Review By Veronica
Impractical Magic is a small-town witchy romance that oozes fall vibes.
Favourite Quote:
Scarlett approached the piano slowly, like it was a bomb that might go off. “Hey, you.”
Nate sat up, smacking his head on the underside of the piano. “Dammit!” He crawled out from under and stood, rubbing his forehead.
“Scarlett. Of course the first time I see you involved a headache. Plus, I’ve lost a bet.”
Goodreads Synopsis:
In Oak Haven, this witch is about to brew up more trouble than she bargained for…
When Scarlett Melrose receives a call from her estranged sisters, she immediately knows something is wrong. The magic at their mother’s inn – and in fact, the whole of Oak Haven – has gone awry, and they need her help to save it.
As the conflicted middle-child, returning home has given Scarlett the heebie jeebies. And to make matters worse, she’s just come face-to-face with charming old flame and handyman, Nate.
When her spell to fix the magic goes horribly wrong, all Scarlett wants to do is flee back to the peace and quiet of her San Francisco flat. But she can’t keep running away forever, and she’ll need all the help she can to solve this magical mess.
I had high hopes for this book. It is pitched as Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic, which is right up my alley. Unfortunately though, I did not enjoy this book. You do get Practical Magic vibes, but not Gilmore Girls ones. The only thing that really connects this book to Gilmore Girls is that it’s set in a small town. There is none of that quirky small town charm or fast witty dialogue that would give it those Gilmore Girls vibes that I was looking for.
The story is interesting enough and its pacing is steady. Emily tries to hook readers in with this dual mystery plot. The first one is around the town’s magic that has suddenly stopped working correctly. Spells are backfiring, left, right, and center, and no one knows what the cause is. The second mystery is about what happened between the Melrose sisters ten years ago, which ended in such a disaster that Scarlett no longer wanted to live in their small town. I enjoyed the magical world that Emily had created. It was interesting enough and Emily does a good job at giving her readers the information they need to understand what is what. The author does a good job of capturing those fall-ish vibes and weaving them throughout her story.
What fell short for me was Scarlett’s character. I just didn’t like her. For whatever reason, I couldn’t connect with her character. She has weird combinations of prickly and snarky attitudes and is also childish. Don’t get me wrong, I love a heroine who is prickly, snarky, and sarcastic, but Scarlett’s character just rubbed me the wrong way. I liked her sisters and I didn’t mind Nate. But their interactions felt forced and were lacking that witty banter I was expecting. Things just weren’t clicking for me. The relationship between Nate and Scarlett was ok. If you like childhood friends to lovers, forced proximity, and small-town romances, then you should enjoy the relationship between these two. I could see the chemistry Emily was trying to go for, but it wasn’t clicking on the page.
Impractical Magic is a small-town witchy romance bursting with cozy fall vibes.
Thank you, Avon UK, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
