Kitchen Witch Brittney is comfortable in her midlife. She has her cat, her bakery in her hometown of Crestmont, and a coven of supportive MS warrior women to lean on. So what if she can’t get out of her wheelchair? Or if she and her sister don't get along? Even if she's a tad bit lonely, there are worse things.
Like football jocks. And losing bets to meddling friends who want her to date one.
Pro quarterback Killian doesn’t believe in magic or love outside family ties. When his sister calls him up with a request to take care of his preteen niece and run her restaurant, Killian intends to do his duty and return to his fast-paced life in the big city. That's the game plan. So why can’t he stay away from the quirky little bakery across the street or the enchanting woman who runs the place?
It's almost like the little witch put some sort of spell on him….
Kitchen Witch Wedding is the first book in the MS Midlife Mavens paranormal women’s fiction series. If you enjoy charming tales of love, resilience, and the power of belief you don’t want to miss USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Hart’s scrumptious tale. Buy Kitchen Witch Wedding and divine the recipe for a happily ever after now!
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USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Hart writes about characters that cuss, get naked, and often make poor but hilarious life choices. A native New Yorker, Jenn now lives in the mountains of North Carolina with her imaginary friends. Her works to date include the Cougars and Cauldrons series, the Silver Sisters series and the upcoming Legcay Witches of Shadow Cove.
My first exposure to this author was Sam and her shifters story. I love that she doesn't sugar coat the challenges of MS. Brittney and Killian learn to struggle together to overcome obstacles. To wonderfully show you can have a disability and enjoy intimacy is so refreshing. Bravo and I can't wait for Veronica's story.
This is book one of The Coven of Crestmont series and the main characters are kitchen witch Brittney Davis, who runs her own bakery even with her MS limitations, and pro quarterback Killian Smith, who is trying to be the oldest player in history, but his age and minor injuries are against him. Brittney is having to prepare for her sister Emma’s upcoming wedding and rescuing her from her drunken evenings at the local bar. The latest girl’s night out together had taken loads of saving energy attempts by Brittney, even to turn up at her sister’s insistence, only to find her sister practically paralytic already! All she could do was phone her sister’s fiancé Tyler, and arrange for him to pick her up, not something she could do herself, being stuck in a wheelchair. Sitting in the bar, with most people watching the latest football game, she could only berate the players silently about wrecking their bodies, knowing herself how severe such damage could do to a person. She comes form a wealthy family in the area, who would rather she live at home and be looked after, rather than being independent and opening her own bakery, Treat Yo’ Self and even an adapted small campground, where she lives herself with her talking cat Bartleby, the result of a spell gone wrong. When Killian’s sister calls asking him to bail her out of jail and to be there for her daughter Sophie, who now wants to be called ‘S’, as well as look after her restaurant, means he needs to travel to Crestmont, a town he had sworn to never return to. Brittney’s best friend ‘V’ (Veronica) has turned up at her bakery to change their lives. V and Brittney are the only members of their MS coven who weren’t married yet and V is determined to change that!
V's idea is to do a love lure spell, not something Brittney wants to take part in, but she won’t stop V, even though she believes the spell to be dangerous! V tells her she won’t bring it up again, but only if Brittney asks out the next attractive man she meets, who doesn’t live in town. She agrees only to shut V up. Killian takes S to the bakery for a treat and V thinks he is a perfect candidate for her plan to get Brittney to take a chance in life and live a little! The only problem is that jer history was one of being bullied by Killian and doesn’t bring back warm and fuzzy feelings towards him. Being forced to talk to him, she surprises him by asking him out and even including S. He wonders if that is because he is no longer white trash and more acceptable to someone like her mother, but he doesn’t know the real Brittney and what she has gone through. Her marriage broke up once she ended up in a wheelchair and her husband, Chris Morris, belittled her and tried to break her confidence. Brittney and Killian’s dinner ends up in a horrible situation when her ex-husband comes in and calls Killian a male escort, she has hired just to make him jealous and asking her for money again! Killian already has broken skin on his knuckles and his reaction to Chris doesn’t show him off in a good way! He has to come back to see her at the campsite when the water heater gives up the ghost at his sister’s home. S was left in the car while he visits Brittney, who is resting in bed after the last couple of trying days, so she gets out to approach V, who is by an open fire. V asks her what caste she is in, but clearly S doesn’t know what she is talking about. S is a witch but doesn’t actually know this and it might explain her loner attitude and image, including the name.
