Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca an NetGalley for the advance ebook to read, review, and rate.

Beautiful and realistic fantasy about a found family! I'm aware that is an oxymoron, but all the characters had very human emotions and feelings, even if they weren't human. My only qualms with the story were minor grammar errors and the flow of the story felt clunky at times. If the chapters alternated points of view, or if there was space, or even a different font it would have been easier to follow at times.
4 stars!

This book was well written and I enjoyed it very much. The plot kept me interested from the moment I started reading.

I thought this was such a cozy great read! I loved iris and her adventure with the house and all the people that rented a room from her! I loved the found family aspect of it and loved all the characters so much! And I really loved Ian and coming in with his love for iris and just being on her side because she really never had that before. I loved the fantasy/paranormal element of it too and felt like it added a great twist to it.

I really was excited about this story and the premise but discovered pretty quickly that it's a 4th book in a series. I wish this had been clarified in the description on Netgalley. That was strike one. Strike two was just the writing overall. I got through about half the book before I had to DNF. It just wasn't for me. The writing went from cheesy to repetitive. The queer rep, while appreciated, ended up feeling incredibly forced. Everything was just a bit muddled and I just didn't have the energy or care to finish. 2.5 stars.

The Only Purple House in Town is the fourth book in the "Fix-It Witches"-series, although I didn't know that diving in. You might miss some cameos from previous books or take some getting used to the world but it can totally be read as a standalone.

I did love that it lead to a beautiful found family trope, which was my favourite part of the story. Although the tale is mostly told from Iris and Eli's perspectives, it was the side characters that made the story more enjoyable.
I just can't seem to get that Eli had basically stalked Iris since he was 11 years old, because she did something nice for him once. I get that it was a big deal for him but it just gave me the ick. Eli thinking about Iris, looking her up on social media, deceiving her and moving in with her, all the while she had no idea they had even met was a little weird to me.

Overall, The Only Purple House in Town was an easy, and fast read.

Iris is lost in uncertainty as the only member of a very successful family. It's not even that she's never felt a part of it because she's the only one who didn't inherit a gift in her vampire family, it's that they continually rub it in her face that she's still figuring things out. She's also severely in debt and about to get kicked out of her house. Until she inherits a beautiful if dilapidated purple house from her great aunt. She decides that the best way to finance its repairs it to take on roommates, and this is how a collection of misfits that are perfect for each other start gathering in The Only Purple House in Town.
But the best part of it is that the story of found family isn't the only dopamine hit contained in this book. There's also the fact that the perfectly awkward hawk shifter, Eli Reese, has had a crush on Iris since she saved him from bullies as little kids. Only his attempt to approach Iris reveals that she doesn't remember him and ends up with him becoming one of her tenants even though he's loaded and has no need for housing. Their relationship is adorable from the get-go and only gets better as they both discover how wonderful the other is.
There is seriously so many great messages of acceptance and helping each other in this book that I sat down and couldn't walk away from the sweet feelings it engendered until I reached the wonderful HEA.
This book is a sweetly magical hug full of happiness. Everything from the awkward romance and the perfect found family to Iris finding herself and some confidence, it's utter uplifting perfection.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the magical read!

It started well enough but then it started to drag and now I'm very meh about it and really care to know what happens next with these characters. I really had high hopes for this one since I enjoy this author's work but this one just isn't working for me. I'm DNFing at 17%.

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really wanted to love it, but certain things gave me lukewarm feelings about the book overall.

I loved the concept of Iris inheriting a big purple victorian house from her great aunt. Iris never fit in with her family and frankly, they were a bunch of jerks to her. Iris develops quite the found family throughout the book and I absolutely adored that part. All of the characters that go live with Iris as roommates are delightful and were perfect for the house and this book.

Except Eli.

Eli rubbed me the wrong way from the start, when we find out he's been pretty much internet stalking Iris over the years. He admits it readily to the reader, but doesn't tell Iris until the end of the book. AFTER he's bee living with her and starting a relationship with her. It really creeped me out and gave me icky feelings. I think that should have been handled very differently.

I also thought this book was rather long, and started throwing random plot points at us that could have been skipped altogether or simplified. For example, all the things with Iris's parents showing up - I liked that we found out why she never fit in with her family, but there was a lot thrown at us that just seemed unnecessary.

