A cozy, magical read about family, love, mothers and daughters and the power of finding home.

For fans of whimsical reads with a contemporary setting and a warm, happy ending.

I’m sorry but I had to DNF this. I couldn’t get passed the choppy writing that had Penelope did this, Penelope did that. I’m missing the flow here and it’s taking me out of even concentrating on what’s happening.

Fantastic read! I loved it! Highly recommend, thank you NetGalley for the opportunity. I love having the chance to read and review new books!

Following her mother's untimely death, Mattie was feeling lost. After spending years accompanying her mother from place to place, Mattie was on her own to decide what was next. But before she had to make those decisions, she had to complete a set of tasks left by her mother in order to inherit her trust. What seemed like a meaningless exercise may be the very thing that brings Mattie the clarity she was seeking.

This year, I have read so many wonderful books in this sub-genre. I was always a contemporary reader, but it seems a touch of magic goes a long way with me. It was a treat learning about the Russell women's talents and seeing them in action, but I think it was the sentient house that was my favorite magical element here. That house had an agenda, and I was fully supportive of it. Aside from that, the house was simply a special place. It was a place of love and healing, but I could also say that about the town of Ivy Ridge.

When I was a teen, we moved from Brooklyn to a one-square mile town in New Jersey. I thought it would be the death of me, but I see it differently through adult-eyes. It reminds me of Ivy Ridge, one of the those towns that teens can't wait to flee, but when they look back on it all, they realize they were lucky to have grown up in such a lovely place. It was a "home" with a supportive community, and for both Mattie and Jonathan, it was a place where they could find themselves.

This book had so many elements that I adore. Themes of grief, healing, second chance love, family and friendship were all elevated by a bit of magic. I found myself fully engrossed in Mattie's personal journey, cheering for her and Jonathan as they figured out different aspects of their lives, and hoping for Penelope to reconnect with her past. With some delightful surprises and many sweet and tender moments, this book left me in an elated state while reminding me that there is magic all around.

I absolutely adore a Jennifer Moorman book, I've never read one that isn't a 5-star read for me, they always have great characters with that little bit of magical realism threaded throughout the book.

In this story we have Mattie, who has returned to the Victorian family home in Ivy Ridge after the unexpected death of her mother, Lilith. Penelope, her aunt, lives there with Sophia and Robert, her godparents, but Mattie has only ever visited for short periods of time whilst growing up when Penelope looked after her for a holiday. Initially Mattie only comes back for the funeral, but ends up having to stay longer because of stipulations in her mother's will where she has to complete various tasks to inherit a sum of money (that she didn't even realise her mother had).

Mattie is used to constantly travelling the country with her mother, so isn't used to staying in one place for too long a period of time, so this is different for her, but she starts to slowly put down roots, albeit very reluctantly at first.

I loved all the gentle magical aspects of this, how each member of the family has a slightly magical touch, including the house itself and the radio etc. playing various songs to suit the occasion, very funny! I loved how the tasks each led into one another and brought different people (and unexpected family) into Mattie's life, making her slow down a bit and reassess what she actually wanted to do with her life.

A quite gentle book, but just such a lovely read. One of those books that makes you have a big sigh of happiness at the end that everything has worked out as it should.

I completely fell in love with this book I was concerned at first because I felt the book was dragging on a bit in spaces, but it was necessary. The back story on each character was thought out and told in a way that kept the story alive and rolling. It was not just to add pages to the book. I was completely invested in Mattie and her relationships with her family, new found friends and family, and her love interest. Jennifer Moorman did a phenomenal job with this book, I am currently looking to see if she has a back log.

Mattie Russell finds herself back in her family home after her mother unexpectedly passes away. She’s always spent summers here with her Aunt Penelope, but feels determined to leave after the funeral. Unfortunately for Mattie’s plans, her mother’s will includes a testamentary trust. Mattie has to complete 7 seemingly silly tasks within four months in order to inherit the money she didn’t even know her mom had.

As Mattie goes around town taking cooking classes, planting flowers, and more to complete the tasks, she starts finding clues that lead her to her birth father…and she starts to fall for the cute neighbor next door that she kissed ten years ago.

