Introducing Double Booked - Double Booked is a collaboration between two Black romance reviewers, myself and Tropes and Kisses, to read and review books by and about BIPOC characters. We’re prioritizing our ARC TBRs to share our perspectives of every swoony line, every lust-fueled plot, and the scenes that literally stop you in your tracks.
Hi Librarygoer!
Yesterday I shared the GREAT news about the start of my SmoochPit journey and a little more about the book I’m revising for it. (Eeeek! It’s still surreal!). Of course that’s not the only writing idea I have itching to get out of my mind. It will be a little bit slower and I’m not ready to spill all the tea yet BUT the research involves a lot of witches and cozy vibes.
This research of course involves many conversations with Christine and we continuously circled back to talk about one of our witchy, cozy favorites.
Celestine Martin’s Elemental Love series!
If you haven’t read it, ‘tis the season to binge this complete series! If you have read it, hop to the comments and tell me all about your favorite of the series!
Happy reading,
-Aleia
The Elemental Love series is about a family of witches who live in the magical town of Freya Grove, New Jersey.
It’s part Charmed, part Good Witch, and all set it in the Practical Magic house. In every book, there’s a witchy FMC and a magical man, plus a host of other magical creatures to discover. This series is perfect if you’re looking for low-stakes, slow-burn, cozy love stories where finding love is as much about finding your person as it is about finding your inner passion . If this feels right up your lane, please visit Freya Grove with us!
Books Mentioned
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Brewed to Love by Shelby Page
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Small Town, Big Magic by Hazel Beck
Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
Lightning in Her Hands by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Witch You Would by Lia Amador
Hit Me With Your Best Charm by Lillie Vale
Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (see full review)
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
A tea witch and a merman take a second chance at love during her year of yes.
An Earth witch (with her magic on the fritz) guides a cursed Fae prince on his journey to find true love’s kiss.
A kitchen witch gets stuck in a time loop and falls in love with a world-famous magician—but she’s not sure if she gets to keep him.
If you’ve ever wished your small town had a dash of witchcraft, a local merperson population, and the kind of neighbors who hex your ex instead of gossiping about them—welcome to Freya Grove.
Lucy Caraway’s life is… fine. Steady job, cute cottage, routine magic—but “fine” isn’t enough anymore. So when her ex, Alex Dwyer (yes, the one who ghosted her a decade ago), returns to town and promptly moves across the street, Lucy makes a wish for excitement. The universe, chaotic little imp that it is, delivers.
Ursula Caraway—the self-proclaimed Jersey Shore Witch Princess—is in her flop era. After losing her magic, she’s telling fortunes to heartbroken mortals and selling crystals to tourists who can’t tell quartz from beach glass. Then she meets Prince Xavier Alder, a painfully awkward royal who’s been cursed by the Faerie Queen and needs a true love’s kiss to break it.
Naturally, Ursula volunteers to help find his true love. (What could go wrong?)
What unfolds is a charming, slow-burn friendship that turns into something more tender and sparkling than either of them bargained for. Xavier is a cinnamon roll prince with zero game, Ursula is the chaotic good heroine trying to get her magic (and confidence) back, and together they deliver the perfect dose of “oh no, we’re catching feelings.”
By the time you reach Déjà Brew, you’re basically an honorary Caraway. The final book follows Sirena Caraway, a kitchen witch with a streak of terrible luck and a gift for cooking her emotions into her meals. Enter Gus Dearworth: ex–reality TV star, reluctant magician, and the kind of man who looks like he could ruin your life but would absolutely cook you breakfast the next morning.
One disastrous Halloween party later, a wish goes awry and these two end up stuck in a magical mess that forces them to confront both their past and their very inconvenient chemistry. The result? Fireworks. Literal and emotional.
Sirena and Gus’s story is sensual, heartfelt, and full of that bittersweet fall nostalgia—the kind that smells like cinnamon, smoke, and something you can’t quite name. I adored the glimpses of Lucy and Ursula living their best witchy lives, and by the time I turned the last page, I was grinning like a love-drunk familiar.
This series is SUCH a warm hug. There are witches, family joy centered around the kitchen, magical teas, a wide world of magical creatures and the beauty of small towns.
And all of it is in Black! If anyone in publishing is paying attention, we want more of this. More of this series (for sure—Callie’s story!) and more of cozy fantasy in color in general. Either way, this series belongs on every witchy, cozy fantasy and fall-inspired romance list for now until forever—like this witchy reads list I made last year!
Each book in the series features one of the Caraway cousins, members of a witchy dynasty in Freya Grove. I love that they all fall in love with a different type of magical man. I mean, point me to another merman, please! Lucy and Alex’s story in Witchful Thinking is all about taking a chance that would bring you so much joy but is terrifying. Lucy was Alex’s high school crush, and Alex was not comfortable settling down in Freya Grove right after high school.
When he comes back to Freya Grove to visit his family, Lucy is the victim of a spell gone wrong, and she can’t say no. Then Alex’s parents gift/bribe/manipulate him into accepting a house as a gift. Together, he and Lucy fix up the house, but it also puts Lucy in the right space to explore her feelings.
Kiss & Spell is about Ursula (who I wanted to shake for most of Book 1). I won’t spoil you with why she irritated me (which was hard to do with all the whimsy fun), but know that her and Xavier’s story has a lot to do with redemption. For Ursula, she’s trying to right the way she acted before her perfect life went down the drain. In addition to her magic being on the fritz, so is her self-worth. So when Xavier keeps being set in her path, she decides to help him find his happily ever after, without believing she deserves one.
Sirena and Gus’s story in Deja Brew (see full review) is full-on fall vibes! The plot is centered around a time loop in the month of October, so it’s all pumpkin and colorful leaves and fall traditions. Sirena is an ex-celebrity chef with wonky powers back home in Freya Grove. She missed out on a job that would have saved her career and made a spectacle of herself at the town Halloween party. Gus is a star magician on his family’s reality show. Only he doesn’t really want to be a reality star. He’s a nerd at heart and finds an opportunity to help Sirena get back her magic and nurture his love of magical mysteries.
She realizes the rules of time loops mean that when her life is fixed, the loop ends, but she’s not sure if she’ll get to keep Gus. Or if she’ll even remember him.
Another thing I LOVE about this series is the hijinks. It’s almost like the women don’t know how powerful they are, and then their magic slaps them into reality. Or a time loop. Or a broken engagement (whoops!). Or any number of things that show them not only do they have magic, they are magic.
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Her Next Series
Her next series is currently untitled but set to be published in fall of 2026. I’m not what exactly it’s about but the phrase “cozy, paranormal town” is used in the announcement. GIMME NOW!
Celestine’s publisher (Forever) is hosting a read along this week for her debut. You can follow along on IG, TikTok, or Threads.
Are you reading (or rereading) any of these books this fall?
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