Storie Bell is a witch, but it's something she's kept hidden most of her life. Her mother left her when she was just a baby, leaving her father to raise her alone. Her father was not a witch, so Storie was raised without magic, without any guidance -- he did the best he could, but basically taught her to hide who and what she was. Without any guidance, Storie never learned how to control her magic and it has a tendency to get out of control when she is emotional.

Reid Malone has come back home. His father is in failing health and needs help with his bar. Reid's father also has a secret he needs his son to help him with. He has a secret moonshine recipe that he wants to sell to a liquor company, but he needs to find the secret ingredient before the recipe is complete. The secret ingredient that Storie's dad supplied to him. Storie's dad has passed away and left Storie his convenience store. Reid needs to get in and search the store to see if he can find the secret ingredient before Storie remodels the place and reopens it as a café and bookstore.

Storie and her best friend Harper have moved back to Bloomington, TX to start over. After Storie's dad died, he left her his convenience store and they're remodeling it into their dream -- The Storiebook Café. Reid starts coming over, offering to help with the remodeling; but Storie doesn't trust him, or anybody for that matter. Slowly, she comes to trust Reid and lets him in, starts to spend some time with him. When she finds out that Reid was searching for something her dad had hidden on the property, can she forgive him? Can she get past the hurt and recognize they still have feelings growing between them?

DECEIVING THE WITCH NEXT DOOR is a fast-paced, clever, witty, romantic story with excellent character development and a great plot. I fell in love with Storie, Harper, Reid, and Harper's daughters almost from the first word. The descriptions of Texas were spot on; I could feel the humidity beading on my skin. Ms. Ramirez has an excellent turn of word. I highly recommend this book and anything else she writes!

Book Summary

Storie Bell has a little secret—she’s a witch. But magic hasn’t exactly kept her life from being a complete mess—her love life is non-existent and the town thinks she’s a total nutter. Plus there’s her neighbor Reid Malone who runs hot one minute and cold the next.

Reid Malone can’t wait to escape Bloomington, Texas. Unfortunately, he’s stuck where he is unless he helps his father hide a very illegal secret. The only key to Reid’s freedom lies with the eccentric Storie…and he’ll do whatever it takes to get the information he needs from her.

But Reid’s holding something back. Something big. And if he’s not careful, he’ll find out exactly what happens when you try to deceive a witch…