Charmed and Dangerous

Seventeen-year-old magic user Monroe Bennett doesn’t believe that love is in her future—until she’s tasked with investigating the circumstances behind a rogue love charm in this frothy rom-com. As a junior recruit at the Bureau of Mystical Affairs, it’s Monroe’s responsibility to solve magic-related mishaps, and she’s determined to excel in this first job: looking into a love enchantment gone awry, which has been wreaking havoc at her high school, causing sometimes comedic and sometimes harmful accidents during romantic encounters between students. Monroe isn’t the only junior recruit on the case, though. If she wants to snag a coveted full-time spot at the Bureau, she must compete with six other recruits, including talented and popular peer Taylor. When the Bureau director’s daughter, Iris, becomes charmed and her romantic overture toward Monroe goes viral online, Iris—hoping to take advantage of the notoriety—proposes an exchange: Monroe will fake-date her to make Iris’s ex-girlfriend jealous, and Iris will help Monroe with the assignment. Monroe’s pragmatism coupled with Iris’s charisma dials up the appeal of this humorous romp by Page (Brewed with Love), which features tried-and-true romance tropes with elevated stakes and a mystical bureaucratic spin. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rebecca Podos, Neighborhood Literary. (Mar.)