Don’t Hex the Handyman

A Cozy Witch Romantic Fantasy with Midlife Magic and Comedy

Cassie Morgan didn't ask for magic. She asked for a plumber.

At 47, Cassie's life is a series of things she didn't ask for: a divorce, a daughter who texts more than she calls, a job where she's invisible, and hot flashes that arrive like uninvited guests at the worst possible moments.

Then her great-aunt's spellbook shows up on her doorstep. And after one glass of wine, one badly pronounced spell, and one spectacular meltdown over a leaky sink, Cassie accidentally summons a grumpy Scottish handyman into her kitchen.

Shirtless. Soaking wet. And very, very annoyed.

Liam MacLeod can't leave.

Not the property. Not the driveway. Not even when Cassie's nosy neighbor catches him in her kitchen wearing her ex-husband's "World's Okayest Golfer" shirt. Some kind of magical binding has them stuck together—and neither of them is happy about it.

Well. Mostly not happy about it.

Things that are now Cassie's problem:

• A cat who suddenly has opinions (and won't shut up)
• A toaster that only speaks French
• Garden gnomes that keep rearranging themselves
• An ex-husband whose Porsche may have accidentally turned pink
• And a Scottish contractor who looks way too good fixing things

Cassie spent twenty years making herself small for a man who didn't deserve her. Now her magic is out, her house has developed a personality, and there's a grumpy Scot in her guest room who keeps saying she's "exactly enough."

She's not sure which is more terrifying—the magic or the possibility that he might be right.

Don't Hex the Handyman is the first book in the Hot Flashes & Hexes series—a cozy witch romantic fantasy with midlife magic and comedy for readers who like their romance spicy (but closed-door), their heroines over 40, and their happily-ever-afters earned.

For fans of The Ex Hex, Practical Magic, and anyone who's ever wished their hot flash came with superpowers.

could be great-DNF

The virtual voice is so bad I couldn't even finish the second chapter. It's a shame that virtual voice narration seems to be being pushed more & more.
Dear Audible,
It is not the same as a real person! It's not even close.
Please stop.

Read by No One in Particular

I wanted to like this book—truly. I came to it the way one arrives at a neighbor’s garage sale: hopeful, wallet open, rooting for a small, human triumph. There’s a particular pleasure in discovering something imperfect but earnest, the literary equivalent of a lopsided ceramic mug you insist on loving.

The prose felt assembled rather than written—competent, but curiously bloodless.

What absolutely finished me, though—what took this book gently by the shoulders and escorted it out of the room—was the decision to have it read by AI. It’s one thing to suspect the writing lacks a human voice; it’s quite another to remove any remaining doubt by ensuring there isn’t one.

If I could suggest one thing—one small, life-saving intervention—it would be this: let a human read it.

Because somewhere in here, I suspect, there might be a book worth hearing. It just needs a voice that remembers what it is to be alive.