The Magic Next Door is enchanting and full of love and cozy mystery. I absolutely adored this book and reading it left me feeling cozy and warm inside. The magical elements of the house were so intriguing. Mattie and Jonathan’s relationship was really sweet as was her relationship with Penelope. The pacing was a little slow and the dialogue was a bit repetitive at times, but overall I really enjoyed this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the ARC.

This is a hug in book form and what I wanted PRACTICAL MAGIC (movie) to be. If you like Sarah Addison Allen you’ll love this!

Lots of family, love, grief, and magic suffusing it all. Wonderful holiday reading. Great for fans of Alice Hoffman.

Unfortunately, I might have read this at a wrong time as I was craving more high fantasy than cozy rom-com vibes. Otherwise, if you like magical realism, family relationships, romance, and self-discovery then this one is for you.

Meh.

Lilith and Penelope are magical sisters, but whereas Penelope is steadfast and dependable, Lilith is a free spirit who flits around without setting up roots. Even when Lilith has a daughter, Mattie.

Following Lilith’s death (something she knew was coming), Mattie returns to her hometown to stay with Penelope for the funeral, but winds up with a to do list to inherit several hundred thousand dollars from her mother.

And of course there’s neighbor boy who Mattie met once like 15 years ago for 15 minutes who also happens to be in town for his ill father.

So of course love is predetermined. And all the women are supernaturally pretty. And every character lacks depth.

There is magic but it’s barely a focus regardless of the title. Not for me.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harper Muse. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Women's Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance Elements, Fantasy
Spice Level: Sweet (past pregnancy mentioned, kissing)
Magic System: Soft system with undefined rules
Themes: Family love, Romantic love, Loss, Finding yourself

What a thoroughly enjoyable book!

Mattie is adrift after the death of her nomad-like mother, and this is primarily the story of her figuring out her life. Her Aunt Penelope and Jonathan, the boy Mattie kissed when she was seventeen, are also on journeys to find peace with the past and move forward.

I wish there was a little bit more about the family magic. It seemed like Penelope was going to talk to Mattie about it more specifically, but that was a minor point. I would say the magic was embodied in the Russell home as though it was a character separate from the people, and each family member received gifts for herself to help her on her journey.

The entire book gave me a warm feeling like a hug and a cup of coco. I loved seeing how Mattie learned more about her mother and herself through the list of requirements her mom gave her to keep her inheritance. I can easily see this being made into a movie because it's so vivid.

I highly recommend this book.

Happy reading!

This one was a mixed bag for me. There were some positives but also negatives.

The Magic All Around is a wholesome, sweet story about the bonds of family, finding who you are and your place in the world, and the comfort of coming home. Readers who love light, feel good romances with a touch of magical realism will find lots to love with this book.

I struggled with the pacing of this story. The first 50% was very slow paced, and i wasn't sure where the author was going with things. There were quite a few elements competing for the main focus between the magical house, the quirky aunts, Mattie's grieving process, her mother's secrets, and the hints of romance. I also really struggled to connect with the characters, especially Mattie. She never felt multi dimensional to me and came across as immature and all over the place for much of the story.

Ultimately, I don't think I was the right reader for this book. I was expecting a stronger magical realism aspect, and instead it felt more like a Hallmark movie with magic playing a small part. I'm sure there are plenty of readers who will love this cozy romance, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Muse for providing me a copy to read and review.

I think the blurb left my expectations a little too high. The writing was very atmospheric and the mundane magic the family has was really interesting, but the overall plot wasn’t exactly what I was expecting—there was only a very brief part of the blurb that could’ve hinted at romance, but I didn’t think that’d be as prominent as it was. I was hoping for a story that was completely focused on the family’s relationships and magic, and while I think a lot of people will like this, the first 10% just being introducing characters and describing them really set me up for disappointment.

