WITCHES GET STUFF DONE (Starfall Point 1) by Molly Harper

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 5, 2023

Juggling newfound witchy powers, a house full of ghosts, and verbal battles with the handsome local librarian is almost too much for a new witch to manage. A new witch with a coven, however, can get so much more done…

From the moment Riley Everett set foot in Starfall Point, magic bubbled inside of her. But with only her late aunt’s journals and a cantankerous live-in ghost butler to instruct her on all things witchy—including her newly inherited Victorian haunted house—Riley seeks out a coven for sisterhood and support. The last person she expects to be drawn to is the town’s frustrating, yet ridiculously attractive head librarian.

Edison Held knows almost everything there is to know about Starfall Point, but Shaddow House was always off-limits, thanks to its elusive owner. If he can convince the new owner, Riley, to let him take a peek inside, there’s so much he could learn. But as he gets closer to Riley, he’s fascinated by her dazzling wit and fiery spirit. Edison will do whatever he can to help Riley keep her family legacy alive, especially if it means spending more time with the captivating new witch in town.

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REVIEW: WITCHES GET STUFF DONE is the first instalment in Molly Harper’s contemporary, adult STARFALL POINT paranormal, mystery/suspense series focusing on Riley Everett, librarian Edison Held, and the newly formed witch’s coven of Starfall Point.

Told from omniscient dual third person perspectives (Riley and Edison) WITCHES GET STUFF DONE sets the tone for the Starfall Point Series. An invite from her aunt Nora, sends Riley Everett to the Upper Peninsula in Northern Michigan where our heroine will discover her aunt has passed, and she is the sole heir to a haunted mansion known as Shaddow House. Riley Everett will learn she comes from a long line of powerful witches, and each successive generation is tasked with housing/collecting and locking down an assortment of items attached or possessed by its’ late user but Riley is unaware of her heritage, and is about to be thrown to the proverbial wolves as she encounters a house full of objects, each with an attachment to someone dead and gone. Meanwhile, a chance and sickly encounter on the ferry to Starfall Point with a stranger is the beginning of a new relationship when said stranger is the man with whom Riley will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Riley and Edison; the introduction of Shaddow House ghost butler and Riley’s mentor Plover; Riley’s new coven members- Caroline, Natalie and Alice; and the potential fall-out as someone is targeting Riley, and the house in which she will come to love.

The world building reveals some of the background of Shaddow House: its’ purpose, its’ inhabitants; and Riley’s job to oversee the attachment objects and the ghosts to which each belongs, and to free the ghosts who wish to move on. As the story unfolds, Riley will be tasked with locating nine ‘locks’, locks that someone else is desperate to find.

The relationship between Riley and Edison begins acrimoniously. Riley struggled with severe motion sickness, and the ferry ride to Starfall Point leaves much to be desired but someone else has occupied the lone bathroom stall, and Riley is about to come face to face with her future in the guise of Edison Held. Edison has loved and lost but struggles to move forward from the ghost of his own past. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Riley’s coven: Caroline and Alice; ghost mentor and house butler Plover; ghost Natalie; library employees Margaret and Kyle; attorney Clark, and an assortment of townies and ghosts who come in and out of Riley’s life.

WITCHES GET STUFF DONE is a story of ghosts and magic, secrets and revelations; obsession, determination, greed and power. The slow building premise is intriguing, entertaining and engaging but dragged in spots as the author set the stage for future story lines; the characters are energetic, sassy, determined and interesting; the romance is a bit of an issue. I didn’t feel any palpable attraction, sexual or otherwise. There was no longing, yearning or desirous actions-the relationship went from zero to ten at the turn of the page. WITCHES GET STUFF DONE ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy