Christine Pope

Ex marks the murder scene...or does it? New relationships can be fraught with emotional missteps. Charity Hughes's awkward encounter with Shelby Howard, Noah Jenkins's ex, at his front door certainly qualifies, but as they're clearing up that sort-of-minor misunderstanding, a new challenge enters Charity's shop. A witch's cat familiar pining for the impossible - kittens of her own. The kitty conundrum takes a back seat when a frantic Shelby calls with a rather pointed problem. An ex-fianc dead on her living room floor, run through with an antique sword. Now the prime suspect, Shelby begs Charity for help to prove her innocence. There's just one problem. Using magic to solve the case risks outing her as a witch to the public...including Noah. But Charity brings all her somewhat-inconsistent abilities to bear in the investigation, even calling on Milo, the spaniel familiar, to nose around. But it's the Tarot that cuts through the static toward a culprit who's definitely not an ex-anything. It's someone who opens a whole new kit and caboodle of lies. Note: Cauldrons and Cats is Book 2 in USA Today bestselling author Christine Pope's "Familiar Spirits" series. Contains a cat familiar with mommy fever, a doggo familiar pining for his feline friend, and a killer who does it old school - up close and personal.

Something's got a spaniel familiar's tongue...and it isn't a cat. Charity Hughes is the first witch in more than a century to possess a gift like hers. She's a "familiar whisperer" - someone who can communicate with other witches' troubled familiars and resolve their problems. When Darla Fitzgerald, an influential but abrasive witch, brings in her familiar, Milo, Charity runs into a barrier she's never before encountered. The spaniel isn't talking. At all. And when a potion to reveal Milo's thoughts doesn't work, Charity calls Darla to get more information...only to learn the woman has been found dead. But that's not the weird part. Though familiars always pass with their witches, Milo is hale and hearty. After something - or someone - attacks the dog, Charity desperately calls local vet (and secret crush) Noah Jenkins for help. Now Charity is walking a double tightrope: How to manage her attraction to Noah without revealing the world of witches right under his nose...while trying to figure out who would go to any lengths - including dognapping - to ensure Milo stays silent as the grave. Note: Spells and Spaniels is Book 1 in USA Today bestselling author Christine Pope's newest series, "Familiar Spirits". Contains a slow-burn romance that develops over the course of the series, a murder mystery of Olympic proportions, and an adorable cocker spaniel who needs his Wubby.

Waltz, tango, foxtrot...murder?Not much has changed about Selena's fussy, finicky, magical talking cat, Archie. Except now, instead of roaming Globe's streets and alleys on four feet. he's kicking up two very human heels at a ballroom dance competition with his fianc e, Victoria.Selena couldn't be happier for her formerly furry friend. Stepping Stars could be the gateway to Archie's unfulfilled dreams. But when a competitor is found dead in Archie's costume trunk - sporting some very strange wounds - the future he's longed for is threatened...because witnesses saw him claws-out with the victim just hours earlier.Though the evidence is flimsy at best, Selena goes straight to her divination tools to look for clues. Her Tarot cards and pendulum seem to point nowhere, but she's sure of one thing. Her instincts never lie - and the killer could be using glitz, glamour, and bright lights to cover his tracks.

When the past blows into town, a witch goes along for the ride.Surprises aren't Skye O'Malley's favorite thing, but this gloomy February is full of them. Fix My Town, a reality renovation show, has set its sights on Skye's little coffee shop - and won't take her emphatic "no" for an answer. Worse, the producers are staying in the same rental that was the scene of a murder just a few months earlier.A harbinger of things to come? Skye begins to wonder...especially when an apparition from the past blows into town. Alicia Petrucci, who abandoned Skye as a baby, is back to teach Skye the ways of Petrucci family magic.Skye would like to throw her newly resurfaced mother out on her ear, but the temptation to strengthen her magic is hard to resist. With Alicia's guidance, Skye's true powers begin to emerge - along with the hope that she can build a relationship with the mother she never knew.But when one of the show's producers is murdered and Alicia is accused of the crime, Skye will need more than tea leaves and dreams to prove her innocence. She'll need to move mountains...and outrun the real killer before she becomes the next victim.

The perfect Thanksgiving recipe for disaster - means, motive...and opportunity.As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, Selena finds herself soothing the nerves of her friend Josie, who's now Globe's newly minted mayor. Popular television preacher Aaron Galloway is bringing his traveling prayer gathering to town, and Josie is worried Selena's New Age shop will attract negative attention.Josie's concern is touching, but Selena can't imagine her humble little shop being any more than a blip on the faithful's radar. Still, she does a quick Tarot reading, just to be sure. To her dismay, the cards warn there's trouble brewing. What kind and how deep it goes is anyone's guess. Until Galloway falls over dead of arsenic poisoning - and Josie is accused of murder.Holiday plans are put on hold as Selena races to prove Josie's innocence. And as she begins unearthing something rotten under the megachurch's squeaky-clean veneer, the real killer is getting nervous...and determined to mow down anyone who gets too close to the truth.

