Author: Jennifer D. Bokal
ARC provided by Netgalley and BookBuzz in exchange for an honest review
Cartan Balan is a soon-to-be-retired Army doctor. He arrives at the town of Ancient Oaks in search of what happened to his grandfather 30 years ago. Carter remembers being in this town with his grandfather but has no recollection of the events that led to his demise. There he meets Fiona Moon, a bookshop owner.
Fiona is a witch. And she has a secret: ever since her 40th birthday, her magical powers have been fading. She’s afraid that when Halloween comes, her powers will be gone for good. When Carter enters her bookshop, she realizes that he is the first boy she ever kissed. They met when he came to visit the town with his grandfather. But Carter has no memories at all of the time he spent there and he has no idea that he comes from a long line of vampire hunters with his grandfather was a very well-known one! When a vampire attacks one of the town residents and they find out that the creature has been living in a cave in the woods, he has to decide if he will live up to his legacy and Fiona has to try to harness the magic within to save the town.
I picked this book up because I was looking for a witchy, romcom for spooky season. Don’t let the cutesy cartoon-y cover lead you on: this may be listed as a romance, but, although it does have a romantic element to the story, the book starts out with a violent death and the focus of it is the fight against the creature terrorizing the town.
I was very attracted to the idea of a heroine who is over 40 and I love a witchy romance. However, this story is really not what I was expecting. It is a good book, but I was disappointed. You see, the story takes place over a 24-hour period (with an epilogue set one week later), so there is no time for a romance to develop properly. We know that there is history between the two MCs, but it’s not enough, especially because Carter doesn’t even remember Fiona.
As far as a paranormal tale, I liked it. Though I had some trouble accepting how fast Carter took in all the new information (this is a magic town, you are the last vampire hunter in your line, Fiona is a witch etc.), I liked the vampire storyline. The “twist” at the end was telegraphed from the beginning and it got me thinking if this will be a first book in a series. If that is so, I would really like to see the story developed a little bit more. It was a bit insta everything: instalust, instalove, “insta-I-am-a-vampire-hunter” for me, but it was a fun read, especially during Halloween season.
