to come with the next novel in the series and I can’t wait to read the next one!

In the seventies, Selene Blackstone's grandmother royally pissed off another witch who cursed the family; none of the women in their line will be allowed to leave Brimrock (Brim-rock; Black-stone -- I was expecting more of a connection but none ever came up) and none will find love. In fact, the Blackstone family has been blamed for every evil in the town since then. Which makes it really fun to be there but Selene still does the best she can, even working at the library where her boss hates her but she still gets to spend time with books.
Aiden O'Hare is making a living as the skeptical part of a duo of paranormal hunters on an online platform that seems to be similar to YouTube. He really doesn't believe in magic or the paranormal and he really doesn't enjoy the holidays but he is in Brimrock with his best friend/co-host in order to spend Christmas with the co-host's family (very much against his will but it seems like he's got nothing better to do.) Little does he know that he is about to find a real-live witch.
This was a nice start to a series. A little jerky in places and it seemed like some parts weren't developed while others were developed too much but I liked both Selene and Aiden. And their sex scene was very much more realistic than some which I really enjoyed (I'm guessing that there are few people who have male partners who haven't experienced this at one point or another.) Some of the other characters didn't get as many dimensions (especially the Big Bad) but I'm hoping that further books will give us more insights into some of them. Plenty of sequel bait.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out October 30th
ARC kindly provided by Mila Nicks and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I really enjoyed this book, it was just what I needed after finishing a rather heavy read. I considered it a Halloween read but it’s set at Christmas time so it’s like two holidays for the price of one :)

Selene is a witch. She is cursed because of drama between her grandmother and another witch, way before Selene was born.
Her best friend is also a witch. While Selene lives with some pretty unfortunate curses, she can’t leave town. She is cursed to fail in love and can’t leave the town where almost everyone but her best friend look at her suspiciously every time something bad happens. Selene is a good person, a good witch, and it’s a shame that she’s often the source of gossip.

Aiden works with his best friend Eddie on a streaming tv series. They investigate unusual, possibly paranormal, situations together. Eddie is the believe, Aiden the cynic.
They go to Eddie’s hometown together to spend the holidays and also to investigate the story of a witch.

Aiden doesn’t know Selene is a witch when they meet and Selene doesn’t know about Aiden’s job. They are just pulled together.

While Eddie’s family seems like they’re straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, Aiden is not willing to get pulled into it all. He’d rather spend his time with Selene.

It seems like their potential relationship could be cursed before it begins but you definitely will be rooting for them both to find happiness together.

I got an early copy of this book from the author through NetGalley. Thank you for sharing it with me! It was a perfect Halloween read for me, I’m someone that doesn’t like things that are actually scary. This felt more like magical realism.

I thought I was going to find this book interesting but I sadly didn’t. It was okay but I just kinda lost interest in it by the end.

This is my first book I've read by Mila Nicks, but it won't be my last!

This book has a good deal of positive representation in it, from healthy female relationships, to positive body image, to dress how you want, healthy male relationships, different sexual orientation of characters, semi-healthy family relationship...you know, positivity!

I really enjoyed the level of snarky sarcasm coming out of Aiden. I guess I kind of enjoy reading about a guy with a dry sense of humor and the woman who can easily keep up with it with her own sass, Selene. Their relationship is kind of a whirlwind affair, but the author spends a lot of time developing it so it doesn't feel like it's any sort of insta-romance, which is something I really appreciate.

The relationship is front and center and the paranormal mystery kind of takes a backseat until 68% of the way through the book, which I was completely fine with because it made the relationship between the two of them more believable. This is a relationship you could actually see potentially developing in real life. Full of awkward points, innocent sarcasm, and a few blunders that you can totally see being mortifying in real life. But you know that the characters get over them (and even start joking about the one) and it just adds another tale to the story of their love.

For those of you wondering, yes there are some adult scenes in this book and one of them is horribly awkward for the characters involved, but it's nice that the author is also including it in her book because I can honestly say that I have never read a book that even touched on such a situation. True to its form, the book is positive about the blunder and does a redo on the whole situation. Doing so has much better results and kind of sends out the message into the world that second chances are sometimes all a person needs.


