In D.L. Soria's adorable, wisecracking fantasy romance The Cottage Around the Corner, a small-town witch fights to save her family's business after a polished, indecently attractive mage sets up shop nearby.
Charlie Sparrow loves her life in Owl's Hollow, where she lives with her parents, Mama and Mim, and works in their magic shop, Chanterelle Cottage. She wishes they would let her invest some of her own money and take on more ownership but believes a catastrophic spell-casting mistake she once made has put those dreams out of reach. Then Sterling "Fitz" Fitzgerald and his sister Elinor move to town to open a slick, modern magecraft firm, and Charlie's family's already struggling shop might not survive the competition. Fitz may be "attractive in that urbane, aristocratic way where you can't decide if you want to seduce them or send them to the guillotine," but Charlie could never see herself dating a rival. Then a series of mysterious, magical catastrophes befall Owl's Hollow, and Charlie and Fitz must join forces to save their town--but nothing can save them from falling for each other.
Soria (Thief Liar Lady; Fire with Fire) delivers on the witchy, cottagecore atmosphere her novel's setting demands, offering up an enchanted broom named Broomhilde, plenty of spell casting, and a close-knit community. The plot recalls the classic rom-com You've Got Mail, which the characters repeatedly reference. Its emotional core strikes a heavier note than that film, as Charlie and Fitz both struggle to live up to their perceptions of their families' expectations, but readers looking for a cozy escape should find it here. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads