Monday Book Review: CHANGES, by Judith Arnold

Changes (The Magic Jukebox, Book 1), by Judith Arnold
Published November 2014
Contemporary Romance

About the Book (from Goodreads):

The Magic Jukebox sits in the Faulk Street Tavern in the quiet seaside town of Brogan’s Point, Massachusetts. No one knows what classic rock songs will come out of the jukebox when a coin is inserted, but every now and then, the jukebox will play a song that casts a spell on two bar patrons—a song that will change their lives and open their hearts to love.

Antiques dealer Diana Simms is engaged to her longtime boyfriend when she finds herself inside the Faulk Street Tavern. The song “Changes” emerges from the jukebox and enchants her. It also captivates Nick Fiore, a local guy who’s arrived at adulthood the hard way, after a tour through the juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a beautiful, well-bred woman wearing a diamond engagement ring. But once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change their lives, their goals, their dreams…and their hearts.

My Take:

Fun, fast read with a paranormal cute-meet in the form of a mystical jukebox that plays the song someone needs to hear order to make the right changes in their life.

Diana is engaged  to a rich, stick in the mud guy, and in the north of Boston town of Brogan's Point to check out a possible wedding venue. When they stop by a local watering hole for a drink, the antique dealer in Diana falls in love with the ancient jukebox and puts in a quarter. The third song it plays for her is Changes by David Bowie, and her eyes lock with a stranger across the bar.

Nick is a Brogan Point local, a guy with a checkered past who is making good for himself and doing good in the community. When the jukebox plays Changes, he sees the preppie Bostonian across the bar and knows his life is about to change, despite the 3-carat ring on the woman's finger.

I enjoyed the slightly paranormal bent as well as the character development and wonderful sense of place. I have lived on the North Shore of Boston, and felt at home with the author's characters and settings. Great, fast story. Totally recommend for a grey day lift of spirits.