What's the magic ingredient in author Sarah Addison Allen's books? The enchanted spell that made her debut novel, Garden Spells, a runaway New York Times best seller, and prompted rave reviews from fans, fellow writers and critics alike? Luanne Rice calls Sarah Addison Allen's books "tender and enchanting;" Booklist calls them "spellbindingly charming." Author Sarah Addison Allen herself thinks the secret is in the "Southern-fried magical realism." From Garden Spells to The Sugar Queen to The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Sarah Addison's books are a unique blend of romance and magical realism that sweeps readers into a spell and keeps them dazzled. Then again, perhaps the Asheville, North Carolina, author was bewitched herself: Garden Spells, her debut novel, originally began as a "simple story about two sisters," she notes on her website. "But then the apple tree started throwing apples, and the story took on a life of its own." In The Sugar Queen, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons; in The Girl Who Chased the Moon (also a New York Times best seller), a hummingbird cake can bring back a lost love. Whatever spell author Sarah Addison Allen has cast, it's working. Critics and fans are finding, as Booklist found, that Sarah Addison's books are simply irresistible: "Like the most decadently addictive bonbons, once started, Allen's magically entrancing novel is impossible to put down."