Briley Forester is ripped out of her own world without warning and dropped into Maepole, a backward village where nothing works the way she is used to. She discovers that being a witch is considerably harder than it sounds, and that Smokey — her grumpy talking cat — understands men and the local social dynamics far better than she does. An ancient grimoire is the only thing she has to work from. The Whitehead family, powerful local forces with a deep hatred of witches, are already moving against her. And in the forest beyond the village, a dark spirit is waiting. It has been waiting for a while.