Now Brittney has to figure out how to approach him with the news his daughter is a witch and that she needs to start learning about her magical side or it could harm her development and life going forwards. Killian is finding it difficult to stay away from Brittney, even after apologising for his past behaviour towards her and that actually he had liked her back then and does now as well. He isn’t looking to stick around for long but has to stay whilst his sister goes through rehab, which he had managed to arrange in court to keep her out of jail, but then he wants to return to his career and his goals. He doesn’t believe in magic at all, instead having a hatred for it after seeing his own mother waste money she couldn’t afford on fake psychic phone lines. When they first kiss, he draws away in horror as her hands start to glow! He ends up with his old friend Tyler, who takes him for a drink and explains that magic and witches are real. The knowledge his own niece is also a witch, forces him to accept it and go back to talk to Brittney, which soon has them progressing with their relationship. A question she asked him about whether he loved football, has had him thinking about his future. He used to love the game, but recently it has become a job, to enable him to provide for himself and his family, but it isn’t something he has been enjoying anymore. Thoughts of what he would do with his future had been popping up in his mind but may not be what he really wants. Being around Brittney and seeing how she tries to cope with MS, might have given him another avenue to follow. That is if he doesn’t ruin his second chance with her. She thinks he is in love with her because of V’s spell, which she only just found out about, and which caused issues between the two witch friends. Brittney’s ex-husband Chris has still been bothering her, first for money yet again, then for a set of keys he thinks she has, causing problems around her bakery and home. Trying to push Killian away doesn’t work as he tries to prove his love for her and bring his own vision of their future to her ears. Brittney has a hard time accepting that someone would want her as she is, believing it was V’s spell only, as before.
It will be a hard-won relationship, but Killian is firm in his decision and even S warns him not to break her heart. Brittney believes her future is in tatters after certain events, but Killian’s rethink of his own future and what he wants to do, should hopefully prove his commitment to her and a future together for them! So much going on as they get their public HEA ending with their wedding, with more to come from S as she learns more about her magical touch, whist there is trouble for V with the authorities and her possible target of her love lure spell. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout, and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
“The universe has a way of making sure everything works out the way it should in the end.”
Brittany is a kitchen witch. She is also dealing with MS and the two may not be comparable but she's adjusted quite well. Killian is a football legend who grew up with her, but left soon after graduation as he ran from his past. Now a sucessful football star he's returned to help his little sister and his niece.... and deal with some issues in his past.
Veronica, or V is a chaos witch and Brittany's bestie. She also has MS but it has been a slower affect on her as she is still mobile. She comes into town and causes a bit of chaos for both Brittany and herself.
Bex, is Killian's little sister and Sophie's mother who is arrested for drunk and disorderly and her contacting Killian is what sets this whole story in motion.
Emma,Britanny's sister, is engaged to Tyler, the cop. She's dealing with her own issues on top of their mother who is simply weird.
Qht do you do with all this mishegos? Definitely a page-turner, Jennifer L Hart has come through again, I have been an ARC reader for this author for many years. I have watched her develop from writing sexy romances, to The Laundry Hag, to the Mackensie Mysteries to Romantasy and with each incarnation I have seen her abilities grow and change and I am constantly amazed at the wideness of her reach. I love these Midlife books, from the Silver Sisters to now these Crestmont books, I can hardly wait to read another. Highly Trcommended 5/5
There was a lot I liked about this book. For a start, there's the representation: I'm pretty sure it's the first PWF I've seen with a lead who has MS and uses a wheelchair, and the sprinkling of casual queerness around the the edges of the story was lovely too. And the whole plot thread with teen!witch Sophie was kind of heartwarming, plus I liked that there's a breakup amongst the B-characters (hopefully to clear the way for the couple in the next book) where nobody is the bad guy.
