The Only Purple House in Town

April 1, 2023

Iris Collins is the only mundane in a family of powerful magical beings. She's always trying to measure up to her sisters' successes, without any luck. When she unexpectedly inherits her great-aunt Gertie's Victorian house in the small town of St. Claire, she sees it as a new beginning. She decides to fix it up and turn it into a rooming house in an attempt to get out of debt and get out from under her overachieving family. Eli Reese never forgot Iris, the pigtailed girl who saved him from playground bullies. He hasn't seen her in decades and can't believe it when he spies her in the local coffee shop, where she mistakes him for someone interested in renting a room. It's the perfect opportunity to get to know her better, and he can't resist--even though it means pretending they've never met. VERDICT This charming, cozy, contemporary romance from Aguirre (the fourth in the "Fix-It Witches" series, following Extra Witchy) is filled with wonderfully quirky characters. The protagonists are well-developed, and the storyline is well-paced. It's drama-free, but there are surprises around every corner and humor on every page; readers won't want the magic to end.--Heather Miller Cover

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2023
A woman finds the family she was looking for when she inherits a house in this charming romance, the third set in Aguirre's magical town of St. Claire, Illinois. Iris Collins never quite fit in with her family. All three of her sisters have found wealth and success using their vampire magic, but Iris has dropped out of college four times, and her magic has never awoken. She's deeply in debt, too, but her problems seem to disappear when she discovers she's inherited her Great-Aunt Gertrude's sprawling Victorian house in St. Claire. As the new owner of five bedrooms and an attic space, she decides to make some cash by renting rooms. Meanwhile, Eli Reese--a hawk shifter who, when they were children, had an encounter with Iris that he'll never forget--is in St. Claire visiting his grandmother, and he's delighted to learn that Iris is there, too. When he goes over to speak to her, she mistakes him for an applicant for a room, and Eli doesn't correct her. Now he's rented a room with an ever increasing number of oddball housemates and is trying not to fall in love with his landlady. Aguirre has constructed a cozy community in this novel, each of the characters adding their own unique flavor to the story. The housemates are a well-drawn, diverse, and engaging bunch, and watching them support and come to love each other is just as interesting as the main story of Iris and Eli's developing relationship. The mystery of Iris' (lack of) powers, her battles with a conservative neighbor, Eli and Iris' family baggage, and the romance between them all weave together to form a propulsive narrative. Even if things get a bit chaotic toward the end, the world is magical enough to make it feel believable. There's room for more stories in this universe, and they would be very welcome. Cozy, witty, and full of heart.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 22, 2023
Aguirre spins off her Fix-It Witches series in this sparkling standalone paranormal rom-com. At 27, Iris Collins feels like a disaster. She’s at odds with her psychic vampire family—all of whom have exceptional powers that Iris doesn’t share—and months behind on rent. When she inherits a shabby old Victorian house from her great-aunt, she sees it as both an opportunity to turn her life around and a terrifying chance to screw things up on an even larger scale. As she moves in and rents out rooms to the other town misfits, she realizes that having people dependent on her makes the stakes of her mistakes higher than ever. Enter wealthy shape-shifter Eli Reese, in town to help his grandmother sell her house. It was supposed to be a short trip, but when his childhood crush, Iris, mistakes him for a potential lodger, he decides to stick around, aiming to help her maintain the house and thus secretly pay back a debt she doesn’t even realize he owes. Along the way, Iris and Eli find both love and family. The quirky and colorful cast is easy to invest in, and though the climactic moments feel melodramatic, the love story rings true. Aguirre’s fans will be enchanted. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.

Starred review from June 1, 2023
Aguirre (Boss Witch, 2022), who has an uncanny ability to create bewitchingly compelling characters, returns to the small town featured in her Fix-It Witch books. Iris, who has always felt untalented and out of place in her family of exceptional psychic vampires, is out of work and in debt. When she unexpectedly inherits her great-aunt's house, a ramshackle Victorian covered in peeling purple paint, she has five bedrooms she can rent out. Eli, a successful app creator, can shift into his hawk form to fly and is in town to help his grandmother. When they were kids, though she doesn't remember doing so, Iris rescued Eli from bullies, thus instigating his lifelong crush. When Eli goes for coffee and sees Iris set up at a table where she is planning to meet with potential roommates, he approaches, and she takes him for a potential renter. She ends up with a diverse group of housemates, not all of them ""human,"" just as an anti-paranormal group targets the purple house in a story line analogous to hate groups targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Aguirre's lovely, magical, found-family love story with a twist explores self-discovery, self-determination, and the impact of kindness.

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