Welcome to Salem, where paranormals of all kinds live in harmony. Mostly.Gemma Bradbury used to be the epitome of a basic thirty-something woman—obsessed with social media, Netflix, and Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes. But when she stumbles into a new life in Magickal Salem, everything changes. Gemma finds herself tangled up in the suspicious death of an elderly shop owner, realizes her cat can … shop owner, realizes her cat can talk, and discovers she’s an actual witch.
She also finds out that she’s stuck in Salem. Forever.
But once the Coven assigns her a magical tutor—the drop-dead gorgeous Professor Beauregard Bacchus—and she makes friends with a real fairy princess, things start to look up.
All she has to do now is learn to navigate a new town full of witches, vampires and shifters, manage a magic shop, pass her first wand exam, and maybe flirt a bit with the handsome paranormal bachelors in her new town.
Oh, and find the shop owner’s real killer before Salem’s bumbling moose-shifter deputy tosses her in jail for murder.
Suddenly, this witch’s life isn’t so basic anymore.
Fans of witty cozy mysteries will love this magickal tale featuring a reluctant female sleuth, an opinionated feline familiar and a touch of romance set in a quaint (and gossipy) supernatural village.
Note: This book contains lighthearted and sarcastic humor, mild swearing, and sexual innuendos. Bonus recipes included.
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“Basic Witch” earns 5/5 Amateur Spells…Clever, Entertaining Fun!
Salem and witches? I’m in! Harmony Hart uses a first-person narrative to tell the story through Gemma Bradbury’s perspective. Fate has set Gemma on a path to a new adventure, as she learns she inherited a new-age bookshop from a great aunt she barely knew in Salem…Oregon. How hard would it be to make it a success; well, she’ll need to be more convincing to her Wicca clientele. Spending Samhain alone, her cat Titus makes himself a nuisance, causing her to fall, dislodging a bookcase, and falling into a hidden room and on top of a dead body! That’s just the delightful beginning of the revelations Gemma is about to discover: a talking cat, magickal creatures, a strange place, and her true identity as a witch. Harmony has created a delightful world with vivid descriptions and dialogue that illustrates well the personality of all the different creatures. I enjoyed Gemma’s naïveté and humor and the banter between her and her cat. More, please!
“Basic Witch”is a delightful Cozy Mystery about a girl, Gemma Bradbury, and her cat, Titus, who fall into a magckal world which is inhabited by creatures of fairy tales and folk lore. Gemma finds out through the Witch’s Coven that, not only is she stuck in this strange place, but she’s a witch and Titus is her familiar. If that’s not enough, she is accused of murder by an oaf of an detective. While she’s learning how to use her new skills she, along with her new friends (who are great characters, by the way), try to clear her name.
Ms. Hart has a style and imagination to be envied by other writers of the genre. I truly enjoyed this, sometimes laughing right out loud. I gave this book 4 1/2 stars only because, as with most books in this genre, it was a tiny bit predictable.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really liked it, but there was something about it that kept bothering me
Gemma, moving from city to city and job to job because she never quite felt like she belonged, suddenly finds herself in Magickal Salem, together with cat Titus. And she can’t go back, because the portal is one-way only. She literally stumbles on a dead body. And the Detective thinks shedunit! Now she has to find out who really dunit, and get used to this whole new, weird world.
It was fun, but not the laugh-out-loud kind of fun. It was pleasant, but there were a few little inconsistencies. I really liked it, but there was something about it that kept bothering me throughout the book. I kept comparing it to Nova Nelson’s Eastwind Witches. Yes, I know they came up with the idea together, but I had a hard time adjusting to the same worldbuilding yet with different people. And there were too many people to keep track of! And because a lot of them didn’t really have a function, I think this needs to be reduced. I actually had to make notes throughout the book so as not to get too confused.
There could have been more attention to the case. There was a lot about worldbuilding and Gemma having to get used to her new life. Which was understandable and enjoyable, but not case-related. When the case did get attention, at the very end, it WAS very clever!
But it missed that edge, that something extra that makes it come alive, that would have lifted it to 5 stars. Still a well-deserved 4 stars and I will be reading the next installment!
I like the premise of the story, but have difficulty with Every man thinking Gemma is the hottest thing in their realm.
I really liked the banter of the snarky familiars and the different magickal creatures. I did find the overall story to be geared more for the YA audience.
I would read the next book in the series to see if there is improvement in those areas before deciding not to continue with the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really enjoyed this 1st in a series novel. Gemma is whisked through a one way portal into Salem. Salem is a town of witches and other supernaturals. I feel this is a fun entry to a new series.
Great read laughed out loud.. loved her cat ..and how the murder was done was a surprise..love to read the next one Thank You for letting me ARC this book .
I love this book. Gemma Bradbury is a both secure and insecure with who she is. She has a small black cat named Titus. They stumble from human Salem into magical Salem. They tell Gemma she is a witch and they are going to teach her how to use her powers.
