When chemist Grace O’Leary finds a book of magic spells hidden in her Aunt Lucy’s run-down magic shop, the scientist in her itches to try them out. She mixes up a batch of love potions as a joke, and has to face the consequences when they actually seem to work.Her dream of becoming a professor is in peril, and time is running out to finish research for her dissertation. She can’t handle any more … handle any more distractions, but the magic shop is on the verge of closing, her aunt has become forgetful and confused, and a handsome reporter named Dario Fontana keeps sniffing around for a story. The last thing she needs is for him to find out about the love potions and expose her as fraud, but she begins to trust him, and the sizzling chemistry between them is soon too powerful to deny.
With her personal and professional life in chaos, and her budding relationship with Dario in jeopardy, Grace is faced with a difficult choice. Fixing what is broken means going against every logical bone in her body. Can Grace learn to silence her scientific brain long enough to accept the truth about magic…and also about herself?
more
Grace O’Leary is almost finished with her thesis to obtain a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a TA (Teaching Assistant) at Penn. Disaster strikes as she is accused of cheating and is dismissed from the university and placed on probabtion until the review board hears her case. Then her longtime boyfriend packs up and leaves her. When she gets a call from her mother telling her that her Aunt Lucy has fallen down the steps and needs some assistance for a while Grace offers to help and heads off to Pittsburgh. Grace decides that her aunt’s shop, The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop needs some renovations and revitalization. She has fond memories of the shop from her childhood visits so she is gung-ho to make The Magic Shop great again. But strange things are happening. What is going on around the South Side?
The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop by Abigail Drake is the second book in her South Side series but is easily read as a standalone. This book has a complex storyline with many surprises. The characters are very likeable and fun. What I especially liked about this story is that it is set in the South Side of Pittsburgh. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, very close to the South Side so I loved reading about so many familiar places. It is not often a book is set in Pittsburgh. I am very glad I discovered this author and her South Side series. Readers who enjoy mysteries and magic will totally enjoy this book!
Abigail Drake has created a world you can step right into and be carried away by the magic and friendship. I love this community, of eccentric individuals and how they bond together. There isn’t one character you would not want to be in your group of friends, and if they were your life would never be boring. Grace O’Leary doesn’t believe in magic she believes in chemistry, something she has with Dario Fontana. When she finds a book with magic potions, she made one of them, after all it’s just chemistry, with all nature ingredients, like cherry juice and water. Little does she know how her love potion will start a chain of events and almost lose her the one man she loves. The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop has all the elements of a good book, love, mystery, and magic. I had a hard time putting it down. Love this second book in the series and looking forward to the next.
This was such a fun read! I picked it up not expecting anything and I was pleasantly surprised! I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!
This was such a fun read! Grace O’Leary is a one-of-a-kind character, and the story itself is so entertaining from beginning to end. Highly recommend!
I teally enjoyed the book and had great characters
I loved all the spunk ladies over 70. The Italian family was hilarious while providing a great plot solution.
Smooth read
Can you figure out who the ‘bad guys’ are? This is a very very fun romp through a PHd candidate brilliant chemist’s issues with false accusations in her workplace/college and attacks on unique shops, including her aunt’s magic shop. The writing is charming. The characters are delightful. The building up to the multiple climaxes is great. Love loving the good guys and hating the bad peeps and then there were the ones not so sure of. It is very nicely paced. Kudos to you if you figure some things out. Have fun yelling at the characters sometimes. Also, have some really good laughs. If you do not enjoy the concept of white or dark magic, then you won’t like it.
Fun to read.
A bit too predictable and not engaging enough to finish(I almost NEVER not finish a book)
I liked it, but it could have been better. More magic
I really liked the storyline and main characters. I even liked the quirkiness that other readers thought to be too much. In my opinion, this book could use some editing. There were spots that appeared unrelated to the plot or subplots and exposition that wasn’t really needed. I couple of times in the early chapters I almost gave up, but then the story pulled me back.
There was so much going on in this book, but that’s not a bad thing! It was pretty easy to keep up with, but all at once it was very unpredictable. As soon as I thought I had something figured out, it would turn into something different. I loved getting to know Grace, Madam Lucinda and everyone else better. I really hope there is more to come. Maybe Sally, or Cat?!?!
Loved it! So much fun to read. This book is about Grace she is a scientist that gets fired from the university due to a hateful person. Her personal and professional life is in a mess and her Old Aunt is in hospital and needs help. She goes to help her Aunt and tries to help by sorting out her Magic Shop. Yup things go wrong and there is plenty of Hijinks Grace really gets her self into a bind. This is a good self discovery book with romance and fun. Looking forward to reading more from this arthur.
Grace’s academic life is turned upside down when she becomes the subject of a cheating scandal. She is suspended from school until she can have a meeting with the board which will not be for six weeks. She is sure she can clear her name but hates the way everyone is looking at her, like she would actually cheat. Even her boyfriend, now ex, thought so little of her and felt that she could do such a thing. He didn’t want to be around her in fear of hurting his budding academic career. When Grace learns that her Aunt has fallen and needs someone to stay with her for a while she jumps at the chance of getting away for a while and hopefully figuring things out. When Grace gets to her Aunts shop she realizes how bad of shape things have become. She dives in immediately to help clean things up and get her Aunts store back on track. While cleaning Grace finds a spell book and thinks it would be funny to give one of the spells a try, little did she know that it would actually work. Grace soon learns that there is more to her than just being a scientist but will she let the other side of herself be free. She struggles with who she is as a person and how she sees things in life. Can she change a be the great person that she knows she is, can she open her heart to the impossible? Follow along as Grace takes on a journey of self discovery and helps out her much beloved Aunt along the way. I fell in love with the characters, setting, and the way the authors words spoke to me as I read each new page. I hope that she will travel back to this town and these people and write another book, because I would truly love to visit with them again!!!
The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop is just as good, as the first book in the South Side Stories series! Abigail Drake has out done herself, yet again! Once you start reading the story about Grace, you won’t want to put it down!! You dont want to miss out on reading this. I highly, highly recommend it!