JUNE 20, 2022: BLOG #77
Book Review:
Witch Please: A Charming Small-Town Paranormal Romantic Comedy by Ann Aguirre
(Fix-It Witches #1)
Disclaimer: The information you are about to read is based off of my own opinions. Not intended to be taken as professional advice. Not a sponsored post. Just for fun to read and to maybe open up your mind to something new. Enjoy and thanks for taking the time to read my post!
BOOK DETAILS!
Witch Please: A Charming Small-Town Paranormal Romantic Comedy By Ann Aguirre
ISBN: 978-1728240169
Page Count: 368 (average joe but ain’t no joke)
Genre: paranormal, romantic comedy
“Maybe it wasn’t right that she had to choose, but nobody ever said life was fair. There were so many kinds of love, and as she’d heard for her entire life, a Waterhouse witch had to take great care in matters of the heart.”
Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is
Danica Waterhouse, modern witch and co-owner of the repair shop Fix-It Witches, has a lot more problems than just the broken items that land in her shop; her Gram is determined to get Danica to marry into a witch family so not to taint their line with mundane blood. Local baker, mundane and owner of Sugar Daddy’s bakery, Titus Winnaker believes there’s a romantic curse on him since he’s thirty, still a virgin and has a constant string of failed relationships. When one of the ovens at Sugar Daddy’s breaks, Titus calls up Danica and the sparks between them are instantaneous; but with pressure from her Gram and Titus’s worry that this is another doomed romance, can this fix-it witch and talented baker fix their relationship hang-ups and bake a sweet romance?
*Content contains hot, sexy love scenes and language. Reader discretion advised.
*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.
Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)
The book teaser on Amazon said that Witch Please is a paranormal rom-com where Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls. And I love both of those things, so it was a no-brainer to pick up this book!
The story opens up with our sassy, sexy witch Danica Waterhouse making a just-have-fun-no-commitments pact with her cousin after a horrible breakup with her boyfriend of two years.
Meanwhile, in the same town, successful and adorable baker Titus Winnaker has lost faith that he’d ever find “the one” after a string of bad luck with relationships leaves him feeling self-conscious about his dating abilities and wondering if there’s a romantic curse hanging over him.
Cozy small-town paranormal rom-com full of sass, wit, baked goods, a stalking cat and filled with a cast of charming, hilarious personalities that are rooting for these two lovebirds, or in Gram’s case – against them, to find their happily ever after.
I absolutely relate to the Danica and Titus and their troubles with love! Such a feel good story with a sprinkle of magical charm!
Points I Loved
- Fell in love with Titus!! How can you not? He’s such a cutie and a total dream man!! He’s hilarious, an adorable flirt – he’s really good at flirting despite believing he’s awkward, an amazing baker (I got hungry as I kept reading this book – I mean pastry heaven!!) and his anxiety about relationships are completely relatable. His desire to not be an awkward little bean while trying to impress Danica is so cute! I preferred Titus’s storyline more.
- Danica is really cool too!! I love that she’s more assertive and bold in the relationship. And Titus is more of the shy one. This felt like a nice change of pace from the usual bold boy and shy girl formula that we tend to see in rom-coms. I loved that Danica initiated a lot of things in the relationship. I think it helped Titus, who is more self-conscious about dating, open up and learn to trust in love and himself again.
- Great and fun flirting between the pair. The lines felt like an organic, witty conversation between two people. Definitely iconic lines!
- The love scenes are so HOT. Danica initiates usually and it’s HOT – love a boss witch! Love that she gets Titus to open up physically too though we know he’s very anxious about impressing her because he’s inexperienced with sex.
- Full of rom com cliches – whether that was good or bad…idk, like a Hallmark movie. I love and hate rom com cliches but they are always entertaining. And Witch Please hit the mark with entertaining.
- Titus and his sister, Maya’s dynamic is so sweet. Early on especially, I kind of preferred their scenes over his and Danica’s. It’s just the speed that Titus and Danica’s mutual attraction unfolded seemed so fast. I felt there needed to be more back and forth, more resistance between the love interests to build up the suspense and the emotions. Aguirre tried to do this: Titus’s fear of the relationship not lasting and Danica’s inability to break free of her Gram’s peer pressure kept them from pursuing a real relationship with each other despite desiring one – however I felt the execution was a little off.
Points I Disliked
- Felt the story dragged a little. It certainly wasn’t boring…nor was it particularly intriguing or exciting as well. I’m conflicted about how to feel about this story. The individual scenes are memorable: sweet, funny, sexy. However when I consider the story overall, it just feels like a bunch of good scenes put together but didn’t make a huge impact on me as a complete novel. Maybe the stakes weren’t high enough so the conflict didn’t feel serious enough? Not enough back and forth battling their feelings, not enough resistance to their desire for each other? The progression of conflict and character transformation, as a whole, felt tepid…
- The witch hunter coming in halfway in the book seemed random. I think it would have been nice to plant this antagonist a little earlier – if he even is an antagonist? Yeah…kind of confused on his role in this book. Introducing the witch hunter didn’t really raise the stakes. Aside from the first scene he was brought into, I didn’t feel that the witch hunter presented a threat. Guess he was really introduced to hint at the next romance in the series but not really play an important role in this one.
- Goliath, the kitty cat constantly stalking Danica, is super cute! But not sure what his role in the story is… Wished Aguirre explained Goliath’s role and purpose better because he kept appearing throughout the story, clearing desiring being with Danica, but why?
Overall an enjoyable read! Cute and charming story about dating struggles and modern witches! Would read the second book as I fell in love with the characters. I think the plot could be more polished though.
Final Thoughts
Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!
And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”
Hello! From the Writer of What Makes You Curious
Introvert (specifically INFJ). Slytherin. Lover of fantasy, romance, thriller and mystery books. I particularly love Harlequin books! When I'm not blogging about the latest books I've read, I'm writing stories, poetry, song lyrics, practicing spirituality, binge-watching YouTube videos and poorly singing Backstreet Boys and/or Kelly Clarkson songs at the top of my lungs. Click my photo to the left to learn more things about me that you didn't ask for me to share with you but I'm going to share with you anyway.
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