The Bookkeeper's Curse is a paranormal romantic novella about what happens when an ordinary woman is forced to confront extraordinary magic-and her own capacity to choose the life she truly wants.Susan Mitchell has built a quiet existence in Millwood, Illinois. She runs the circulation desk at the public library, keeps her routines predictable, and rarely asks life for more than a peaceful day. But everything changes the morning she realizes she has lived the same Monday three times in a row. The same burned hand, the same late coffee, the same patrons returning the same books. Time isn't just repeating-it's trapping her.Then Derek Stone walks into the library. Brooding, disoriented, and carrying the weight of a family legacy he can't escape, Derek reveals that he's stuck in the looping day too. His late grandmother left behind a Victorian house full of journals, spellwork, and a warning about a "family hunger" that destroys the people they love. The looping Monday is no accident. It's a generational curse-and Susan has been pulled into it because she may be the key to breaking it.As the two work through stacks of journals, broken family histories, and fragile emotional truths, something deeper begins to grow between them. Each repeated Monday intensifies their connection, forcing both to confront the fears that keep them small: Derek's belief that loving someone means risking their ruin, and Susan's lifelong habit of choosing safety over possibility.But the curse demands a "choice made from pure love," and neither knows what that means-until they realize the spell has never been about punishment. It's about learning to love without possession, fear, or sacrifice of the self. The freedom they seek will require vulnerability, honesty, and the courage to choose each other without clinging.Warm, emotionally grounded, and steeped in gentle paranormal mystery, The Bookkeeper's Curse is written for women who enjoy a blend of romance, small-town atmosphere, magical realism, and stories about breaking old patterns to build healthier futures. It's about love that liberates rather than confines, and the kind of transformation that can only happen when two people finally stop living the same day-and take a risk on tomorrow. P. A. Farrell is a psychologist and published author with McGraw-Hill, Springer Publishing, Cafe Lit, Ravens Perch, Humans of the World, Active Muse, Free Spirit Publishing, Scarlet Leaf Review, 100 Word Project, Woodcrest Magazine, Confetti, and LitBreak. She's a top health writer for Medium.com, has published self-help books, and is a board member of Clinics4Life. She lives on the East Coast of the US.
