It's February and love is in the air, laced with a little magic. Three new YA romances employ magic to move the plot along. With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer (Cinder) introduces Jude, a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) playing introvert, who finds a magic twenty-sided die that changes his luck in love and life. GILM! by Brian Corley has the protagonist employing a magical spell to help him write a popular song to win the girl. Heartless Hunter: The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli pits witches against witch hunters in a battle for control, so that they may freely practice their magic.
In With a Little Luck, Jude, an introverted artist whose parents own Vinyl Ventures music store, spends his time drawing comics, working at his parents' store, hosting D&D nights with his friends, and pining after Maya, a girl he has had a crush on since elementary school. One night Jude finds a red 20-sided die, and he begins experiencing an uncanny bout of good luck. His comic book art is chosen for publication, his best friend Ari's song becomes a finalist in a song competition, and he wins tickets to a concert, which he asks Maya to, and she accepts. The concert date goes incredibly well, and Maya joins his D&D group, but then he misplaces the red die and his good luck turns bad. He discovers that his crush on Maya was more about the unattainable, and he's really in love with Ari, but wonders if it's too late to let her know how he feels. Jude's comics, which are based on the games he creates as dungeon master for his D&D group, penned by Chuck Gonzalez, are included in the text. As Ari makes it to the last round of finals in the song writing competition, Jude wonders if the song about unrequited love is actually about them. Jude's narration, which includes breaking the fourth wall, is engaging and the chemistry between Ari and Jude is palpable. Readers will enjoy his journey of realization.
GILM!, (an admittedly odd title), is about a boy who is challenged to write a song about a word that rhymes with film. Geoff Smith, a recent transplant from Texas to Portland, has a single father who is a collector of magical oddities. When Geoff finally talks to his crush Corrinne, he offends her by saying he dislikes musicals, and brags that he is a songwriter himself and is in a band (although it's in Texas.) She challenges him to write a song that has a word in it that rhymes with film. If he succeeds, she will go out with him. After drawing a blank, he goes home and finds one of his dad's book on magical spells. Executing one, he wishes to write a popular song that includes a word rhyming with film and his wish is granted. However, be careful what you wish for! He arrives at school the next day and his song Gilm! is on everyone lips. To make matters worse, his father can't stop saying it. Now Geoff has to find a way to undo the spell but keep the girl. The author is a songwriter/musician in the rock band The Mars McClanes, who have recorded a new song of the same name, which in turn inspired the novel.
Heartless Hunter: The Crimson Moth is the first book in a duology set in the Republic of Red Peace, where witches once ruled, but are now hunted by witch hunters known as the Red Guard. Teenage Rune Winters, a wealthy socialite, is known for turning in her own witch grandmother to be purged. However, Rune was persuaded to do so by her grandmother, to save herself. To vindicate her death, Rune operates in secret as the Crimson Moth, who helps witches escape the Purge. Her grandmother charged her with finding the witch Seraphine for help, and to do so she courts Gideon Sharpe, the head of the red Guard, hoping to get a clue about her location. In turn Gideon suspects Rune of being the Crimson Moth and returns her advances, trying to catch her in the act. What they didn't expect was to fall in love. The complexity of the conflict paints neither side as wholly good nor evil. A dramatic ending sets up the sequel in which the two factions will continue their battle.
