I don’t know what I was expecting when I signed up for this one, but it’s not what I got! This was an exciting page turner, but not in the sense of an action thriller. No, I just needed to know what silly antics Annabelle, Callie, and Jamie were going to get up to next!

About the Book

A heartbroken amateur witch is in over her head after casting a spell that actually works—will the handsome Irish artist she fancies come to her rescue?

What was the point of being a witch if Annabelle Walsh couldn’t manage a spell to fix her broken heart? As a dedicated dabbler in all things esoteric, she figured she could speed up her healing process when she’s dumped out of the blue by her boyfriend… but nothing’s working.

An idle wander into an unfamiliar new age shop adds the bit of magic in her life that she’d been looking for: an interfering, mischievous Pooka called Callie who’s determined to turn Annabelle’s life around— mostly by turning it upside down.

Suddenly, Annabelle’s too busy to brood, and her writing career begins to take off; in fact, it’s during a brainstorming session for an off-off-off-off Broadway theater production that she meets Jamie Flynn, an Irishman in New York who seems to be keen at first sight, if not in love quite yet. As Annabelle gets her life back on track, she starts to see the difference between a real life, a real career, and a real man… and all it took was a little magic mischief.

My Thoughts

I’m not sure how I missed that the main character shared her name – unusual spelling and all – with my daughter when I signed up for this month-long read-along. When I reread the blurb when it was sent out, I was quite apprehensive. Because how awkward was it going to be if this book turned spicy and my daughter’s name was in it? Luckily, considering I’m not a big spice fan, this book kicks off with a broken heart and is pretty chaste. My kind of book. But if you’re a spicy romance fan, probably not yours. I’m a big believer though that a lot can be done outside of the bedroom, and Allen delivers heartily in that regard.

Annabelle the character is a quirky, self-deprecating fledgling witch who stumbles into a rather odd situation that changes her life forever one strange afternoon. The author did a fantastic job of making this fantastical situation seem so commonplace that it fit right into the streets of New York. I didn’t think she was crazy like her friends did. At no point did I think the plot twist was going to be that she was actually in a delusional situation.

I really enjoyed the breadth of different characters represented in the book, and how it showed that different types of people can find common ground and even friendship and kinship with one another. Annabelle’s friendships reached across the spectrum of personalities and ages, and she inspired loyalty and kindness in people long before there was any magical intervention.

This was a delightfully cozy read that helped me recoup my faith and joy in humanity after several deep, dark reads. Don’t get me wrong, I loved those too. But sometimes a cozy romance is what you need. And thanks to Allen, paranormal ones are definitely on my radar now. I’m grateful to the author and Love Books Tour for including me in this month-long read-along. If you’d like to view the questions from the month, check out my Instagram grid linked below. And be sure to check out the other hosts’ answers as well.

Content Warning: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Magic, Mental Health Discussions, Infidelity, Religion, and More.

Question of the Day

Do you celebrate Halloween or Samhain? Do you have plans today?

About the Author

Suse moved to Ireland for twelve months — in 1998. Having gained a Master of Philosophy in Irish Theatre Studies from the Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College, she embarked on a career in theatre criticism, eventually moving into feature writing on all things cultural, as well as lifestyle-oriented subjects for major Irish titles across newsprint and magazines.

Writing as Susanna Allen, she is the author of a Regency Era Historical-plus-Shifters series, The Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde; published by Sourcebooks. The first two titles, A Wolf in Duke’s Clothing and A Most Unusual Duke, are available now; A Duke at the Door debuts in August 2022.

That Magic Mischief, originally published by Crimson Romance, has been reissued by Ally Press.

Writing as Susan Conley, she is the author of Drama Queen and The Fidelity Project, both published by Headline UK. Her memoir, Many Brave Fools: A Story of Addiction, Dysfunction, Codependency… and Horses is published by Trafalgar Square Books and recounts the growth and insights she acquired after having taken up horse riding as an adult, post-divorce.

Suse is living her life by the three Rs: reading, writing and horseback riding, and can generally be found on her sofa with her e-reader; gazing out a window and thinking about made-up people; or cantering around in circles. She loves every minute of it!

Please follow her on Twitter and/or Instagram @SusannaAWriter for updates, horse pictures, and giveaways (sadly, not of horses).

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