In the seventies, Selene Blackstone's grandmother royally pissed off another witch who cursed the family; none of the women in their line will be allowed to leave Brimrock (Brim-rock; Black-stone -- I was expecting more of a connection but none ever came up) and none will find love. In fact, the Blackstone family has been blamed for every evil in the town since then. Which makes it really fun to be there but Selene still does the best she can, even working at the library where her boss hates her but she still gets to spend time with books.
Aiden O'Hare is making a living as the skeptical part of a duo of paranormal hunters on an online platform that seems to be similar to YouTube. He really doesn't believe in magic or the paranormal and he really doesn't enjoy the holidays but he is in Brimrock with his best friend/co-host in order to spend Christmas with the co-host's family (very much against his will but it seems like he's got nothing better to do.) Little does he know that he is about to find a real-live witch.
This was a nice start to a series. A little jerky in places and it seemed like some parts weren't developed while others were developed too much but I liked both Selene and Aiden. And their sex scene was very much more realistic than some which I really enjoyed (I'm guessing that there are few people who have male partners who haven't experienced this at one point or another.) Some of the other characters didn't get as many dimensions (especially the Big Bad) but I'm hoping that further books will give us more insights into some of them. Plenty of sequel bait.
Three and a half stars
This book comes out October 30th
ARC kindly provided by Mila Nicks and NetGalley
Opinions are my own