So this is why I have mixed feelings about this one. Loved the concept, loved the found family, didn't like Eli, and thought the book dragged on at parts.

I will read the next book by this author and I plan on checking out her backlist. I didn't realize there were 3 previous books in this series, although this one could 100% be read as a standalone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre!

There was a lot to like in this book, some other things, not so much. The book was clever in many ways, comparing the treatment of witches and other supernatural beings to how certain communities are treated in our country today. There were some witty references, like "Binder", a dating app for witches. However, I felt like the author was ticking off all the boxes by making a point of what someone else called "forced inclusivity", and not just the queer community.

The biggest problem is Eli's stalking and how it the author tries to make it acceptable. Sorry, it's not normal.

I was not aware this book was part of a series, albeit a standalone tale, but with the amount of things that bothered me about this book, even the tiniest ones, I don't think I'm in a rush to read the others.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are mine, and freely expressed.

I’m slightly late with this review, as I was supposed to read The Only Purple House in Town just before its release on July 11, 2023. But then life happened, and I only just got around to doing it. I requested an ARC on NetGalley earlier this year, because I knew that I would need something light and fun in the summer between all my SPFBO books. And while it’s definitely a quick and light read, it was also quite underwhelming on the whole.

The Only Purple House in Town is the fourth book in a series, but it works as a standalone. You are not going to miss anything if you start here, although I definitely would have liked a bit more depth to the worldbuilding. It’s set in the present, only supernatural creatures are real and they live among the people. Witches came out a couple of years ago opening the way to the others. It’s a sensitive balance, and as with everything else, there are people who refuse to believe them, people who are actively against them, and people who accept reality. There are some reflections on societal issues, but as with everything else, it feels a bit superficial.

Iris belongs to a family of psychic vampires, although she is always the odd one out, not showing any abilities. She lives day by day, she is pretty much broke, has a heap of debts, and no jobs to speak of. If we don’t count the fledgling online jewelry shop that refuses to take off. At least some of her problems seem to get solved when her great aunt leaves her house to her, without any explanation. Iris decides to rent out the rooms to earn money and renovate the house as she goes.

Eli, on the other hand, has a couple of successful apps which keep him wealthy and free to come and go as he likes. He is also a shapeshifter and a lone wolf. The only person he connects with is his grandmother who raised him since his teen years. He returns to this family home to help her pack up her life as she moves to New Mexico and to look over the selling of the house. While doing that he runs into Iris, who once stood up for him, when other kids bullied him. He is determined to finally say thanks, but after a series of misunderstandings, he ends up moving into her house, renting one of the rooms.

As you might imagine, The Only Purple House in Town has all the usual twists and turns any rom com has. It builds on all the common tropes and clichés and doesn’t bring anything new to the picture. And all this would be fine, but the truth is, there is zero chemistry between the two MCs, and they are also the most boring/annoying people in the cast. I understand what the author intended with them, but it just doesn’t work. Eli is just a creep and a liar (he keeps stalking Iris on social media for years, and yes, we all check up on old acquaintances out of curiosity, but not once a month for fucking years, yikes). I also get him being a sensitive person and being anxious to talk to Iris at first, but come on, how hard it would be to tell her what’s up? And don’t even get me started on him trying to play Prince Charming and try solving all of Iris’ problems with his money. Behind her back. Geez.

I liked the other housemates, who got introduced one by one, giving them the spotlight so we could learn about their backgrounds a bit and get familiar with them. They also have different personalities and also happen to have skills they can barter for lower rent, while the house gets renewed in and out. But at the same time, while the MCs have at least some depth to them, most of the other characters (the housemates and Iris’ family) are either annoyingly sweet and kind, or selfish and hateful. There are just rarely any in-betweens.

To be fair, there are some cool ideas in The Only Purple House in Town. Like the fix-it witches, who can repair stuff be it a hall wall, a broken phone, or a broken walkman for that matter. There are a number of queer characters and I think my favorite thing about this book was how these very different people came together and became a real family. And despite my issues with it, I found it very easy to read – I got it done in 2 days.

