witchbuns

Mara Williams, 2026. 4.5 Stars.

I devoured this in one sitting because it felt very real, very emotional and rooted in 30-something adult behaviour, my favourite sub-genre of romance. Mara Williams is a new author to me, but I was drawn into the story on the first page because we meet Eden as a bitter, lost, divorced woman who is reeling from her ex-husband’s betrayal. This was not a sweet story where she leans on her saucy best friend, or one where she takes up a new hobby/lifestyle to revitalize her soul. No, this is a story about a woman in pain – physical and emotional pain, who has been stubbornly neglecting her emotional state and refuses to speak honestly with the people in her family, as a type of mutually observed WASP cold front that has them avoiding any confrontation. When she visits her mother and runs almost head first into Caleb, the adult nephew of her mother’s husband, there’s conflict and sparks of chemistry but also bewildered anger, which Eden takes the time to explore, busting open her heart in the process.

The pacing on this novel was perfect for me, with a bigger reveal coming in the last third, and as a 40-something reader, I empathized with all the characters in the saga of Eden’s pain, adults and teenagers. This book offers romance beats with delicious chemistry between Eden and Caleb, but what really sunk me was how developed their feelings were, and the stakes were really high. Caleb is a single dad and Eden cares for her chronically ill mother, and they feel like there’s an expiration date on the relationship. This kept probing the reality they needed to build, and the resolution was lovely.

Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read more from this author now.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC to review.