2022 book 151

 Bianca Marais' The Witches of Moonshyne Manor

So first let me say that even though this is billed as “a witchy rom-com,” there isn’t actually any major romance in this book (and barely any minor romantic elements, for that matter). Instead, it’s the story of a group of 80-something witches (several are queer) who are on the verge of losing the titular manor where they’ve all lived since they were little girls, mainly because the patriarchy wants to bring them down! And I’m  not exaggerating: the villain of the piece wants their land to create “Men's World,” which features a golf course, paintball, and a strip club. So that's the level of plot we're working with here. There’s also a whole thing with flashbacks to a mysterious event thirty years earlier that sent one of their own to prison, and she’s about to be released, and also some business with the feminist teen daughter of the local mayor (whose dialogue is clearly written by a non-teen trying to sound hip). This was entertaining enough, I mean I am here for drama with elderly witches, but the last chunk was overly ridiculous and I found that annoying. B.