Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Ann Aguirre to HJ!
Hi Ann and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Hocus Pocus Handbook!
Please summarize the book for the readers here:
The Hocus Pocus Handbook is a cozy fae fantasy romance set entirely in the realm of faery. It is a road trip story featuring found family dynamics, a forbidden love between grumpy and sunshine characters. It also has a touch of enemies to lovers and is spiced with underdog charm. If you love reading about a ragtag band of misfits coming together to beat the odds and defy authority, you will love this book. It’s been described as a warm hug on a cold day, emotional tea that will nourish the spirit. While the book does standalone, it’s also the companion story to the sleeper hit, The Only Purple House in Town, which takes place in the same pervasive universe as my Fix-It Witches series.
Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:
“To love someone else truly, madly, deeply, you have to love yourself first.”
Please share a few Fun facts about this book…
- I had to yeet the entire first act and rewrite from scratch.
- I was wrong about who the love interest was supposed to be.
- The spells are meticulously researched and authentic, grounded in rituals used by real Wiccan practitioners.
- Kerboros falls first.
What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?
This is a slow burn romance between Kerboros (grumpy) and Thea (sunshine). Since he falls first, there is so much pining that it’s both delicious and painful. It isn’t his fault, but the world holds a particular opinion of him due to circumstances beyond his control. Consequently, Thea doesn’t like him much at the beginning, and their journey from being not quite enemies to falling in love is exquisite and chock full of unrequited longing at the beginning. They’re both outsiders, but they handle those emotions in different ways. Kerboros turns inward while Thea is always seeking connections. He is attracted to her because she is an agent of chaos and she is always causing problems for his terrible cousin. At first, he only respects and admires her for her defiance and for knowing just how much she can get away, based on her unique position in the court. But slowly, over time, he becomes enamored with everything about her: her wildness, her energy, her boundless kindness. From Thea’s perspective, Kerboros is a merciless hunter who kills on command, little more than his cousin’s hound. But as she travels with Kerboros and learns his true nature and his deep loneliness, she is surprised by her desire to console and protect him. In several places in the book, I flip the usual knight and damsel dynamic, and I had a blast doing it.
Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?
This scene gets me emotional!
When he straightens, I strike, slicing my dagger sideways across his throat. Hot blood jets from the wound, and he presses both hands to his neck, gurgling as he fights for life. If there are others nearby, he might survive.
Unlikely.“Let’s move,” I call.
Thea skirts the fallen hunter and retrieves her pot, shoulders hunched. I wish there was time to comfort her. But we cannot tarry. The others give me a wide berth, and I cannot say I’m surprised.
It’s one thing to know someone is deft at meting out brutality, quite another to witness that firsthand. I hope this doesn’t change how Thea feels about me. In unwilling service to my cousin, I have done so many dreadful things.
Olive passes me as Rosa leads the way from our campsite. Thea’s sister lingers long enough to say, “You did what you had to. To keep us safe.”
It helps. Possibly because Olive doesn’t know me well, and she’s under no obligation to comfort me. I scan the site one last time to ensure we’ve left no traces other than the body, and then I follow the group.
At our first break, Thea draws some water from a brook and washes the cooking pot. I pause beside her, not knowing what to say. She feels distant, and I can’t tell if it’s the stress of our situation or—
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“For what?” Of all things, I never expected an apology. Not from her. She’s done nothing wrong. I’m biased, but I hardly think she’s capable of wrongdoing that would warrant such a profound expression of remorse.
Her eyes are wide and tearful. “You’re in this situation because of me. But I’m also sorry you’ve had to live this way. Doing bad things for that bastard.”
“Not to argue with you, but I’m in this situation because of my father. And I didn’t mind playing my role. I’m good at it.”
“You hate it,” she snaps.
She’s right. I loathe putting weapons to flesh. It’s part of why I’m obsessed with using blades to create beauty instead.
“It’s better killing people I don’t know,” I say softly.
Thea sucks in a sharp breath. “He…he made you…”
I only nod, because if I start talking, I might never stop. And I don’t see how she could feel the same if she knew. If she knew everything.
Suddenly, her arms are around me, tight about my waist. “As the wild spirits are my witness, I will see him brought low for what he’s done to you.”
Sweet and tender Thea vowing vengeance in my name—what does it say about me that this feels like a declaration of devotion? Moved beyond any ability to speak, I press a quick kiss to her forehead.
Readers should read this book….
If they adore found family relationships, forbidden love, grumpy sunshine dynamics, and a love so powerful that Kerboros would burn down the world if Thea asked him to do it.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?
