Witch Please by Anne Aguirre

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If you, like me, have overloaded your October reading list with tons of chilling horror, it might be time for a spooky tale that is on the lighter side. In Witch Please, Aguirre give us a laugh-out-loud rom-com full of delicious baked goods.

Danica Waterhouse is just a modern witch, running a small repair shop, and fending off her grandmother’s attempts at matchmaking when she gets called to the Sugar Daddy bakery to fix an oven. Not only is Sugar Daddy known for it’s delicious baked goods, it’s also known for it’s handsome owner and lead baker Titus Winnaker. When the two set off literal sparks around each other, Danica gives into her desires and breaks all the magical rules to date a lowly “mundane". But Titus is all in. He’s completely smitten with Danica and is willing to realign the stars to keep them together.

This is such a fun book! I loved the dynamics between Danica and her roommate/cousin/coworker and the way the coven used a book club as a cover. The rules about witches not dating “mundanes” wasn’t anything new or original and I think it was better that way. This made the characters really work for their relationship and focus on family and friends more than the magic. Plus, it made when Danica’s grandmother kept sending her witchy dating profiles even funnier.

The banter between Danica and Titus was fun and really well done. They had really great chemistry together and it was such a joy to watch them fall in love with each other. I really liked how Danica’s magic fritzed out around Titus and she was constantly trying to hide it. The chemistry was literally electric between them! It was also a nice twist to have Titus be a bisexual virgin who just may be under a romantic curse.

Overall, this a fun, funny, and charming love story. It was a joy to read from the very first page and will keep you giggling for hours.

If you would like to add this delightful story to your shelf, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This post also contains affiliate links and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

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I love this cover!

Reader Friends, I did it again. I was given the opportunity to read this book ages ago and I waited and waited to finally start it. Why? Because I knew once I read it, no other book would be as good and it would just ruin all books for me.
I was not wrong.

This book is absolutely amazing and I can’t wait for more in the series! This book truly has every bit of my catnip in it. A Master of Djinn is an alternate history, set in 1912 Egypt where the djinn are real and living amongst us. There is a badass female agent with the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities who looks amazing in tailored suits and refuses to be held back because she’s a woman. There’s a complicated love interest who mysteriously disappears for months at a time only to return when the world goes to hell. There’s a mysterious character who is using magic to inflict horrifying murders and take over the world. There’s a ton of rich-people problems.

It’s so good friends. So, so good.

Here’s the synopsis from the Publisher:

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world forty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city—or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…

A Master of Djinn is a fast-paced adventure full of history and djinn lore. I really appreciate when an author gives the reader just enough information about the history of a region and the lore involved to keep a story flowing, and trusts the reader to look up any information they may need for more context. Several times throughout the book, Fatma or one of her colleagues would refer to a magic-related incident from their past without divulging many details. I hope as the series progresses that there will be some novellas or short stories that flesh out those incidents as they sounded like a lot of fun magical action occurred. The action never stops in this fantastical steampunk adventure through Egypt. From a true djinn in a bottle, magical sandstorms, fights in the streets and at fancy parties, the story moves along quickly .

Fatma is a strong and interesting character who felt really alive and whole. Her complicated relationships with religion, work, and her intimate relationship with Siti were all very relatable. Fatma is a true badass who never backed down from a fight, magical or mortal, but was also very vulnerable in her relationship with Siti. It was interesting how even in a magical world there could still be sensitive conversations about differences of religion as the djinn and magic were everywhere. A Master of Djinn also touches on bigger topics like cultural appropriation, racism, and sexism.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait to read more from this author!

If you would like to add this book to your collection, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post also contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Conductors by Nicole Glover

This is a phenomenal debut novel full of mystery, magic, and history. Hetty Rhodes, along with her husband Benjy, are conductors on the Underground Railroad. Using their magical gifts to aid in the rescue of many enslaved people, Hetty and Benjy find themselves also serving as the unofficial detectives and investigators for their community. When an old friend of the couple is murdered, the investigation into his death will uncover a tangled web of magic, lies, and devastating secrets. As the couple dive deeper into the mystery of the murder, Hetty continues her years-long search for her missing sister, and discovers that there may be more to her and Benjy’s relationship than she previously believed.

The Conductors is a compelling and engrossing story that effortlessly blends magic and history with the suspense of a mystery. The magic system draws on the powers of the stars and the sigils depicting the constellations. As with our history, white people hold the majority of the magical power and consider their use of it as “good” while they consider the magic held and practiced by Black people to be wrong and dangerous. It’s a gross and unjust system and there’s a very disturbing use of magical collars to control the magic of Black people, but it’s also in line with all the grossness and injustice that white people have inflicted over the centuries. Please don’t think I’m justifying it, I’m not, I just don’t want it to seem that I’m calling the author’s intentions gross. The magical sigils could be embroidered into clothing and handkerchiefs to provide protection, as well as be painted and etched into walls and floors and I love how the beauty of the stars could be translated into magic.

Hetty and Benjy were both great characters and I loved Hetty and Benjy’s unconventional relationship provided a layer of conflict and complexity to the story and to their interactions with friends and the community. They are both driven and steadfast in their mission to protect others, and led to their unconventional marriage. Just like in our own history, Hetty and Benjy couldn’t be seen together, unchaperoned, over and over again without raising eyebrows and creating gossip. To stem some of this, they got married but never had real feelings for each other. As the latest mission brings them closer and closer, forcing out long-held secrets, the two grow into a new relationship that was really lovely to watch develop.

While I would have like a faster pace to the storytelling, I found The Conductors to be an engaging read and look forward to more from this author. 

If you would like to add this book to your shelf, you can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Root Magic by Eden Royce

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Reader Friends, this book is amazing. While it's audience is 8-12 year-olds, this 30-something, I have a couple years left, was absolutely enthralled from start to finish.

Set in 1963, Jezebel and her twin brother Jay have just lost their grandmother days before their eleventh birthday. Struggling with their grief, their small family has to deal with harassment from the local police and stares and whispers from the neighbors and classmates who don't understand their use of root magic. As Jezebel and Jay begin root magic lessons with their uncle, they discover there was more to the stories their grandmother would tell them, and the simple cures and potions their uncle mixes up for neighbors are just the beginning of their powerful heritage.

This books truly has everything. There is history, family drama, school drama, two children coming of age, magic, and adventure. These characters are written with such love and care you can feel it pouring from the page. Jezebel and Jay are very close and have a very realistic relationship. Many children will be able to see themselves in the studious and kind Jezebel as well as in the fun-loving and practical Jay. I really loved how the author showed the strain on their relationship when Jezebel was asked to skip a grade while her brother was not. While you know Jay is proud of his sister, it has to hurt to know that your twin is better at something than you. This dynamic is shown again as the twins discover more about their magical gifts and develop those gifts in different ways.

I loved how the author really focused on family and history in telling the adventures of Jez and Jay. Their deep connection to their family's practice in root magic grounds and guides both children. As the twins discover more and more about the magical world around them, knowing that they have a connection to their family gives them courage and hope to deal with some very scary situations.

If you have a middle grade reader who loves magic and adventure, this will be a perfect book for them. I absolutely love and adore it and I can't wait for more children to discover it.

If you would like to add this wonderful book to your collection, you can find ordering options here:

This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. I read my Library's copy of this book and as always, request books from your Library. Librarians love to buy books.