The Enchanted Hacienda

Cervantes (Fractured Path) makes a promising adult fiction debut with this romantic, magical-realist coming-of-age tale. Harlow Estrada is having a rough day: she’s lost her job, dumped her boyfriend, and moved back to the enchanted Hacienda Estrada in Mexico. While returning home is a comfort, it’s also another reminder that the family’s goddess-blessed magical farm gave powers to all the women except her. Harlow juggles the magical duties of her family, who cultivate charmed flowers, with her fears of failing to be an author, which is made more complicated by the appearance of an infuriating but handsome stranger. Now Harlow has to decipher if this whirlwind romance is real or if magic is finally talking to her—and telling her to stay away from him. The narrative strikes a balance of calls to follow one’s instincts and to understand tendencies to self-sabotage while on the road to self-discovery. Emphasizing the importance of informed decision-making, even when it comes to magic, makes the world feel contemporary and complex.