But. OMFG, I really wanted to Gibbs-slap both lead characters at various points when it came to their communication issues, the extent of which almost dragged this book down into 3-star territory for me. Plus, I found the POV got a bit scattered at times - mostly it was dual, but every now and then, it would swap randomly to one of the B-characters that will (probably) be a lead in the next book. And finally, there were enough editing and text formatting issues to get distracting... my personal favourite was when one of the B-character future leads, having gotten rip-roaring drunk for plot reasons and been driven home by the other B-character future lead and had her present him with aspirin and a glass of water, proceeds to 'swallow his pillows' with a sip of the water.
I probably will read Book 2 (and I'm assuming there'll be a Book 2, given the positioning of the two B-characters for future-lead-ship over the course of this story) when it comes out, but this isn't a series I'll rush out and buy.
Such a lovely start to a series. With the two main characters having a not so amazing past history together, can they work things out once they find themselves spending a lot of time together? With his sister and niece needing help Killian finds himself heading back to the town he never wanted to return to ever again. Making a name for himself as a professional athlete Killian is still single and hasn’t had the time for a real relationship. Brittany, in her 40’s, divorced after being diagnosed with MS, sees her dreams of a family taken away from her. Until she comes face to face with the man she had liked and then hurt her in high school. This story is about a very independent witch looking for love and happiness while trying to cope with the day to day health issues she has. There is a little danger, a bit of magic and some really steamy love scenes. I loved everything about this new story - that the MS warriors from previous series played a part in it. - The sub characters played fantastic roles so much so that I want to find out more about them. - Killian and Brittany had fantastic chemistry - The audiobook narration was as always excellent. I love listening to Jacqueline Rendell she suits Jennifer’s stories so well. I recommend reading or listening to the audiobook and I look forward to future books in the series.
Hot and Hilarious, Kitchen Witch Wedding meets the amazing standard of all Jennifer Hart books. While witches and MS have become a common topic in her newer series Kitchen Witch Wedding is a unique tale of an amazingly strong and kind woman and a well-known but no longer young professional quarterback. Opposites in so many ways but both living with the damage that parents can inflict, Brittany and Killian are drawn to each other but neither fully trust that their feelings can the "happily ever after" kind. Jennifer L. Hart creates characters that could come from real life. She makes Brittany's life with MS true to life while keeping her relatable even to those of us who have never lived around anyone this this debilitating disease. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this new Witch Wedding series. I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this fantastic urban fantasy. Grim Vows was all I would expect of any book by Misty Evans! Wonderful and intense.
Listened to the audio book and it was a light and cute story! I have slight issues with the narrator but was able to ignore the little quirky things by speeding it up to 1.4 LOL
It's a nice light and fun palate cleanser.... probably 🌶 ...maaaaybe almost 🌶🌶 because the spicy bits are so good!! ❤️
Middle aged 40s protagonist who is in a wheelchair and has MS... but that's not the focus of the book which I really appreciate. Slow burn, cozy cute :) With characters that happen to be witches...and Bartleby, a talking cat who speaks in one or two word statements. "Stupid. Pat me." Or "Treats!"
Quotes that made me laugh:
Young, dumb and full of cum! - in reference to some football players
You wouldn't know a good time if you were sitting on its face!!
"There's a dildo in my dishwasher!" "That's what she said!"
i was really looking forward to reading this book, as someone who is disabled and a wheelchair user. but for me it fell a bit short. i didn’t really like the style of writing also there was a lot of stories branching off in the book. i also struggled to find chemistry between killian and brittney. felt like i needed more of them and more of their background (because it was talked about a little) - rather than the side characters. but that’s just my opinion.
What a fantastic series-opener! The story is riveting, wonderfully romantic, and at times heartbreakingly tender. My favourite character is Sophie, but all the characters are wonderful. There is intrigue and suspense, and there are twists to the very last page - I can hardly wait to listen to book 2! Jacqueline Rendell’s narration is spot on.