When a witch changes lanes without signaling, the result is magical mayhem...It's not a date. At least, that's what Skye O'Malley tells herself when A-list actor Max Sullivan invites her to their hometown's annual harvest festival. He's just grateful she helped him clear his name of murder charges, that's all. It's a friendly, platonic outing, as innocent as a batch of pumpkin chocolate-chunk muffins.Until they make a grisly discovery in the corn maze. A dead body. And not just any dead body - it's the town's mayor.The last thing Skye needs is to get tangled up in another murder case, especially considering her unreliable psychic skills. But Max has such unwavering faith in her potential, she reluctantly consults her tea leaves. Which show her nothing but...good luck symbols?Maybe it's time to push her boundaries a little. However, consulting YouTube for spellcasting how-to videos probably wasn't Skye's best choice. Because not only does she now have a highly annoyed talking cat to deal with, a murderer has taken notice of her activities. And will stop at nothing to remind her she should have stayed in her own lane....

When a movie shoot ends in murder, a caffeine fix might be the star's only hope.Skye O'Malley's grandmother always told her she inherited the Sight. But other than an occasional message from a blob of tea leaves or a vague dream, Skye doesn't think she's anything special, since she can't even predict which of her coffee-shop customers will order hard-core black or fancy frou-frou with extra foam.The only instinct she can rely on is the jangly feeling that something is about to happen. Like when her best friend (and only employee) Deanne tells her that a film crew is coming to their hometown of Las Vegas, New Mexico. The lead is Hollywood's hottest action-movie star, Max Sullivan, who just happens to be Skye's former "boy next door"...and her lifelong, unrequited crush.Just having him around unbalances Skye's carefully curated existence. But when she starts having disturbing dreams involving Max and a prop gun, she can't ignore them. Especially when the film's notoriously unpleasant director turns up dead, and the evidence points to one prime suspect. Max.Max needs a miracle, not a not-quite witch. But he's placing all his trust in Skye - and her murky tea leaves - to help him find the real culprit before the actual murderer gets away clean.

Penny Briggs is a perfectly ordinary woman. Until her life takes a left turn at Albuquerque...I thought my marriage would be a fairy tale. Instead, I've put a thousand miles between me and my broken dream, starting over with temp job in Albuquerque. Prop shopping for a TV production takes my mind off my troubles - until I buy an old pair of glasses no one on the set can wear.Curious, I look through the lenses myself - and they show me a wild vision of a lonely desert canyon I've never seen before.A friend directs me and my weird glasses to her cousin, a brujo - a male witch - who specializes in weird. He's also the most spectacularly handsome man I've ever seen, with black hair, dark eyes, and a flashing smile so dazzling, I almost miss his casual remark that my magic is powerful.Magic? What magic? I'm just an ordinary woman from an ordinary family.Yet as the two of us explore the mystery surrounding those supernatural glasses - and give in to our growing attraction - I discover a past I knew nothing about. And that there's a dangerous reason it's been hidden from me all these years....

One last chance to control her magic...or she's banished to a world without it.At the ripe old age of eighteen, Calendula Dobkins should be able to cast simple enchantments as easy as breathing. But most days, Callie and magic aren't exactly on speaking terms. Not that she doesn't have it. More like...she has control issues.Her parents pack her off to Miss Primm's Academy for Wayward Witches, where she has only three years to whip her unruly magic into shape. Or DOME (the Department of Magical Exile) will banish her to Mundania. A world without magic. Callie quickly learns which girls have her back, and who will throw her under the bus. Pop quizzes can be killer. The Beginning Spells professor seems have it in for her. And...just who is the mysterious Miss Primm, anyway?Then there's the six feet of Scottish gorgeousness she meets at the joint school dance with Master Marco's School for Woeful Wizards, Lochlan Abernathy. If Callie can survive finals with a ticket to year two, maybe they can do more than just dream about the future....

One year down, two to go...unless Callie's search for justice gets her expelled.The pressure is on as Callie Dobkins begins her second year at Miss Primm's Academy for Wayward Witches. Not only does she have the same stern-faced witch for her Spells professor, her older sister is planning her wedding around Callie's graduation date. Which means if she fails, she'll not only be banished, she'll break her sister's heart. All the more reason to do her absolute best to control her magic. Except one girl - Callie's worst enemy, Mona McGee - is winning her magical trials with such annoying regularity, Callie is forced to wonder if someone is cheating.Snooping for evidence only succeeds in getting her grounded. And even her handsome boyfriend, Lochlan, is urging her to back off and let Miss Primm handle it.Because if Callie's caught, she'll be expelled and exiled to Mundania, far from everyone she loves...including Lochlan.

