My favorite books for finding magic at midlife

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved fantasy books with female main characters, but as I’ve grown older, it’s been difficult to find contemporary women’s fantasy with main characters over the age of thirty-five. So when I discovered paranormal women’s fiction, a new genre label for stories of midlife women with magic, I was instantly hooked. I read everything I could get my hands on. After that, I was so inspired that I decided to write a contemporary fantasy series of my own, one in which every protagonist was a woman over the age of forty.


I wrote...

Silver Spells

By Kate Moseman,

Book cover of Silver Spells

What is my book about?

Luella Campbell is having the weirdest day ever. Getting fired from her job at the sunscreen factory for no good reason is bad enough, but when a mysterious dog brings a tempest into her former workplace, Luella’s life is completely upended by the sudden gift of wild and windy magical powers.

With the help of her ride-or-die best friends, her motorcycle-riding mother, and a romantic blast from the past, Luella must find a way to make ends meet while unlocking the mysteries of her newfound magic... and the secrets hidden in the picturesque town of Sparkle Beach. Sometimes, an empty nest means it’s your turn to fly.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Midlife Bounty Hunter

Kate Moseman Why did I love this book?

This was the first contemporary fantasy book I read with a female protagonist over the age of forty. 

I love the Savannah, Georgia setting, and I think the blend of fantasy, action, magic, and humor is just right. It's got a touch of romance but isn't entirely focused on it. An all-around fun read!

By Shannon Mayer,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Midlife Bounty Hunter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When divorce comes your way, don't let the ex get you down. Get ready for a whole new laugh-out-loud adventure. Because life is just beginning . . . as a midlife bounty hunter of the supernatural!

# 1 in Women's Fantasy Fiction!
#1 in Fantasy & Futuristic Romance
# 1 New releases Werewolf and Shifter Romance

One day I’m married, living in Seattle, and magic isn’t real.

The next, I’m divorced and living in the guest room of my ex’s hotter- than-sin cousin’s place in Savannah . . . and talking to an animated skeleton named Robert.

I have to…


Book cover of Let it All Burn: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel

Kate Moseman Why did I love this book?

Once you read the opening scene where a Tupperware party hilariously goes up in flames, you won't be able to stop reading. 

Author Denise Grover Swank is best known for her women's fiction, and her experience in crafting realistic characters and relationships shines in this book. This book is the whole package of fun and magic. 

Let It All Burn also helped inspire the elemental magic in my own book!

Book cover of Suddenly Psychic

Kate Moseman Why did I love this book?

Suddenly Psychic is the first in a trilogy by Elizabeth Hunter. Each volume has a new protagonist from the tight-knit group of friends and can be read as a standalone, although I recommend starting with Suddenly Psychic. 

Elizabeth Hunter is an incredibly talented writer who casts a spell with these magical stories of women becoming powerful at midlife.

By Elizabeth Hunter,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Suddenly Psychic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Paranormal Women's Fiction with a bit of class and a lot of sass, for anyone who feels like age is just a number!Every woman goes through changes in their forties. Just not… these changes.Robin Brannon was a normal wife, mom, and antique-shop owner until a brush with death turned her day-to-day life upside down. Now she and her two best friends are seeing things that belong in a fantasy novel. Ghosts. Visions. Omens of doom. Nothing that belongs in the peaceful mountain town they call home.Added to that, Robin’s marriage is on the rocks, her grandmother’s health is failing,…


Book cover of Carrots

Kate Moseman Why did I love this book?

Two words: action and adventure! A quick stop at the grocery store leaves our middle-aged main character able to read minds, but now there's a mob boss out to kill her. 

Carrots is a thrilling magical story for fans of Stephanie Plum and similar female-led thriller stories, and there are plenty of books in this series to keep you busy reading.

By Colleen Helme,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Carrots as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A mind-reader, a mob-boss, and a hit-man. What could go wrong? More fun than you can imagine! Book 1 in the Shelby Nichols Adventure Series

"One of the best and rarest gems of the indie book market."~ Matthew LeDrew

USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Colleen Helme offers a clever mix of mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and page-turning adventure in the highly acclaimed Shelby Nichols Adventure Series.

Stopping at the grocery store for some carrots shouldn't be dangerous, but in Shelby's case, it changes her life forever. During a bank robbery, she is caught in the cross-fire and grazed…


Book cover of Halfway There

Kate Moseman Why did I love this book?

I love this book because it realistically portrays a middle-aged woman coming out of a bad marriage and adjusting to a new life. One with magical powers, of course! 

The main character in Halfway There feels so genuine that you can't help rooting for her to succeed in her quest to solve the mysteries surrounding her newfound powers.

By Eve Langlais,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Halfway There as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Paranormal Women's Fiction novel for anyone who thought adventure and magic stopped at forty. Guess again, it’s just the beginning.I never expected I’d be one of those people who had a midlife crisis. Sure, I’m over forty, and married, but my kids are grown and moved out. Life is steady, if predictably boring.That all changes when my husband asks for a divorce and my whole world crashes. Everything I thought I knew, everything I am, gone in an instant.But I am not about to give up. After all, at my age, technically, I’m only halfway there.I am ready to…


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The Last Bird of Paradise

By Clifford Garstang,

Book cover of The Last Bird of Paradise

Clifford Garstang Author Of Oliver's Travels

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Fiction writer Globalist Lawyer Philosopher Seeker

Clifford's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Two women, a century apart, seek to rebuild their lives after leaving their homelands. Arriving in tropical Singapore, they find romance, but also find they haven’t left behind the dangers that caused them to flee.

Haunted by the specter of terrorism after 9/11, Aislinn Givens leaves her New York career and joins her husband in Southeast Asia when he takes a job there. She acquires several paintings by a colonial-era British artist that she believes are a warning.

The artist, Elizabeth Pennington, tells her own tumultuous story through diary entries that end when World War I reaches the colony with catastrophic results. In the present, Aislinn and her husband learn that terrorism takes many shapes when they are ensnared by local political upheaval and corruption.

The Last Bird of Paradise

By Clifford Garstang,

What is this book about?

"Aislinn Givens leaves a settled life in Manhattan for an unsettled life in Singapore. That painting radiates mystery and longing. So does Clifford Garstang's vivid and simmering novel, The Last Bird of Paradise." –John Dalton, author of Heaven Lake and The Inverted Forest

Two women, nearly a century apart, seek to rebuild their lives when they reluctantly leave their homelands. Arriving in Singapore, they find romance in a tropical paradise, but also find they haven't left behind the dangers that caused them to flee.

In the aftermath of 9/11 and haunted by the specter of terrorism, Aislinn Givens leaves her…


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