Debora Geary - A Modern Witch

Can you live 28 years without discovering you're a witch? — Lauren is downtown Chicago's youngest elite realtor. She's also a witch. She must be - the fetching spell for Witches' Chat isn't supposed to make mistakes. So says the woman who coded the spell, at least. — The tall, dark, and handsome guy sent to assess her is a witch too (and no, that doesn't end the way you might think). What he finds in Lauren will change lives, mess with a perfectly good career, and require lots of ice cream therapy.

Comment: I had this book in the (ebook) pile since 2013 and I can't really say why I didn't read it before now. I suppose it didn't help how easily one is influenced by ratings and while this sometimes is unfair, sometimes there's a good reason for it..perhaps I was scared this would be another book which would disappoint. Still, in one of the challenges I'm doing with one of my groups, one topic was to pick something with a Halloween type characters, so I picked up this book, which would have witches.

In this story we meet a vast cast of characters, being the focus centered on Lauren, a realtor in Chicago who, accidentally - or not - finds herself following the online conversation between some witches. She thinks there had been a glitch and everyone says a friendly goodbye but Nell, one of the witches, sends her brother Jamie so he can check if Lauren was indeed an error in the site or if she has powers she isn't aware of. When Jamie does meet Lauren, he soon realizes that yes, she has some abilities, but it isn't until he is coaching her and the sudden appearance of her best friend makes him lose control of his own powers. From this moment on, there is no doubt Lauren is a witch, but will she want to be part of the community?

I'll start by saying I can definitely understand why this story didn't work out for many readers. There is simply no plot. This is a story about Lauren discovering herself and on the way she meets many friendly and happy people, the whole story is a love/friendship fest and there isn't really any serious obstacle nor conflict to add drama. This is a fantasy meant to entertain.

Normally, I'd agree with the critics about the lack of gravitas here and this should have been boring and a bit too silly - I have had this opinion regarding other similar stories - but somehow all the little details and silly content and unlikely characters made sense to me. It was fun and cute and I had a great time reading this story, it's one of those things that make one feel warm and happy and it was the perfect escapism.

Lauren is realtor who likes her job and she feels extra glad when she can match the clients to their perfect house. She sometimes has some "feelings" but never really gave that much thought but as soon as she is told about her possible witch abilities, she does remember some situations which could be linked to it. Still, Lauren is reluctant to accept she is this amazing witch others claim she could be, as long as she learns and practices.Things improve for her after she travels to California to meet Nell and the rest of Jamie's family. Her best friend Natalia goes as well because it seems pretty obvious she and Jamie might become a couple.

While in California, Lauren meets several people, including Nell's youngest child and they have an immediate connection. In fact, Lauren's witch skills seem to match those of the child and they become friends. This propels her to think of a life where she has friends, a newfound family and a support system to not only her role as a witch but also as someone who is part of a community. I did love this part of the story, this need Lauren had and never imagined, and how easy it was for her to find others who could be special to her. 

The biggest issue is that Lauren isn't certain how things could be and how much she could learn if she is in Chicago while all these amazing people are in California. Of course, along with Lauren's path, we also have some POVs of other characters and there are several situations which contribute to people's decisions and how they think about the future. I also liked this because while nothing is set in stone, nothing is magically done (meaning no magical influence happens) everyone just knows they are meant to be a close family.

This is truly a sweet, cozy type of story. There isn't much to it in terms of a challenging story line, but I was still eager to see what would happen next, and the author sprinkles these small or apparently unassuming little tidbits here and there about many things which make the story feel even more charming and somehow everything seemed to develop well enough. Are there questionable situations and fantasy-like odds in what happens? No doubt, but that doesn't make the story feel ridiculous or silly as I often find some books to be, and here things are just so positive, one feels glad to be part of everything.

There is also some romance and some situations that are clearly too fantastical but I was happy enough with the result. Perhaps this is one of a kind and the other books in the (long) series won't be as great, but I think I will try the next one at least.

Grade: 9/10