The Only Purple House in Town is not particularly fun, but it has its moments. If the focus was on the found family aspect and delved deeper into these people’s lives and backgrounds, it would have been much better for it. As it is, it’s a superficial story about friendship and a love interest which makes the reader a tad uncomfortable. Probably not the intention of the author. I don’t know about the rest of the series, as this was the first I read from Ann Aguirre, so you might have to make up your own mind if you ever pick up any of the books.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of The Only Purple House in Town. This was so sweet and wholesome. Modern day fantasy world where the magic communities live side by side with the normal people. There is hate but also acceptance just like in anything. I thought Iris was such a good girl trying her best. I really enjoyed this adorable story about trying your best and making your own family when the world just knocks you down.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC!

- okay I absolutely loved this one! The characters and the world were so interesting, and I read it all in one day.
- I loved the found family aspect so much! I want to read the webcomic about them, and I could easily read slice of life style books about what they’re getting up to.
- this book really is the millennial dream-inheriting a crumbling Victorian and slowly restoring it with a hodge podge group of friends and I am obsessed!
- my main issue with the book was that it felt like it needed more time with the romance. Iris and Eli feel distant even as their relationship grows closer. I also felt like some of the dialogue between them at the end felt a little too formal. If I hadn’t been enjoying the book so much, this would’ve been more significant.

The Only Purple House in Town had a few hits and a few misses for me - I loved the little famiky that came together as Iris started renting out the rooms in her house. The way they came together and showed up for each other were a beautiful contrast to many of the blood relations depicted in the book. I also thought the chemistry between Iris and Eli was really fun to read in the moments where it worked! However, in a book that's relying on just a touch of paranormal, I felt like the magic and rules were a little clunky to fit into the rest of the story. And even though he's self-aware about it, something about Eli's online tabs and white lies didn't sit quite right with me; I think we see him grow, but I'm still not sure it was enough. That said, I thought the story was a fun read and it feels like a great book to welcome fall in a few weeks!

This was such a sweet read! It is a fantasy novel, but it’s still a lovely cozy story about found family alongside this - a whole host of lovable characters.

What to expect:

-fantasy/magic - witches, fae, vampires, shapeshifters, they’re all in this!
-found family
-family drama
-sloooooow burn
-closed door romance
-plenty LGBTQ+ rep

At its core, this book is about Found Family.

I really enjoyed the collection of social misfits Iris collected in her Purple House.

If you're looking for a book with representation (gender, race, sexuality) this book has a little bit of everything.

I did find the resolution a little abrupt - all Iris' problems fixed in a blink, but the story still worked for me.

I was surprised to learn this book is fourth in a series. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for those.

6/10

Thanks to NetGalley and DreamScape Media for this charming ARC.

Didn’t realize this was part of a series and I wish I’d read the others first, I think I would have liked this more. It was sweet and can never get enough found family, especially among the outcasts.

I struggled getting through this one. The character dialogue felt forced. I really pushed myself to get through this to the end and not DNF. I was just bored.

The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre

Genre: cozy contemporary fantasy romance

Tropes: found family

Pros:
•caring community
•nosy neighbor comeuppance
•ADHD-coded heroine developing useful coping mechanism

Spice level:
Vanilla — little to no sex scenes, all closed door

The Only Purple House by Ann Aguirre has so many of my favorite things: cozy found family, diverse characters, a romance, and paranormal hijinks. You will leave this story with your cup full. The world that Aguirre builds is so unique and creative, while somehow also feeling nostalgic. Such an amazing read!

If you love found family stories with some magic and quirky, lovable characters then this is the book for you. I enjoyed this one so much more than the other works I have read by Ann Aguirre, and I still really liked those. This story is reminiscent of a Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, and also Heather Webber's books. It was that feeling of going home, the smell of fresh baked cookies and a warm hug from Grandma.

The only reason that this book was not rated higher was because of the romantic relationship. I didn't like the "big conflict" that they had, it made me really dislike the female main character. There was also next to zero spice, which given the authors other books I did not expect.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The side characters were just so lovely and the magic was a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend the audio of this one, as it is narrated by one of my favorites. Definitely going to recommending this one to other readers and I hope that Ann writes more in this vein.