The Hocus Pocus Handbook by Ann Aguirre Publishes 9/1/26


 4.5 Stars- This was such a great story.  There were so many great aspects to the novel.  There was romance, magic, mystery, action, adventure, twists, and wonderful characters.


Thea is a changeling.  She is a mortal who is living in the fae realm although she does posses magic and can take away people's anger.  She was unwanted by her fae parents because they just wanted their original daughter back.  However, Thea has lived too long in the Fae realm and would die if she went back to the mortal realm.  Luckily, she has been raised by a hobgoblin named Mudge who has become her adopted father.  Thea is known as an outcast and has caused lots of chaos in the realm.  She is tolerated because of her abilities and connections.  However she does something the winter lords does not like and now as punishment she is being forced to marry someone from the summer realm.  If she doesn't her father will be hurt and she will be banished to the mortal realm for a slow death.  The only problem is she must find her husband first as he has gone missing.  To help her she must work with Kerboros.  He is also forced to work for the winter lords as punishment for his father trying to become king.  Kerboros admires and respects Thea but wants desperately to be free from his bondage to the winter court.  Together Thea and Kerboros must work together to complete this quest but along the way they discover so much more about themselves and what they really want out of life. 


There was so much I enjoyed about this story.  First of all at the beginning of each chapter is advice from Mudge to Thea in the form of a spell that is suppose to help guide her.  Hence the name, The Hocus Pocus Handbook. I really enjoyed these sections as they gave great hints as to what each chapter will be about.  The story also alternated between Thea and Kerboros's perspectives.  I always find when I am reading romance that I love knowing what each main character is thinking.  The other thing I loved was just the overall premise.  I love reading about the Fae world and the fact that Thea was the mortal in the Fae realm was a great twist.  I loved her personality and her spirit.  She was definitely a character I could get behind.  Kerboros was also a character I was rooting for.  I liked the idea of the quest and the fact that they had different trials and tribulations along the way.  They met other interesting characters that kept me engaged with the story the entire time.  


Even though this book is part of a series you don't have to read the other books to understand this one.  It could definitely be ready as a standalone. I had read the first one in the series but this book was not really connected to that one.  This was connected more to book 4 which I had not read. I will be going back to read that one because I really enjoyed this book.  


If you want a book to brighten your day this is it.  It's a cozy fantasy with adventure and romance.  What more could you ask for?


Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for this ARC.

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