I'm officially hooked on this series. The characters are so great and hilarious. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Wow, this book is not even close to as good as the first one. Disappointing. Throwing in the towel for now because I don't have time for frustrating books these days.

I Didn't Want To Stop Listening!

I'm already a fan of K. F. Breene's books and her writing style. Her stories tick every box for me; intelligent writing style that's easy to read, main characters with depth of personality that I can root for and believe in, depth of character in the supporting cast, believable background story and setting and a balanced mix of relationship, tension, action, humour and mystery.

Hollie Jackson is a wonderful narrator. Her performance while reading this book brought the story to life. I liked the pace at which she read and the emotions she conveyed. There are some very unique characters in this book (series), and the voices she created for them all were impressive. Their personality shone through. Hollie transported me into each and every scene.

As a menopausal woman within spitting distance of the big 5-0, I love that this series has an older protagonist and supporting characters. Jes is a woman who's comfortable in her own skin and has the confidence of life experience behind her. However, as everyone knows, life is about change and it is how we deal with it that grows us as a person. I love how Jes is growing, how she dealt with the situations in this book, and how she's learning.

Magical Midlife Dating builds on the first book. The threads running through the series and the ones that began and ended in this book were enthralling. I loved listening to Jess stumble through her online dating experience. I rallied, laughed, cried and swooned with her.

Due to the graphic nature of some of the more violent scenes, I would recommend this book to adults who aren't offended by this sort of thing. But if you enjoy a sort of second coming-of-age for older, independent, capable heroines and strong alpha heroes, with a generous helping of banter, humour and realistic issues for the over 40s within a paranormal adventure, then this book may be your next favourite read. It's certainly left me wanting to read the next book - Magical Midlife Invasion - and check out the other books available in the Paranormal Women's Fiction (PWF) genre.

Brilliant! I loved this even more than the first book, feels like it's hitting its stride. Laugh out loud funny with great dialogue.

Mr Tom and the old guardians are hilarious, I love their bickering and general nuttiness. The action was good and I enjoyed seeing both Jess and Austin progressing in their roles.

I also loved Ivy House's macabre sense of humour manifesting in the dolls and the wooden panelling.

Nicole Poole's narration is spot on, she gives each character a distinct voice which adds to the humour without making any of them (particularly Mr Tom and Edgar) sound dippy or cartoonish.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

This was so disappointing and a huge let down from the first book. I found the first book in this series so witty and compelling. It had a strong, older (definitely not old), confident and funny female protagonist with just the perfect, tiny, potential, amount of romance. In this one we lost a lot of Jacinta's confidence (for explained reasons) and got way too much of every man in her life finding her irresistible and sexy. Unfortunately, it felt like this book fell right back into the "hot 20 something everyone inexplicably wants" fantasy novel instead of what I had previously enjoyed in the series. (Except she's not really 20-something, she's forty, but she traded her body for her 20-something body, so she's only kind of 40??)

There was still humor and some fun new characters, but I wish K. F. Breene had cut out the awkward dates and creepy, hyper-sexual gargoyle storyline in favor of more plot around Ivy House. Even Austin, whom I loved in the first novel, felt too perfect and flat to me. The only thing we ever heard about were his popping pecs.... just no, thank you. I felt like we lost the romantic elements for the sake of sexual elements (but still no sex??) and the overall feeling of the story suffered for it.

I am tempted to give the third novel a chance, to see if this was a stumbling block and Jacinta will get back on her feet and be the badass and hellfire lady she showed herself as in the first book. But I'm in no hurry to do so.