Spotlight & Giveaway: Love’s a Witch by Tricia O’Malley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Tricia O’Malley to HJ!

Hi Tricia and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Love’s a Witch!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

In this Practical Magic meets Outlander cozy romantasy, three sisters return to their childhood home in Briarhaven, Scotland, on the eve of the
oldest sister, Sloane, about to receive her magick.
Upon their arrival in Briarhaven–Scotland’s most magical town!–the curse that plagues their bloodline brings constant snow to town, and the hot grumpy mayor comes to kick them out. Sparks fly between Knox and Sloane as they battle it out – all while trying to save the town from their curse.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

At some point, she’d have to understand that I was the answer, not the problem. I’d just have to wait her out until she saw that I really meant what I said.

I was used to this. Moving on, packing up, saying goodbye. That was our norm. We weren’t cut out for putting down roots, building lasting friendships—hell, even falling in love.

Settling down in one spot was a siren song I’d long evaded.

Unruly dark hair, those soul-searching blue eyes, and a sharp jawline marked with dark stubble made me want to look twice. And a third time, for good measure. The man was made for fantasies, not real life.

“Why don’t we skip the part where you try to push me out of your life, and you just accept that I’m around for the long haul, and we take it day by day from here?”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• My husband’s Scottish so I’m constantly bugging him, or my in-law’s, with extremely random questions about how a Scottish person would say something (for example the hood of the car is the bonnet) and so on.
• Blue is written in homage to my soul dog, Blue, that I lost just before I started writing this. It was an absolute joy to keep him memory alive as an emberwolf.
• Inspiration for this book comes for when our honeymoon got scrapped due to covid, so we ended up in a small town in the hills of Scotland, renting a cottage for a week. It was absolutely charming, and I fell in love with the easy flow of living in a small town where everyone looks out for each other.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Knox always had a bit of a crush on Sloane since high school, but Sloane, despite thinking he was cute, had too much trouble at home to notice him all that much. Knox just knew he wanted to help her.

Sloane is struck by his good looks, even when he instantly enrages her.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I loved the scene where Sloane stomps off and is furious with her sisters, but because she can’t control her magick, something delightfully unexpected happens. (I won’t spoil it!) But it puts her in a vulnerable position of needing to go to Knox for help.

Readers should read this book….

if they love Practical Magic meets Outlander, if they crave cozy witchy fall vibes, and if they are just looking to escape to Scotland in a perfect magical read.
 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on book two in this series, a story about when Sloane’s sister, Lyra, comes into her magick and all the chaos she’ll get into.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 3 print copies of LOVE’S A WITCH by Tricia O’Malley – usa only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you had a choice – are you a grab a sarong and read at the beach person or do you prefer a cozy fire, cup of tea, and a comfy chair while the snow swirls outside?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Love’s a Witch:

From my vantage point, Briarhaven spread out in a twisty-turny way, with winding streets creating a maze of sorts beneath the castle that jutted from the hill overshadowing the town. In the daylight, with snow-covered roofs, smoke piping from chimneys, and sun peeking through heavy clouds, the town looked quaint and cozy. A sanctuary for magickals—witches, fae, pixies, and more— with humans none the wiser, and the only place the MacGregors had ever managed to live for longer than a year.

Now, a part of me itched to settle in, as much as depressing childhood memories made me want to leave, largely because I was just so tired of hitting the road all the time. Maybe Broca was right. Perhaps her vision about the three sisters breaking the curse was meant to come to fruition. It wouldn’t be the first thing she was right about, though I tried my hardest to never let her know that. A bit of a diva, she was.

My eyes strayed to the castle. Was Knox standing in his window? Looking out over his domain and silently hating us from afar? I’d dreamt of him. Much to my irritation. He pinned me against the car, icy snow melting against heated skin, his mouth a sin against my throat.

“Sloane? You up?” Nova’s voice trailed up the staircase.

“Yup, coming down.” Best to cut that train of thought off immediately, because clearly, I was just in the dry spell of all dry spells.

Throwing on a tattered hoodie I’d left behind in my room, with Keep Calm and Carry a Wand scrolled across the front in sequins—a gift from Broca—I tugged on leggings and thick wool socks before padding downstairs and into chaos. Broca sat in the armchair, legs propped up, wearing a screaming pink dressing gown with feathers at the cuffs and dripping in diamonds. She could have as easily been lounging on the deck of a yacht somewhere as she was on the faded armchair tucked under the front windows in the living room. Disco music jammed in the background, and Broca held a hand in the air, lightly maneuvering dishes with her magick, while Lyra and Nova dove out of the way in the kitchen.

“This is not helping,” Lyra barked, annoyed.

Everything clattered to the counter as a knock sounded at the door.

