I'll Never Look at a Roomba the Same Again

TITLE: Samantha Spük: Paranormal Wedding Planner

AUTHOR: Aleese Lin

PUBLISHER: Saga Press

PUBLISHING DATE: June 2, 2026

PAGES: 320   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Samantha Spük is your go-to wedding planner, be it for werewolf, vampire, or fae! ...even if that's the last thing she would’ve imagined.

Samantha “Sabby” Spük has spent her life trying to escape her family’s legacy of supernatural chaos. She’s finally graduated and landed a nice, normal 9–5 at a New York accounting firm. But then she gets the Grandma Rose is gone, and Sabby has been named executor of her (ahem, magically binding) will. 

Now Sabby is stuck in her dreaded hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, taking on odd jobs—some very odd, like wedding planning for not-so-human locals—until she can sell the family home. At least this means a date with Hanry, the mysterious hottie Sabby meets in the neighborhood graveyard. With help from Hanry, a talking-head sidekick, and a manic pixie assistant, Sabby might pull these weddings off in time to salvage her accounting career…but is she ready to say goodbye to her paranormal one?

MY THOUGHTS: While I didn't think this book was without issues, I will say it is one of most fun books I've read in a long time.  Also, the chapters have titles which are an absolute hoot at times such as "And Now I'm Dancing with Demons. I Guess This is My Life Now," and "The Goddamned Fairy Castle."  I really enjoyed seeing what chapter as up next.

Samantha, aka Sabby, returns to Salem to settle the estate of her grandmother, who recently passed.  Grandma Rose always claimed to be a witch but Sabby always believed she was just eccentric.  And due to a stunt Grandma Rose's friends (coven?) played on her when she was 12, she rarely returned to visit.  Because of that, plus her wack-a-doodle mother, Sabby has spent all her life trying to be "normal" and blend in.  Imagine her surprise when she finds out Grandma Rose's will is cursed and until Sabby figures it out, she can't leave Salem for her new accounting job in New York.

Sabby ends up making friends with Rose's talking head, Bulan and together, while at Rose's shop one day, end up talking on the job of planning a vampire wedding.  After all, Sabby has to have some kind of income while she is stuck in Salem.  Along the way she hires a pixie named Mandy and together the three of them gain a reputation of THE supernatural wedding planners everyone wants to plan their wedding.  Sabby even starts dating a guy she met in the cemetery one night, Hanry.  Life is definitely unpredictable until Mandy solves the will's puzzle and returns to New York, right after Hanry dumps her.  Sabby soon discovers normal isn't all it is cracked up to be and hops back to Salem in a pumpkin carriage to help Mandy pull off the fairy wedding of the year.  But oh, what surprises THAT wedding holds.

As I mentioned, I found this book to be loads of fun.  But I will say that about halfway through, it seemed like one story ended and another began.  Almost like I was reading a shorter book and then the sequel all in one.  Another thing, the names, Sabby and Hanry?  Although they are explained later on, I still found them rather annoying.  As for the main characters, I liked Sabby well enough although her strive to be normal was obsessive at best.  Mandy was scattered but was a great offset for Mandy's seriousness. And then Bulan - he steals the show.  Bulan has to be one of the best "animal companions" who is actually a talking head I've met in a long time.  He almost had me wishing for a talking head (who disguises himself as a Roomba) of my own.

If you like paranormal romances and cozy fantasy books, this is one you definitely want to check out.  The ending definitely sets up a sequel, and I can only hope it comes out soon because I need fun books like this in my life more often. 

MY RATING: 4 PAWS