There’s a specific sort of witchiness I crave when October rolls around, more small towns and humor than darkness and intricate world-building, and happily, All Too Familiar fit my parameters really well.

Technically, there is some darkness since there is a murder, but it’s handled along the lines of a cozy murder mystery, not so much about blood, gore, or grief, the focus mainly on the who done it. There are several suspects to choose from and the heroine, Amie, is given solid reasoning for getting involved in this case, this isn’t one of those books where someone’s just nosing into a mystery/other people’s business for no reason. Also, even though this is the first book in a series and there are some aspects that will carry over into the next books, this murder mystery is resolved by the end of the book, you’re not left with a cliffhanger.

Everyone in town knows about the witchcraft, it isn’t a secret as is often the situation in these sorts of books, so that felt refreshing. I also liked the twist with Amie’s newfound familiar and how that connection didn’t go in the direction I thought it might.

Impossible to decide which relationship here that I preferred, the supportive cousin and the way she and Amie totally have each others backs is female friendship at its best, and then there’s Opie (his nickname a nod to The Andy Griffith Show, his dad is Sheriff Taylor), my favorite love interest option, the lifelong friend who’s clearly (and sweetly) carrying a massive torch for Amie.

I really enjoyed the writing style, it moves along at a zippy yet comfortable pace, the author’s voice is as engaging as it is easy to read and the tone is entertaining, serious when it should be but inflected with a sense of fun throughout. So glad I gave this a try. ( )

a pretty engaging book (and series), which somewhat surprised me, as i normally can't stand errors in plot & characterization. I suppose that's because in this case the author intended a fun tone to the book, which it achieves, but really the writing & plot are somewhat juvenile. ( )