~ buy this book ~
I adored this book even though it’s all about things that I can’t do. I can’t throw a magic spell, for one thing. I can’t knit. My mother didn’t leave me a magic basket of yarn. I don’t even have three cats. But I was utterly charmed by Chloe Hobbs, the heroine of Casting Spells. She can do it all - and she ends up with a sexy cop as well.
The premise of the novel is that Salem has a counterpart: the sweet little Vermont town of Sugar Maple, which happens to be laid out on exactly the same grid as Salem. And happens to be chock full of all the magic beings who got pushed out right around when Salem got famous. Why don’t we know about them? Because the town has a spell cast on it that keeps everyone safe (not to mention beautiful). The problem is that the spell is wearing thin, and when a tourist is murdered right on their own lake, everyone in town realizes that their protective magic is failing.
Whose fault is that? Chloe’s. She’s a dud, a wand without a spark, a squib in Harry Potter lingo. She’s supposed to be the magical heart of the village, and even more crucially, she’s supposed to give birth to a girl child. But how can she do that? She can’t bring a human into town, and the only magical men she meets are covered with warts. Everyone wants her to find a mate, because it’s her only chance to discover her magical powers (if she has any) - but a half-way decent man refuses to show up, even given blind dates with “six feet two inches of pure wizardry” and the like.
Does that sound familiar? Chloe is a chick lit heroine caught in a paranormal. Not only is she in the classical chick lit situation of being thirty and desperate, but when she finds a man, he’s oblivious - on several fronts. Luke, the cop assigned to solve Sugar Maple’s murder, is about as hard-headed and unimaginative as they come. He can be knee deep in fairy dust, and rather than strap on Ghost Busters gear and get to work, he just keeps blindly walking through clouds of purple glitter.
Chick lit novels generally involve a girl who desperately wants what she can’t have: a thinner waistline, a bigger paycheck, and a sexy handyman. Casting Spells presents precisely that, in chick lit’s rueful, funny voice: “I wanted…the whole big fat dream life every thirty-year-old single girl with cats wanted: the husband, the kids, the Golden Retriever, the house with the white picket fence.” Chloe wants normal - and that’s impossible.
Naturally, when her magic finally kicks in (with help from some hot kisses from Luke), it takes on a chick lit exuberance: the silverware starts mating with the utensils, the cats start looking like the Beatles on the Abbey Road cover, and the dish clothes all throw themselves in the fire. You get the picture.
If you share the same slightly worn affection for chick lits that I do - which means that I really liked reading Bridget Jones, back in the day - then don’t miss this book. The magical twist makes the genre fresh, sweet and funny again.
13 Comments
Oooops! (red face)I posted this in the wrong place. Sorry! I’m re-posting it in response to your Bretton review. Please just ignore the goof in the Garden Spells thread.
What a great review! Barbara Bretton is one of those writers who does many kinds of books incredibly well. I’ve been reading Bretton since her Harlequin American Romance days. Just Desserts, her other 2008 book, was also a winner, a surprising secret baby book that is a kind of hybrid of romance and women’s fiction. I even like her time travel books. And Sentimental Journey, the WW II romance she wrote for Harlequin’s Century of Romance celebration is one of my all-time favorites.
I haven’t read this one yet, but I will. I never miss a Bretton book.
I’have never read this author but I can’t wait to purchase this one.
YOU are on a magical spell!
I’ve loved every book that I’ve read from your pillow talk!!
I was just looking at this book at work today and was tempted to purchase it. I’ll have to add it to my wishlist.
I’ve never read anything else by her, Janga — what do you suggest?
Eloisa
This book sounds fabulous. I’m definitely going to check it out.
Eloisa, Shore Lights is a big favorite with most of Bretton fans; Chances Are, the sequel to it, is not quite as good IMO. Girls of Summer is also a popular book. It’s one of my favorites, as are A Soft Place to Fall and Sleeping Alone. I also recommend Just Desserts, the one just before Casting Spells.
She has provided a consistently good read for me over twenty years of reading her books.
I have never read this author, but now I will certainly check her work out!
I enjoy Barbara Bretton’s books and this latest one sounds delightful. I’m looking forward to picking it up.
Before I read your review, I had just finished reading a review of this book out of Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine. I am looking forward to reading this book. I always make a list of books that I find interesting out of the titles, reviews, and synopsis that I read in that magazine and Casting Spells is on that list. It even better now, because one of my favorite authors have also recommended it.
Love the idea, chick lit with sticks! Easier than it sounds to write a fun chick lit book with knitting in it. It has been tried by many but few succeed. I got the initial chapter on my amazon kindle and will probably buy. Can’t wait to read thru the rest of your reviews!
Great review! I have read other books by Barbara Bretton, and I enjoyed them. I am not a big reader of paranormals, but this one sounds fun. I loved your phrase “a chick lit heroine caught in a paranormal.”
Barb,
I love that chick lit with sticks phrase! What fun!
I can’t knit worth a darn, but I’m reading a Debbie M knitting book now (she’s a comfort read for me and it’s dark and cold in NJ) and I do like reading about other women with the skill to do it.
Eloisa
lake lake