The sequel to Small Town, Big Magic, Big Little Spells follows Rebekah Wilde as she returns to face the music of St. Cyprian while also dealing with her crush on the dashing and brooding Nicholas Frost.

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I am not one for romance books, but Big Little Spells, like its predecessor, impressed me with its strong characterization and gave the story time to develop before jumping into the romance aspect.

Storytelling

I don’t mind romance in books, but I tend to avoid the romance section because when I read, I’m looking at the story, not the sex or spice, but the story, and Beck focuses on developing the romance without letting it overwhelm the story.

Small Town, Big Magic focused on introducing readers to St. Cyprian through Rebekah’s sister, Emerson Wilde. Now we’re here, in the town, and Rebekah is back, choosing instead to help her sister and prove that the Joywood Coven is corrupt. Not only that, she has to find a way to dive into her magic, prove she is powerful, and save the world from ultimate destruction…again.

Enter Nicholas Frost, the immortal witch who lives in a manor by the sea. I loved their hate-to-love dynamic, although it’s not really hate-to-love. Rebekah has always had a crush on the witch that no one trusts because you don’t become immortal without giving something precious away. But I’m with her; I love the dark and broody grumps. My weakness.

However, even though the crush is established as mutual, Beck doesn’t just dive headfirst into it. Instead, the author focuses on building up their dynamic while rebuilding the dynamic with her found family and building up the plot and the story.

Great Characterization

Her whole relationship with her friends and family is tenuous because ten years ago, she was exiled, and her magic was stripped because she was deemed “not powerful enough” by the Joywood Coven. If you can’t contribute, you can’t have your magic; those are their warped rules. These are rules that Emerson challenged in the previous novel by breaking their spells and saving the day.

But now Rebekah has the chance to come on top, so Big Little Spells is a journey for her, one she had to stop ten years ago that she can continue. She gets to dive into her magic and learn to believe in herself, all while falling more in love with the man she should avoid.

She’s a smartass, utterly different from Emerson, but it was done wonderfully, making for an engaging and fierce MC. Rebekah will not give up; she’s a fighter, and I love how she is different from her sister but just as fierce.

Final Thoughts

Big Little Spells was such a fun read, and as someone who tends to roll her eyes at the genre, just note this is me eating my words because this novel is fun, it’s witchy, and it has a lot of heart to it by building up those familial dynamics as much as the romantic ones.