Witchy Book Recs

It's October and my favorite time of year, and I've thrown myself into all the cozy things—cooking and baking favorite fall recipes with lots of pumpkin and butternut squash and apples and soups, fall decorations and candles, happily pulling out the sweaters and tights and boots. I also love that it's spooky season. I'm not into horror or anything too scary, but I do love my books to be witchy or otherwise paranormal this time of year (or just cozy autumn reads), so I thought I would do a few book rec posts this month. I'm writing this one while drinking apple cinnamon herbal tea out of my witch mug and eating a pumpkin muffin.

Today, I have a list of witchy (mostly romance) books for you. I have always loved witch stories in books or other media from reruns of Bewitched when I was a kid through Charmed and Sabrina the Teenage Witch to reading The Witching Hour and the other Mayfair Witches books when I was fourteen or so to Practical Magic, which is still one of my favorite movies (and maybe the only time I've ever said the movie is better than the book), and of course Nora Roberts's various witch series. I'm currently in the beginning stages of writing a witch series of my own and putting the love of those stories to use. I'll share more about that when I can, but for now, here's my list for you (which took ages to narrow down).
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A Little Familiar and Nothing More Certain by R Cooper (M/M romance): I'm only listing the two books set in autumn here, but I  adore this whole cozy, witchy series, and I'll have reread all four by the end of the year (the other two books take place in December), as I have done many many many times. I will continue to hope for more in the series too. If you haven't read these, do it now.

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper (F/F romance): This book begins the Witches of Thistle Grove series and remains my favorite of them so far. The autumn atmosphere is perfect, and the plot is fun—Emmy reluctantly returns home after years away to preside over a magical tournament and ends up making a revenge pact with her best friend and another woman, after finding out all of them have been hurt by the same guy. The romance between Emmy and Talia is lovely, as is Emmy's journey of figuring out herself and where she wants to be.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (YA M/M): Trying to prove to his family that he's a real brujo, trans teen Yadriel tries to summon the ghost of his cousin but ends up getting the wrong ghost. And the ghost, Julian, is not going to leave until they find out what happened to him and tie up all his loose ends. But the more time they spend together, the more they fall for each other. The mystery and magic are wonderful, but it's that characters that make this truly delightful. The audiobook narration is excellent.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling (M/F romance): Lots of fall in Georgia vibes in this romcom plus competing magic shops, spells, a talking cat, and some dark magic. Definitely a fun read. The Kiss Curse is the sequel to The Ex Hex, which was also fun, but I enjoyed The Kiss Curse a bit more (maybe because of the talking cat?).

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (M/F romance): This book is another of my favorite rereads, especially this time of year. I love to listen to the audio as I go for my walks. It's the first book in the All Soul's series, and while I enjoyed the other books in the series (and will read more when the author releases them!), this one is my favorite. The plot is such a smart interweaving of science, history, magic, mystery, and romance. There's also a television show based on the series. It's a bit different but wonderful too.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (M/F romance): Another cozy, comforting book that I absolutely adore. It's a quiet, magical book with a strong story of found family and a lovely grumpy/sunshine romance between a witch hired to teach three children to use their magic and a librarian who is one of their guardians and fiercely protective of them. The audiobook is excellent.  

Mainly by Moonlight by Josh Lanyon (M/M romance/cozy mystery): If you like your witches in zany mysteries, Mainly by Moonlight is a fun paranormal mystery romance romp that was slightly Bewitched-esque. Cosmo is hiding that he's a witch from his police commissioner fiancé, then a book of spells is stolen and he is arrested for the murder of his longtime rival and things really start to go off the rails. It's the first book in the Bedknobs and Broomsticks series about the same characters.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (YA F/NB, graphic novel): This graphic novel is witchy and heartwarming. Teen witch Nova lives with her grandmothers after the death of her parents. One night, she follows a white wolf into the woods to find her childhood crush, Tam, fighting a horse demon. Tam is being pursued by people who want to steal the magic of wolves and turns to Nova for help. It's a story of family and love and unconditional support, and it left me with such a smile on my face. The illustrations were perfect too.

What the Hex by Alexis Daria (M/F romance): I read this novella for the first time last month, and it was a lot of fun. Catalina returns home to Isla Bruja (the secret island that is home to the most powerful Latinx witch families) for her sister's wedding and finds that the groom is possessed by a demon and both families are under the demon's magical control. Except the groom's brother/best man, who is also Catalina's old high school rival. The two are left to figure out how to get rid of the demon and save their families before the wedding, and of course, they fall for each other along the way.

Do you have any favorite witchy books?