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alanajoliBut in recent years, fantasy romances, especially ones featuring modern witches, are giving cozy mysteries a run for the punny… that is, a run for their money. These eight recent titles (some of which are series starters) feature some of the best giggle worthy titles, and while your mileage may vary on which are best for you, they’re all worth the read.
Charmed and Dangerous by Shelly Page
This high school rom com, which puts two seniors up against an unauthorized magical curse, doesn’t hit bookstores until March, so pop it over into your GoodReads or StoryGraph. (Go and come back. We’ll wait.)
The story begins when junior recruit Monroe accidentally gets tangled up with the daughter of her boss, Iris. Popular—and cursed—girl Iris is determined to get back her ex, and if she pretends to be dating Monroe, she hopes that her ex will be jealous enough to buy back into the relationship. Mo’s never had time for things like dating, but when the director asks her to surreptitiously keep an eye on Iris, Mo agrees to the fake dating scheme, and (unsurprisingly) chaos ensues. Page makes great use of the YA rom com tropes, especially as Mo and Iris catch feelings for each other, and blends the romance and fantasy with a mystery undercurrent. Who is behind the dangerous charm that keeps cursing high schoolers? Can Mo solve the case without losing everything she’s come to realize that she values? But more than that, Page also gives Mo real grief over her parents’ divorce, which she can’t understand. The relationship between Mo and her parents is almost as important as the romance, and it’s the really human vulnerabilities that make this as touching as it is light-hearted fun. Rating: 9/10.
This delightful madcap romance is full of grumpy sunshine charm—and it’s a sweet riff on the pen pal romance (ala You’ve Got Mail but without the icky power dynamic). Penelope Delmar has gotten the chance of a lifetime: she’s made it onto a reality television show for magic users, where she can really show her talents and finally make it out of her dead end job and into a magical role where she’ll be appreciated. But when she’s paired with teammate Leandro Presto, a celebrity who’s more of a joke than a magician, she’s certain she’ll have to carry the weight for both of them. The truth is, Leandro is just a persona—the real man behind the character is Gil Contreras, an academic whose spell knowledge is off the charts. But he can’t reveal his identity, because the show wants his goofy mistakes, not the real him. What’s worse, he’s been writing emails to Penelope for months after he ordered something from the shop where she worked, and he’d love to impress her. What’s a spellebrity to do?
Add some hijinks that make the pair believe someone’s trying to sabotage the season and you’ve got a magical (and romantic) adventure. While this is Amador’s first fantasy romance, she’s also a veteran science fiction writer (as Valerie Valdes), and the same blend of comedic timing and earnestness readers may know from her “Chilling Effect” is at play here. This one’s perfect for readers who would love a celebrity baking show with a magical twist—with an undercurrent of romance that’s absolutely enchanting. Rating: 10/10.
Hit Me with Your Best Charm by Lillie Vale
This early 2025 title looks like a romance and is described as a YA romance, but it’s really an excellent creepy-woods meets dark-fairy-tale with a side of romance, and it works tremendously well. Despite everyone in Nova Marwood’s town believing in magic, she’s a skeptic. She does, however, believe that her missing father is still alive and, somehow, lost in the supposedly magical woods. She also believes that Kiara Mistry, who has somehow managed to steal every one of Nova’s crushes during their school career, is her own personal curse. So when she gets the chance to play a prank on Kiara, she takes it, accidentally laying a very dangerous hex on Kiara that only a trip to the miraculous wishing well at the center of the woods can break.
Without admitting that Kiara’s fate is her fault, Nova agrees to go on the wishing well hunt—alongside Kiara and all of her other ex’s. While there are some fun, lighthearted moments (Nova names the group the Fellowship of the Fling), there’s a lot of danger in the woods (including a very creepy bunch of other people in the forest), especially for a group of kids who don’t really know anything about camping. There’s still time for Kiara and Nova to realize that they’re into each other—the romance angle is strong, but it’s very much tangled up in themes of grief, loss, and figuring out how to do the right thing. Snuggle in with a warm blanket, a box of tissues, and a good reading light for after the sun goes down. (Bonus pun points: Lillie Vale also wrote non-magical romance Wrapped with a Beau.) Rating: 9/10 as a creepy teen horror romance (so go in expecting that!).
Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
Like Hit Me with Your Best Charm, Hopelessly Teavoted has a very singable title, and it also deals with the grief of losing parents, but the romance angle here is far more prominent. It opens in the past, when a teenage Az fails to bear his heart to the neighbor girl and best friend, Victoria, he has loved for years. After the first chapter, the story picks up in an interesting spot: Az and Victoria apparently tried dating once, everything went awful, and now they haven’t spoken to each other in years, not even after Az’s parents died of COVID. But despite that, Victoria is determined to keep Az’s mother’s tea shop open. Without the blessing of her rich parents, she buys the shop and starts her own business, following her dream.
That feels like it would be enough to serve the plot, but Ruoff brings in a lot more elements (and sometimes writes a narrative that contradicts itself—but it’s a debut novel, so a little grace is merited). Az is a witch who always wanted to hide his magic and live a normal life. But now that his parents are gone, he’s conflicted about his place in the world. Victoria, in addition to being close to Az’s family (who cared for her the way her own standoffish parents never could) has the ability to summon ghosts. So to help get through his grief, Az asks Victoria to help him send his parents off. But wait, there’s also a (super hot) demon who needs Victoria to collect three souls for him to pay off the debt her parents incurred when they purchased her talent to summon ghosts. And even as Az and Victoria reconnect, a curse gets placed on both of them that keeps them from being able to touch. It’s a lot—almost too much—to fit into one book! But the scenes of sexy-fun-times without physically touching are steamy enough to merit the challenge the characters face, and the setting and characters are entertaining to the point that the novel’s other flaws are easily forgiven. Readers will root for Az and Victoria to make it to the end and earn their happy ending through the numerous challenges their author set for them to face. Rating: 7/10.
No Charm Done by Tori Anne Martin
When two powerful teen witches prank each other, they end up creating a hex that threatens their entire town. Ace student and popular girl Lily has only ever seen Chrysanthemum as competition since the girl arrived in Lily’s ancestral (and hidden-witch friendly) hometown and won the magic bee out from under her. Goth girl Chrys only ever wanted to be accepted (and, okay, maybe had a teeny crush on Lily), but getting shunned by the local witches reinforced her belief that she can’t trust anyone—and that Lily is the bane of her existence. Lily’s beginning of the year tarot reading leads her to believe that to have the perfect senior year, she needs a boyfriend, and new boy Luke seems like the perfect candidate (never mind that Lily isn’t really attracted to him; that’s not the point). But Chrys seems poised to steal him (never mind that Chrys likes girls). When the two use their witchy talents on each other in a way that escalates into a hex, they’re both saddled with community service, working together. But their ill intent toward each other sets something more dangerous loose in town, and they have to put aside their differences (and maybe see that their animosity might have something else behind it) to set everything right.
There are a lot of 90s teen romance vibes at work here, which works even as the setting and characters feel authentically contemporary. Chrys and Lily are both especially well drawn, and while the other characters fade into the background of their dynamic, none of the secondary players feel like stock-characters. Even on the surface level, the cast gives the setting a sense of being lived in, of being a real community full of witchy tourism where the author could set future books. Martin also explores Lily’s asexuality in a way that feels genuine, in part based on her own personal experience, which is representation that’s not often featured in teen romances. Overall, the novel has an excellent use of tropes, a fantastic setting, loveable characters, and an ending that sticks the landing. Rating: 10/10.
Love’s a Witch by Tricia O’Malley
O’Malley is no stranger to Scottish fantasy romances (see: A Kilt for Christmas), but with Love’s a Witch, she launches a brand new series set in another witchy tourist town, Briarhaven—a mix of Brigadoon and Disneyland to delicious effect. The charm of the town does not win over Sloane MacGregor, though. Years ago, her mother took her and her sisters away from Scotland and to America, running from a curse that never fully lets them settle in one place, or bad things happen. Sloane’s grandmother believes it’s time for the sisters to come back and try to break the curse, so they reluctantly agree, even though Sloane doesn’t remember Briarhaven fondly. And Briarhaven apparently doesn’t like them much, either, based on both the terrible out-of-season snowstorm that greets their arrival and the growly mayor, Knox Douglas, who doesn’t want their curse to wreck his plans to make the town profitable. (Forget that Knox had a crush on Sloane all those years ago, and forget Sloane’s instant attraction to the grumpy mayor. Clearly, they want nothing to do with each other.)
The MacGregors won’t let a snowstorm or Knox stop them from trying to break the curse. They won’t even let the Stepford-wife-like coven dissuade them, even though not all of the other witches seem willing to help. Instead, the sisters are determined to make the community like them if it kills them, because once they end the curse, all they really want is a place that feels like home. O’Malley nails the sense of longing here, both in the unrequited romance and the desire to belong to a community, and that earnest core is the foundation on which the fluffy humor succeeds. This is a delightful Scottish romp, and while it treads into some heavier issues, overall it’s pure fun. Rating: 10/10.
Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
Although Best Hex Ever is a 2024 title, it’s included because it has a great title and because it sets up El-Fassi’s 2025 title in the same world Love at First Fright. The first book centers on Dina, a kitchen witch with Moroccan heritage, who is under a hex: Anyone who falls in love with her, or who she gets too serious about, is in danger of serious supernatural harm. Naturally, she pushes people away, even people she’s extremely attracted to—like curator Scott Mason. Their first off-chance meeting at Dina’s café feels like the beginning of either something wonderful, or Dina’s doom. When they discover they’re the maid of honor and best man at their best friends’ wedding, it seems like fate is all but pushing them together. Scott, recovering from a bad relationship, has never fallen for someone so fast—but he’s also never met anyone like Dina before. He’s ready to do whatever it takes to convince her to give them a shot.
El-Fassi’s fantasy romance is the steamiest one on this list, with plenty of explicit spice (and not the kind from Dina’s pantry) on the page. Scott and Dina both have insecurities that the reader sees from their own points of view, so rooting for them to overcome and find love is easy. The surrounding cast is also a delight, with the couple getting married, along with Dina’s other best friend, being instrumental in setting up the two leads. (There’s only one cabin! It’s not quite the more famous trope, but the forced proximity is quite intentional on the part of the friend group, if not the narrative.) Additionally, the magic is whimsical and beautiful; Scott’s delight in being in on the secret, as a curator who has long studied luck charms from different cultures, really helps the magic feel wonderous. The first novel will definitely have readers eager to pick up the second (and luckily, both are out now!). Rating: 8/10.
Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin
This is also an older series starter (2022), followed by similarly wonderfully punny titles Kiss and Spell (2023) and Deja Brew (2024), each featuring the love story of one of the Jersey Shore witch Carraway sisters. In Witchful Thinking, Lucy accidentally spells herself into a more exciting life. Thanks to her wish for pushing her boundaries and opening her doors, she has to say yes to things outside her comfort zone, whether that’s running a 10k or hooking up with her high school crush, Alex, who’s only back in town until he can sell the house his parents saddled him with. (It’s also Lucy’s dream house, but neither of them see that as fate pushing them together.)
This is Martin’s debut novel, and there are a few clunks here and there in the way the story is told—but the story is such fun that it doesn’t matter. The charming Carraway sisters are compelling enough to want to follow them across further installments (despite—or perhaps because of—their sibling conflicts), and the delightful town of Freya Grove is worth the investment in the series. Rating: 7/10.
Obviously, the pun doesn’t stop here. What are your favorite pun-worthy titles for romances, witchy or otherwise? Let me know in the comments at Patreon—and tell me what you’d like to see more of here at Virgil and Beatrice!