“Why? Why are there people knocking at this door? It isn’t even eight in the morning. Don’t people have to work?” I mimicked a throat punch as I envisioned Knox at our door once more.

I stomped across the room and swung the door open, prepared to give him a piece of my mind, only to find a woman in a pale pink pantsuit, with perfectly coiffed blond hair, a plastic smile on her face. Behind her, two women clustered, one smiling and one giving annoyed looks to the snow.

“Welcome to Briarhaven!”

“Holy hell, it’s the fembot,” Nova hissed, gripping my arm from where she’d followed me.

“We’re just so delighted that the MacGregor witches have finally returned, particularly because we’ve taken up your slack in the Charms. I’m sure you’re tired from your travels and based on the condition of this house”—the woman looked past us at the dusty sheets covering much of the furniture in the front room, open disapproval radiating from her face—“I figured you wouldn’t want to cook. Here’s a casserole to sort you out for today.”

“The Charms?” Nova whispered to me. I just shrugged, uncertain of making any sudden movements around the fembot. I eased back as all three women stepped inside.

My eyebrows rose as the woman reached inside her tiny pocketbook and pulled out a steaming casserole dish easily triple the size of her purse.

“Well, that’s a fancy trick,” Lyra said.

“I’m Mandy Meadows, head of the Charms, and your official welcome wagon!” Mandy exclaimed in an upbeat robotic voice. “While your grandmother has managed to keep your legacy seats open by attending our coven meetings by Zoom, it’s so much better now that you’re here.”

I tuned back in to what Mandy was chattering on about, zeroing in on her tight smile and wide blue eyes.

“Wait. What? Legacy seats?” I swiveled to look at Broca. “What is she talking about?”

“Och, darlings, it’s your coven, of course.”

“Our coven?” Lyra sucked in a breath of excitement. She’d always been more into the witchy stories our mother had told us than either Nova or I had been. It had suited me to ignore our bloodline, seeing as the only thing that had come from it so far had been misery and disrupted routines. The appearance of one Mandy Meadows, looking like a country club woman hopped up on speed, had slammed our heritage back to reality for us.

“Your mother didn’t tell you about your coven?” Broca’s face fell.

“No.” The word almost came out on a growl.

“That’s right.” Mandy beamed and nodded, a touch too effusively for my taste, like one of those bobblehead figures you picked up at a petrol station and attached to the dashboard. “You have legacy seats in the most elite coven in Briarhaven—the Charms.”

Right, time to nip this in the bud. “I have no idea what you’re saying to me.” I stepped forward, gripping Mandy’s arm lightly, and propelled her toward the door. “But I’m sure we can find another time to talk about this. We’ve had a long few days of travel and haven’t seen our grandmother in years.”

Mum had done her best to cut us off from Broca, dragging us around the States, and by the time I’d been old enough to take charge of my sisters, we’d just been trying find our feet on our own. And frankly, none of us had been quite ready to come back to Scotland. Now, seeing Broca again in person, I realized just how much we’d missed her.

“I know a great house cleaner.” This from a woman who looked eager to please, in a neon-pink jumpsuit, chaotic hair, and huge tote bag at her shoulder that looked like it could carry enough weapons to take down a small army. “I’m Felicity Sheridan, vice president of the Charms. Never harm, always charm!” I swear she almost saluted.

I glanced over my shoulder at Nova, who widened her eyes and mouthed to me, Never harm, always charm.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

From New York Times bestselling author Tricia O’Malley, Charmed meets The Pumpkin Spice Café in this cozy romantasy about a witch returning to Scotland to break a family curse—only to clash with one grumpy Scotsman determined to protect his town from her haywire magic.

She’s hexed. He’s vexed. And for Scotland’s most magical small-town, their feud might just spell disaster.

Sloane MacGregor swore she’d never return to Briarhaven, but with her twenty-fifth birthday looming—the day witches come into their magic—her grandmother summons her and her sisters back for one tiny task: break the centuries-old curse haunting their bloodline.

Knox Douglas, Briarhaven’s grumpy mayor, has worked tirelessly to make his town a haven for magical folk. The last thing he needs is a cursed MacGregor wreaking havoc. It doesn’t matter he once crushed on her. For the sake of Briarhaven, Sloane has to go.

But magic has other plans—and in Briarhaven, love really is a witch.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Tricia O’Malley is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy romance. Her books have sold over three million copies worldwide. When she’s not writing, Tricia can be found scuba-diving, traveling, or debating the best popcorn topping. She splits her time between Scotland and the Caribbean, loves fun vacation reads, and thinks life is better with a little bit of sparkle. To see some of her Scotland or island life photos, visit her on Facebook, Instagram, or at www.triciaomalley.com.
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