Witchy and Whimsical Books to Read During Spooky Season

By Laura Eckert, Community Engagement Manager

If you’re like me, autumn and spooky season are more about being cozy and enjoying pumpkin everything than being creeped out and afraid to turn out the lights. So my fall reading list is full of witchy and whimsical books with romance vibes.

List of Witchy and Whimsical Books to Read

Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot

In her teenage years, lovelorn Jessica Gold cast a spell that went disastrously wrong, and brought her all the wrong kind of attention-as well as a lifetime ban from the World Council of Witches.

So, no one is more surprised than Jess when, fifteen years later, tall, handsome WCW member Derrick Winters shows up in her quaint little village of West Harbor and claims that Jess is the Chosen One. She's the Chosen One Not chosen by West Harbor's snobby elite to style them for the town's tricentennial ball-though Jess owns the chicest clothing boutique in town. And not chosen finally, to be on the WCW, either-not that Jess would have said yes, anyway, since she's done with any organization that tries to dictate what makes a "true" witch.

No, Jess has been chosen to help save West Harbor itself. But just when Jess is beginning to think that she and Derrick might have a certain magic of their own-and not of the supernatural variety-Jess learns he may not be who she thought he was. And suddenly Jess finds herself having to make another kind of choice: trust Derrick and work with him to combat the sinister force battling to bring down West Harbor, or use her gift as she always has: to keep herself, and her heart, safe.

Check out Enchanted to Meet You.

Witcha Gonna Do by Avery Flynn

Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you're a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I'd say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can't stand him. Even if I also can't stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him), we're going to pretend I never told you that part.

So yeah, my life isn't the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister's spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.

Check out Witcha Gonna Do.

The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish

Jamie Wendon-Dale may design haunted houses, but they don't actually believe in ghosts--until they meet Edgar Lovejoy, who is tall, clever, beautiful...and 100% haunted.

Jamie Wendon-Dale (transmasc they/them) creates haunted houses for a living. Haunting is their life--but nobody working New Orleans' spooky circuit actually believes in ghosts. Edgar Lovejoy (cis he/him) is 100% haunted. No, really. Ghosts have tormented him since childhood, and he's organized his life around attempts to avoid them. Opposites? Get ready to attract.

Check out The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy.

Cards on the Table by Lana Harper and Jilly Gagnon

As descendants of a Salem witch, sisters Tori and Cassie Bishop have the occult credentials—but their trickle of tarot readings isn’t paying the bills. On the brink of eviction, they accept a too-good-to-be-true offer: play “witches in residence” for a dying, wealthy widow in her secluded Berkshires mansion for the Fall season.

But from the minute they arrive at the gothic estate, it’s clear: they’ve been dropped into a far riskier game than their smoke and mirrors can save them from. Rose, the widow, is desperate. Her family is conniving. The staff is ominous. And some guests in the house are drawn to the sisters in ways that lean more... personal. But just as the sisters are starting to settle into the mysterious home and their role in it, Rose dies after a séance—and her millions vanish overnight.

Tori and Cassie must untangle a web of greed and deception using every trick they have—magical or not—to clear their names. Because someone else in Berwyn House is running their own con and they’ve set up the sisters to take the fall.

Check out Cards on the Table.

I Haunt It That Way by Isabelle Popp

Creaky floorboards, crisp fallen leaves, chilly evenings by the bonfire... Thora Williamson thinks she knows what to expect when she moves into her family's long-abandoned mountain cabin for a fresh start. Instead, she gets the surprise of her life when Lee Halliday—her ex's best friend and her own personal nemesis—pulls up in the driveway.

What's even worse? The place is not a simple fixer-upper, and Lee is determined to help with the renovation. But no amount of elbow grease will fix the mysterious phone calls or the unsettling sense they're not alone.The more Thora and Lee work together, the more it becomes clear this cabin has unfinished business... and so do they. As eerie autumn nights lead to unexpected sleeping arrangements—Thora wonders: Is the cabin trying to push them closer, or keep them here forever?

Check out I Haunt It That Way.

Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

Manager of the Number Five Wayside Inn and World Travel Hub, Pax Nomen has one of the easiest jobs in all the known universes, unless you count the occasional plumbing disaster. When Number Five Wayside gets stranded on a non-magical world, even Pax's trusty Wayside Handbook can’t help him. How is he going to “reboot” the hotel and keep it on its magical journey?

Josie LaChusia is a single mom experiencing debt, having parenting doubts, and tipping dangerously toward depression when an ad pops up on her phone that an apartment is available in a building she’s never seen before.

Pax needs a new guest to restart his hotel, and Josie needs a nudge to restart her life. In a building occupied by faeries, gargoyles, and a gnome with a bad attitude, two souls from very different places come together to create a home like no other.

Check out Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel.