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Brenda Barratt is a woman in her late fifties who has gone through a series of divorces and deceased husbands. She lives in a villa called San Pedro del Inglesi in the hills of Marbella, Spain, and spends most of her days and nights in the town trying to live life to her fullest in her unconventional ways with her dear friend Betty in tow. Then there is Sarah de Penchester, Brenda's niece, and her friend Lisa who are vacationing in Spain and visiting Brenda. The two younger girls find themselves getting tangled up in passionate affairs which lead to disaster and the unearthing of a scorned lover's plot.
This quick, fun, and coming-of-age novel also doubles as a murder mystery as it focuses on the two generations of women whose "magic" abilities are their skills and power of seduction. Walters lays the groundwork of Brenda being an infamous woman of San Pedro del Inglesi, who is voracious for both life and intimate relations with men she encounters on her travels, and for her niece Sarah to be the one to continue those shenanigans. The novel plays on the tropes of a love affair abroad where a young woman comes into her own sexually while away from the rigidness and watchfulness of her home. But as anyone who has traveled abroad and fallen in love knows, sometimes these affairs don't always end well. Overall, the author does a great job of capturing the whirlwind feeling and rush of being away on vacation and falling into new passions.