Small-Town Witchy Romance: Deja Brew by Celestine Martin
A kitchen witch with powers on the fritz wishes for a do-over and gets to repeat October … and falls for a famous magician ex-reality tv star.
Hi Librarygoers!
For me, fall is time to bring on the paranormal reads. I do NOT like to be scared so fluffy, cozy romances are right up my alley. Absolutely nothing is cozier than a small town witchy romance, which is why I’ve spent the last three Octobers adding Celestine Martin’s Elemental Love series to my shelves.
I included all three in a previous post, 13 BIPOC Witchy Reads to Welcome in the Fall Season, but today I want to talk about the most recent addition to the Elemental Love universe, Deja Brew. Small town romances have my heart on a good day but add witches and descriptions of deliciously magical food and you’ve got me hooked!
This was an excellent start to my fall reading goals. I also want to send a special thank you to Forever Publishing for providing me an ARC of this lovely book.
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What is this story about?
You (Sirena) used to be a celebrity chef in New York City until you returned home to small town New Jersey to care for an ailing grandmother. After your grandmother’s funeral you were supposed to return to the city but you never made the train. Four years later, you’ve experienced a multitude of highs and lows. Lately though, it’s mostly lows. You really enjoy being home to take care of your family but you can’t find a job that gives you the same high you used to have in fine dining kitchens.
Not to mention your kitchen witch powers are absolutely on the fritz. On Halloween, you find a Wish Tea in the kitchen cupboard (you live in the family house where your relatives are frequently in and out leaving goodies) and wish for a do-over. Surprisingly enough to you, you get a do-over in the form of repeating the month of October. Yay to a second chance. Hopefully this time you’ll to ace a cooking test for a career-saving job running your dream kitchen and the chance to do something other than work your two mediocre jobs non-stop.
While living in your do over, you attend events with your extended family and try to recapture the magic of cooking. And you start to fall for the ex-reality star (Gus) magician who’s come off the road to settle in your small town of Freya Grove. He’s managing the local historical society and feels inexplicably drawn to you. You know it might have something to do with him remembering you from the last time you did October but don’t let that stop you from working with him to decipher a mysterious magical cookbook from a legendary witch.
You’re drawn to him too and pretty easily the feelings move beyond friendship. And those feelings are mutual. Only you have no idea if you’ll be able to keep him when the time loop ends. Or if it’ll end.
What are three words to describe the tone of this book?
Cozy, magical, and hopeful.
Who would you recommend this book to?
Anyone who loves:
🧙A witch with wonky powers
🔮 A famous magician in hiding
🖤Black love romance
🍽️ Kitchen magic
🤓 Party-boy to history nerd
🏕️ Small town
👻 Halloween as a character
🗂️ Workplace romance
🎃 Pumpkin everything
🤪 Eccentric side characters
⏱️ Time loop
📜 Historical mystery
Do you need to read the rest of this series to understand this book?
No, this is a series of interconnected standalones but you will get maximum enjoyment if you read all of the books in order. If you’re curious, the other two books are:
Witchful Thinking - A tea witch makes a wish that backfires and she ends up with the inability to say no, even to helping her high-school crush, a merman with a heart of wanderlust and new neighbor, unjinx his house.
Kiss & Spell - An earth witch selling fortunes at the local psychic shop after her fairytale ending ended in heartbreak makes fast friends with a fae prince who doesn’t believe in love.
What made this work for me?
This felt like a warm hug and the perfect book to curl up with while enjoying a warm mug of something you love. Sirena was fighting through self-esteem issues that manifested in her powers being off-kilter. Gus suffered from a heartbreak and is rebuilding his life in a small town. He went from life of the party to cataloging magical archives. Independently they are trying to fix a hollowness in their lives but together they are actual puzzle pieces for one another.
It was a pleasure, a privilege to see them grow separately and then to one another. Also, this is the horniest book of the series. There may or may not be a period of time lost to horizontal tango ;-)
Deja Brew is the perfect book for fall and whatever season it ends up on your shelves!
Have you already fallen for this Halloween witchy small town series? Are there any others on your radar for this season?
My TBR just keeps getting longer😂