Love’s a Witch

O’Malley (Wild Scottish Gold) launches a new series with this cute and cozy paranormal romance. The deeply magical Scottish town of Briarhaven is about to welcome home four people it had hoped not to see again: the MacGregor sisters—Lyra, Nova, and Sloane—and their grandmother Broca. In 1713, young witch Bonelle MacGregor was cursed by a romantic rival that any place her clan lived would be plagued with misfortunes. In the present day, Sloane is about to turn 25 and come into her own magic powers, and Broca insists Briarhaven is the place to be when it happens. During the eight years the family has been away, the town has reinvented itself as a witchy tourist destination, carefully hiding how much of the magic is real—so the enormous snowstorm that blows into town with the MacGregors, putting a damper on sightseeing, isn’t any more welcome than they are. The town’s handsome young provost, Knox Douglas, wants the women gone. What might buy them a little time? Knox has been crushing on Sloane since they were teenagers, and his duty to his town aside, when she returns his interest, he quickly realizes he’d like her to stay. To make a relationship work, they’ll have to find a way to break the MacGregor curse. O’Malley inflects familiar tropes with humor, heart, heat, and heaps of Highland charm. The result should please new readers and loyal fans alike. (Aug.)