Like a Charm (Could It Be Magic?, #1)

by Kerry Barrett

[Leah]

When Kerry Barrett emailed me and asked if I’d like to review her Halloween chick lit release Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, I thought it sounded really interesting and I gratefully accepted. With Halloween just around the corner, it was the perfect time to read the book and it was such a wonderful read!

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is such a lovely little book! If you’re going to enjoy it then you will have to like witches and magic and all that kind of stuff and luckily I do! It’s not my go to genre. But every now and then I love it, especially since I grew up watching Sabrina The Teenage Witch and later Harry Potter and Wizards of Waverly Place. This is a really great novel, and I liked the family connection to the novel. How despite the fact Esme really didn’t want to go back home to Claddach, she did because it’s her family and she couldn’t say no! That was so sweet, and I loved how her family in Claddach were all really close to each other. That’s how family should be!

With the family being so close it meant any threats that appeared were dealt with trebly. There’s Suky’s illness, which was so sad – what a shame witches can’t magic stuff like that better, and then there was the fact everyone in town was trying to run Esme’s family out by spreading horrible lies. I really enjoyed the book, I enjoyed how Esme dealt with things compared to her cousin Harry, they were opposites but they shared a common goal when it came to sticking up for their family and their reputation.

The only thing I didn’t like in the novel was the infidelity. At the beginning of the novel Esme is seeing a married man and that never sits right with me. Thankfully it wasn’t in your face or anything so it wasn’t a major issue. Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. It was just lovely! I loved the plot, I loved the spells and the magic, I loved the characters and I loved the writing. Kerry Barrett is a talented writer and I’m so pleased I got the chance to review her debut novel and here’s hoping there will be many more!