All in all, this is a nice little fluff read about an adorable witch and a sarcastic bookworm turned paranormal investigator coming together in life, both to solve a mystery and break a curse, and to date. It's cute and I can't wait for the next one!

Black Witch Magic was such a fun, fluffy mystery romance! Set in a small town, we follow Selene who uses her witch magic to help her with her job at the library, and Aiden who runs a paranormal YouTube series with his best friend Eddie. This book is a dual perspective adult romance with some mystery thrown in!
I did really enjoy this book, but I kind of guessed the plot twist, and I also thought this was a Halloween book? The cover has that vibe as well as I think some of the marketing but it is actually set during Christmas. The writing was good but at times overly descriptive and the dialogue was spotty. Overall, I’m giving it a 3.5 stars!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3592138236

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was exactly the light-hearted magic driven plot I was looking forward to in October. This book sees Selene, a witch, navigate being an outcast in a small town whilst also being cursed to never leave. Selene is incredibly relatable, oscillating between nerdy and incredibly sassy, and you find yourself routing for her the entire book. There were multiple scenes in this book that had me giggling to myself in public and even since finishing it I've still found myself looking back and laughing. Not to mention the plot twist! I completely did not see the twist coming and to be honest most of the plot was a surprise, something that rarely happens to me with books now. Everything about this plot was just so fun to read.

I did have some issues with some of the side characters though, Noelle being one. She's an awful best friend and incredibly annoying. Who actually says "I told you so" when their friend is genuinely hurt? The entire book sees her portrayed as entirely unsupportive unless she's getting exactly what she wants. Same thing goes for Eddie. I do feel this may have been an intentional choice though to be resolved in the sequel so hopefully they get a redemption arc.

I also do feel as if the relationship between Selene and Aiden took place a little too quickly and he was very accepting of the magical world immediately, which went against everything we were told about him. However, this didn't reduce my enjoyment of the plot and I look forward to seeing how their relationship plays out.

I'm very intrigued to see where this series is going especially as I've failed at predicting anything to do with it thus far.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly October New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached).

I thought this was such a great paranormal romance read. Once I got started it was hard to put down. I love Selena and Aiden as the main characters. They had such chemistry between the two. Both are book nerds and introverts and both have that one best friend they can count on. The only difference is that Selena is a lunar witch and Aiden is a paranormal investigator with his best friend Eddie. Aiden is the one trying to prove that paranormal things are not real. When they both go to Eddie's family for Christmas in Brimrock Aiden meets Selena and lots of mysterious things begin to happen. I love how you can read this book all year round even though it is set during Christmas time. I can not wait to read more books by Mila Nicks.

This book was a delight!
Selene was such a real woman. She knows people don't like her, and she just goes about her daily life with the people she considers family. She is strong, determined, and passionate. Her love for books was so easy to relate to. It was beautiful to see her falling for Aiden even when she thought it wouldn't work out.
Aiden was such a cute guy. He is the ultimate good guy and also a red-headed. Do you know when you wish you could find a good guy among all the bad? That is Aiden. His family situation is non-existent, so he travels to Brimrock with Eddie, his best friend, and stays with his family that, let's just say, is a little too much. He is attracted to Selene from the start and when he finds out her secret, he does everything he can for her.
The side characters were great and their end was left open. Noelle, Selene's best friend, just goes along with every crazy plan Selene has and I laugh so much with her. Eddie, on the other hand, was not my favorite. He never tried to get to know Selene and just went along with everybody's opinion of her.
The magical element was easy to understand and we learned a lot along with Selene. The overall plot was very interesting and I was not expecting the ending to be the way it was, and it was a great way to end a book. Looking forward to the next one!