Currently, I have a contemporary romance, a cozy mystery, and a thriller in various stages of production. More info to come!
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: One copy of The Hocus Pocus Handbook for a reader in the U.S.
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Excerpt from The Hocus Pocus Handbook:
I can’t believe I’m here again, after volunteering to save a stranger.
This isn’t the person I’ve been, but it feels more natural than the role I’ve been forced to play. I center myself, mentally collecting the few facts that I know about Govannon like overripe apples plucked from the ground. He loves a brownie named Ragh, he invents things, uses magic on those innovations, and he’s been stranded alone. I imagine what his inner landscape will look like, and I envision that terrible tree growing on the rocky outcropping surrounded by stagnant water. My mind carries me there, and I do discover him perched on that branch, just as he was when I found him the first time.
I waste no time in saying, “We must go. This is an illusion.”
Govannon snaps, “If it was so simple, don’t you think I would’ve done that already?”
“It’s not simple at all, for you have to trust me.”
“Trust you? I barely know you.”
I clench my jaw. “You’d rather remain immobile and defenseless, easy prey for whatever might be hunting you through mental warfare?”
“Perhaps I don’t care anymore. If I get eaten, I’ll be done with fear and loneliness.”
The impatience I’ve been battling eases. I cannot fathom his torment. Others suffering such a lonely exile might have already broken beneath the weight.
With some effort, I gentle my tone. “If you give up, you will never see Ragh again. Against all odds, against all common sense, he’s still waiting for you, though he’d never admit it. The pain he feels at not knowing why you left will never cease. What’s it worth to you? The chance to hold him, explain what happened, and cry happy tears together?”
I can’t believe those words emerged from my mouth; Thea has changed me, an alchemical shift transmuting lead to gold. And that’s truer than anyone will ever know. Before getting close to her, my heart felt heavy as a stone, and now it glitters at the mere thought of her.
“Everything,” Govannon whispers.
“Then leap! I’ll catch you. And you will awaken.” I speak with enough confidence that he launches off the branch immediately.
I keep my word, and together, we chase the distant warmth that binds me to Thea, soul to soul. My head feels fuzzy and strange, as if I have spent too much time apart from my physical form. Thea steadies my elbow when my knees wobble, and I encircle her shoulders with my arm, pretending I need the support more than I do.
Govannon rouses, stretching his arms over his head. “Another trial passed. I appreciate the fact that you searched for me,” he adds.
“You’re one of us now,” I respond.
Rosa groans. “Macha’s tits. Get me out of here before something worse happens.”
“We can’t linger,” Tara agrees. “Exploration is out. Resting is unwise. This place is a threat on all levels. I’m surprised Govannon managed to keep his wits.”
“Debatable,” the gnome mumbles. “I do talk to myself rather a lot.”
Thea speaks in a hesitant manner. “I have a suggestion. My dad wrote a spell…” She produces a little book that she reads often, opening it to a particular page. “This one. It deepens connections, and I thought maybe we could use it to pool our magic. One person might not be powerful enough to produce a portal and hold it long enough for us all to escape, but if we cooperate, it might work?”
“Fascinating idea,” Zeph comments. They have been eerily silent since emerging from their private hell.
“I’ll try anything,” Govannon adds, desperation etched on his weary features.
“I’m with the gnome,” Rosa says. “I’m in too.”
While I’m not thrilled with the notion of being bonded to everyone, even temporarily, I’ll attempt this since Thea suggested it. I hope that only our magic will be shared, not my private ambitions and the threads I’ve been weaving. I’ve given up on faking my death, but those who helped me slip my bonds could be harmed if others betray our connections. Erdene exists at the epicenter of a silent resistance that has been undermining Liskaal for ages. I hesitate, then make the decision. Though it’s potentially perilous and I could be responsible for so much harm if there’s too much overlap, I nod. This is a necessary risk.
“Can I read this spell before we begin?” Zeph asks, more tentative with Thea than they’ve been.
Thea stares at them, eyes narrowed, before deciding to allow the request. She hands over the book, and once Zeph scans the page, everyone takes a turn doing so. The ritual is simple enough, and she has the components in her bag. I admire her graceful hands as she arranges everything just so.
“So this is how you do fae magic?” The pixie doesn’t sound mocking or hostile. It’s just a question.
“My dad thought it would help me focus. It doesn’t come easily to me, you see.”
Rosa flutters over to Thea and pats her cheek. “Nobody’s good at everything. My handwriting is rubbish, nearly illegible, and I can’t even draw a straight line.”
