Book 64, 2023

Perfect Pending by Lucia Ashta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Finished an ebook last night. It was Perfect Pending by Lucia Ashta, and it's the first in the "Witches of Gales Haven" series. I'd classify this as paranormal lite. It wasn't a mystery, and it wasn't quite a romance, either. The main character was Marla Gawama.

Marla left the magical community of Gales Haven nearly 20 years ago and has had no contact with its inhabitants, including her family and her former boyfriend, since then. However, Marla is newly divorced, and her teenage children are now beginning to manifest their magic. She knows it's time to come home. Her grandmother and aunts welcome her back with open arms, but Marla's arrival takes a back seat to the greater problem at hand. The magical barrier that protects Gales Haven from the outside world is compromised, and everyone must work together to repair the damage. Marla and her former boyfriend, Quade, assemble a team of villagers whose unique talents can fix the barrier. They are aided by the magical creatures in the village, who have now found the one person they can communicate with--Marla. Will the townsfolk be successful in fixing their barrier? And will Quade forgive Marla for leaving him all those years ago?

The story was entertaining enough, even without a full bore romance or a murder mystery to solve. The plot moved at a good pace, and indeed all of action took place over the course of just a day or two. There was a vile villainess to spice things up a bit, and Marla's aunts were a riot.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Its unhealthy to take life too seriously."
♦ The passing years had brought freedom from caring overly much what others thought about me.
♦ They looked vicious enough to gnaw straight through a watermelon.

Great for a spot of light reading. Four stars.