This was one of those books that drew you in from the very beginning and kept your reading until the last page. The characters were well developed. There was drama, suspense, humor and of course magic.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a fast paced, fun little mystery. With the premise of parallel worlds and being ripped from one location to another, then being forced to clear herself of a murder charge. Gemma is the likable witch next door. Will Gemma learn what it takes to be a witch? Will she find who killed Morty? How will she face this new life and make new friends? In a town full of sexy men and all type of magical beings Gemma learns basic magic from Beau. Will she learn to do basic spells with her wand or will she fail at magic? Gemma is the new witch in town and on her way to learning her craft and running her magical shop.
Gemma Bradbury owns a New Age Store in Salem, OR. After closing one night, she stumbles into a bookcase and suddenly finds herself, along with her cat Titus, in a totally different version of Salem. To complicate matters, the room she finds herself in also contains the corpse of Mortimer Moncrief. Detective Otto, for no apparent reason, figures that she might be the killer, since she and her cat were the only ones in the room. Fortunately, Gilmer Gayle is available to help her find her way in the new version of Salem. From Gilmer and others, she learns that she is a witch and that her present location is now her new home. She cannot return to the Salem she knew previously.
How will Gemma handle her new world? Will she learn and understand her powers of witchcraft? Who or what killed Mortimer?
This is a great start to a new series. There are a lot of characters to sort through, but as with most new series, they are necessary to lay the foundation. If you enjoy a book with a lot of humor along with the mystery, you will thoroughly enjoy this story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and this review is entirely my own view.
Basic Witch: Witches of Salem #1 is my fourth extremely enjoyable read from author Nova Nelson and the first in the new Gemma Bradbury Mysteries, looks to be another hit.
Gemma Bradbury is transported to a different Salem at the end of a long day at work. She also is found lying on the body of a dead man. A man that was very important to ‘this’ Salem. Magickal Salem is where she finds out she too is a witch and can never leave this place. But she must learn how to be a witch. Here so many of the males are ‘model hot’, but Gemma needs to prove that she did not kill the shop owner that she now must learn to run. Things are really different here, including that her cat and she can now talk to one another. I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book Booksprout. This is my honest opinion of it. I can’t wait for the next installment!
Cute, fun, easy to read cozy mystery. Totally enjoyable.
Reading mysteries for me , is trying to figure out who did it. In this book, I was beginning to think it was just an accident since all the suspects were not working out. I had a suspicion early on who it was but forgot and as a result did not get it till the end. Nice job!
This is a second edition of this story, my understanding is that some changes were made. I recognize the earlier cover so i think I may have read it. However my memory sucks, need to take some ginko, lol. There were spots that did feel familiar.
But all that aside, this book is great all by itself. Just start this series here and enjoy. I know I am waiting to see where this story line goes.
This is my honest and freely given review. i received an ARC book.
A fun witchy read. Kept me interested. I liked the premise. Gemma and her cat (who is her familiar) end up in an alternate plane where she is suspected of murder. Vampires, witches, werewolves and talking kitties, what’s not to love?
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved it! The characters are described with the perfect amount of detail that I feel I know them but not so overwhelming detail that it takes away from the story. The plot was so interesting, and not like most other PNR books, this one really stands out. I really hope that their are more books coming!!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend and I can hardly wait for the next one is this series.
This is a great little book to read. It’s fast paced but be warned you may not be able to tear yourself away from it until you reach the end.
Harmony Hart is a wonderful author whose story is one in which the reader wonders how he or she would react if placed in that same situation.
I recommend this book to all who love fantasy and witches. Escape reality and get caught up in this book. I’m sure you’ll also enjoy it.
I have found that books and/or stories are like people, all similar but each with it’s own unique differences. I enjoyed this story and I will always enjoy reading about animals and seeing all the similarities to my own babies.
Poor Gemma accidentally (maybe??) falls through a bookcase portal in her shop and ends up in magical Salem, lying on top of a dead body! It’s got to be a bad dream, right? Nope – it turns out Gemma is a witch and this is exactly where she is destined to be.
This book totally captured my imagination – and in this popular genre it’s difficult to set yourself apart, but the author totally accomplished that. I love the concept that there exists a magical Salem within modern Salem and all you need to do is cross-over (and of course be a witch!). The story is well-written, extremely imaginative, tongue-in-cheek funny in some places and outright hilarious in others (who knew the Grim Reaper was a friendly hugger??). Fun, likeable characters…and those “man candy” paranormal men – wow! Looking forward to more adventures with Gemma!
This is the story of Gemma trying to run a new age shop she inherited and she doesn’t know the first thing about Wicca, so she Google’s… a lot. Only that’s not really the story, LOL, that’s only how it starts. Gemma somehow falls into a bookcase and ends up on the other side of it on top of a dead man! Besides that, she finds out that she’s stuck in magical Salem and her cat, Titus, is her familiar and can speak to her. This is a great paranormal cozy with lots of laughs, hot men and light sarcasm. I’m really glad I read it and looking forward to more.
Laugh out loud funny! I LOVE Titus the cat! Such an amusing character! Gemma is delightful, humorous, and fun. This is a truly fun story! I can’t wait to read more!