Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton

*Today was supposed to be my little readathon.... except that I made a huge major I-am-so-stupid miscalculation! I may still get a chance to do some reading, but not a lot. I think I'll try again Monday....*

4 stars
R- 3

Friday Night Knitting Club meets.... hmm.... Twilight? Not quite. Lisa Shearin's books? Closer maybe. Still not quite.

Chloe Hobbs, knit shop owner and Sugar Maple's de facto mayor, is 30 and single. Which is a problem when you're the last of a magical line destined to protect your little town.

Oh, and did I mention she's stunningly, disappointingly human? Not a drop of magic(k) to be found.

And with the protective spell's power weakening... well, let's just say Chloe's life is getting complicated.

Then a stranger from out-of-town falls through the ice and drowns (which seriously never happens).... and the state authorities start asking questions. Like why Sugar Maple has no police force. And why they file no death records. So naturally they send a cop. A very human cop.

Fun story. Very paranormal and more romance than I expected (much lighter on the mystery part), but still fun. Narration trades off between Luke (the cop) and Chloe, which sometimes meant I had to stop and think about who was talking, but overall I liked it.

Not sure if this is a stand alone or the beginning of a series... could go either way. (ETA: then again I could do something smart like google the author. The sequel is called Laced With Magic.)

My big pet peeve-- a minor character's name changes in the course of the book. In chapter 3 his name is Andy and near the end of the book his name is Jack. Drives me crazy when things like that happen. Not really a big deal in terms of plot and all, but still. Editing errors make me nuts.

All in all, good stuff. If you like the paranormal stuff, you should definitely try this one.