I’ve had a few books by Candace Havens on the shelves for over a decade, and the other night I decided I had to re-read them; I remembered the broad strokes, but not much else. I started with this one, Like a Charm and it held up surprisingly well, for the kind of story it is.

Like a Charm is a paranormal romance, but really the romance is only about half the story, the rest is about the MC, Kira, picking herself up and putting herself back together after a horrific work related experience that left her traumatised and seriously ill. She goes back to her hometown and reconnects with the residents and her family, and while she’s there, the town librarian dies, a woman who was like a second mom to her. Kira is bequeathed an extraordinary inheritance, and must weight accepting it against going back to her highly successful law career.

Of course that other half of the story is Caleb. Caleb has all the requirements of a romantic hero: of course he’s hot, and he’s a carpenter, BUT only on the side, when he’s not running around the world being a highly successful investigative reporter, and of course he’s rich, although you’d never know it unless he’s in a suit. And of course he’s a gentleman of the southern variety, holding doors, paying for everything – but only in the most enlightened and charming fashion. I’m used to this sort of stuff in what few romances I read, and I accept that it’s a winning formula for a reason. But where things got really out-of-date, was the whole first time in bed scene. It was just soooo cheesy.

As is obvious, I enjoyed the non-romantic half more. It was largely an ode to books and libraries and the book-title-author name dropping was fun. It was a light, fun read that went fast.

I’ve decided to use this for the Raven/Free Square on my Halloween Bingo 2021 card. It’s full of magic and I-see-dead-people and is set in a small town run and protected by a coven of witches. ( )

a young woman finds herself back in her small Texas hometown due to an illness. Once there she starts visiting the library that she had such fond memories of as a child. The whole town has a supernatural air to it and unbeknownst to her she and the library are bound for each other. Nice quick read ( )

Very cute, light read with an enjoyable heroine, a delicious hero, and a unique enough story. No real danger or suspense until the very end, but despite not many plot bumps, still grabbing enough to hold the attention and flow nicely. ( )

I just wish that this website would allow me to give books zero stars. I had many, many problems with this book.

1. Apparently anyone can become a librarian! After all, being a contract lawyer does automatically qualify anyone to find information for the average patron. Come on! Finding information about when an album was originally released is NOT the same as doing legal research!! Moving on… Kira herself said that she hasn’t really read a book in years, yet when she becomes the ‘librarian’ she knows all about what is currently popular for adults AND kids. Oh, and of course, she knows from what agency to order all of these ‘popular titles’ from and without any training she has a complete understanding of the circulation system.

2. What small town library in the nation can afford LexisNexis? While it is an amazing database, LexisNexis is relatively expensive and the author never really stated how much money the library has or where the it comes from in the first place. Additionally, whereas LexisNexis does have news articles, they appear to spotlight legal and government related resources. If the author wants to use a database, try something a little more believable like EBSCO or ProQuest.

3. Did the author intend this to be a harlequin romance or chick lit?? My understanding from reading harlequin romances is that the characters are essentially perfect and impulsive. If it is a chick lit, the characters are flawed and personal growth is essential for a happy conclusion. The description of this book sounds like a chick lit, but from the perfectly beautiful yet book-wormy female lead and her equally rich, intelligent, and caringly perfect love interest, one would not believe it to be chick lit. I must resign myself to just call it a ‘Paranormal Romance.’

4. Lastly, I was excited about this book because the description and the first chapter discuss how the town of Sweet, Texas, is made up of witches and warlocks. The author even sites actually spells in the first chapter!! Yet, I saw no other actually uses of magic until the very end of the book. Wait, someone did ask for some books on herbs from the library and this person was also purported to be an extremely powerful witch. And, I suppose you could include the ‘magically delicious’ food and the ghostly library. Yeah... I don’t buy it!

All in all, this book left a very bad taste in my mouth.(less) ( )

Fast, fun and predictable read. I love those happy endings. ( )