# Magical Midlife Madness

By K. F. Breene · Leveling Up, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/magical-midlife-madness-21c0c190/

Jessie Evans has reached forty with a divorce, a son leaving for college and no desire to resume her old life. A caretaker job offers an escape from her parents’ house. Ivy House, in a small Sierra foothills town, comes with secret passages, unusual neighbors and powers she has yet to understand.

## What makes it funny?

Jessie’s ex expects sympathy when he announces his departure; she starts packing. Her father lectures her about manners while standing naked in the house. The opening gives her plenty of people to answer back to, including a man who expects someone else to iron his underwear.

### The comedy at work

Breene gives Jessie a grand ambition to begin again, then makes her negotiate the indignities of moving home. Her impatient first-person commentary keeps family clutter, double standards and bodily embarrassment in view as the supernatural adventure approaches.

### Try this if…

A forty-year-old heroine finding room for herself gives this magical-house story a different starting point from a teenager’s first adventure. It suits readers who want midlife reinvention with blunt family comedy and a supernatural community to discover.

### Good to know

The opening uses profanity, crude jokes and nonsexual parental nudity. Kirkus also flags recurring bladder jokes and finds some of the explanatory conversations overlong.

## What to expect

- Genre: Fantasy · Romance
- On the shelf: Paranormal romance
- Kind of humor: Banter · Situational comedy
- The atmosphere: Irreverent
- Format: Novel
- Published: 2020

## A few distinguishing details

- A fresh start at forty in a magical house
- Sarcastic domestic comedy before the supernatural adventure

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kf-breene/magical-midlife-madness)
- Reading sample: [Opening chapters](https://www.kfbreene.com/books/leveling-up-series/magical-midlife-madness/excerpt-magical-midlife-madness)
- Author commentary: [Author](https://www.kfbreene.com/books/leveling-up-series/magical-midlife-madness)