Thea smiles. “Really? Your honesty is so comforting.”
“Is it? I’m just telling the truth. Pixies are straight talkers, you know. Never get any bullshit from our people, take us or leave us.”
“I prefer your approach,” Thea tells Rosa. “They drive me wild in the courts, never saying what they mean, taking forever to get to the point.”
“Tell me about it!” Rosa exclaims.
When Thea smiles, the atmosphere warms between them. Rosa settles on Thea’s shoulder as she leads us in performing the steps together. Next, we join hands, and at first, it seems like it’s not working. We’re just awkward people holding hands. But soon, my magic trickles out, joining Thea’s in a teasing tangle. Her threads entwine readily with Taragon, and Zeph has woven their startling strength through Rosa’s tapestry of power. Govannon’s shy magic surges last, until all our energies connect in a chaotic tangle. All around us, wild mana crackles in reaction, slashes and arcs of color in hues that match our personalities. This primordial energy is wild and uncontrollable.
“We’ll either open the strongest possible portal,” Tara gasps, “or blow ourselves up. Not sure which, but at least we’re together.”
Govannon manages a tight laugh. “I’ll take any change at this point.”
“Ready?” Thea asks.
Everyone nods.
Zeph turns to me with an unreadable expression. “You have the greatest skill with portal magic. I swear upon my life that I will not interfere this time. To give us the greatest chance at success, you should control the aperture.”
I don’t respond, but I take control of our joined energy, using my will to shape it. The veil thins, and I reach for a familiar mushroom circle near the Autumn village, my intended destination before. As the vortex forms in shimmering gold, Govannon cries out nearby. A hideous, oozing thing rises from the water, red as blood, pocked with sticks and stones and moss and bones. The monster seethes with mindless hunger. The gnome shrieks and dives through the portal before I’m entirely sure it’s stable. I don’t even know if I had the destination properly set. If he ends up lost again—
I struggle to hold the portal open as the creature undulates through the mire toward me, and I speak through clenched teeth: “Go! Get yourselves safe. Get out now.”
I can’t picture the mushroom circle at all, and oddly, there’s such a familiar pull, like Thea is on the other side of the portal. But that’s impossible. Perhaps it’s the last place we were? Please, not the Summer market—that would be no help at all.
Zeph is the first to comply, beckoning to Rosa. “Hurry, let’s move.”
The pixie follows him with a troubled glance in my direction. Taragon rushes through right after, leaving Thea to cast me a desperate, frightened look. The vortex hurts, screaming in my head as the magic tests the limits of my will. As she dives, I move, trying to seal the portal as I tumble through, but the arcane force blows me off-balance, and the vortex oscillates wildly.
I need to close it, but it resists my tether. Something is pushing, pushing, relentless need, and then I hear a thunderous pop—the monster follows us out, flopping with a slime-ridden squelch. It keens and snuffles, and then come the slurping, hungry sounds. The creature slithers toward a mortal woman, frozen nearby, mouth open in astonishment.
I’d ask who she is and what she’s doing here alone, but the portal is melting my brain, and that monster intends to eat us.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Book Info:
Thea Winter didn’t choose to be a changeling — stolen from the mortal world as a baby, raised in the wildlands by a hobgoblin named Mudge who taught her everything worth knowing. How to read the weather in a crow’s wing. How to barter with brownies. How to stay alive in a world of capricious fae courts. What Mudge couldn’t teach her was how to stay out of trouble. Which is why she’s entangled in a objectionable marriage of convenience.
Or would be, but her spouse bolted. Now she has to hunt down Devan J. Fenelon, but she’s been saddled with a taciturn, humorless hunter known as Winter’s Hound. He answers only to his cousin, and she’s not looking forward to this quest at all.
Kerboros has survived the Winter Court by being exactly what they made him: relentless, invisible, and careful never to want anything at all. His life is an endless series of ceaseless commands from his reprehensible cousin, Lord Liskaal. Since his father’s failed rebellion, Kerboros has been permitted to survive only as an example to others, an object lesson as to how far one may fall. But traveling with Thea—wild, warm, impossible Thea—is a glorious torment for an enforcer who has never known freedom.
She is sunshine. He is shadow.
Their love is forbidden, but when irresistible force sweeps up an immovable object, the resulting reaction might be magical…
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Meet the Author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre has been a clown, a clerk, a savior of stray kittens, and a voice actress, not necessarily in that order. She loves video games, Korean dramas, music, dogs and cats, and staring at the sea. Though she writes all kinds of genre fiction, she has a major soft spot for a happily ever after.
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