This was the *perfect* October read! A little spooky, a little romance - plus some Christmas vibes. October through December is the best time of year! Selene is a witch, but she is a cursed witch. She can't leave town or find love. Enter the paranormal investigator named Aiden. Aiden is spending the dreaded holidays with his friend and paranormal investigator partner, Eddie. They're planning on researching what happened to Luna, the town witch who just so happens to be Selene's grandmother. Selene finds out Aiden is going to investigate her grandmother and decides she must stop him!
This was such a fun read, and I cannot wait to read more! Well done, Mila Nicks!

This arc ebook was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and quick read that settles nicely into the “cozy” mystery category.

The characters and dialog feel a little more YA than adult fiction, despite the romance aspect being 18+ at times. As someone who loves YA, this isn't a bad thing, nor is it uncommon in cozy series, but if you are expecting a “grown-up” mystery or paranormal novel this may not be for you.

The mystery itself isn't particularly involved, and depends on quite a bit of magical hang waiving to resolve. However, as a first in a series, it sets the scene for further books and gets the longer narrative going. (Again, a common trait of first books in cozy mystery series, setting up an entire world AND creating a solid mystery is a lot to accomplish in a single book!)

Otherwise the characters are likable and well-developed, the plot keeps you interested and the overall reading experience is very enjoyable. The premise that a witch and a former supernatural skeptic explore mysteries has a lot of potential. I would love to read more in the series.

Black Witch Magic by Mila Nicks
Paranormal Romance 2.5 stars
Release date Oct 30

Selene Blackstone is a librarian who lives in Brimrock. Her grandma Luna was cursed in the 70’s and the family still lives with the curse. Oh, did I forget to mention they’re witches? Enter Aiden O’Hare & his best friend Eddie, who have a paranormal investigation show, and they’ve chosen the infamous Luna to do a show on. But Aiden doesn’t count on meeting & falling for Selene.

This book was a bit disappointing. I find it odd that there’s a content warning on the first page stating this isn’t for readers under age 18 (due to sex, violence, and language), yet it reads very YA in the writing style. If you toned down the 2 sex scenes and removed a few swear words this could easily be marketed to YA & I think would find a better market.
One major pet peeve with the book (and this sounds stupid, but it really bugged me), is the author keeps giving the address of the house Selene lives in, and does it over and over and over in the book. Like, instead of saying “Selene went back home” the author says “Selene went back to 1221 Gifford”. If Selene owned 5 houses then this might make sense, otherwise it reads really weird.
Overall it’s a fluffy witchy romance, with some issues.

Thank you to NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours, and the author for this advanced reading copy. The opinions in this review are my own.

This was a pretty quick, entertaining read. I like the two leads Selene and Aiden and felt they had believable chemistry. The paranormal/ witch aspect was a bit hit and miss for me. Selene, Noelle and her aunt didn’t seem to know much about witches/ the supernatural considering they were witches ( how they didn’t twig that what happened to Peter was magic related didn’t make much sense to me). There were also a lot of references to the Blackstone family being held responsible for the strange going’s on in the town but after Luna disappeared the only Blackstone’s seemed to be Selene, her mum and the absentee uncle Zee . I feel the author could have expanded on the Blackstone family tree and the magical world a bit more and added other witches to the story/ town without taking away focus from Selene. Overall worth a look especially if you’re looking for a Halloween/Spooky read.

This is a totally fun read!

Aiden is a paranormal investigator with a hit internet show. He's the snarky skeptic to his best friend Eddie's hopeful believer. They roll into Brimrock for the holidays to stay with Eddie's family and investigate local paranormal rumors. Selene is a young witch whose family is the source of those rumors. When their paths cross, things are obviously going to get interesting!

I loved the storyline here. Pairing a skeptic with a magical being is genius and made for wonderful character development. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters, the town being one of them. It's also a powerful look into learning who you are as a person separate from your family and others' expectations. The writing was cheesy at times and a bit repetitive, but it made for a quick, easy read. I was engaged the entire time and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

I recommend this one for readers of romance, especially paranormal ones.

I think this is a good book for someone who likes cozy mysteries and wants one with a romance as well. The romance itself did not feel central enough to me in this book, and I didn't get a lot of emotional exploration.

