Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1) by K.F. Breene

Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1) by K.F. Breene

Published: February 16th 2020

Goodreads synopsis

Review:

Myth 4/5

Jessie is middle-aged, starting out on her own after an uncomplicated divorce and sending an 18 year across the country for college, and decides the best way to escape her parent’s house and get on with her life is by acting as caretaker for a spooky old house.

The first thing she does when moving to this new town is go out with her elderly neighbor for a night on the town and being over-served by the local hunk of a bartender. At last, I find a relatable heroine doing normal things at the start of a fantasy novel.

Jessie’s a practical woman who speaks her mind and is done putting up with people’s shit, so I was rooting for her the whole novel.  And she slowly picks up a cast of characters with their own magnified eccentricities - they may be older, but they’re also more brash, sassy and committed to getting their job done.

Magic 3.5 or 4/5

The most delightful part of this story was all the randomness of the magic. A house with an agenda that chooses who their master will be… Protected by an elderly squad of creatures (of which I won’t reveal for spoilery reasons) that you do not read about in your typical urban fantasy of paranormal romance. We only got a little taste of the magic wielding abilities of all our main players, house included, towards the end of the novel. Since this was about Jessie accepting her role in this world and some setup about actually accepting magic exists, I think we’ll see more of this world’s magic in future books. ;)

Overall 4/5

A delightfully pleasant read with a heroine who makes me want to go wine tasting.

Other books in the series:

The magical house reminds me of the Clean Sweep series.  Is magical houses a new genre I wasn’t aware of?  Read review here.

Wandfasted (The Black Witch Chronicles #0.5) by Laurie Forest

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