A review copy of this book was sent to me by the author. All of the above opinions are my own.
I liked the characters in this book, main characters as well as side characters. They felt like real people with real struggles. I liked the world building with magic. It was interesting how MS was described and how living with an autoimmune disease affects life. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Loved this book from the beginning to the end. It was hard to initially envision a football jock with Brittany but it works so well. The character development is great even with the secondary characters. Loved the little conversations that brought in Maeve and Sam. Can’t wait for the next book.
In this book by Jennifer Hart, Killian is a football player who comes home to help his sister. He swore he would never step foot into his hometown. Brittney is a witch with MS who would never leave her hometown. This book was an awesome read, and I couldn't put it down. Can't wait to read the next one.
Really good start to a new series. I enjoyed reading this book very much. The writing and characters are fantastic. The ending was wonderful. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.
I enjoyed listening to this new series. The characters, storyline, and intrigue were gripping from beginning to the last page. The ending was surprising. I look forward to book two. Narrator Jacqueline Rendell was phenomenal!
Things I liked: pacing, character development, characters who weren't in their 20's, disability representation, second chance romance, witchy Things I disliked: some of the voices sounded similar enough it was hard to distinguish between them
I loved that this book focused on a romance for a middle aged individual with a disability but unfortunately it wasn’t my cup of tea. I found it very cheesy and was just waiting for it to be over. Cute concept but not my jam.
Love witchy stories and not all witches are invincible and superpowered. These were sweet do no evil witches. Really interested to know more about them.
I think this would be a good read for the right reader. For me, reading about someone else’s chronic illness is not the escape I need from my own chronic illness…
I enjoyed this book. I am not a big fan of romance stories but I am of this author which explains why I got caught up in this story. The author writes about real people with struggles, in this case an MS sufferer and a pro quarterback coming to the end of his career but she spices it up (and I don't just mean the sex scenes) but with magic and creates a story that I am more than happy to listen too. Even though the book is about people's struggles, Brittney is not a whinny or depressed character and focuses more on who she is, a MS warrior who is determined to be independent. There aren't any demons or monsters to vanquish like some of her other books but there is still a lot going on and it is so much more than just another heroine falling in love. I liked the characters, the different relationships and attitudes is what makes this very character driven story work. The good news is its the first book in the series and the characters are established. This means there is going to be more and I can't wait, especially as you get the feeling things are about to get even more interesting. With all her friends having babies and in relationships, there is just two left to find love. Brittney's best friend and fellow MS suffer comes to visit and fast a spell to help them both find love. When Killian, her high school crush returns the sparks start to fly but is it real love or the spell? Can Brittney get over how he treated her to find out and can be see past who she was and what she is now? There is only one way to find out and with her bakery burning down she will have the time to find out. I liked the narrator. She brings her own spark to the story and heats things up. I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
This is the first book in The Coven of Crestmont series, a paranormal women’s fiction series. This is a great start to the series. Brittney and Killian's story is funny, sweet, emotional, and entertaining. They are both interesting characters. Brittney, a Kitchen Witch, is such a wonderful character, smart, strong, and independent. Killian, a Pro quarterback, is handsome, supportive, and protective. They are perfect together. Jacqueline Rendell did an excellent job bringing these characters and this story to life. She has a beautiful voice. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to Chaos Witch Wedding, the next book in the series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I am a fan of Jennifer L. Hart's novels. She is able to combine reality and magic to create a fantasy world with fun, well drawn characters. Kitchen Witch Wedding is no exception. It is the story of Brittney, a middle-aged witch, who has been in love with Killean since high school. While young love didn't work out, KWW gives them a second chance to end up together...although now they have a whole new set of obstacles to tackle. Ms. Hart does a wonderful job setting up this middle-aged world. Along with narration provided by Jacqueline Rendell the audiobook is a must listen. I am really looking forward to the next book with it comes out in audio.