Review from 7/31/21:
Fun, paranormal, New Adult, romcom novella
Catalina Cartagena left her home five years ago, right after high school, to head for New York City where, though she is very young, her extraordinary talent as a high-fashion designer has already established her with a dynamic career. She has returned home for the first time, to Isla Bruja, a secret magical community of rich and powerful Latinx witch families on an island near Miami, for her older sister’s wedding. Within moments of shaking the hand of her future brother-in-law, due to her empathic powers, Cat realizes to her horror that he is possessed by a demon. Worse, the entire bridal party is clearly under the demon’s spell, except for herself and her former high-school rival, Diego Paz, the younger brother of the groom. With only three days until the wedding, Cat's only hope to drive the demon away and save her family is to join forces with Diego.
This is a fast-paced, well written paranormal romance that is exciting, sexy, and often humorous. It is written entirely from the point of view of Cat, but it becomes clear almost immediately what a great guy Diego is, and I was rooting from the moment of their inventive Cute Meet for this adorably sympathetic couple to get together.
The author has done an outstanding job at supernatural world-building for a novella. The magic is convincing, and there are many colorful subcharacters who are vividly drawn, though not so much so that they ever upstage Cat and Diego.
I received access to the excellent audiobook version of this novella for free, as a perk of my Audible Premium Plus Annual Membership. The talented narrator, Jacqueline Grace Lopez, does a wonderful job with both female and male characters of all ages, and she performs the Spanglish dialog with authentic flair.
Relisten of audiobook 7/27/25: I enjoyed this terrific novella and the excellent narration of the audiobook just as much the second time as the first. Diego is my favorite part of the story. He is an adorable Cinnamon Roll love interest. I also greatly appreciated that this is a humorous, paranormal version of a romantic-suspense plot. It's quite a challenge for a novella to successfully blend together all of that in such a short format. Bravo!