Book 27, 2020

A Witch's Handbook of Kisses and Curses by Molly Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Since I'm not going out for lunch at work, I've had more time to read. I nearly finished my 'at work' book today, and I brought it home to finish the final chapter. The book was A Witch's Handbook of Kisses and Curses by Molly Harper. It's part of her "Half-Moon Hollow" series of interwoven paranormal romances. This book followed Nola Leary and was told in her pov.

Nola lives in Ireland, surrounded by a large, zany family of witches. When her grandmother, Nana Fee, dies, she makes Nola promise to travel to the US to retrieve four magical artifacts before another branch of their family, the Kerrigans, beat her to them. It's imperative that the McGavocks get the artifacts, because whichever family has them can bind the magic of the other.

Nola's task is made more complicated when she realizes the artifacts were at one time kept in a bookstore that is now owned by vampire Jane Jameson. She also learns that the man who bequeathed the store to Jane was her grandfather--a man Nola never met. As if that wasn't alarming enough, the person sharing the other half of the duplex Nola has rented is sexy Jed Trudeau, who has a habit of wandering around shirtless. Nola can't afford any distractions in her quest to find the Elements, but Jed is proving difficult to resist.

The story was fun and charming, with three-dimensional characters. I liked that Nola warmed up to Jane, which led to her suddenly having an entire passel of assistants who were eager to help her find the items she needed to. It was as much fun to read about how close she became to them as it was to read about her budding romance with Jed.

Favorite lines:
♦ I had more third and fourth cousins than I could count. I know that feeling!
♦ And it was very kind of him to give a complete stranger a meal when he knew she had nothing but angry forest creatures in her cupboards.
♦ "Are you telling me that there's a real Voldemort?"
♦ "Plus, every scary story that ever started with a Ouija board ended in bloody, grisly death."
♦ "This way leads to pea-soup vomiting and madness."
♦ "By the way, every once in awhile, I turn into some monster from Scooby Doo."
♦ "That's like giving an angry toddler an espresso and a box full of matches. You don't know exactly how it's going to turn out, but it's probably going to end in flames and tears."

If I have any complaint at all, it's that there wasn't a firm resolution at the end. Nola's home and family are in Ireland, and Jed's home and family are in Tennessee. There was no 'he's going with her' or 'she's staying with him'. I found that a tad disappointing. Nevertheless, this book is what paranormal romance should be. Very good--four stars.