Some Practical Magic

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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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

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.