That said, I think it's got a very great setup-- a witch and a ghost hunter!--, fun main characters and side characters, and a charming voice. I think this book is best for someone who wants to hang out with characters in a mellow kind of way, because it was not very tightly plotted. The prose was a touch overwrought but not enough to bother me.

I will also say, since this is still an ARC, that there's still a chance to edit out those pesky Harry Potter references. We don't need them! Let's move on!

TL;DR:
- 3 stars
- Content warnings: main character vilified by townspeople (for being a witch, but it comes off racially motivated at times), awkward/uncomfortable sexual encounter
- Pretty quick read, a little bit odd writing style, definitely spins a fascinating setting and scene for the reader! Worth reading if you're into contemporary romance and like a little paranormal or mystery thrown in.

Loved:
- The town of Brimrock is so well described (there is generally a TON of description in this book; lot of tell not show) that you really feel the fall/winter New England vibes, which are perfect for this time of year!
- Selene is a wonderfully relatable bookish character who just wants to find someone to connect with and be happy, which she genuinely feels she'll never find, due to the curse on her family. She's very cute. It is a BWWM romance but there isn't much mention of her race or even Aiden's outside of physical descriptions every now and then.
- The mystery element of the book keeps you (or kept me at least) reading, despite other flaws.

Less into:
- The writing style could be pretty jarring at times, there was a LOT of description where it wasn't always necessary, and sometimes there were editing/word errors.
- I didn't realize this was not a standalone! This doesn't lose any stars because it was my mistake, but definitely something to note going into it. I don't usually like series' because it's a bigger investment, but that being said, I am really curious to see how this story continues.
- The descriptions of sex were a little odd in the way they were described - the author makes it sound at times like sex is a very "caveman-only" thing and that goes against all the intellectual reason of the leads. Not a big deal, just otherwise a pretty sex positive book so I was confused by the contradiction there.

Overall a nicely written scene, with an interesting plot, just some odd writing quirks.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I had such high ho[pes for this book! It was a new to me author but I thought it could be a fun take on paranormal but it fell kind of plate for me. Aiden I think was supposed to be charming and he mostly seemed like a jerk and I never really felt the chemistry between Selene and Aiden. Selene was interesting but I wanted more... action? Magical action? I don't know. It was well written and I liked the representation behind it but I can't really give it more than three stars.

This book was so cute! Perfect for the months in between Halloween and Christmas when you’re feeling festive but still want something spooky 🦇

Selene Blackstone is a librarian with a big secret: she comes from a long line of witches. Trapped in her small town of Brimstone. as a result of a curse cast on her family generations ago, Selene is an outcast in a town that recognises her otherness and keeps their distance. Another part of this curse is that Selene is unlucky in love, and she’s never had a relationship that worked out.

Then Aiden comes along. A paranormal investigator with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, Aiden is joining his investigative partner Eddie and his family in Brimstone for the holiday season. Aiden plans to investigate the strange occurrences that are said to have happened in Brimstone due to the Blackstone family, until he meets Selene and protecting her begins to feel more important than investigating her.

This book was really cute, and wasn’t as predictable as I expected. The Christmassy, English small town vibes were exactly what I wanted, and the book had a satisfying conclusion that allowed for more stories to come.

I did feel that the book was a bit slow in places; there really wasn’t any development in solving the mystery until about 70% of the way through. I also felt that whilst Selene and Aiden’s relationship was really sweet, it was a lot of tell and not show in terms of their chemistry and physical relationship, and so I didn’t feel as strongly about them as I could have.

All up, a very sweet book with some genuinely surprising twists and mysteries that will satisfy both the Halloween and Christmas lovers! 🥰

A beautiful ending and beginning but a dull middle. I love the opening with Luna and Aurora was amazing. And Selene getting what she wanted at the end was beautiful. But the journey between that had a lot of downsides and not enough upsides. I plan to read the second book because I feel like this series has the potential to be great.