There is magic in the world - or, at least, there is magic in Mattie Russell's world, although it's a quiet and subtle sort of magic, one shared by all the women in her family, but it takes a tragedy for Mattie to understand that magic. As the story begins, Mattie, raised in a bohemian and somewhat migratory lifestyle, has just discovered her mother's death, and is going to the family home for the funeral. Footless as she has always been, Mattie considers Ivy Ridge, where the family home is located, to be just another stop on her journey, but the Russell house has other plans. So, it appears, did Mattie's mother, Lilith, whose bequest to her only child is contingent upon Mattie completing a series of seven tasks, most of which can only be completed in Ivy Ridge. While completing these tasks, Mattie finds out truths about her life that her mother had never explained, including a few about herself and what she wants out of life. Recommended for teen and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The cover of this book drew my attention from the start. Mattie and her mother Lilith lived a life of moving from city to city with occasional visits to Ivy Ridge, Georgia, her mother's hometown. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Mattie heads to Ivy Ridge and her aunt Penelope - the only place she knows to go. With family secrets, friendship, romance, and a touch of magic throughout, this book is a must-read. Thanks to author Jennifer Moorman, NetGalley, and Harper Muse. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A wonderful read full of love healing and magic. A house a special home full of characters I enjoyed getting to know looking foward to reading more from this author.#netgalley #harpermuse

the magic all around — jennifer moorman

i definitely should be checking more reviews before requesting arcs because on the one hand i want to be nice but on the other, i want to be honest... a small town female centric witchy romance like this had so much potential too!
i read another review that brought up how this book suffers from "i'm not like other girls" syndrome, and unfortunately it's true for all the female characters (and even the male love interest)! how many times is it mentioned that "she's different" like we get it!!! sadly these characters just lack charisma to me and have zero chemistry with each other.
and the whole plot just conveniently worked out for everyone because this one character had a premonition decades ago that she planned her kid's entire life around until her own death?! that's selfish and manipulative and not cute at all omg 😭
it is an easy read though and i basically just skimmed the latter half

If you like Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, I am going to strongly recommend that you read The Magic All Around by Jennifer Moorman, which was delightful (for the record). It is a multi-POV novel about an aunt and her niece and a love interest (not to the both of them - just to the niece). It's similar to Practical Magic in that there were two enchanting sisters: one decided to stay home and do her thing and the other one decided to go freewheeling, flying about the world with her daughter (the niece).

Well, mom has passed and daughter has gone back home for the funeral and has no intention of staying, though the entire family obviously wants her to. And it's not that she doesn't want to stay; it's not that she is a wanderer herself...but her mom was such a wanderer, and all she ever did was wander with her, so she's not sure that she even knows how to stay in one place alone.

There are "men of interest" for both the aunt and the niece, there are adorable fast friendships that happen in this cute little town, very reminiscent of Stars Hollow. Great dialogue. And the mom who has passed has left a series of tasks for her to complete which are adding up to a little family mystery and it's adorable. I'd like to add that my favorite character in this book is the house that they live in. So...read it so that you can enjoy it as much as I did, because it was simply delectable. I enjoyed it immensely.

It was a little in-your-face with the "oh, are they magic?" bit in the beginning of the book, and I have to say that I was a little thrown by the niece's surprise at the whole "we're special" deal because I feel like, over the course of 25 years, you might have noticed...but I do understand the whole idea of "oh, well, I was a kid; I'm sure it was an overactive imagination" and then, when you're older, realizing "oh, maybe I did not have an overactive imagination; maybe it was actually a little bit weird when I was younger".

There's lots of delicious foodstuffs and gardening, they have a cat, there's art and music (because niecey is very into that), aunt is a seamstress so there is sewing and delightfulness going on, artsy craftiness, baking cooking...what's not to like? I give it a rating of 7½ perfect pancakes. Enjoy.

Loved it!!! This book is pure magic and beautifully written. All the Russell women have something special about them. They all have certain "powers." Lilith left home and never wanted to return. It seemed as Mattie got older, Lilith didn't want to share her with anyone. I understand why, she wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. I really didn't understand why Mattie was dead set on leaving Ivy Ridge. It was the only place that was truly her home and she would be surrounded by family who loves her. Mattie was determined to keep living Lilith's life even if it didn't really make her happy. The house definitely didn't want Mattie to leave. Every magic house needs a cat and Enid was the purrfect one. I knew what the numbers from the plants would end up being. My review doesn't do the book justice.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the characters, story and writing style. I enjoyed how the book alternated chapters between Penelope, Mattie and Jonathan. I couldn't put the book down, but was sad when I got to the end because I wanted to keep reading about the Russell family. This was the first book I read by the author and I look forward to reading more. Absolutely love the cover of the book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Muse through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.