★Lopez, Angelina M. Full Moon Over Freedom. Harlequin. (Milagro Street, Bk. 2). Sept. 2023. 336p. ISBN 9781335639936. pap. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Magical Gillian Armstead-Bancroft returns to her Mexican American family broken, unemployed, and ashamed. The husband who she flaunted turned out to be abusive and a cheater, and her stake in the family bar is now part of the divorce blackmail that also includes a nasty battle for custody of their two children. Returning to her large and boisterous clan in Freedom, KS, also means returning to her childhood flame Nicky Mendoza and the knowledge that her magic is gone and she is the curse ruining everything around her. Gillian will have to try to calm the ghosts, who seem to block her magic and good sense, and see if she can find her place with her family—and Nicky. Both spellbinding and sexy, this romance is an adventurous tale of the cursed and the blessed, and the community that raised them. VERDICT In this second installment of the “Milagro Street” series, Lopez (After Hours on Milagro Street) interweaves history, Hispanic culture, magic, and passion in a modern-day love story.