Review by Kayleigh
Series Name: Oak Haven Witches, #2
Jingle Spells is a magical take on the Christmas romance.
Book Synopsis:
Delilah hates Christmas. She’s a strong independent witch who has finally left her hometown of Oak Haven and is off forging her own path. But an emergency drags her back just in time for the holidays.
Jasper is a human who also hates Christmas. He’s attempting to avoid festivities when he stumbles into the magical world of Oak Haven – a place which definitely isn’t supposed to exist – and sees things which should be impossible.
When chaos erupts in the town, Delilah and Jasper must join forces to restore order. They should be the perfect team. Their only problem? Their growing attraction to each other might be distracting them from their work…
Review:
I went into this book blind and enjoyed the premise. I do think it may have been better to read book one in the Oak Haven Witches series so that I’d understand some of the dynamics between family members better. However, in general, this book was fine. Delilah has felt guilted into staying at home and supporting her mom after her beloved fathers tragic death, and is jealous of her sisters who have been living their best lives outside of the small, magical town. When the book opens, we see Delilah exploring the world but being summoned back due to some bad things happening. There is a villainous group of magicians who are trying to ruin the witches. Why the magicians are villains, I’m never quite sure. It’s a case of them being bad, bad, bad.
Delilah’s town is bewitched, which means that when humans enter into Oak Haven, they can experience the town, but as soon as they leave, they forget the town and its people exist. It’s a great theory in principle and I loved this plot point. Jasper, a human, stumbles into Oak Haven, and is instantly in love with Deliah. Of course, he thinks he’s going insane based on what he’s experiencing, because for him magic isn’t real. He leaves, and comes back again and the whole scenario begins again. We find out he’s been visiting in this loop for a while, however these are the first few meetings of him and Deliah. The two of them fall in love, and this is a deep I will destroy the world for you love. This is where the story falls apart for me, to be honest. Jasper, is just…. fine. All we really discover from his storyline is that he likes order and doesn’t like Christmas. I don’t fully understand why Delilah falls so hard for him, and his actions regarding her seem very out of character. After the second time he leaves and comes back, they basically fall back into love in one day, and it’s fierce. Delilah is ready to throw her whole life away for a guy who has only known her, in his mind, for like 36 hours.
To be honest, the crazy cast of secondary characters is what kept me engaged, there’s a terrific cast of small town people that I enjoyed hanging out with. The magical structure is also intriguing and something I would want to learn more about. I will for sure check out the other books in the series.
Thank you to Avon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
