REVIEW: The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre

The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre: Iris Collins is the chaos bunny in her family, nothing she has every done has truly gone to plan. While all of her sisters are wildly successful in every field of their lives Iris can’t even keep her budget straight for a month. Iris has big plans of changing all of this, all she has to do is turn the house that she inherited from her late great aunt into a thriving B&B and she will be well on her way to being as successful at adulting as her sisters. Alas things wind up going wrong as they always do for Iris and her big dreams of running a successful B&B turn into her renting rooms to a bunch of misfits and lost souls. However could the Iris’s newest housemate be the change that even she didn’t know that she needed?

Eli Reese has always felt like an outcast, the odd one in the group, even now as a wildly successful rich app designer he can’t help but feel out of place. So when fate sends him a blast from the past Eli takes it as a sign that this is finally his chance to win over his first crush, little did Eli know that he would wind up getting sucked into the Iris-verse, but with each passing day Eli can’t help but feel more and more like he belongs. Could Iris and her bunch of merry misfits be the home that Eli has been looking for all these years?

The Only Purple House In Town is the fourth book in the Fix-It Witch series and let me just tell you this just might be Aguirre’s cutest book yet! Before I go any further I have to take a moment to appreciate this beautiful purple cover, not only is it absolutely gorgeous but I love how it helps paint the picture of this olden style, slightly spooky house that happens to home all these lost souls. There was just something very fitting about this cover when put together with Iris and Eli that added to the cute witchy gothic feel. I loved the fact that this was a cozy sweet kind of read with a nice mix of magicy fun that highlights that not all family has to be your blood family, sometimes your found family is just as strong and important.

Both Iris and Eli were great main characters. I really enjoyed getting to see them both grow and truly finding their place in the world. I liked that both of them had this shared sense of not really being normal or fitting in, this only made getting to see them connect and understand each other all the more cute. Though I will say that Eli was a strange guy, he basically stalked Iris since he was eleven years old all because she did something nice for him, in a weird way this was kind of cute, however for the most part it was slightly strange. For Iris’s part I do have to say that she brushed Eli’s odd behaviour off pretty fast, saying that no one is perfect, then again, I suppose that is part of what makes her such a nice character. I have to say that I really liked Iris, she was truly a chaos bunny with a heart of gold. I loved that even though she was not successful in the traditional way like the rest of her family she had the biggest heart and love to give. I truly enjoyed getting to see her find her place among her found family. As far as the romance element between Iris and Eli go, well this fell a bit flat for me, it really was not a major key element in the over all reading experience.

The Only Purple House In Town was absolute mayhem and I loved every moment that we got with these misfit, rag-tag bunch of magical wonders. I loved that they were all out and open in regard to their magical abilities and that they all cohabited in peace. The idea of having this odd bunch coming together to help restore this old Victorian style house only made me love them all the more. I mean how could you not get invested in a book where a shape shifter, vampire, fae and witch all live in harmony? Truly this book had the best supporting characters!
If you are looking for a cute, cozy fantasy read that will warm your heart then The Only Purple House In Town is definitely the book for you!

Book Info:

Publication: July 11, 2023 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | Fix-It Witches #4

Iris Collins is the messy one in her family. The “chaos bunny.” Her sisters are all wildly successful, while she can’t balance her budget for a single month. It’s no wonder she’s in debt to her roommates. When she unexpectedly inherits a house from her great aunt, her plan to turn it into a B&B fails—as most of her plans do. She winds up renting rooms like a Victorian spinster, collecting other lost souls…and not all of them are “human.”

Eli Reese grew up as the nerdy outcast in school, but he got rich designing apps. Now he’s successful by any standards. But he’s never had the same luck in finding a real community or people who understand him. Over the years, he’s never forgotten his first crush, so when he spots her at a café, he takes it as a sign. Except then he gets sucked into the Iris-verse and somehow ends up renting one of her B&B rooms. As the days pass, Eli grows enchanted by the misfit boarders staying in the house…and even more so by Iris. Could Eli have finally found a person and a place to call “home”?