Never get into a bidding war with a demon. Winning could be murder.One phone call from her mother, and Selena Marx's relatively quiet summer ends with the clang of alarm bells in her head. Mom and her husband are coming to Globe...and not just to meet Selena's boyfriend of two months, Calvin Standingbear. They've also dipped a toe into the local real estate market.By buying the most haunted Victorian mansion in town. Sight unseen.Resigned that there's no talking them out of their vacation rental dreams, Selena checks the place out for herself. Oddly, she senses nothing. But there's no mistaking the unholy racket of bangs, wails, and evil laughter blasting through the walls. Something is infesting this house, and it's not your garden-variety ghost.This time, her arsenal of moon water, coffin nails, and rock salt isn't going to cut it. Selena needs backup, but when it arrives, the house strikes back - hard and deadly. Now her parents are murder suspects. If Selena can't find the true culprit, she could be the haunted mansion's next victim.

They team up to find a healer, but the truth could tear them apart.After six quiet months, the Wilcox clan's witch-finding software finally gets a ping. The article is cloaked in careful, journalistic neutrality, but Laurel Wilcox knows a solid lead when she sees one. Soon Laurel's headed for Lake Tahoe to hunt for a healer who mysteriously appears when he's needed, then disappears into the forest. She hopes she won't screw up her first solo mission - and betray her clan's trust. Which is why it's the worst possible time to be attracted to a handsome, non-witch civilian.Jason Ludlow's dual abilities of altering his appearance and hiding his spark of magic from other witch-kind make him ideally suited to hunt for the elusive healer his clan desperately needs. He never expected to meet another witch - a distractingly pretty Wilcox witch - on the same mission.Both hiding their motives behind white lies, Laurel and Jason team up to find the healer...and give in to an attraction that's both comfortable and sensually intense. But their idyll can't last. When the truth comes out, they could lose everything...their clans' trust, their mission, and each other.Note: This story takes place approximately six months after the end of Blood Ties, book 6 in the series. It can be read as a standalone.

To unlock his past, it'll take more than a little bit of luck...What has Joanna Wilcox gotten herself into? She needed an extra hand to fix some broken fences on her alpaca farm, and her cousin sent someone over to help. Now she can't seem to take her eyes off that "someone" - those capable hands, those ice-blue eyes...not to mention the way he fills out his jeans.Randall Lenz, ex-government agent and brand-new warlock, should be the last man to send that tingling sensation across Joanna's skin. But when he won't take payment for the work, she finds herself offering the next best thing: a home-cooked meal.The Wilcox clan took Randall in when a lightning strike awakened his power, and he plans to repay their kindness by living a quiet life...which means not getting involved with a Wilcox witch. But Joanna's offer of a hot meal isn't the only thing making his mouth water.One kiss ignites the need they've both been trying to ignore, but their relationship is barely off the ground when Randall disappears - and Joanna suspects it's more than a case of cold feet. It's a secret that proves lightning does, indeed, strike twice....Note: This novel takes place approximately three months after the end of A Wheeler Park Christmas. It's the sixth book in the series but can stand on its own.

Christmas is made for magic...unless a spell takes a wrong turn.For the past six months, Addie Grant's life with Jake Wilcox has been a perfect storm of love, in and out of the bedroom. As her first Christmas with him and the extended Wilcox clan approaches, there's only one thing she could wish for. Okay, two things. Snow, and an engagement ring.Jake has a ring burning a hole in his pocket. He's just waiting for the perfect moment to spring it - preferably Christmas Eve, with a backdrop of falling snow. But as the holidays approach, the cold skies over Flagstaff remain stubbornly clear.When the clan joins forces to investigate, they find out that magic, especially weather magic, can have a butterfly effect of unintended consequences. And if they're going to have a white Christmas, they'll have to find a way to break a spell without making things worse....

An angel has returned to Paris. But is it the Angel of Music...or Death?Two years have passed since Christine fled the opera house, put the memories and the horror behind her. And yet, in her dreams, she still hears his voice, feels his moth-light touch on her throat.The rumors involving the legendary Opera Ghost are merely newspaper sensationalism. The Opera Ghost is dead. His tragic life, his epic opera, his obsession with her voice...ended. But with a slow, heart-pounding dread, Christine lets a lie slip from her lips, and heads for Paris. Alone. Because she has to know if Erik is dead. Or if he's alive...and wreaking his vengeance.

Never stop moving. Never look back. And never gamble with your heart...Jeremy Wilcox hasn't had a ping on his orphan witch-hunting computer system for two, tomb-quiet months. Until he learns of a woman with a gift for disguises - and an uncanny ability to beat the house.Sloane Kennedy lives by one cardinal rule: Never stop moving. It's the only way she knows to survive. It's not exactly cheating - after all, tuning into and out of people's heads is a survival mechanism. So is the spider sense that tells her the cute guy at Twin Arrows casino is watching her.When said cute guy rescues her from an unknown assailant, it turns out he knows way more about her than he should. Like that she's adopted...and a few things she didn't. She's a witch, and somewhere, she has family.As Sloane learns more about her heritage, her relationship with Jeremy grows from shy kisses into a longing for something more. Roots, a home, love. But reconnecting with her birth family is no dream. It's a nightmare that could rip her from Jeremy's arms...and sweep her up in a mad plan to control all witches. Everywhere.