Midlife Magic - Victoria Danann

[goodreads]

Title: Midlife Magic (Not Too Late #1)
Author: Victoria Danann
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 500
Date read: June, 2022

The day after my forty-third birthday, my husband announced he was trading me in. His words, not mine. The news was unwelcome at the time, but honestly? I needed a good goosing to get up and find my way to the door.

So. I was freed from the manual of expectations authored by my ex that had, over the years, grown into an encyclopedia of what a wife "should" be and do. The freedom was the good news. The flip side was less happy. Due to living in a state not friendly to discarded wives, I was also relieved of the financial 'security' I'd spent a lifetime accruing.

Starting over? I didn't plan on it. Didn't see it coming. But pulling a sheet over my head and waiting for the end didn't seem like my style. Granted. I wasn't sure what my style was because I hadn't thought about freedom of expression since I was twenty.

I'd never been a fan of optimistic adages like 'it's not too late', but that was before my life was divided into two parts; everything that came before the mysterious package and everything after. Fate shot me with a lightning bolt of attitude adjustment and thrust me head first into an adventure that was unforeseeable to say the least. If you'd told me what my life was going to be like, I would have used every synonym for crazy you've ever heard.

I 'inherited' a curious antique store in a tiny, picturesque English village where the world of fae magic lives side by side with the mundane. But that's far from all. Eight times a year, I receive magical dignitaries and magical lowborn alike and mediate their disputes; some comical, some deadly serious.

It may be too late for super shiny hair, going without a bra, or sleeping eight hours without a potty break. But it seems that it's not too late for navigating magical politics, expatriating, romance, and saving the world.


This has got to be the shortest 500 page book I've ever read.

it didn't take me long to fall in love with Rita and the inhabitants of Hallow Hill. Sure, Rita is a huge Mary Sue, but that seldom bothers me much, and it certainly didn't in this case. I loved reading about her introduction to her job and to the other villagers, and how she found her footing in the community.

There's hardly any plot in the book, but the characters are so engaging and enjoyable to read about that I didn't mind at all. I felt like part of the village - getting to know them at the same speed as Rita did. That said, I was VERY keen to read about the first trials by the time I got to the end, and immediately went to amazon to purchase the next book in the series.